Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Neuro-Fuzzy based Approach to Software Quality Requirements Prioritization

Requirements engineering is one of the important topics in software engineering and correct understanding of requirements can affect the total quality of the whole software system. Lack of considering or wrong identification of requirements not only leads to customers’ dissatisfaction, but also leads to the software failure and increases the costs of development. Requirement prioritizing plays an important role in decision making process in subsequent phases and eliminates the complexities resulting from vague requirements. The aim is to find the right order of main requirements. Neuro-fuzzy system combines the ability of human reasoning (logic) through predetermined laws with the learning ability of neural networks and can apply the human expertise to find the total output value by using a set of laws stored in knowledge base. In this paper, we propose an effective approach to prioritizing software quality requirements based on neuro-fuzzy system. This paper shows that our proposed approach is more efficient in terms of both the time consumption and the learning ability compared to related approach. General Terms Software Engineering.
On the design of fast IEEE floating-point adders

We present an IEEE floating-point adder (FP-adder) design. The adder accepts normalized numbers, supports all four IEEE rounding modes, and outputs the correctly normalized rounded sum/difference in the format required by the IEEE standard. The latency of the design for double precision is roughly 24 logic levels, not including delays of latches between pipeline stages. Moreover, the design can be easily partitioned into 2 stages consisting of 12 logic levels each, and hence, can be used with clock periods that allow for 12 logic levels between latches. The FP-adder design achieves low latency by combining various optimization techniques such as: a non-standard separation into two paths, a simple rounding algorithm, unifying rounding cases for addition and subtraction, sign-magnitude computation of a difference based on complement subtraction, compound adders, and fast circuits for approximate counting of leading zeros from borrow-save representation. A comparison of our design with other implementations suggests a reduction in the latency by at least two logic levels as well as simplified rounding implementation. A reduced precision version of our algorithm has been verified by exhaustive testing.
The Data-Driven Algorithmic Composer

The Data-Driven Algorithmic Composer (D-DAC) is an application designed to output data-driven algorithmically composed music via MIDI. The application requires input data to be in tab-separated format to be compatible. Each dataset results in a unique piece of music that remains consistent with each iteration of the application. The only varying elements between each iteration of the same dataset are factors defined by the user: tempo, scale, and intervals between rows. Each measure of the melody, harmony and bassline is derived from each row of the dataset. By utilizing this non-random algorithmic application, users can create a unique and predefined musical iteration of their dataset. The overall aim of the D-DAC is to inspire musical creativity from scientific data and encourage the sharing of datasets between various research communities.
Applications of LCoS-based adaptive optical elements in microscopy

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS)-based spatial light modulators (SLMs) are versatile adaptive optical elements. In microscopy, among their applications are aberration sensing and correction in wide-field microscopy and also the implementation of holographic optical tweezers. For aberration correction, the required scene-based wavefront sensing can be implemented as a modified correlation-based Shack-Hartmann approach where a high-resolution SLM first senses and then corrects the aberrations. For the implementation of holographic optical tweezers, the SLM serves as a variable optical beam-splitter which is addressed with holograms computed by fast algorithms implemented on the graphics processing unit (GPU) of a common PC almost in real-time.
Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cells: Subsets, Expansion, and Role in Cancer Progression

