Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accrual by groups in trials with discrete-time survival endpoints

Background In many fields of science, event status is often recorded in intervals or at discrete points in time and can be investigated in experimental settings. Conducting such trials requires thorough planning before they are actually performed. Purpose To investigate accrual by groups in a trial with discrete-time survival endpoints and to describe how to choose the number of accrual groups, the size of the accrual groups, and the duration of the trial to achieve a sufficient power level. Methods In trials with multiple time periods, the event status is recorded at the end of each period, but the event may occur at any time between the time points the measurements are taken. Therefore, time is recorded discretely, but the underlying process is continuous. To find the risk of event occurrence in each time interval, a continuous-time survival function is used and the generalized linear model is applied. Results It is observed that the combination of the number of accrual groups, the size of the accrual groups, and the duration of the trial that gives a sufficient power level depends on the shape of the continuous-time survival function, the proportion of subjects who have experienced the event after a fixed number of time periods, and the size of the treatment effect. Limitations The results of the study are only presented graphically, because there is no simple closed-form expression for finding the variance of the treatment effect. The authors provide MATLAB software to perform the power calculations. Conclusions More subjects should be recruited in each accrual group or more accrual groups should be included if the effect size or the proportion of the subjects who have experienced the event after a fixed number of time periods decreases, or the probability of the event occurrence is concentrated toward the end of the study duration.
THE NUCLEAR CYTOLOGY OF SPORULATION IN BACILLUS MEGATERIUM

A complete review of the literature on the extensive subject of sporulation in bacteria will not be undertaken here. The reader is referred to the exhaustive review of Knaysi (1948). The literature dealing with spore formation in bacteria is generally divided into three different categories, corresponding to three major interpretations of the process. The first of these interpretations, originated by Cohn (1876) for Bacillus subtilis, and by Koch (1876) for Bacillus anthracis, places the origin of the spore in a single granule. This granule makes its appearance as spore formation commences and rapidly increases in size and refringence. The second interpretation originated with Zopf (1883), who explained spore formation in Bacillu-s tumescens as an aggregation of several refractile granules. A process which must be placed in this category was described by Schaudinn in 1902 for the disporic organism, Bacillus biitschlii, and is of considerable importance because of the biologic significance attached to it by the author. The disappearance of a cross wall and the rearrangement of chromatinic granules into an axial spiral preceding their aggregation were interpreted as a primitive copulation of incompletely separated daughter cells. Dobell (1908) described a process in Bacillus flexilis identical to that proposed by Schaudinn. Later, presenting an altered concept (1909, 1911), Dobell challenged Schaudinn's interpretation of sexuality on the basis that a similar situation, with the formation of two spores, can arise in the monosporic organism, Bacillus spyrogyra, and merely represents an abortive cell division, not a sexual process. The third interpretation supposes the formation of spores by progressive condensation of the protoplasm. The gradual accumulation of "volume" of the "prespore" area suggested by the first two concepts differs from that suggested here in that spore formation is heralded by the sudden appearance of an evenly opaque spore primordium. This is denser than the cytoplasm and slightly larger than the finished spore. The contents of this area gradually increase in density and refringence, and a spore wall forms. Preisz (1904), who described this process in great detail for Bacillus anthracis and Clostridium tetani, observed a round or elongated nucleus within the spore primordium which disappears during maturation of the spore. Advocates of sporulation by condensation of the protoplasm are many, and their names need not be mentioned here.
Diversity with practical channel estimation

In this paper, we present a framework for evaluating the bit error probability of N/sub d/-branch diversity combining in the presence of non-ideal channel estimates. The estimator structure presented is based on the maximum-likelihood (ML) estimate and arises naturally as the sample mean of N/sub p/ pilot symbols. The framework presented requires only the evaluation of a single integral involving the moment generating function of the norm square of the channel-gain vector, and is applicable to channels with arbitrary distribution, including correlated fading. Our analytical results show that the practical ML channel estimator preserves the diversity order of an N/sub d/-branch diversity system, contrary to conclusions in the literature based upon a model that assumes a fixed correlation between the channel and its estimate. Finally, we investigate the asymptotic signal-to-noise ratio penalty due to estimation error and reveal a surprising lack of dependence on the number of diversity branches.
Power efficiency of voltage scaling in multiple clock multiple voltage cores

