Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of Augmented Reality (AR) for machining simulation of 3-axis CNC milling

Machining simulation to verify the correctness of numerical control (NC) program before physically downloaded and executed to a real machine tool is a common practice in many industries. Many simulation system that previously enhanced and applied based on 3D graphics in virtual reality (VR) environment, require measuring of completely dimension of a real machine tool before modeling of a complete machine tool. Besides, a large number of machining rules and theories must be modeled correctly as well as simulate complex machining process require prior expertise knowledges. This paper proposes machining simulation system which is easier to set up and operate through integrating with the Augmented Reality (AR). By integrating AR, machining simulation can be performed on a real machine tool without the needs to model the machine itself, machining rules, and theories thus provides more accurate NC program. The developed system can assist the user for positioning collision-free set up which is commonly occurs especially when conducting complex motion during machining process. A more detailed discussion related to AR development for machining simulation is presented in the paper.
Self-consistent neuronal population under spike inputs and unbalanced conditions

A single neuron gain function can predict the population activity of homogeneous neurons under strong limitations, such as the stationary state and balanced conditions of the total input. In this work, we propose a modification to the self-consistency model when balanced conditions are not fully satisfied. We present a scaling factor to modify the excitatory weights in a Brunel network. It allows using the self-consistency model in more realistic cases. The approach is used and analyzed for different network features.
Drivers of Output Loss during the 2008–09 Crisis: A Focus on Emerging Europe

We study empirically the role that initial conditions played in the emergence of cross-country heterogeneity in real output loss during the recent global financial crisis. We use a global sample covering over 150 countries and focus on the differences in the determinants of the crisis in emerging Europe compared to those in the rest of the world. We find that the differences in crisis severity in emerging Europe can only partly be explained by the factors that appear to be important for the global sample. Our results indicate that for the European emerging economies, growth above potential before the crisis coupled with external disequilibria as well as financial openness were particularly important mechanisms that increased the severity of the crisis in terms of output loss. We also find some evidence that pre-crisis FDI inflows softened the negative real output effects of the crisis in the region.
Calendar for everything: browse and search for personal archive on calendar

The amount of personal content is increasing significantly. Consequently, it has become difficult for people to manage this content in their personal archives. As a result, almost all personal content has become dead storage. We have developed browsing and searching techniques based on a calendar interface with a personal archive and developed a system that recommends personal content. The combination of these techniques and system allows content to be retrieved from a user's personal archive.
Promoter methylation and silencing of the retinoic acid receptor-beta gene in lung carcinomas.

BACKGROUND Retinoic acid plays an important role in lung development and differentiation, acting primarily via nuclear receptors encoded by the retinoic acid receptor-beta (RARbeta) gene. Because receptor isoforms RARbeta2 and RARbeta4 are repressed in human lung cancers, we investigated whether methylation of their promoter, P2, might lead to silencing of the RARbeta gene in human lung tumors and cell lines. METHODS Methylation of the P2 promoter from small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines and tumor samples was analyzed by the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Expression of RARbeta2 and RARbeta4 was analyzed by reverse transcription-PCR. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) was analyzed by PCR amplification followed by electrophoretic separation of PCR products. Statistical differences were analyzed by Fisher's exact test with continuity correction. RESULTS The P2 promoter was methylated in 72% (63 of 87) of SCLC and in 41% (52 of 127) of NSCLC tumors and cell lines, and the difference was statistically significant (two-sided P:<.001). By contrast, in 57 of 58 control samples, we observed only the unmethylated form of the gene. Four tumor cell lines with unmethylated promoter regions expressed both RARbeta2 and RARbeta4. Four tumor lines with methylated promoter regions lacked expression of these isoforms, but demethylation by exposure to 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine restored their expression. LOH at chromosome 3p24 was observed in 100% (13 of 13) of SCLC lines and 67% (12 of 18) of NSCLC cell lines, and the difference was statistically significant (two-sided P: =.028). CONCLUSIONS Methylation of the RARbeta P2 promoter is one mechanism that silences RARbeta2 and RARbeta4 expression in many lung cancers, particularly SCLC. Chemical demethylation is a potential approach to lung cancer therapy.
Cube management system: a tangible interface for monitoring large scale systems