Cancer immunotherapies have shown considerable promise in pre-clinical studies, but the potency of these interventions has often proved disappointing in vivo. This is in part due to tumor infiltration by myeloid cells, which are usually associated with less favorable clinical outcomes. In the past decade, several distinct subsets of tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells have been described (Movahedi et al., 2010), among which myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) have been subject to particular scrutiny for exerting a critical role in cancer progression (Bronte, 2009; Gabrilovich and Nagaraj, 2009; Ostrand-Rosenberg and Sinha, 2009; Ribechini et al., 2010). MDSC have been studied intensively in the context of cancer, and the weight of evidence indicates that these cells accumulate in most human cancers and also in experimental animal models with transplanted or spontaneous tumors (Eruslanov et al., 2011; Gabitass et al., 2011; Movahedi et al., 2008; Peranzoni et al., 2010; Raychaudhuri et al., 2011; Youn et al., 2008). MDSC also have significant roles to play in numerous other pathologies, including bacterial infections (Delano et al., 2007), parasitic infections (Brys et al., 2005; Goni et al., 2002), chemotherapy outcomes (Angulo et al., 2000), experimental autoimmunity (Arora et al., 2011; Kerr et al., 2008; Moline-Velazquez et al., 2011; Zhu et al., 2007), inflammatory bowel diseases (Haile et al., 2008), obesity (Xia et al., 2011), transplant rejection (Hock et al., 2011), and stress responses (Makarenkova et al., 2006).
Orthopedic Prosthetic Infections: Diagnosis and Orthopedic Salvage

Abstract Orthopedic hardware infections are much feared and costly complications that can occur when these devices are implemented both in traumatic cases as well as in joint replacement surgery. Because these infections can lead to great morbidity, it is important to understand their pathophysiology as well as the principles behind their diagnosis and initial treatment. Plastic surgeons are frequently consulted as part of a multidisciplinary team to provide stable soft tissue coverage of the associated defects that result from these infections. A review of the existing literature was performed to identify the potential causes of these infections, to provide established diagnostic criteria guidelines, and to explain how these prosthetic infections are managed from an orthopedic surgery perspective prior to consulting the plastic surgery team.
The p23 molecular chaperone promotes functional telomerase complexes through DNA dissociation

Telomeres are the composite of short DNA element tandem arrays and heterotypic protein components that protect and maintain chromosomal termini. As proper telomere maintenance requires a multitude of DNA extension events, it is important to understand the factors that modulate telomerase DNA association. Here, we show that the endogenous levels of the yeast p23 molecular chaperone Sba1p are required for telomere length maintenance and that Sba1p can modulate telomerase DNA binding and extension activities in vitro. Notably, telomere occupancy by telomerase and the extension rate of a shortened telomere fluctuated with changing Sba1 protein levels in vivo. In addition, we found that Sba1p displayed a cell cycle-dependent telomere interaction that paralleled telomerase binding; telomere association by Sba1p depended on its inherent chaperone activity. Taken together, our results support a model in which Sba1p modulates telomerase DNA binding activity for optimal function in vitro and in vivo.
Epstein-Barr virus infection.

The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) was discovered 36 years ago by electron microscopy of cells cultured from Burkitt's lymphoma tissue by Epstein, Achong, and Barr.1 Four years later, in 1968, EBV was shown to be the etiologic agent of heterophile-positive infectious mononucleosis.2 EBV DNA was detected in tissues from patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in 1970.3 In the 1980s, EBV was found to be associated with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and oral hairy leukoplakia in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). 4,5 Since then, EBV DNA has been found in tissues from other cancers, including T-cell lymphomas and Hodgkin's disease.6,7 EBV is .
Interleukin-28 B Genotyping by Melt-Mismatch Amplification Mutation Assay PCR Analysis Using Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms rs 12979860 and rs 8099917 , a Useful Tool for Prediction of Therapy Response in Hepatitis C Patients

Interleukin-28B Genotyping by Melt-Mismatch Amplification Mutation Assay PCR Analysis Using Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms rs12979860 and rs8099917, a Useful Tool for Prediction of Therapy Response in Hepatitis C Patients Salvador Fonseca-Coronado, Gilberto Vaughan, Mayra Yolanda Cruz-Rivera, Juan Carlos Carpio-Pedroza, Karina Ruiz-Tovar, Juan Alberto Ruiz-Pacheco, and Alejandro Escobar-Gutiérrez*
Histologic comparison of healing following tooth extraction with ridge preservation using two different xenograft protocols.