Due to increasing clock speeds, increasing design sues and shrinking technologies, it is becoming more and more challenging to distribute a single global clock throughout a chip. In this paper we study the effect of using a Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous (GALS) organization for a superscalar out-of-order processor, both in terms of power and performance. To this end, we propose a novel modeling and simulation environment for multiple clock cores with static or dynamically variable voltages for each synchronous block Using this design exploration environment we were able to assess the power/performance tradeoffs available for Multiple Clock Single Voltage (MCSV), as well as Multiple Clock Dynamic Voltage (MCDV) cores. Our results show that MCSV processors are 10% more power efficient when compared to single-clock single voltage designs with a performance penalty of about 10% By exploiting the flexibility of independent dynamic voltage scaling the various clock domains, the power efficiency of GALS designs can be improved by 12% on average, and up to 20% more in select cases. The power efficiency of MCDV cores becomes comparable with the one of Single Cloak Dynamic Voltage (SCDV) cores while being up to 8% better in some cases. Our results show that MCDV cones consume 22% less power at an average 12% performance loss.
Clustering seasonality patterns in the presence of errors

Clustering is a very well studied problem that attempts to group similar data points. Most traditional clustering algorithms assume that the data is provided without measurement error. Often, however, real world data sets have such errors and one can obtain estimates of these errors. We present a clustering method that incorporates information contained in these error estimates. We present a new distance function that is based on the distribution of errors in data. Using a Gaussian model for errors, the distance function follows a Chi-Square distribution and is easy to compute. This distance function is used in hierarchical clustering to discover meaningful clusters. The distance function is scale-invariant so that clustering results are independent of units of measuring data. In the special case when the error distribution is the same for each attribute of data points, the rank order of pair-wise distances is the same for our distance function and the Euclidean distance function. The clustering method is applied to the seasonality estimation problem and experimental results are presented for the retail industry data as well as for simulated data, where it outperforms classical clustering methods.
The Sperner Capacity of Linear and Nonlinear Codes for the Cyclic Triangle

AbstractShannon introduced the concept of zero-error capacity of a discrete memoryless channel. The channel determines an undirected graph on the symbol alphabet, where adjacency means that symbols cannot be confused at the receiver. The zero-error or Shannon capacity is an invariant of this graph. Gargano, Körner, and Vaccaro have recently extended the concept of Shannon capacity to directed graphs. Their generalization of Shannon capacity is called Sperner capacity. We resolve a problem posed by these authors by giving the first example (the two orientations of the triangle) of a graph where the Sperner capacity depends on the orientations of the edges.Sperner capacity seems to be achieved by nonlinear codes, whereas Shannon capacity seems to be attainable by linear codes. In particular, linear codes do not achieve Sperner capacity for the cyclic triangle. We use Fourier analysis or linear programming to obtain the best upper bounds for linear codes. The bounds for unrestricted codes are obtained from rank arguments, eigenvalue interlacing inequalities and polynomial algebra.The statement of the cyclic q-gon problem is very simple: what is the maximum size Nq(n) of a subset Sn of {0, 1, $$\ldots$$ , q−1}n with the property that for every pair of distinct vectors x = (xi), y = (yi) $$\in $$ Sn, we have xj−yj ≡ 1(mod q) for some j? For q = 3 (the cyclic triangle), we show N3(n)≃2n. If however Sn is a subgroup, then we give a simple proof that $$\left| {S_n } \right| \leqslant \sqrt 3 ^n $$ .
Interleukin-23: A key cytokine in inflammatory diseases

Abstract Interleukin-23 (IL-23) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine composed of two subunits, p19 and p40. The p40 subunit is shared with IL-12. IL-23 and IL-12 have different receptors and different effects. Whereas IL-12 induces development of Th1 cells, which produce interferon-γ, IL-23 is involved in differentiation of Th17 cells in a pro-inflammatory context and especially in the presence of TGF-β and IL-6. Activated Th17 cells produce IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-6, IL-22, TNF-α, and GM-CSF. Inflammatory macrophages express IL-23R and are activated by IL-23 to produce IL-1, TNF-α, and IL-23 itself. These effects identify IL-23 as a central cytokine in autoimmunity and a highly promising treatment target for inflammatory diseases. IL-23 is found in the skin of patients with psoriasis, in the bowel wall of patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and in synovial membrane of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. IL-23 is involved in osteoclastogenesis, independently from IL-17, via induction of RANKL expression. Debate continues to surround the role for IL-23 in the pathophysiology of inflammatory joint diseases (rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis). Ustekinumab, which inhibits IL-12 and IL-23 by blocking p40, has been found effective in cutaneous psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, as well as in Crohn's disease. Treatments that specifically target IL-23 (antibodies to p19) are being developed.
Characterising and measuring user experiences in digital games

In this paper, we describe the challenge of adequately characterizing and measuring experiences associated with playing digital games. We discuss the applicability of traditional usability metrics to user-centred game design, and highlight two prominent concepts, flow and immersion, as potential candidates for evaluating gameplay. The paper concludes by describing the multi-measure approach taken by the Game Experience Research Lab in Eindhoven.
Minimum spanning forest based approach for spatial-spectral hyperspectral images classification