Data Centers and Network Operation Centers focus on the challenge of monitoring thousands of devices. They attempt to quickly identify unusual or aberrant behavior. Once the device or problem area has been identified, it is handed off to another team for further investigation and repair. In this paper we present a monitoring system for large-scale installations which uses a tangible interface to reduce the cognitive demand on the administrators and which provides a natural mechanism for handling multiple failures and for delegating tasks among several administrators.
How slug herbivory of juvenile hybrid willows alters chemistry, growth and subsequent susceptibility to diverse plant enemies

Background and Aims Selective feeding by herbivores, especially at the seedling or juvenile phase, has the potential to change plant traits and ultimately the susceptibility of surviving plants to other enemies. Moreover, since hybridization is important to speciation and can lead to introgression of traits between plant species, differential feeding (herbivore-induced mortality) can influence the expression of resistance traits of hybrids and ultimately determine the consequences of hybridization. While it would be expected that herbivore-induced mortality would lead to greater resistance, there may be trade-offs whereby resistance to one herbivore increases susceptibility to others. The hypothesis was tested that the exotic slug, Arion subfuscus, causes non-random survival of hybrid willows and alters plant: (1) susceptibility to slugs; (2) secondary and nutritional chemistry, and growth; and (3) susceptibility to other phytophages. Methods Two populations of plants, control and selected, were created by placing trays of juvenile willows in the field and allowing slugs access to only some. When ≤10 individuals/tray remained (approx. 85 % mortality), ‘selected’ and undamaged ‘control’ trays were returned to a common area. Traits of these populations were then examined in year 1 and in subsequent years. Key Results The selected population was less palatable to slugs. Surprisingly, foliar concentrations of putative defence traits (phenolic glycosides and tannins) did not differ between treatments, but the selected population had higher foliar nitrogen and protein, lower carbon to nitrogen ratio and greater above-ground biomass, indicating that vigorously growing plants were inherently more resistant to slugs. Interestingly, selected plants were more susceptible to three phytophages: an indigenous pathogen (Melampsora epitea), a native herbivorous beetle (Chrysomela knabi) and an exotic willow leaf beetle (Plagiodera versicolora). Conclusions This exotic slug changed the population structure of F2 hybrid willows in unanticipated ways. Defence expression remained unchanged, while nutritional and growth traits changed. These changes caused plants to be more susceptible to other plant enemies. Other exotic herbivore species are anticipated to have similar direct and indirect effects on native plant populations.
A hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm and its application in hydrogen management

This paper proposes a hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm with local chaos search. It combines the particle swarm optimization with the chaos optimization and takes full advantage of the quick and broad search of the former and the randomness and ergodicity of the latter simultaneously. This hybrid algorithm not only overcomes the basic particle swarm optimization algorithm's disadvantage of easily getting into the local extremum in the later evolution period, but also keeps the rapidity in the previous period. In the final, this algorithm is used to resolve the static scheduling model of hydrogen balance in the refinery. The balance between hydrogen production and utilization is achieved, and at the same time, the cost of hydrogen utilization is reduced as much as possible.
Current clinical guideline definitions of airflow obstruction and COPD overdiagnosis in primary care

