Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Smart Data Selection and Reduction for Electric Vehicle Service Analytics

Battery electric vehicles (BEV) are increasingly used in mobility services such as car-sharing. A severe problem with BEV is battery degradation, leading to a reduction of the already very limited range of a BEV. Analytic models are required to determine the impact of service usage to provide guidance on how to drive and charge and also to support service tasks such as predictive maintenance. However, while the increasing number of sensor data in automotive applications allows for more fine-grained model parameterization and better predictive outcomes, in practical settings the amount of storage and transmission bandwidth is limited by technical and economical considerations. By means of a simulation-based analysis, dynamic user behavior is simulated based on real-world driving profiles parameterized by different driver characteristics and ambient conditions. We find that by using a shrinked subset of variables the required storage can be reduced considerably at low costs in terms of only slightly decreased predictive accuracy.
Weight loss associated with vagus nerve stimulation

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an approved treatment for the management of patients with medically intractable epilepsy. Seizure reductions of 30–50% have been reported. Over 13,000 patients have been implanted worldwide, and there are more than 5,000 patient-years of experience with VNS.1-3⇓⇓ Side effects include hoarseness (66%) and cough (45–53%), seen by the end of the first year. Throat pain (28%) and dyspnea (25–27%) may be seen by the end of the second year. Dyspepsia (21%), vomiting (18%), and insomnia (5%)1-4⇓⇓⇓ may be seen at any time. Usually these symptoms are mild, occur only during stimulation, and do not require removal of the device. Because one of our patients had considerable weight loss of more than 80 pounds after implantation of VNS, we reviewed our patient database for weight changes. All patients who underwent VNS implantation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Epilepsy Center between March 1998 and June 2000 were included in this …
Biological Evaluation of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage Using Thermoresponsive Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-Grafted Hyaluronan

In order to contribute to the development of minimally invasive surgery techniques for autologous chondrocyte implantation, a novel self-assembling biomaterial consisting of thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-grafted hyaluronan (PNIPAAm-g-HA) has been synthesized as an injectable scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and cytocompatibility of PNIPAAm-g-HA to normal chondrocytes by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis and histochemical staining in preliminary in vitro and in vitro experiments. Hematoxylin and eosin staining showed homogeneous distribution of cells in the PNIPAAm-g-HA hydrogel in 3-dimensional in vitro cultivation. Alcian blue staining also indicated that abundant extracellular matrix formation, including acidic glycosaminoglycans, occurred in tissue-engineered cartilage over time in vitro. Cartilage-related gene expression patterns, which were tested in rabbit normal chondrocytes embedded in the hydrogel, were almost maintained for 4 weeks. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) stimulation enhanced the expression of SRY-related HMG box-containing gene 9 (Sox9) and type X collagen genes suggesting promotion of chondrogenic differentiation. Histochemical evaluation showed neocartilage formation following subcutaneous implantation of the chondrocyte-gel mixture in nude mice. Furthermore, TGF-β1 stimulation promoted production and maturation of the extracellular matrix of the in situ tissue engineered hyaline cartilage. These data suggested that PNIPAAm-g-HA could be a promising biomaterial, i.e., a self-assembling and injectable scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering.
UWB radar for patient monitoring

During the last few years the Moscow Aviation Institute (Russia) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (Taiwan) have worked jointly on the development of ultrawideband (UWB) medical radars for remote and contactiess monitoring of patients in hospitals. Preliminary results of these works were published in [1]. As of the present, several radars have been produced and tested in real conditions in hospitals in Russia and Taiwan. Some results of these tests are given.
Uncoupling of RAD51 focus formation and cell survival after replication fork stalling in RAD51D null CHO cells