In this paper, a new method for hyperspectral images classification is proposed. In particular, the notion of region-scale minimum spanning forest (RS-MSF) is introduced. In proposed scheme, hyperspectral pixels are first smoothed by the edge preserving filter and then RS-MSF is constructed. For building a RS-MSF, at first, a pre-segmentation is done by watershed, in order to divide the image into a lot of small regions. These regions will be considered as the nodes of regions of RS-MSF, instead of image pixels. “Nm” regions are randomly selected as markers. On the other hand, pixel-wise classification is performed for label assignment to selected markers. Then From this process, marker map is generated for the construction of MSF. The proposed method is tested on two different data sets of hyperspectral airborne images with different resolutions and contexts. The influences of the number of markers and parameters of filter are investigated in experiments. The performance of the proposed method is compared to those of several classification techniques (both pixel-wise and MSF based spectral-spatial method) using standard quantitative criteria and visual qualitative evaluation.
Ethosuximide Affects Paired-Pulse Facilitation in Somatosensory Cortex of WAG\Rij Rats as a Model of Absence Seizure.

PURPOSE The interaction between somatosensory cortex and thalamus via a thalamocortical loop is a theory behind induction of absence epilepsy. Inside peri-oral somatosensory (S1po) and primary somatosensory forelimb (S1fl) regions, excitatory and inhibitory systems are not balanced and GABAergic inhibitory synapses seem to play a fundamental role in short-term plasticity alterations. METHODS We investigated the effects of Ethosuximide on presynaptic changes by utilizing paired-pulse stimulation that was recorded from somatosensory cortex in 18 WAG\Rij rats during epileptic activity. A twisted tripolar electrode including two stimulating electrodes and one recording electrode was implanted into the S1po and S1FL according to stereotaxic landmarks. Paired-pulses (200 µs, 100-1000 µA, 0.1 Hz) were applied to somatosensory cortex at 50, 100, 400, 500 ms inter-pulse intervals for 50 min period. RESULTS The results showed that paired-pulse facilitation was significantly reduced at all intervals in all times, but compared to the control group of epileptic WAG/Rij rats (p<0.05), it was exceptional about the first 10 minutes after the injection. At the intervals of 50 and 100 ms, a remarkable PPD was found in second, third, fourth and fifth 10-min post injection. CONCLUSION These experiments indicate that Ethosuximide has effects on presynaptic facilitation in somatosensory cortex inhibitory loops by alteration in GABA levels that leads to a markedly diminished PPF in paired-pulse stimulation.
Real-time correction system for improving the disparity image

A correction method for local stereo matching disparity images is an essential technology in stereo vision. We propose the hardware architecture for correcting a real-time disparity image. This method uses the similarity between the pixel of invalid disparity value and the neighboring pixels to estimate an alternative value for the invalid value. The experimental results showed that the proposed system can correct a disparity image in real time for 60fps image processing.
A Decentralized Approach to Software-Defined Networks (SDNs)

Redistribution of the intelligence and management in the software defined networks (SDNs) is a potential approach to address the bottlenecks of scalability and integrity of these networks. We propose to revisit the routing concept based on the notion of regions. Using basic and consistent definition of regions, a region-based packet routing called SmartRegion Routing is presented. The flexibility of regions in terms of naming and addressing is then leveraged in the form of a region stack among other features placed in the associated packet header. In this way, most of complexity and dynamicity of a network is absorbed, and therefore highly fast and simplified routing at the inter-region level along with semi-autonomous intra-region routing will be feasible. In addition, multipath planning can be naturally realized at both inter and intra levels. A basic form of SmartRegion routing mechanism is provided. Simplicity, scalability, and manageability of the proposed approach would also bring future potentials to reduce energy consumption and environmental footprint associated to the SDNs. Finally, various applications, such as enabling seamless broadband access, providing beyond IP addressing mechanisms, and also address-equivalent naming mechanisms, are considered and discussed.
Making a difference: participation and well-being

Is community activism bad for your health? Everyone agrees that regeneration projects benefit when local people get involved; not many have stopped to ask how such involvement affects the participants. In an ideal world, people who take an active part in their communities gain confidence and pride from what they do. Everyone wins as the neighbourhood improves and the activists increase their sense of satisfaction from a job well done. But research summarised by Professor Carolyn Kagan in this report suggests that far from being a source of wellbeing, participation can actually increase stress. It tells of community activists working under unrelenting pressure: isolated, without supervision, coping with local conflict, without time off – and without pay. By definition, these activists are themselves already under considerable stress from the constant grind of life in an area of deprivation.Their community involvement then often results in them giving hours of emotional support to other group members, who may have been struggling all their lives with poor facilities and living conditions, and sometimes addictions, abuse and even violence. On the one hand, local people may see the activists as the problem solvers of the community; on the other, their links with the authorities can provoke suspicion or even hostility.
Take Part: participatory methods in art and design

