Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Polyhedra operators for mesh refinement

We study the factorization of mesh refinement rules in terms of the polyhedra operator's duality, stellation, and truncation. Using this factorization, we show that the /spl radic/3-refinement and leapfrog transformation, known from its applications in discrete mathematical chemistry, differ by a conjugation by the duality operator. As an example of this relation we use a variational /spl radic/3-scheme to draw the mesh of the fullerene molecule C/sub 60/. We also find the relation between the simplest-scheme refinement and binary refinement of the Catmull-Clark scheme.
The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Patho-physiological Mechanisms and Novel Treatments

Background The human gut microbiome comprise a huge number of microorganisms with co-evolutionary associations with humans. It has been repeatedly revealed that bidirectional communication exists between the brain and the gut and involves neural, hormonal, and immunological pathways. Evidences from neuroscience researches over the past few years suggest that microbiota is essential for the development and maturation of brain systems that are associated to stress responses. Method This review provides that the summarization of the communication among microbiota, gut and brain and the results of preclinical and clinical studies on gut microbiota used in treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders. Result Recent studies have reported that diverse forms of neuropsychiatric disorders (such as autism, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia) are associated with or modulated by variations in the microbiome, by microbial substrates, and by exogenous prebiotics, antibiotics, and probiotics. Conclusion The microbiota–gut–brain axis might provide novel targets for prevention and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, further studies are required to substantiate the clinical use of probiotics, prebiotics and FMT.
Measuring psychosocial recovery after traumatic brain injury: psychometric properties of a new scale.

OBJECTIVES To determine the psychometric properties of the Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale (SPRS), an instrument developed to quantify disability and handicap in persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN Descriptive correlational study. SETTING Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit and Brain Injury Outpatient Clinic. PARTICIPANTS Two samples, a "subacute" group (n = 20) and a "long-term" group (n = 40), were studied to examine responsiveness (subacute group), reliability, and validity (long-term group) of the SPRS. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE The SPRS is a 12-item questionnaire measuring three domains of everyday living commonly disrupted after severe TBI: occupational activities, interpersonal relationships, and independent living skills. PROCEDURE Patients in the subacute group were rated with the SPRS by a clinician at admission to the rehabilitation unit and again three months later or at discharge from the unit (whichever occurred first). For individuals from the long-term group attending the outpatient clinic, a close relative was interviewed with the SPRS and other validating measures. The SPRS was readministered one month later. RESULTS Internal consistency of the SPRS was high (alpha coefficient = .90), as was agreement between raters and stability over a one-month period (r(i) = . 95 and . 90, respectively). Reliability and stability coefficients for the three domains of the scale were also high, ranging from.86 to.94 for reliability and.77 to.93 for stability. Preliminary evidence for construct validity was established with a number of standard instruments, with evidence of both convergent and discriminant construct validity from the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). The SPRS was sensitive to group differences on the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) and to changes occurring during the period of active recovery. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the SPRS has sound psychometric properties, being a reliable, stable, sensitive, and valid instrument. It is potentially useful in both clinical and research settings.
Automating pin field modeling for serdes channel simulations

The demands for higher serializer-deserializer (SerDes) data rates dictate the need for more accurate channel models. Assuming that component models are supplied by the vendor, then the printed wiring board (PWB) pin fields are frequently by far the most challenging models for a designer to generate. To greatly reduce the effort required for pin field modeling, automation of the model build process was undertaken. A useful automation script was realized by following a comprehensive set of requirements. Several examples illustrate the utility of this pin field modeling script.
Regulation of flavin synthesis by Escherichia coli.

