Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Queueing Analysis of the Ordering Issue in a Distributed Database Concurrency Control Mechanism

A distributed database system is modelled as a producer-consumer. The producer generates transactions to be executed by the consumer after traversal of a computer communication network. Because of variable network delays, transactions arrive at the consumer out of order. The disordering issue is analysed; the network is modelled as an infinite server and the consumer as a single server which respects the initial order of transactions. Under the general assumptions of general distribution of transaction arrival times, network and consumer service times, the distributions of the end-to-end response time and of the delay due to disordering as well as other quantities of interest are derived. Numerical applications show that under some specific assumptions, it is reasonable to neglect the disordering effect as far as the end-to-end response time is concerned. 5 references.
Environmental Sex Determination Mechanisms in Reptiles

Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) was first discovered in reptiles. Since then, a great diversity of sex-determining responses to temperature has been reported. Higher temperatures can produce either males or females, and the temperature ranges and lengths of exposure that influence TSD are remarkably variable among species. In addition, transitory gene regulatory networks leading to gonadal TSD have evolved. Although most genes involved in gonadal development are conserved in vertebrates, including TSD species, temporal and spatial gene expression patterns vary among species. Despite variation in TSD pattern and gene expression heterochrony, the structural framework, the medullary cords, and cortex of the bipotential gonad have been strongly conserved. Aromatase (CYP19), which regulates gonadal estrogen levels, is proposed to be the main target of a putative thermosensitive factor for TSD. However, manipulation of estrogen levels rarely mimics the precise timing of temperature effects on expression of gonadal genes, as occurs with TSD. Estrogen levels may influence sex determination or gonad differentiation depending on the species. Furthermore, the process leading to sex determination under the influence of temperature poses problems that are not encountered by species with genetic sex determination. Yolk steroids of maternal origin and steroids produced by the embryonic nervous system should also be considered as sources of hormones that may play a role in TSD.
Augmented Earth: Towards Ubiquitous AR Messaging

Present augmented reality systems are isolated islands with no or little capability to receive 3D information from the outside world. In this paper we describe how Google Earth can be used to transform the physical world into an AR mailbox. We demonstrate a system where a mobile phone AR environment can be defined and advertised by a portal, using a simple visual/tangible approach. The focus has been on the ease of use. The current limitations are tracking stability and lack of high quality Google Earth content.
Survey of Clinical Breast Examinations and Use of Screening Mammography in Florida

This study examined data on usage of screening mammograms and clinical breast examination (CBE) by 1,339 Florida women interviewed during the 1991 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey. Among women 20 to 40 years old, 87.3% reported a CBE within the past 3 years, exceeding the guidelines of the American Cancer Society. Among older women, 70.4% had a CBE within the past year as recommended. However, only a bare majority (50.5%) of those aged 50 or older had obtained a mammogram in the past year. Annual household income, but not educational level, was positively associated with adherence to mammography. Among those having mammograms, self-referred women were more educated, more affluent, and more likely to be white than were physician-referred women. Further efforts and resources must be directed toward education of physicians and the public on the value of regular mammography for all Florida women, especially for our elderly and economically disadvantaged.
Vα14iNKT Cells Promote Liver Pathology during Adenovirus Infection by Inducing CCL5 Production: Implications for Gene Therapy

ABSTRACT Replication-defective recombinant adenoviruses are the most widely studied replication-defective vectors for the potential treatment of inherited human diseases. However, broad clinical application of replication-defective adenoviruses in gene therapy is being hindered by the induction of vigorous innate and adaptive immune responses against the vector that cause deleterious effects in the liver. Vα14 invariant natural killer T cells (Vα14iNKT cells) are thymus-derived innate T cells at the interface between the two arms of the immune response and provide full engagement of host defense. The pathophysiological role of intrahepatic Vα14iNKT cells during replication-defective adenovirus infection is not known and is the main focus of our study. Our data showed that intrahepatic Vα14iNKT cells were activated in response to adenovirus infection to induce significant levels of hepatic chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5) and subsequent liver toxicity. Moreover, intrahepatic CCL5 production was selectively reduced by Vα14iNKT cell deficiency. In vivo studies utilizing CCL5-deficient mice or Vα14iNKT cell-deficient mice demonstrated that CCL5 deficiency or Vα14iNKT cell deficiency was associated with reduced liver pathology. Similar results were seen after blocking the biological effects of the CCL5 receptors. In conclusion, we have identified an important proinflammatory role for activated intrahepatic Vα14iNKT cells in positively influencing hepatic CCL5 production to promote acute liver inflammation and injury. Therefore, our findings highlight the blockade of CCL5 interaction with a cognate receptor(s) as an important potential strategy to alleviate liver pathology associated with replication-defective adenovirus infection.
A Long Eclipse: The Liberal Protestant Establishment and the Canadian University, 1920–1970 (review)

about people. Liverpool appears in the index, but London does not, and the names of Italian cities, for example, are entirely absent. At times, too, the wealth of descriptive detail in this work is overwhelming. Beyond doubt, however, Morgan has succeeded in producing a complex and convincing interpretation of the mind of EnglishCanadian tourists in search of both a new view of the world and an affirmation of their own place within it. PATRICIA JASEN Lakehead University
Atomic-level functional model of dengue virus Envelope protein infectivity

