Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Newly Developed Fully Covered Metal Stent for Unresectable Malignant Biliary Stricture

We herein report two patients with unresectable malignant biliary stricture who underwent stenting with a newly developed fully-covered metal stent. In the first case of lower-middle bile duct cancer, a stent was placed through the stenosis. In the second case of middle bile duct stricture due to lymph node metastases from gallbladder cancer, a stent was placed in the bile duct across the stenosis. No procedure-related complications were observed. Unevenness of the outer surface and a low shortening ratio are expected to lessen the occurrence of complications characteristic of covered metal stents such as stent migration and bile duct kinking.
Burkholderia pseudomallei rpoS mediates iNOS suppression in human hepatocyte (HC04) cells

Burkholderia pseudomallei is an intracellular Gram-negative bacterial pathogen and the causative agent of melioidosis, a widespread disease in Southeast Asia. Reactive nitrogen, in an intermediate form of nitric oxide (NO), is one of the first lines of defense used by host cells to eliminate intracellular pathogens, through the stimulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Studies in phagocytotic cells have shown that the iNOS response is muted in B. pseudomallei infection, and implicated the rpoS sigma factor as a key regulatory factor mediating suppression. The liver is a main visceral organ affected by B. pseudomallei, and there is little knowledge about the interaction of liver cells and B. pseudomallei. This study investigated the induction of iNOS, as well as autophagic flux and light-chain 3 (LC3) localization in human liver (HC04) cells in response to infection with B. pseudomallei and its rpoS deficient mutant. Results showed that the rpoS mutant was unable to suppress iNOS induction and that the mutant showed less induction of autophagy and lower co-localization with LC3, and this was coupled with a lower intracellular growth rate. Combining these results suggest that B. pseudomallei rpoS is an important factor in establishing infection in liver cells.
Intelligent space at center for intelligent technologies — system proposal

In this paper we present an engineering proposal for a data processing system based at the Center for Intelligent Technologies. The proposed system forms the Intelligent Space using the collection of sensors including IP cameras, Kinect sensors and other. The proposed data processing infrastructure is based on the Fog Computing paradigm established by Cisco. The main reason for utilization of this approach is the necessity to process large amounts of data produced by the sensors within the considered Intelligent Space. Such amount could not be processed using typical Internet of Things solutions which rely heavily on remote Cloud Computing. The paper provides detailed description of hardware, software and networking solutions and also provides a couple of example applications within the implemented Intelligent Space.
An Empirical Study on Using Visual Embellishments in Visualization

In written and spoken communications, figures of speech (e.g., metaphors and synecdoche) are often used as an aid to help convey abstract or less tangible concepts. However, the benefits of using rhetorical illustrations or embellishments in visualization have so far been inconclusive. In this work, we report an empirical study to evaluate hypotheses that visual embellishments may aid memorization, visual search and concept comprehension. One major departure from related experiments in the literature is that we make use of a dual-task methodology in our experiment. This design offers an abstraction of typical situations where viewers do not have their full attention focused on visualization (e.g., in meetings and lectures). The secondary task introduces “divided attention”, and makes the effects of visual embellishments more observable. In addition, it also serves as additional masking in memory-based trials. The results of this study show that visual embellishments can help participants better remember the information depicted in visualization. On the other hand, visual embellishments can have a negative impact on the speed of visual search. The results show a complex pattern as to the benefits of visual embellishments in helping participants grasp key concepts from visualization.
Discovering the Markov network structure

In this paper a new proof is given for the supermodularity of information content. Using the decomposability of the information content an algorithm is given for discovering the Markov network graph structure endowed by the pairwise Markov property of a given probability distribution. A discrete probability distribution is given for which the equivalence of Hammersley-Clifford theorem is fulfilled although some of the possible vector realizations are taken on with zero probability. Our algorithm for discovering the pairwise Markov network is illustrated on this example, too.
Performing transient and passage time analysis through uniformization and stochastic simulation