The aim of the present study was to establish the agreement between two recommended definitions of airflow obstruction in symptomatic adults referred for spirometry by their general practitioner, and investigate how rates of airflow obstruction change when pre-bronchodilator instead of post-bronchodilator spirometry is performed. The diagnostic spirometric results of 14,056 adults with respiratory obstruction were analysed. Differences in interpretation between a fixed 0.70 forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) cut-off point and a sex- and age-specific lower limit of normal cut-off point for this ratio were investigated. Of the subjects, 53% were female and 69% were current or ex-smokers. The mean post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC was 0.73 in males and 0.78 in females. The sensitivity of the fixed relative to the lower limit of normal cut-off point definition was 97.9%, with a specificity of 91.2%, positive predictive value of 72.0% and negative predictive value of 99.5%. For the subgroup of current or ex-smokers aged ≥50 yrs, these values were 100, 82.0, 69.2 and 100%, respectively. The proportion of false positive diagnoses using the fixed cut-off point increased with age. The positive predictive value of pre-bronchodilator airflow obstruction was 74.7% among current or ex-smokers aged ≥50 yrs. The current clinical guideline-recommended fixed 0.70 forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity cut-off point leads to substantial overdiagnosis of obstruction in middle-aged and elderly patients in primary care. Using pre-bronchodilator spirometry leads to a high rate of false positive interpretations of obstruction in primary care.
Intra-Section Analysis of Human Coronary Arteries Reveals a Potential Role for Micro-Calcifications in Macrophage Recruitment in the Early Stage of Atherosclerosis

Background Vascular calcification is associated with poor cardiovascular outcome. Histochemical analysis of calcification and the expression of proteins involved in mineralization are usually based on whole section analysis, thereby often ignoring regional differences in atherosclerotic lesions. At present, limited information is available about factors involved in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. Aim of This Study This study investigates the intra-section association of micro-calcifications with markers for atherosclerosis in randomly chosen section areas of human coronary arteries. Moreover, the possible causal relationship between calcifying vascular smooth muscle cells and inflammation was explored in vitro. Technical Approach To gain insights into the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, we performed analysis of the distribution of micro-calcifications using a 3-MeV proton microbeam. Additionally, we performed systematic analyses of 30 to 40 regions of 12 coronary sections obtained from 6 patients including histology and immuno-histochemistry. Section areas were classified according to CD68 positivity. In vitro experiments using human vascular smooth muscle cells (hVSMCs) were performed to evaluate causal relationships between calcification and inflammation. Results From each section multiple areas were randomly chosen and subsequently analyzed. Depositions of calcium crystals at the micrometer scale were already observed in areas with early pre-atheroma type I lesions. Micro-calcifications were initiated at the elastica interna concomitantly with upregulation of the uncarboxylated form of matrix Gla-protein (ucMGP). Both the amount of calcium crystals and ucMGP staining increased from type I to IV atherosclerotic lesions. Osteochondrogenic markers BMP-2 and osteocalcin were only significantly increased in type IV atheroma lesions, and at this stage correlated with the degree of calcification. From atheroma area type III onwards a considerable number of CD68 positive cells were observed in combination with calcification, suggesting a pro-inflammatory effect of micro-calcifications. In vitro, invasion assays revealed chemoattractant properties of cell-culture medium of calcifying vascular smooth muscle cells towards THP-1 cells, which implies pro-inflammatory effect of calcium deposits. Additionally, calcifying hVSMCs revealed a pro-inflammatory profile as compared to non-calcifying hVSMCs. Conclusion Our data indicate that calcification of VSMCs is one of the earliest events in the genesis of atherosclerosis, which strongly correlates with ucMGP staining. Our findings suggest that loss of calcification inhibitors and/or failure of inhibitory capacity is causative for the early precipitation of calcium, with concomitant increased inflammation followed by osteochondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs.
Interpretation and Use of Natriuretic Peptides in Non-Congestive Heart Failure Settings