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study are to compare differences in histologic and clinical healing following tooth extraction and ridge preservation using two different xenograft treatment protocols. METHODS Forty-four patients with a non-molar tooth that required extraction and planned implant placement were randomly allocated into two ridge preservation protocol groups. Protocol 1 used a xenograft material consisting of 90% anorganic bovine bone in combination with 10% porcine collagen fibers combined with a resorbable bilayer membrane composed of non-cross-linked porcine types I and III collagen. Protocol 2 used a xenograft sponge composed of 70% cross-linked type I bovine collagen coated with a layer of non-sintered hydroxyapatite mineral on its surface combined with a resorbable membrane composed of type I porcine collagen cross-linked by natural ribose glycation. Following 21 weeks of healing, clinical measurements were repeated, and a core biopsy was obtained and prepared for histologic evaluation of percentages of vital bone, residual graft, and connective tissue/other (CT/other). RESULTS Similar percentages of CT/other were detected between protocols, with no significant difference between groups (P = 0.763). A significantly greater percentage of vital bone was detected in specimens in protocol 2 (P <0.001). Protocol 1 presented with a mean of 32.83% ± 14.72% vital bone, 13.44% ± 11.57% residual graft material, and 53.73% ± 6.76% CT/other. Protocol 2 presented with a mean of 47.03% ± 9.09% vital bone, no detectable residual graft material, and 52.97% ± 9.09% CT/other. Clinically, no significant differences in dimensional changes were evident between ridge preservation protocols. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate clinical and histologic differences seen when using these two xenograft protocols for ridge preservation.
Palonosetron versus older 5-HT3 receptor antagonists for nausea prevention in patients receiving chemotherapy: a multistudy analysis.

BACKGROUND No clinical standard currently exists for the optimal management of nausea induced by emetogenic chemotherapy, 7particularly delayed nausea. OBJECTIVES To compare the effcacy and safety of palonosetron with older 5-HT3 receptor antagonists (RAs) in preventing chemotherapy-induced nausea. METHODS Data were pooled from 4 similarly designed multicenter, randomized, double-blind, clinical trials that compared single intravenous doses of palonosetron 0.25 mg or 0.75 mg with ondansetron 32 mg, dolasetron 100 mg, or granisetron 40 μg/kg, administered 30 minutes before moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) or highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC). Pooled data within each chemotherapy category (MEC: n = 1,132; HEC: n = 1,781) were analyzed by a logistic regression model. Nausea endpoints were complete control rates (ie, no more than mild nausea, no vomiting, and no rescue medication), nausea-free rates, nausea severity, and requirement for rescue antiemetic/antinausea medication over 5 days following chemotherapy. Pooled safety data were summarized descriptively. RESULTS Numerically more palonosetron-treated patients were nausea-free on each day, and fewer had moderate-severe nausea. Similarly, usage of rescue medication was less frequent among palonosetron-treated patients. Complete control rates for palonosetron and older 5-HT3 RAs in the acute phase were 66% vs 63%, 52% vs 42% in the delayed phase (24-120 hours), and 46% vs 37% in the overall phase. The incidence of adverse events was similar for palonosetron and older 5-HT3 RAs. LIMITATIONS This post hoc analysis summarized data for palonosetron and several other 5-HT3 RAs but was not powered for statistical comparisons between individual agents. Because nausea is inherently subjective, the reliability of assessments of some aspects (eg, severity) may be infuenced by interindividual variability. CONCLUSION Palonosetron may be more effective than older 5-HT3 RAs in preventing nausea, with comparable tolerability. DISCLOSURES AND FUNDING Dr Schwartzberg is a consultant to and Dr Cox an employee at Esai. Mr Ballinari is a member of staff at and Dr Thorn consults for Helsinn Healthcare SA. Funding to support this study and the preparation of this manuscript was provided by Eisai Inc.
I'm Not a Human: Breaking the Google reCAPTCHA