This MSc project consists in an extension of the functionalities of the PEPA Eclipse Plugin, a state-ofthe-art tool for performance analysis and evaluation developed at the University of Edinburgh; this is built on the top of the Eclipse technology, and features a PEPA editor and instruments for steady state analysis via ordinary differential equation methods. The present contribution allows the computation of transient and passage time analysis for PEPA models, by means of two methods: • Uniformization. • Stochastic simulation. Such approaches, the first one analytical while the second one algorithmic, are complementary in the sense of a strong tradeoff memory-time: simulation always needs a very low amount of storage, almost independent from the model complexity, but it can take a quite large amount of time to gather enough elements to make a run significant; uniformization is a naturally accurate method, yet needs to store the state space of the model and suffers from slowness of convergence if the model is stiff or the observation time range too broad. This dissertation presents a mathematical treatment of the two techniques, as well as the description of their implementation; a discussion is further carried out about the results obtained for simulation and uniformization in various case study, and a comparison is illustrated with other existing uniformization based tools (IPC and HYDRA, developed at the Imperial College of London).
Unbiased Bandwidth Estimation in Communication Protocols 1

Heterogeneous communication networks with their variety of application demands, uncertain time-varying traffic load, and mixture of wired and wireless links pose several challenging problem in modeling and control. In this paper we focus on bandwidth estimation and elucidate why estimates based directly on bandwidth samples are biased. Previously, this phenomenon has been observed but not properly explained, it seems. Standard techniques for bandwidth estimation are based on measurements of inter-arrival times of packets as the bandwidth is proportional to the inverse of the interarrival time. Two main classes of bandwidth estimators are analyzed wrt how variations in the inter-arrival times affect the estimates. It is shown that linear time-invariant filtering of instantaneous bandwidth estimates does not change the bias. In contrast to this, smoothing the inter-arrival-time samples does give a bias reduction which depends on the properties of the smoothing filter. Hence, with such approach, noise attenuation can be traded against tracking ability wrt changes in the actual bandwidth. Copyright ©2005 IFAC
The relationship between MNCs’ strategies and executive staffing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of business strategies with executive staffing of multinational companies (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach Based on in-depth interviews conducted with top executives of 22 MNCs’, the authors identify important connections between international business strategies and staffing orientation. The authors used the qualitative research approach of building theory from interviews; thus, creating theoretical propositions from empirical evidence. Findings The authors find that when the pressure for global integration is high, MNCs use more parent-country national (PCNs) (ethnocentric staffing) as against the use of host-country managers (HCNs) (polycentric staffing) when this pressure is low. Additionally, MNCs using a global strategy are more likely to use an ethnocentric staffing approach, those using a multi-domestic strategy use a polycentric approach and firms using transnational strategy adopt a mix of ethnocentric and polycentric approaches. Research limitations/implications Although the authors derive theoretical patterns based on rich qualitative data, their sample is relatively small and comprises mostly of French MNCs. Generalizability to a broader context is limited. However, the authors’ findings have critical implications for future research. Practical implications The authors’ findings provide critical managerial implications for MNCs in matching their HR strategies with business strategies. These are important for effective strategy implementation. Originality/value Although MNC staffing orientations have been studied for a long time, their relationship to international business strategies is still not clearly understood. The authors contribute to the literature by investigating the relationship between MNCs’ business strategy types with staffing orientations.
Counselors’ and Counseling Students’ Attitudes toward Transgender Persons

ABSTRACT Issues related to persons who are transgender have gained large interest in recent years, but discrimination and differential health outcomes for persons who are transgender continue. This article reviewed the 14 existing studies on attitudes toward persons who are transgender, none dealing exclusively with counselors and/or counselors in training. This study involved investigation of those attitudes with a sample of 95 counselors and counselors in training. Findings indicated that counselors tend to have positive attitudes. Greater personal familiarity and multicultural competence as well as being female were associated with more positive attitudes, whereas quantity of diversity training was not related and professional experience was related to more negative attitudes.
H I Density Distribution Driven by Supernovae: A Simulation Study

We model the complex distribution of atomic hydrogen (H I) in the interstellar medium (ISM) assuming that it is driven entirely by supernovae (SNe). We develop and assess two different models. In the first approach, the simulated volume is randomly populated with nonoverlapping voids of a range of sizes. This may relate to a snapshot distribution of SN-remnant voids, although somewhat artificially constrained by the nonoverlap criterion. In the second approach, a simplified time evolution (considering momentum conservation as the only governing constraint during interactions) is followed as SNe populate the space with the associated input mass and energy. We describe these simulations and present our results in the form of images of the mass and velocity distributions, and the associated power spectra. The latter are compared with trends indicated by available observations. In both approaches, we find remarkable correspondence with the observed statistical description of well-studied components of the ISM, wherein the spatial spectra have been found to show significant deviations from the Kolmogorov spectrum. One of the key indications of this study, regardless of whether or not the SN-induced turbulence is the dominant process in the ISM, is that the apparent non-Kolmogorov spectral characteristics (of H I and/or electron column density across thick or thin screens) needed to explain related observations may not be in conflict at all with the underlying turbulence (i.e., the velocity structure) being of a Kolmogorov nature. We briefly discuss the limitations of our simulations and the various implications of our results.
Anti-Diabetic Effects of Madecassic Acid and Rotundic Acid