SUMMARY: An approach has been made to the problem of how the synthesis of coenzymes is regulated. Two aspects of the problem have been studied, especially as they concern the synthesis of flavins by bacteria: (1) How are coenzymes prevented from being synthesized as fast as amino acids or nucleic acid bases? (2) How is coenzyme synthesis adjusted to the often changing physiological needs of bacteria? Evidence is presented that flavins cannot inhibit the activity of enzymes in the flavin biosynthetic pathway of Escherichia coli, but the amount of these enzymes can be made to vary by a factor of at least two. Repression might, therefore, account for the low rate of flavin synthesis. The possibility that repression rather than feedback inhibition also accounts for the low rate of synthesis of other coenzymes is discussed. Flavin synthesis is not as precisely adjusted to the physiological needs of bacteria as are syntheses of major metabolites for the following reasons: (1) Flavins are greatly overproduced by bacteria during exponential growth; the ratio of flavins excreted to flavins retained in the cells is between 0.8 and 8 for all strains and cultural conditions tested. (2) Flavin synthesis is not tightly geared to growth; thus, flavin synthesis goes on uninterrupted for more than an hour when the growth rate of E. coli or Pseudormonas fluorescens is abruptly reduced from a rapid rate to zero; also growth goes on uninterrupted for over an hour when the flavin supply is abruptly cut off from rapidly growing lactic acid bacteria. Evidently the control mechanism in the flavin pathway is not very sensitive to physiological needs. This conclusion probably applies to other coenzymes as well. Some incidental findings of interest from other points of view were: (1) Although internal flavins can get out of E. coli, external flavins apparently cannot enter. This could account for the absence of flavinless mutants. (2) After brief treatment with penicillin, E. coli becomes permeable to external flavins while remaining both impermeable to inulin and capable of synthesizing flavins. (3) Less than 4 % of the intracellular flavins of E. coli are free, in a form that can be extracted with n-butanol (5 %, v/v), toluene (0.05 %, v/v), cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (0.001 %, w/v) or distilled water. The remaining flavins are bound, in a form that can be extracted with trichloracetic acid (5 %, w/v). The intracellular concentration of free flavins in E. coli is estimated to be less than 4 x 10-6M.
A graph based approach to estimating lexical cohesion

Traditionally, information retrieval systems rank documents according to the query terms they contain. However, even if a document may contain all query terms, this does not guarantee that it is relevant to the query. The query terms can occur together in the same document, but may have been used in different contexts, expressing separate topics. Lexical cohesion is a characteristic of natural language texts, which can be used to determine whether the query terms are used in the same context in the document. In this paper we make use of a graph-based approach to capture term contexts and estimate the level of lexical cohesion in a document. To evaluate the performance of our system, we compare it against two benchmark systems using three TREC document collections.
Performance assessment of face-verification based access control system

In recent years there has been much progress in the development of facial recognition systems. The FERET series of tests reported the black box performance of several such systems working on stored face images. Much less effort has been spent in studying the behaviour of systems under realistic conditions of use. We describe and analyse the result of a trial of a door access control system based on a model-based approach. The trial consisted of 10 registered users making over 200 accesses during a 2 week period. We describe the internal failure modes and the performance characteristics of the system, identify inter- and intra-person dependencies and make recommendations for future work.
Screening of Brazilian plant extracts for antioxidant activity by the use of DPPH free radical method

Brazilian plant extracts belonging to 16 species of 5 different families (71 extracts) were tested against the stable DPPH (2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picryl‐hydrazyl‐hydrate) free‐radical. The ability to scavenge DPPH radical was measured in these experiments by the discoloration of the solution. Ginkgo biloba and rutin, commonly used as antioxidants for medical purposes, were used as standards. Based on our results, we can say that as a general rule the ethanol extracts of plants belonging to the Verbenaceae family showed lower EC50 values than the other plant extracts. Among the partitions, the more polar ones (ethyl acetate and n‐butanol) are those that generally have higher antioxidant activity (AA). Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An Evaluation of the CDC’s Community-Based Breastfeeding Supplemental Cooperative Agreement

Background: Community-based organizations (CBOs) have an important role to play in promoting breastfeeding continuation among mothers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Program’s Cooperative Agreement Breastfeeding Supplement funded 6 state health departments to support CBOs to implement community-based breastfeeding support activities. Objectives: Study objectives were to (1) describe the reach of the Cooperative Agreement, (2) describe breastfeeding support strategies implemented by state health departments and CBOs, and (3) understand the barriers and facilitators to implementing community-based breastfeeding support strategies. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative data were abstracted from state health departments’ final evaluation reports. Qualitative data were analyzed for common themes using deductive and inductive approaches. Results: Within the 6 states funded by the Cooperative Agreement, 66 primary CBOs implemented breastfeeding support strategies and reported 59 256 contacts with mothers. Support strategies included incorporating lactation services into community-based programs, training staff, providing walk-in locations for lactation support, connecting breastfeeding mothers to resources, and providing services that reflect community-specific culture. Community partnerships, network building, stakeholders’ commitment, and programmatic and policy environments were key facilitators of program success. Conclusion: Key lessons learned include the importance of time in creating lasting organizational change, use of data for program improvement, choosing the right partners, taking a collective approach, and leveraging resources.
Individual recognition by heart rate variability of two different autonomic profiles related to posture.