In vertebrate cells, the five RAD51 paralogs (XRCC2/3 and RAD51B/C/D) enhance the efficiency of homologous recombination repair (HRR). Stalling and breakage of DNA replication forks is a common event, especially in the large genomes of higher eukaryotes. When cells are exposed to agents that arrest DNA replication, such as hydroxyurea or aphidicolin, fork breakage can lead to chromosomal aberrations and cell killing. We assessed the contribution of the HRR protein RAD51D in resistance to killing by replication‐associated DSBs. In response to hydroxyurea, the isogenic rad51d null CHO mutant fails to show any indication of HRR initiation, as assessed by induction RAD51 foci, as expected. Surprisingly, these cells have normal resistance to killing by replication inhibition from either hydroxyurea or aphidicolin, but show the expected sensitivity to camptothecin, which also generates replication‐dependent DSBs. In contrast, we confirm that the V79 xrcc2 mutant does show increased sensitivity to hydroxyurea under some conditions, which was correlated to its attenuated RAD51 focus response. In response to the PARP1 inhibitor KU58684, rad51d cells, like other HRR mutants, show exquisite sensitivity (>1000‐fold), which is also associated with defective RAD51 focus formation. Thus, rad51d cells are broadly deficient in RAD51 focus formation in response to various agents, but this defect is not invariably associated with increased sensitivity. Our results indicate that RAD51 paralogs do not contribute equally to cellular resistance of inhibitors of DNAreplication, and that the RAD51 foci associated with replication inhibition may not be a reliable indicator of cellular resistance to such agents. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Making Public Space in Japan: Jizo Sanctuaries in Neighborhoods

The process of creating, maintaining, and understanding the public realm is of interest to a wide range of city design professionals and social analysts. A good starting point for any discussion about the public realm is sociologist/urbanist Richard Sennet’s position that the public realm is a place where strangers meet (2015). Sennet’s interest is in what happens in the place where the people meet, more speci cally the street.
Pulse design in UWB communications using Nyquist criterion

In this paper, we propose a flexible pulse design scheme that can be applied to ultra-wideband (UWB) pulse shaping. We employ the Nyquist criterion for the design of band-limited signals for no inter-symbol interference. The roll-off factor is applied to the UWB emission power mask. We obtain the transmit power that satisfies the UWB emission power mask as a function of the roll-off factor. We show that the transmit power gradually decreases as the roll-off factor increases. On the other hand the pulse ringing power decreases rapidly at low values of the roll-off factor
Caudate–putamen dopamine and stereotypy response profiles after intravenous and subcutaneous amphetamine

We compared the behavioral and caudate–putamen extracellular dopamine responses following intravenous (3.6 mg/kg) and subcutaneous (8 mg/kg) amphetamine administration using 2‐min microdialysate sampling intervals, and doses of the drug selected to achieve comparable maximal brain concentrations. Following intravenous amphetamine, dopamine peaked within the first 2 min, then declined with a first‐order decay rate of 0.018 ± 0.007 min−1. Following subcutaneous amphetamine, dopamine achieved maximum concentrations at 9 min and remained near peak levels for about 30 min before declining with a first‐order decay rate of 0.019 ± 0.008 min−1. Maximal brain amphetamine levels and peak dopamine concentrations were equivalent following either route of drug administration. In contrast to the short latency to maximal extracellular dopamine, the onset of oral stereotypies was delayed until about 30 min following both routes of drug administration. Furthermore, in contrast to the behavioral response to amphetamine, apomorphine administration resulted in the rapid appearance of oral stereotypies within 5–10 min after drug administration. These results suggest that although caudate–putamen dopamine receptor activation may be a critical factor in the expression of focused oral stereotypies, other effects of amphetamine may interfere with the ability of animals to exhibit these behaviors. Synapse 31:125–133, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Nonlocal smoothing and adaptive morphology for scalar- and matrix-valued images