Anti-diabetic effects of madecassic acid (MEA) and rotundic acid (RA) were examined. MEA or RA at 0.05% or 0.1% was supplied to diabetic mice for six weeks. The intake of MEA, not RA, dose-dependently lowered plasma glucose level and increased plasma insulin level. MEA, not RA, intake dose-dependently reduced plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 activity and fibrinogen level; as well as restored antithrombin-III and protein C activities in plasma of diabetic mice. MEA or RA intake decreased triglyceride and cholesterol levels in plasma and liver. Histological data agreed that MEA or RA intake lowered hepatic lipid droplets, determined by ORO stain. MEA intake dose-dependently declined reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized glutathione levels, increased glutathione content and maintained the activity of glutathione reductase and catalase in the heart and kidneys of diabetic mice. MEA intake dose-dependently reduced interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 levels in the heart and kidneys of diabetic mice. RA intake at 0.1% declined cardiac and renal levels of these inflammatory factors. These data indicated that MEA improved glycemic control and hemostatic imbalance, lowered lipid accumulation, and attenuated oxidative and inflammatory stress in diabetic mice. Thus, madecassic acid could be considered as an anti-diabetic agent.
Vintage ed esperienza mediatica = Vintage and mediatic experience

The crisis of the Western culture has produced a radical alteration of the concept of past in the contemporary societies and this alteration has determined the birth of a new social phenomenon: the vintage. A phenomenon that is related to a large quantity of social area and, a cause of this, is complicated to analyse. The main scope of this article is to explore the reasons of the actual big success of the vintage. The individuals are involved by the vintage because the diffusion of the actual postmodern culture has weakened the social idea of the time. Indeed, there is a crisis of the conception of the traditional and linear time and the increasing diffusion of an eternal present. This is due to the social role of the media and, in particular, of the television, the first medium with the ability of register the main events of the human life. Events that therefore contemporary individuals can enjoy many times. In consequence of this, the vintage assume the identity of a substituted experience. In the vintage old and new are completely mixed and contemporary individuals can freely consume elements of the past. So, the vintage isn't a nostalgic elaboration of the past, because it's the result of a constructive attitude based on the fruition of mediatic texts of the past. For that reason, the vintage is a mediatic experience that individuals interpret like genuine experience.
Automatic segmentation and classification of mitotic cell nuclei in histopathology images based on Active Contour Model

Segmentation accuracy determines the success or failure of computerized analysis procedure in biomedical applications. This paper aims to develop a unique segmentation technique to identify mitotic nuclei from microscopy images of breast histopathology slides. The process involves detection and classification of cell nuclei based on computed features. The proposed method uses Active Contour Model for segmentation of cell nuclei and two versatile classifiers such as Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) for classification stage. Segmentation stage provides an accuracy of 95% for cell nuclei. This technique uses a single color channel and a reduced feature set for the whole process. Classification performance is evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and F-score measures. Analysis results showed good detection accuracy for RF classifier compared to SVM.
Self-Reported Experiences of Climate Change in Nigeria: The Role of Personal and Socio-Environmental Factors

In this study, we examined the individual and socio-environmental factors that mediate differential self-reported experiences of climate change in coastal communities in Lagos, Nigeria. Binary complementary log-log multivariate regression was used to model residents' experiences of changing rainfall patterns, ocean surges, and flood events. An analysis of both compositional and contextual factors showed that there were urban communities where vulnerability to flooding tends to be clustered, and that this was not fully explained by the characteristics of the people of whom the community was composed. This study, thus, underscores the importance and complex nature of the interaction between personal and socio-environmental determinants in shaping climate change experiences and vulnerability of individuals across coastal neighbourhoods. Key findings suggest certain sub-populations as well as geographic clusters in Lagos require special attention from disaster mitigation experts and policy makers.
Perception of prominence patterns in English nominal compounds

This paper investigates prominence patterns in English nounnoun compounds. A perception experiment is presented in which naive listeners rated the prominence relation between the two elements. It is found that either the first or the second element of the stimuli is perceived as more prominent, and that the distinction can be considered categorical. Pertinent statistics are discussed that can assess the reliability of different raters. It is shown that right prominence is more difficult to perceive by many listeners than left prominence.
Characterization of multilayer structures in fiber reinforced polymer employing synchrotron and laboratory X-ray CT