BACKGROUND Power spectrum analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) can estimate the state of sympathovagal balance modulating sinus node activity. In view of the large distribution of spectral variables, a recognition of well-defined physiological conditions has never been attempted on an individual basis. METHODS AND RESULTS We considered 10 spectral variables extracted from short segments (200 to 500 cardiac cycles) of 350 ECG tracings recorded in normal subjects in both supine and upright positions (700 patterns). The tracings were first ordered consecutively and subsequently assigned alternatively to a training or to a test set (each consisting of 175 cases, providing 350 patterns considered to be independent). A forecasting linear method estimated a normalized activation index (ranging from -1 for supine to +1 for upright) that concentrated the information derived from spectral variables and that identified, in the test set, individual by individual, approximately 84% of corresponding body postures. CONCLUSIONS The combined use of spectral methodology and forecasting analysis has revealed an information content embedded, per se, in a short series of RR intervals capable of recognizing, individual by individual, two different autonomic profiles related to posture.
Alterations in the GyrA Subunit of DNA Gyrase and the ParC Subunit of DNA Topoisomerase IV Associated with Quinolone Resistance in Enterococcus faecalis

ABSTRACT The gyrA and parC genes of 31 clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecalis, including fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates, were partially sequenced and analyzed for target alterations. Topoisomerase IV may be a primary target in E. faecalis, but high-level fluoroquinolone resistance was associated with simultaneous alterations in both GyrA and ParC.
Radical Ligands Confer Nobility on Base-Metal Catalysts

The oxidation state of metals such as copper and iron can be stabilized by organic ligands that add or lose electrons and facilitate catalysis. The industrial preparation of many chemicals relies on the unparalleled rate and selectivity enhancements offered by metal compounds in solution. In many cases, the best catalysts rely on the scarcest elements, such as rhodium, iridium, and platinum. The cost of these materials has long driven efforts to make soluble catalysts out of cheaper, more Earth-abundant metals (1), often by modifying their reactivity with their surrounding ligands. This is especially true for catalyzing reduction-oxidation, or redox, reactions, which are critical not only in catalysis but in energy generation and storage. Such reactions usually change the oxidation state of the metal in solution. We discuss why there can be advantages to having the redox changes occur in the ligands instead.
New parasite in a coprolite of 240 million years, biogeography of fossil coelacanths, and the influence of air pollutants in a coastal area of northeastern Brazil.

(AABC) publishes several papers on paleontology. Among them is the study of Priscilla da Silva (Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz) and colleagues who have made quite an interesting discovery: a new parasite in a coprolite of 240 million years (Da Silva et al. 2014). Coprolites or fossilized feces are not particularly rare, being constantly recovered during paleontological excavations, for all in areas that represent ancient shallow seas, lagoons or lakes (e.g., Vila Nova et al. 2011), where often they can be the most common fossil found. Occasionally they are also found in terrestrial environments (Souto 2000). Nevertheless they are not very commonly reported upon, possibly due to the fact that it is very hard to be sure which kind of animal produced them. Notwithstanding, it is quite an important material to be studied since they provide some important information regarding an animal´s diet.In the case of the specimen studied by Da-Silva and colleagues, they could attribute a coprolite to a primitive herbivorous cynodont, even though they were not able to precise which species. The material was recovered from layers of the Triassic Santa Maria Formation in Rio Grande do Sul at a site called Cortado. Being perhaps one of the few cases of a primitive cynodont coprolite, the most important aspect of this discovery was the identification of parasite eggs that the authors have attributed to a new ascarid species. It would be interesting to proceed with this kind of study in other coprolites of the Santa Maria Formation that might reveal more of such parasite, and try to establish if it was endemic to this region of southern Brazil during this geologic period.Another interesting contribution published in the present issue of the AABC is on the distributional pattern of an extinct group of coelacanths. This group of lobe-finned fishes is presently represented by only two species found in the coastline of the Indian Ocean and Indonesia (Holder et al. 1999), but in deep time they showed quite some diversity (Johanson et al. 2006, Miguel et al. 2014). Raphael Miguel (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) and colleagues have reviewed the distribution of the extinct coelacanth group called Mawsoniidae. Although known since the Triassic, those fishes are particularly common in Cretaceous deposits (Miguel et al. 2014). Biogeographic studies are quite interesting since they can help explain why the
A two dimensional model of curvilinear blood vessels with layered elastic walls