Natriuretic peptides (NPs) have been found to be useful markers in differentiating acute dyspneic patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) and emerged as potent prognostic markers for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). The best-established and widely used clinical application of BNP and NT-proBNP testing is for the emergent diagnosis of CHF in patients presenting with acute dyspnea. Nevertheless, elevated NPs levels can be found in many circumstances involving left ventricular (LV) dysfunction or hypertrophy; right ventricular (RV) dysfunction secondary to pulmonary diseases; cardiac inflammatory or infectious diseases; endocrinology diseases and high output status without decreased LV ejection fraction. Even in the absence of significant clinical evidence of volume overload or LV dysfunction, markedly elevated NP levels can be found in patients with multiple comorbidities with a certain degree of prognostic value. Potential clinical applications of NPs are expanded accompanied by emerging reports regarding screening the presence of secondary cardiac dysfunction; monitoring the therapeutic responses, risk stratifications and providing prognostic values in many settings. Clinicians need to have expanded knowledge regarding the interpretation of elevated NPs levels and potential clinical applications of NPs. Clinicians should recognize that currently the only reasonable application for routine practice is limited to differentiation of acute dyspnea, rule-out-diagnostic-tests, monitoring of therapeutic responses and prognosis of acute or decompensated CHF. The rationales as well the potential applications of NPs in these settings are discussed in this review article.
Embedded Platform for Automatic Testing and Optimizing of FPGA Based Cryptographic True Random Number Generators

This paper deals with an evaluation platform for cryptographic True Random Number Generators (TRNGs) based on the hardware implementation of statistical tests for FPGAs. It was developed in order to provide an automatic tool that helps to speed up the TRNG design process and can provide new insights on the TRNG behavior as it will be shown on a particular example in the paper. It enables to test sufficient statistical properties of various TRNG designs under various working conditions on the fly. Moreover, the tests are suitable to be embedded into cryptographic hard- ware products in order to recognize TRNG output of weak quality and thus increase its robustness and reliability. Tests are fully compatible with the FIPS 140 standard and are im- plemented by the VHDL language as an IP-Core for ven- dor independent FPGAs. A recent Flash based Actel Fu- sion FPGA was chosen for preliminary experiments. The Actel version of the tests possesses an interface to the Ac- tel's CoreMP7 softcore processor that is fully compatible with the industry standard ARM7TDMI. Moreover, identi- cal tests suite was implemented to the Xilinx Virtex 2 and 5 in order to compare the performance of the proposed solu- tion with the performance of already published one based on the same FPGAs. It was achieved 25% and 65% greater clock frequency respectively while consuming almost equal resources of the Xilinx FPGAs. On the top of it, the proposed FIPS 140 architecture is capable of processing one random bit per one clock cycle which results in 311.5 Mbps through- put for Virtex 5 FPGA.
ZMesh: An Energy-Efficient Network-on-Chip Topology for Constant-Geometry Algorithms

This paper proposes an energy-efficient Network-on-Chip (NoC) topology called ZMesh, which is targeted towards the class of Constant-Geometry (CG) algorithms as well as generic traffic patterns. A simple technique has been followed to map functions to cores. The communication and traffic patterns of the considered algorithm class have been considered in synthesizing the proposed topology. The topology has been evaluated with the help of a cycle-accurate simulator for parameters such as area, power, and latency. Evaluation results show that the proposed topology has huge reduction in area at a nominal cost of latency when compared with DMesh, and better power-delay (latency) product when compared with several existing NoC topologies.
Data analysis technique to extract threshold value for Fuzzy Inference System in classifying malicious agents

This paper describes a data analysis technique used to extract threshold values of a Fuzzy Inference System's (FIS) inputs. In this work, the FIS is used to classify malicious agents' behaviour in a Multi-Agent System (MAS) environment. The extraction of suitable FIS inputs threshold values in the MAS environment are based on data analysis derived from several simulation runs. Subsequently, the extracted threshold values are applied in the rules of the FIS framework for classifying malicious agents' behaviors. Results indicated that extracting the fuzzy threshold values using the data analysis technique is an acceptable alternative method when no domain expert is available.
Temporal Parameters Estimation for Wheelchair Propulsion Using Wearable Sensors