In this work we deal with two classic degradation processes in image analysis, namely noise contamination and incomplete data. Standard greyscale and colour photographs as well as matrix-valued images, e.g. diffusion-tensor magnetic resonance imaging, may be corrupted by Gaussian or impulse noise, and may suffer from missing data. In this thesis we develop novel reconstruction approaches to image smoothing and image completion that are applicable to both scalar- and matrix-valued images. For the image smoothing problem, we propose discrete variational methods consisting of nonlocal data and smoothness constraints that penalise general dissimilarity measures. We obtain edge-preserving filters by the joint use of such measures rich in texture content together with robust non-convex penalisers. For the image completion problem, we introduce adaptive, anisotropic morphological partial differential equations modelling the dilation and erosion processes. They adjust themselves to the local geometry to adaptively fill in missing data, complete broken directional structures and even enhance flow-like patterns in an anisotropic manner. The excellent reconstruction capabilities of the proposed techniques are tested on various synthetic and real-world data sets. In dieser Arbeit beschaftigen wir uns mit zwei klassischen Storungsquellen in der Bildanalyse, namlich mit Rauschen und unvollstandigen Daten. Klassische Grauwert- und Farb-Fotografien wie auch matrixwertige Bilder, zum Beispiel Diffusionstensor-Magnetresonanz-Aufnahmen, konnen durch Gaus- oder Impulsrauschen gestort werden, oder konnen durch fehlende Daten gestort sein. In dieser Arbeit entwickeln wir neue Rekonstruktionsverfahren zum zur Bildglattung und zur Bildvervollstandigung, die sowohl auf skalar- als auch auf matrixwertige Bilddaten anwendbar sind. Zur Losung des Bildglattungsproblems schlagen wir diskrete Variationsverfahren vor, die aus nichtlokalen Daten- und Glattheitstermen bestehen und allgemeine auf Bildausschnitten definierte Unahnlichkeitsmase bestrafen. Kantenerhaltende Filter werden durch die gemeinsame Verwendung solcher Mase in stark texturierten Regionen zusammen mit robusten nichtkonvexen Straffunktionen moglich. Fur das Problem der Datenvervollstandigung fuhren wir adaptive anisotrope morphologische partielle Differentialgleichungen ein, die Dilatations- und Erosionsprozesse modellieren. Diese passen sich der lokalen Geometrie an, um adaptiv fehlende Daten aufzufullen, unterbrochene gerichtet Strukturen zu schliesen und sogar flussartige Strukturen anisotrop zu verstarken. Die ausgezeichneten Rekonstruktionseigenschaften der vorgestellten Techniken werden anhand verschiedener synthetischer und realer Datensatze demonstriert.
Detecção de Spams Utilizando Conteúdo Web Associado a Mensagens

Neste trabalho propomos uma estrategia de deteccao de spams que explora o conteudo das paginas Web apontadas por mensagens. Descrevemos uma metodologia para a coleta dessas paginas, caracterizamos a relacao entre as paginas e as mensagens de spam e, em seguida, utilizamos um algoritmo de aprendizado de maquina para extrair as informacoes relevantes para a deteccao de spam. Mostramos que a utilizacao de informacoes das paginas mencionadas melhora significativamente a classificacao de spams e hams, gerando um baixo indice de falsos positivos.Nosso estudo revela que as paginas apontadas pelos spams ainda sao um campo de batalha nao explorado pelos filtros, onde os spammers nao se preocupam em esconder a sua identidade.
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A) Is Involved in Guidance of VEGF Receptor-Positive Cells to the Anterior Portion of Early Embryos

ABSTRACT The hemangioblast in the mesoderm gives rise to both angioblasts and hematopoietic stem cells. The movement of hemangioblast precursor cells in the fetal trunk is a critical event in early embryogenesis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling is likely involved in this migration given the partial disturbance of VEGF receptor (VEGFR)-positive cell accumulation and migration in VEGFR2 null mice or mice with a truncated VEGFR1. However, it is not clear how the VEGF system regulates this migration or its direction. We show here that the expression of VEGF-A is dominant in the anterior portion of the embryo, whereas VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 are expressed in the posterior portion of the embryo. An inhibitor of VEGFR kinase blocked the migration of VEGFR-positive cells in a whole-embryo culture system. In addition, VEGFR-positive cells migrated toward a VEGFR1- or VEGFR2-specific ligand in vitro. Furthermore, VEGFR-positive cells derived from wild-type or VEGFR2+/− mice moved rapidly anteriorly, whereas cells derived from VEGFR2+/− mice carrying a truncated VEGFR1 [VEGFR1(TM-TK)−/−] migrated little when injected into wild-type mice. These results suggest that the VEGF-A protein concentrated in the anterior region plays an important role in the guidance of VEGFR-positive cells from the posterior portion to the head region by interacting with VEGFR in the mouse embryo.
Prevalence of species of Toxocara in dogs, cats and red foxes from the Poznan region, Poland