Since their inception, captchas have been widely used for preventing fraudsters from performing illicit actions. Nevertheless, economic incentives have resulted in an arms race, where fraudsters develop automated solvers and, in turn, captcha services tweak their design to break the solvers. Recent work, however, presented a generic attack that can be applied to any text-based captcha scheme. Fittingly, Google recently unveiled the latest version of reCaptcha. The goal of their new system is twofold; to minimize the effort for legitimate users, while requiring tasks that are more challenging to computers than text recognition. ReCaptcha is driven by an “advanced risk analysis system” that evaluates requests and selects the difficulty of the captcha that will be returned. Users may be required to click in a checkbox, or solve a challenge by identifying images with similar content. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive study of reCaptcha, and explore how the risk analysis process is influenced by each aspect of the request. Through extensive experimentation, we identify flaws that allow adversaries to effortlessly influence the risk analysis, bypass restrictions, and deploy large-scale attacks. Subsequently, we design a novel low-cost attack that leverages deep learning technologies for the semantic annotation of images. Our system is extremely effective, automatically solving 70.78% of the image reCaptcha challenges, while requiring only 19 seconds per challenge. We also apply our attack to the Facebook image captcha and achieve an accuracy of 83.5%. Based on our experimental findings, we propose a series of safeguards and modifications for impacting the scalability and accuracy of our attacks. Overall, while our study focuses on reCaptcha, our findings have wide implications; as the semantic information conveyed via images is increasingly within the realm of automated reasoning, the future of captchas relies on the exploration of novel directions.
Building the Erbe-Verb: Extending the Feedback Delay Network Reverb for Modular Synthesizer Use

The paper describes the design of a Eurorack Synthesizer reverb module that extends the feedback-delay network reverb in several ways. The extensions are oriented around the needs of live electronic music: 1) the creation of abstract resonant spaces which may or may not have a resemblance to acoustic spaces, 2) quick modulation of all parameters – modeless morphing between all states of the reverb. In this short paper I will open up the design of the Erbe-Verb, show the techniques used, and how they combine to make a very flexible performance reverb processor.
Vector-velocity estimation in swept-scan using a K-space approach

The swept-scan technique (i.e., continuously moving a single-crystal transducer during pulse-echo data acquisition) is used in high-frequency, ultrasonic flow imaging. Relative to the conventional step-scan technique, swept scanning improves the rate of data acquisition and enables near-real-time, high-frequency color flow mapping. However, the continuous transducer movement may have nonnegligible effects on accuracy of velocity estimation. This paper introduces a spatial frequency domain (i.e., k-space) approach that quantifies the effects of both lateral and axial motions in a swept scan. It is shown that the k-space representation is equivalent to a Doppler-radio frequency (RF) frequency domain representation, and that transducer movement in the swept-scan technique results in a change in Doppler bandwidth. In addition, a vector velocity estimator is developed based on the proposed k-space approach. Both simulations and flow-phantom experiments were performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed vector velocity estimator. A 45-MHz transducer was scanned at 20 mm/s. The Doppler angle ranged from 29deg to 90deg, and the flow velocities ranged from 15 to 30 mm/s. The results show that the proposed k-space vector velocity estimator exhibited a mean error of 2.6deg for flow-direction estimation, with the standard deviation ranging from 2.2deg to 8.2deg. In comparison, for the conventional spectral-broadening-based vector velocity estimator ignoring the swept-scan effect, the mean error became 15deg and the standard deviations were from 2.7deg to 6.6deg
Immunofluorescence findings in lichen planopilaris: a contrasting experience.

To the Editor. — We read with interest the article by Ioannides and Bystryn 1 in the February 1992 issue of theArchiveson the immunofluorescence abnormalities in lichen planopilaris (LPP). They described seven patients with linear deposits of Ig restricted to the basement membrane zone of hair follicles and no staining of ovoid bodies. We report our direct immunofluorescence findings (DIF) in seven patients with LPP of the scalp. Patients and Methods. — We studied seven patients with LPP, six women and one man. Their ages ranged from 29 to 73 years (mean, 40.7 years). The duration of the disease (from onset to biopsy) ranged from 3.5 months to 5 years (mean, 1.6 years). The scalp was involved in all patients, with one patient also showing lesions consistent with lichen planus on the lower back. All patients presented with scarring alopecia of the scalp associated with small, follicular, violaceous to dusky
Reconstruction of EIT images via patch based sparse representation over learned dictionaries