We present a two dimensional model describing the elastic behaviour of the wall of a curved blood vessel. The wall has a laminate structure consisting of several anisotropic layers of varying thickness and is assumed to be much smaller in thickness than the radius of the vessel which itself is allowed to vary. Our two-dimensional model takes the interaction of the wall with the surrounding tissue and the blood flow into account and is obtained via a dimension reduction procedure. The curvature and twist of the vessel axis as well as the anisotropy of the laminate wall present the main challenges in applying the dimension reduction procedure so plenty of examples of canonical shapes of vessels and their walls are supplied with explicit systems of differential equations at the end.
RandomOut: Using a convolutional gradient norm to rescue convolutional filters

Filters in convolutional neural networks are sensitive to their initialization. The random numbers used to initialize filters are a bias and determine if you will "win" and converge to a satisfactory local minimum so we call this The Filter Lottery. We observe that the 28x28 Inception-V3 model without Batch Normalization fails to train 26% of the time when varying the random seed alone. This is a problem that affects the trial and error process of designing a network. Because random seeds have a large impact it makes it hard to evaluate a network design without trying many different random starting weights. This work aims to reduce the bias imposed by the initial weights so a network converges more consistently. We propose to evaluate and replace specific convolutional filters that have little impact on the prediction. We use the gradient norm to evaluate the impact of a filter on error, and re-initialize filters when the gradient norm of its weights falls below a specific threshold. This consistently improves accuracy on the 28x28 Inception-V3 with a median increase of +3.3%. In effect our method RandomOut increases the number of filters explored without increasing the size of the network. We observe that the RandomOut method has more consistent generalization performance, having a standard deviation of 1.3% instead of 2% when varying random seeds, and does so faster and with fewer parameters.
Anthropometric, body composition and somatotype differences of Greek elite female basketball, volleyball and handball players.

AIM The aims of the present study were: a) to determine the anthropometric profile, body composition and somatotype of elite Greek female basketball (B), volleyball (V) and handball (H) players, b) to compare the mean scores among sports and c) to detect possible differences in relation to competition level. METHODS A total of 518 female athletes, all members of the Greek first National League (A1 and A2 division) in B, V and H sport teams participated in the present study. Twelve anthropometric measures required for the calculation of body composition indexes and somatotype components were obtained according to the established literature. RESULTS V athletes were the tallest (P<0.001) among the three groups of athletes, had the lowest values of body fat (P<0.001) and their somatotype was characterized as balanced endomorph (3.4-2.7-2.9). B athletes were taller (P<0.01) and leaner (P<0.001) than H players, with a somatotype characterized as mesomorph-endomorph (3.7-3.2-2.4). H athletes were the shortest of all (P<0.01), had the highest percentage of body fat (P<0.001) and their somatotype was mesomorph-endomorph (4.2-4.7-1.8). In comparison with their A2 counterparts the A1 division players were taller (P<0.001) and heavier (P<0.01), but at the same time leaner (P<0.001), and exhibited higher homogeneity in somatotype characteristics (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Anthropometric, body composition and somatotype variables of Greek female elite teamball players varied among sports; selection criteria, hours of training and sport-specific physiological demands during the game could explain the observed differences. More data are certainly needed to define the anthropometric profile of B, V and H female athletes internationally.
Learning Text-Line Localization with Shared and Local Regression Neural Networks

Text line detection and localisation is a crucial step for full page document analysis, but still suffers from heterogeneity of real life documents. In this paper, we present a novel approach for text line localisation based on Convolutional Neural Networks and Multidimensional Long Short-Term Memory cells as a regressor in order to predict the coordinates of the text line bounding boxes directly from the pixel values. Targeting typically large images in document image analysis, we propose a new model using weight sharing over local blocks. We compare two strategies: directly predicting the four coordinates or predicting lower-left and upper-right points separately followed by matching. We evaluate our work on the highly unconstrained Maurdor dataset and show that our method outperforms both other machine learning and image processing methods.