The Take Part workshop explores the philosophical, ethical, political and methodological crossovers that exist between artists and designers working with participatory processes. The workshop brings together artists and designers who have developed innovative and compelling methods for collaborating with audiences and end-users. It aims to actively develop shared possibilities for collaborative research between these two communities of practice. The workshop raises the following questions: What opportunities and challenges might be revealed by the comparative examination of participatory art and design practices? How are questions of aesthetics, utility and impact deployed in the evaluative structures of these two fields, and how might the discourses of each shed light upon the other? What might these two communities of practitioners learn from each other in terms of methodologies and strategies of engagement?
The new biology of gastrointestinal hormones.

The classic concept of gastrointestinal endocrinology is that of a few peptides released to the circulation from endocrine cells, which are interspersed among other mucosal cells in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Today more than 30 peptide hormone genes are known to be expressed throughout the digestive tract, which makes the gut the largest endocrine organ in the body. Moreover, development in cell and molecular biology now makes it feasible to describe a new biology for gastrointestinal hormones based on five characteristics. 1) The structural homology groups the hormones into families, each of which is assumed to originate from a common ancestral gene. 2) The individual hormone gene is often expressed in multiple bioactive peptides due to tandem genes encoding different hormonal peptides, alternative splicing of the primary transcript, or differentiated processing of the primary translation product. By these mechanisms, more than 100 different hormonally active peptides are produced in the gastrointestinal tract. 3) In addition, gut hormone genes are widely expressed, also outside the gut. Some are expressed only in neuroendocrine cells, whereas others are expressed in a multitude of different cells, including cancer cells. 4) The different cell types often express different products of the same gene, "cell-specific expression. " 5) Finally, gastrointestinal hormone-producing cells release the peptides in different ways, so the same peptide may act as an acute blood-borne hormone, as a local growth factor, as a neurotransmitter, and as a fertility factor. The new biology suggests that gastrointestinal hormones should be conceived as intercellular messengers of general physiological impact rather than as local regulators of the upper digestive tract.
A Paradigm for the Behavioural Modelling of Software Processes using System Dynamics

Industrial software evolution processes are, in general, complex feedback systems. Recognition of this opens up opportunities to achieve sustained process improvement. The system dynamics approach was used in the FEAST projects to model behaviour of key process and product attributes, yielding foundations for a paradigm to achieve dynamic models of software evolution processes. It is based on top-down model refinement of a high level abstracted view of the process. Resulting models are relatively simple, when compared to others in the literature. Their simplicity, however, facilitates understanding, progressive refinement, subsequent validation, and industrial take-up. The paper illustrates the paradigm with a model of a process highlighting a particular issue. The results of executing this model indicate how one may analyse and eventually optimise division of resources between progressive activity such as functional enhancement and anti regressive activity such as complexity control. The approach and model are based on empirical observations and interpretation of the evolution phenomena. When appropriately refined and validated to reflect a particular process, a model such as this can more generally be used for release planning and process improvement. The approach, together with its models, provides the basis for management technology and tools to achieve sustainable long-term evolution of complex software and systems.
Synthesizing Algorithms with Performance Constraints

This paper describes MEDUSA, an experimental algorithm synthesizer. MEDUSA is characterized by its top-down approach, its use of cost-constraints, and its restricted number of synthesis methods. Given this model, we discuss heuristics used to keep this process from being unbounded search through the solution space. The results indicate that the performance criteria can be used effectively to help avoid combinatorial explosion. The system has synthesized a number of algorithms in its test domain (geometric intersection problems) without operator intervention.
A review of genomic data warehousing systems

To facilitate the integration and querying of genomics data, a number of generic data warehousing frameworks have been developed. They differ in their design and capabilities, as well as their intended audience. We provide a comprehensive and quantitative review of those genomic data warehousing frameworks in the context of large-scale systems biology. We reviewed in detail four genomic data warehouses (BioMart, BioXRT, InterMine and PathwayTools) freely available to the academic community. We quantified 20 aspects of the warehouses, covering the accuracy of their responses, their computational requirements and development efforts. Performance of the warehouses was evaluated under various hardware configurations to help laboratories optimize hardware expenses. Each aspect of the benchmark may be dynamically weighted by scientists using our online tool BenchDW (http://warehousebenchmark.fungalgenomics.ca/benchmark/) to build custom warehouse profiles and tailor our results to their specific needs.