Significance Dengue virus (DENV) infects nearly 400 million people annually, and approximately 40% of the world’s population lives at risk for infection. Without a therapeutic or vaccine available, DENV remains a major public health burden. Our studies provide a comprehensive structure–function analysis of the DENV Envelope protein, integrating information from numerous Envelope structures with our functional data into a cohesive mechanistic model. This model describes the dynamic processes by which specific residue interactions within Envelope mediate infectivity—from fusion-loop triggering to hinge movement to membrane fusion—and may also apply to related class II viral fusion proteins. Because of the importance of the specific amino acids identified, our results also identify new functional residue targets for DENV vaccines and therapeutics. A number of structures have been solved for the Envelope (E) protein from dengue virus and closely related flaviviruses, providing detailed pictures of the conformational states of the protein at different stages of infectivity. However, the key functional residues responsible for mediating the dynamic changes between these structures remain largely unknown. Using a comprehensive library of functional point mutations covering all 390 residues of the dengue virus E protein ectodomain, we identified residues that are critical for virus infectivity, but that do not affect E protein expression, folding, virion assembly, or budding. The locations and atomic interactions of these critical residues within different structures representing distinct fusogenic conformations help to explain how E protein (i) regulates fusion-loop exposure by shielding, tethering, and triggering its release; (ii) enables hinge movements between E domain interfaces during triggered structural transformations; and (iii) drives membrane fusion through late-stage zipper contacts with stem. These results provide structural targets for drug and vaccine development and integrate the findings from structural studies and isolated mutagenesis efforts into a cohesive model that explains how specific residues in this class II viral fusion protein enable virus infectivity.
Influence of the larval environment on performance and adult body size of the wood‐boring beetle Phoracantha semipunctata

Large body size confers a reproductive advantage to adults of the wood‐boring beetle Phoracantha semipunctata (F.) (Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Phoracanthini). Larvae of this species feed subcortically in stressed and dying eucalypt trees and logs. We evaluated the influence of the larval environment on larval performance and adult body size by manipulating the post‐felling age of host logs (from freshly cut to 2‐weeks‐old) and the density of colonizing neonates (low density with minimal competition for resources vs. high density with intense competition). Adult beetles emerged in greater numbers from logs that had been subjected to the aging treatment which reduced bark moisture content and favored colonization by neonates. Survival was greatest in larger logs having lower densities of neonates, but was greatly diminished in all treatments by mortality during pupation. Development time varied from 2 months to more than a year and was shortest in smaller logs having high densities of larvae. The size of adult beetles emerging from a log was not influenced by larval density, but was positively correlated with the age of logs when the neonates colonized, and log size. These findings suggest that the optimal developmental conditions for P. semipunctata larvae, in terms of larval performance and adult body size, are available in large, aged host logs having low densities of larvae. Manipulation of the larval environment in this study resulted in a considerable variation in adult body size, but large individuals were relatively more common in the wild population that was the source of neonates for the experiment. Potential body size may have been constrained by our use of only one host species and a narrow range of log dimensions.
Near optimal synthesis of exponential log-periodic dipole array geometry by applying invasive weed optimization

A new geometry of log-periodic dipole array (LPDA) is presented in this work. Unlike the traditional LPDA geometry, where all dipoles are considered to be inside the same angular sector, the proposed LPDA adopts an exponential geometry, described by two parameters called exponential scale factor and exponential relative spacing. By properly adjusting these two parameters, the exponential LPDA (ELPDA) geometry obtains wideband behavior with excellent radiation characteristics. A near optimal ELPDA geometry that achieves the desired radiation characteristics inside the required bandwidth is found in the present work by applying a recently developed method called invasive weed optimization (IWO). In particular, the ELPDA is required to operate in the 800-3300MHz frequency range under specific constraints concerning standing wave ratio, forward gain, gain flatness, front-to-back ratio and side lobe level. A comparison with a traditional LPDA of the same total antenna length exhibits the superiority of the proposed geometry.
Interferon-beta treatment eliminates cardiotropic viruses and improves left ventricular function in patients with myocardial persistence of viral genomes and left ventricular dysfunction.