Due to lower limb paralysis, individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) rely on their upper limbs for mobility. The prevalence of upper extremity pain and injury is high among this population. We evaluated the performance of three triaxis accelerometers placed on the upper arm, wrist, and under the wheelchair, to estimate temporal parameters of wheelchair propulsion. Twenty-six participants with SCI were asked to push their wheelchair equipped with a SMARTWheel. The estimated stroke number was compared with the criterion from video observations and the estimated push frequency was compared with the criterion from the SMARTWheel. Mean absolute errors (MAE) and mean absolute percentage of error (MAPE) were calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman plots were used to assess the agreement. Results showed reasonable accuracies especially using the accelerometer placed on the upper arm where the MAPE was 8.0% for stroke number and 12.9% for push frequency. The ICC was 0.994 for stroke number and 0.916 for push frequency. The wrist and seat accelerometer showed lower accuracy with a MAPE for the stroke number of 10.8% and 13.4% and ICC of 0.990 and 0.984, respectively. Results suggested that accelerometers could be an option for monitoring temporal parameters of wheelchair propulsion.
Neuroprotective Effect of Cycloheximide on Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury in Neonatal Rats

This study was done to determine the neuroprotective effect of cycloheximide on neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Seven day-old newborn rat pups were subjected to 90 min of 8% oxygen following a unilateral carotid artery ligation. The extent of cerebral infarction was evaluated at 1 and 4 week of recovery. Apoptosis was identified by performing terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) staining and flow cytometry with a combination of fluoresceinated annexin V and propidium iodide. Brain infarction area was significantly increased at 4 week compared to 1 week after hypoxia-ischemia in the control group. With cycloheximide treatment, the number of TUNEL positive cells in the ipsilateral cerebral cortex at 48 hr and peri-infarct area at 1 and 4 week of recovery was significantly reduced, both apoptotic and necrotic cells by flow cytometry 48 hr after the injury were significantly reduced, and the extent of cerebral infarction at 1 and 4 week of recovery was also significantly attenuated compared to the hypoxia-ischemia control group. In summary, our data suggest that apoptosis plays an important role in the development of delayed infarction, and inhibition of apoptosis with cycloheximide significantly reduces the ensuing cerebral infarction in a newborn rat pup model of cerebral hypoxia-ischemia.
Haptoglobin, hemopexin, and related defense pathways—basic science, clinical perspectives, and drug development

Hemolysis, which occurs in many disease states, can trigger a diverse pathophysiologic cascade that is related to the specific biochemical activities of free Hb and its porphyrin component heme. Normal erythropoiesis and concomitant removal of senescent red blood cells (RBC) from the circulation occurs at rates of approximately 2 × 106 RBCs/second. Within this physiologic range of RBC turnover, a small fraction of hemoglobin (Hb) is released into plasma as free extracellular Hb. In humans, there is an efficient multicomponent system of Hb sequestration, oxidative neutralization and clearance. Haptoglobin (Hp) is the primary Hb-binding protein in human plasma, which attenuates the adverse biochemical and physiologic effects of extracellular Hb. The cellular receptor target of Hp is the monocyte/macrophage scavenger receptor, CD163. Following Hb-Hp binding to CD163, cellular internalization of the complex leads to globin and heme metabolism, which is followed by adaptive changes in antioxidant and iron metabolism pathways and macrophage phenotype polarization. When Hb is released from RBCs within the physiologic range of Hp, the potential deleterious effects of Hb are prevented. However, during hyper-hemolytic conditions or with chronic hemolysis, Hp is depleted and Hb readily distributes to tissues where it might be exposed to oxidative conditions. In such conditions, heme can be released from ferric Hb. The free heme can then accelerate tissue damage by promoting peroxidative reactions and activation of inflammatory cascades. Hemopexin (Hx) is another plasma glycoprotein able to bind heme with high affinity. Hx sequesters heme in an inert, non-toxic form and transports it to the liver for catabolism and excretion. In the present review we discuss the components of physiologic Hb/heme detoxification and their potential therapeutic application in a wide range of hemolytic conditions.