Abstract Specimens of carbon or glass fiber reinforced polymer can be imaged using both conventional laboratory X-ray micro-computed tomography equipment and synchrotron light sources. The image quality when using intense (partially) coherent synchrotron light is still superior, especially when applying phase-retrieval algorithms. In the resulting volume images, the fiber direction distribution and other mechanically relevant parameters such as volume fractions or layer thickness can be determined. In this contribution, we will demonstrate how fiber direction results can be used to detect regions with locally different fiber orientations in carbon or glass fiber reinforced polymer which arise in the molding process of such samples. To this end, we evaluate the three-dimensional fiber orientation tensor locally across the thickness of different specimens. For each resulting individual layer, we can automatically detect the layer thickness and the preferred fiber direction. These methods have been successfully applied to various commercial specimens. We will demonstrate results on volume images of samples from both synchrotron and laboratory micro-computed tomography and discuss the specific advantages and disadvantages in this application.
A Cacophony of Policy Responses: Evidence from Fourteen Countries During the 2007/08 Food Price Crisis

Phenomenal increases in food prices in 2007 and 2008 caused governments around the globe to panic. During the chaos which ensued, most developing countries responded to the crisis with a convoluted array of policies intended to stabilize domestic markets, placate consumers and other stakeholders, protect the vulnerable and, occasionally, address long-term food security concerns. However, there was a great deal of variation in the extent of intervention and the types of policies selected. Even among particular policy types, there was tremendous heterogeneity in timing, scale, implementation mechanisms, and other features. Utilizing a newly compiled sample of fourteen country-level case studies, this paper assimilates available evidence to compare the specifics of crisis responses. In this regard it differs from other policy response studies which focus more on policy types and titles, ignoring the details.
Pandemic Influenza: Is an Antiviral Response Realistic?

Background: Antiviral agents could play a significant role in the response to a future influenza pandemic, especially if an effective vaccine is unavailable. There is, however, a limited availability of antiviral drugs, as was the case during the A/Fujian(H3N2) epidemic in the 2003–2004 season. There are major differences among the available antiviral agents in terms of clinical pharmacology, adverse effects and resistance profiles, all of which must be considered when selecting agents for pandemic use and stockpiling. The logistic issues involved in delivering the drug to large populations must also be considered. The M2 ion channel inhibitors amantadine and rimantadine are partially effective for chemoprophylaxis of pandemic influenza, and when used for early treatment they provide some symptom relief. Interpandemic studies demonstrate that the neuraminidase inhibitors would be effective for both prevention and treatment of influenza. Conclusion: Given the limited supply and the previously demonstrated inability of the manufacturing sector to meet surging needs, an effective antiviral response could not currently be launched in the United States. Antiviral agents could be important in managing and treating pandemic influenza and reduce lower respiratory complications and hospitalizations.
Paxos-based weighted argumentation framework approach to distributed consensus

Paxos is regarded as one of the most important protocols for distributed consensus in the presence of failures. It uses a number of 2f+1 processes to tolerate the benign failure of f processes, by splitting them into different roles with tailored tasks. The protocol presents multiple engineering challenges, two of which are pinpointing the cause for stalling and identifying the faulty processes. In this paper, we propose an alternative solution based on weighted argumentation frameworks by introducing Distributed Dispute Trees and a new role (the Skeptic) which ensures safety by attacking each condition that is not met in the Paxos protocol. The other processes must collaborate to defeat the Skeptic and achieve consensus.
Manipulation with the AH1N2 humanoid robot an underactuated/overactuated problem

The first contribution of this work is the model of the AH1N2 humanoid robot as the fusion of five kinematic open chains, one for each extremity. This allows to calculate the relative position of any of the robot links and its control as a single entity. The second contribution is the analysis of the robot five degree of freedom arm. It presents two solutions for the inverse geometric model. First, when only the position is considered, it is overactuated, therefore an infinite number of solutions exist, we found them as sets of related joint intervals, but this method is computational intensive. So we propose another method to obtain the joint positions, in this case the desired position and approach direction are the input to an algorithm that gets the best solution for the problem. We also present an efficient way to compute the kinematic model (Jacobian) and its inverse and use it to solve the movement problem without the need of the solution of the inverse geometric model. The singularities of the workspace that result of the Jacobian analysis are also presented in the work.