Abstract The prevalence of toxocariasis was evaluated for 445 dogs, 105 cats and 92 foxes from the Poznan region during 1997–1998. Forty one cats were infected (39%), 140 dogs (32%) and 15 red foxes (16%). Toxocara canis was found most frequently in puppies up to 3 months old (58%) and T. cati in kittens 4–6 months old (64%). Toxocariasis was much more prevalent amongst adult foxes (14%) than adult dogs (3%). In contrast to cats, female dogs and foxes were less infected than males. The present study suggests that cats may constitute an underestimated risk of transmission of Toxocara spp. to humans and the progressive synatropization of red foxes may also increase the sources of environmental contamination with Toxocara eggs.
Safety and efficacy of different lenalidomide starting doses in patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia: results of an international multicenter double-blinded randomized phase II trial*

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of different lenalidomide starting doses in patients with relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). CLL patients were randomized to receive lenalidomide at initial doses of 5, 10, or 15 mg/d (N = 103). Doses were escalated by 5 mg every 28-d up to a maximum of 25 mg/d; dose reductions in up to 5 mg decrements were permitted. The most common grade ≥3 adverse events (AEs) were neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Ten patients died during therapy (four deaths considered as related to lenalidomide); 12 patients experienced second primary malignancies. The most common cause for treatment discontinuation was AEs. Overall response rates were similar across arms. Progression-free survival and overall survival rates were longer in patients who escalated treatment (to 15 or 20 mg/d) versus those who did not. Lower starting doses allowed subsequent dose escalation of lenalidomide while maintaining an acceptable tolerability profile in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL.
Magnetic RAM Reconfigurable Array

—This paper presents the on-going research in developing a coarse-grained Reconfigurable Array using Magnetic RAM. The architecture is organized as a one-dimensional array of programmable ALU. The configuration bits are stored in magnetic random-access memories (MRAM). MRAM provide non-volatility with cell areas and access speeds comparable to those of SRAM, and with lower process complexity than flash memory. MRAM can also be efficiently organized as multi-context memories. This type of coarse-grained array, where each reconfigurable element computes on 4-bit or larger input words, is more suitable to execute data-oriented algorithms and is more able to exploit large amounts of operation-level parallelism than common fine-grained architectures. By substantially reducing the overhead for configurability, this coarse-grain architecture is also more apt to efficiently exploit run-time reconfiguration and therefore to take advantage of the multi-context MRAM-based configuration memories.
Sensory physiology, anatomy and immunohistochemistry of Rohon‐Beard neurones in embryos of Xenopus laevis.

Rohon‐Beard neurones show substance P‐like immunoactivity in their somas and in their centrally projecting axons. Peripherally, the morphology of their free nerve endings within the trunk skin has been shown using horseradish peroxidase staining. The excitation of Rohon‐Beard neurones by natural and electrical stimulation of the skin has been examined using intracellular micro‐electrodes in the late embryo of Xenopus laevis. Rohon‐Beard cells are sensitive to transient, local indentation of the trunk skin, responding with one or a few impulses. They adapt rapidly to repeated stimulation. They can also be excited by a brief current pulse to the skin. They are not sensitive to slow indentation of the skin, nor are they excited by epithelial action potentials. The responses to skin stimulation are not abolished by a Ringer solution containing 12 mM‐Mg2+ and only 0.5 mM‐Ca2+. Intracellularly evoked action potentials in single Rohon‐Beard cells are sometimes sufficient to evoke sustained episodes of fictive swimming. The results indicate that Rohon‐Beard cells are responsible for detecting light touch stimuli to the embryo's body and for initiating swimming in response to this stimulus.
Prescribing an equilibrated intermittent hemodialysis dose in intensive care unit acute renal failure.