Image reconstruction for electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a nonlinear problem. A generalized inverse operator is usually ill-posed and ill-conditioned. Therefore, the solutions for EIT are not unique and highly sensitive to the measurement noise. To improve the image quality, a new image reconstruction algorithm for EIT based on patch-based sparse representation is proposed. For each iterative step, the sparsifying dictionary optimization and image reconstruction are performed alternately. The proposed algorithm has been evaluated by simulation with noise for different conductivity distributions. It can tolerate a relatively high level of noise in the measured voltages of EIT.
Aspirin differentially regulates endotoxin-induced IL-12 and TNF-alpha production in human dendritic cells.

OBJECTIVE In the development of autoimmune diseases, dendritic cells (DC) play critical roles. Here, we examined the effect of aspirin on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced DC activation. METHODS The monocyte-derived DC were established. The cytokine production was measured by ELISA, reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction, or intracellular staining analyzed by flow cytometry. The expression of cell surface molecules was determined by flow cytometry. RESULTS Aspirin inhibited LPS-induced DC maturation and costimulatory molecules expression. Aspirin, at therapeutic concentrations, also decreased LPS-induced IL-12 and IL-10 production. In contrast, the LPS-induced TNF-alpha production was enhanced by aspirin. The differential effects of aspirin on IL-12 and TNF-alpha production may not be due to down-regulation of cyclooxygenase activities. CONCLUSION The various effects of aspirin on LPS-stimulated DC may influence the understanding of the diverse immunomodulatory mechanisms of this anti-inflammatory drug.
[The impact of the extent and time of operation on the survival in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC)].

INTRODUCTION To analyze the impact of time and extent of operation on overall and disease-free survival in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). MATERIAL AND METHODS Retrospective analysis of 1235 DTC patients, a representative probe of patients diagnosed or treated between 1986 to 1998 was performed. 277 patients were staged T1M0 and 958 ones staged > T1M0. 10-year outcomes were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional-hazard model. RESULTS The T1M0 patients were characterized by the best overall and disease-free survival independently of the time and the extent of operation (98% and 96% respectively); in > T1M0 group the survival was better in patients who were treated by total thyroidectomy (94% and 68% respectively) than in patients treated by non-total thyroidectomy (78% and 47% respectively). In patients treated by completion of total thyroidectomy delayed more than 1 year post cancer diagnosis the incidence of carcinoma in postoperative pathological material was twice as high in comparison to the group in whom total thyroidectomy was performed within the first year of therapy (p = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS 1. In differentiated thyroid carcinoma the prognosis is related to the extent of operation only in patients staged more than T1M0. 2. A delay > 12 months in completion surgery in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (tumors > 1 cm of diameter) significantly increases the risk of progression of multifocal disease in thyroid remnants.
The Matchmaker Exchange: A Platform for Rare Disease Gene Discovery

There are few better examples of the need for data sharing than in the rare disease community, where patients, physicians, and researchers must search for “the needle in a haystack” to uncover rare, novel causes of disease within the genome. Impeding the pace of discovery has been the existence of many small siloed datasets within individual research or clinical laboratory databases and/or disease‐specific organizations, hoping for serendipitous occasions when two distant investigators happen to learn they have a rare phenotype in common and can “match” these cases to build evidence for causality. However, serendipity has never proven to be a reliable or scalable approach in science. As such, the Matchmaker Exchange (MME) was launched to provide a robust and systematic approach to rare disease gene discovery through the creation of a federated network connecting databases of genotypes and rare phenotypes using a common application programming interface (API). The core building blocks of the MME have been defined and assembled. Three MME services have now been connected through the API and are available for community use. Additional databases that support internal matching are anticipated to join the MME network as it continues to grow.