BACKGROUND Prospective, formal, blood-side, urea kinetic modeling (UKM) has yet to be applied in intermittent hemodialysis for acute renal failure (ARF). Methods for prescribing a target, equilibrated Kt/V (eKt/V) are described for this setting. METHODS Serial sessions (N= 108) were studied in 28 intensive care unit ARF patients. eKt/V was derived using delayed posthemodialyis urea samples and formal, double-pool UKM (eKt/Vref), and by applying the Daugirdas-Schneditz venous rate equation to pre- and posthemodialysis samples (eKt/Vrate). Individual components of prescribed and delivered dose were compared. Prescribed eKt/V values were determined using in vivo dialyzer clearance estimates and anthropometric (Watson and adjusted Chertow) and modeled urea volumes. RESULTS eKt/Vref (mean +/- SD = 0.91 +/- 0.26) was well-approximated by eKt/Vrate (0.92 +/- 0.25), R= 0.92. Modeled V exceeded Watson V by 25%+/- 29% (P < 0.001) and Adjusted Chertow V by 18%+/- 28% (P < 0.001), although the degree of overestimation diminished over time. This difference was influenced by access recirculation (AR) and use of saline flushes. The median % difference between Vdprate and Watson V was reduced to 1% after adjusting for AR for the 22 sessions with < or =1 saline flush. The median coefficients of variation for serial determinations of Adjusted Chertow V, modeled V, urea generation rate, and eKt/Vref were 2.7%, 12.2%, 30.1%, and 16.4%, respectively. Because of comparatively higher modeled urea Vs, delivered eKt/Vref was lower than prescribed eKt/V, based on Watson V or Adjusted Chertow V, by 0.13 and 0.08 Kt/V units. The median absolute errors of prescribed eKt/V vs. delivered therapy (eKt/Vref) were not large and were similar in prescriptions based on the Adjusted Chertow V (0.127) vs. those based on various double-pool modeled urea volumes (approximately 0.127). CONCLUSION Equilibrated Kt/V can be derived using formal, double-pool UKM in intensive care unit ARF patients, with the venous rate equation providing a practical alternative. A target eKt/V can be prescribed to within a median absolute error of less than 0.14 Kt/V units using practical prescription algorithms. The causes of the increased apparent volume of urea distribution appear to be multifactorial and deserve further investigation.
Formation and path following for multiple mobile robots

Coordination have significant role in formation of a group of mobile robots. In this paper, we present path following and coordination in virtual structure for a group of mobile robots moving in formation. The simulation and experimental results obtained with three mobile robots are presented to demonstrate the performance of controller and coordination algorithms. The coordination algorithm instructs robots to interact and communicate information in order to facilitate an overall group mission.
Central pancreatectomy for a pancreatic metastasis of colon cancer - a case report

Background: Isolated pancreatic metastases of other neoplasms are an uncommon pathology, particularly with a colo-rectal cancer origin. Surgery represents the single hope for a long-term survival in these patients, but most of the previously reported patients in the literature underwent standard pancreatic resections. A central pancreatectomy is a non-standardized pancreatic resection, which was exceptionally reported for a malignant pathology. Case presentation: A 30-years old male, with previously left hemicolectomy for a sigmoid colon adenocarcinoma and left hemi-hepatectomy for liver metastasis, developed an isolated pancreatic isthmus metastasis, which was treated with a central pancreatectomy. Results: The early postoperative outcome was complicated by a splenic infarction, which required splenectomy. A margins negative resection was observed at the final pathology examination. The patient died with peritoneal recurrence 28 months after the pancreatic resection. Conclusion: A central pancreatectomy appears to be an oncologically safe surgical procedure for isolated pancreatic metastases of other neoplasms, in selected patients.
Evidence-based research ethics and determinations of "engagement in research".

Developing and implementing human subject protections should be based on data when possible. This is the rationale for the imperative to conduct empirical research in bioethics. 1,2 For example, knowledge of research subjects’ experiences, opinions, and perceptions can inform the way research studies and their informed consent processes are designed in order to optimize the protection of human subjects. This kind of research involves studying actual subjects in research studies. Such ethics research is itself human subjects research and raises the question of how IRBs implement the federal regulations and guidance provided by the Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP) in overseeing such research. This topic is particularly relevant to IRBs, bioethicists, and others who are committed to improving the practice of research ethics oversight. issue of what constitutes in research” in where from a clinical research study (which we will call “parent studies,” to distinguish them from the ethics research that focuses on the participants of those studies) take steps to help an ethics study team recruit subjects. Our experience indicates that IRBs’ interpretations of the guidance from the OHRP could have significant implications for the quality of ethics research.