BACKGROUND Viral infections are important causes of myocarditis and may induce cardiac dysfunction and finally lead to dilated cardiomyopathy. We investigated whether interferon (IFN)-beta therapy is safe and may achieve virus clearance and prevent deterioration of left ventricular (LV) function in patients with myocardial virus persistence. METHODS AND RESULTS In this phase II study, 22 consecutive patients with persistence of LV dysfunction (history of symptoms, 44+/-27 months) and polymerase chain reaction-proven enteroviral or adenoviral genomes were treated with 18x10(6) IU/week IFN-beta (Beneferon) subcutaneously for 24 weeks. Histological and immunohistological analysis of endomyocardial biopsies was used to characterize myocardial inflammation. LV diameters and ejection fraction were assessed by echocardiography and angiography, respectively. During the treatment period, IFN-beta was well tolerated by all patients. No patient deteriorated. Clearance of viral genomes was observed in 22 of 22 of patients after antiviral therapy. Virus clearance was paralleled by a significant decrease of LV end diastolic and end systolic diameters, decreasing from 59.7+/-11.1 to 56.5+/-10.0 mm (P<0.001) and 43.2+/-13.6 to 39.4+/-12.1 mm (P<0.001), respectively. LV ejection fraction increased from 44.6+/-15.5% to 53.1+/-16.8% (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS A 6 months, IFN-beta treatment was safe in patients with myocardial enteroviral or adenoviral persistence and LV dysfunction and resulted in elimination of viral genomes (22 of 22 patients) and improved LV function (15 of 22 patients).
Feature-based retrieval of similar shapes

A shape similarity-based retrieval method for image databases that supports a variety of queries is proposed. It is flexible with respect to the choice of feature and definition of similarity and is implementable using existing multidimensional point access methods. A prototype system that handles the problems of distortion and occlusion is described. Experiments with one specific point access method (PAM) are presented. <<ETX>>
The Mythic Image

A paperback edition of Campbell's major study of the mythology of the world's high civilizations over five millennia. It includes nearly 450 illustrations. The text is the same as that of the 1974 edition. Mythologist Joseph Campbell was a masterful storyteller, able to weave tales from every corner of the world into compelling, even spellbinding, narratives. His interest in comparative mythology began in childhood, when the young Joe Campbell was taken to see Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show at Madison Square Garden. He started writing articles on Native American mythology in high school, and the parallels between age-old myths and the mythic themes in literature and dreams became a lifelong preoccupation. Campbell's best-known work is The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), which became a New York Times paperback best-seller for Princeton in 1988 after Campbell's star turn on the Bill Moyers television program The Power of Myth. During his early years as a professor of comparative religion at Sarah Lawrence College, Campbell made the acquaintance of Indologist Heinrich Zimmer, a kindred spirit who introduced him to Paul and Mary Mellon, the founders of Bollingen Series. They chose Campbell's The Mythic Image as the culmination of the series, giving it the closing position--number one hundred. A lavishly illustrated and beautifully produced study of the mythology of the world's high civilizations, The Mythic Image received a front-cover review in the New York Times Book Review upon publication. Through the medium of visual art, the book explores the relation of dreams to myth and demonstrates the important differences between oriental and occidental interpretations of dreams and life.
Particle Size Measurement Based on Image Multivariate Multiscale Entropy

An image-based multivariate multiscale entropy (MMSE) method used to measure the size of stacking particles is proposed. The intensive stacking particles with irregular shape and different sizes are collected online and processed by gradient image and one-dimensional coarse graining. Composite delay vectors are formed on row space to eliminate noise between multichannel variables. Then, the multivariate multiscale entropy is calculated in order to match the particle sizes. By comparing with the state-of-the-art methods, the experiment results indicate that the method can obtain the online intensive stacking particle size accurately without image segmentation.
Nonlinear distortions and multisine signals. I. Measuring the best linear approximation

This paper examines the effects of nonlinearities on periodic multifrequency signals. A class of broadband pilot test signals is proposed, termed sparse odd multisines, which can be used to establish the system bandwidth and detect nonlinearities. Signals are then defined within this class which allow the measurement of the best linear approximation to a nonlinear system. A comparison is made with related work in this area.
Finger identification and hand gesture recognition techniques for natural user interface

The natural user interface using hand gesture have been popular field in Human-Computer-Interaction(HCI). Many research papers have been proposed in this field. They proposed vision-based, glove-based and depth-based approach for hand gesture recognition. However, hand gesture itself is simple and not natural way to interact. In otherwise, hand gesture recognition using finger tracking and identification can be implemented more robust and subtle recognition. Recently, new horizons are open with the development of sensors and technology such as Kinect and Depth-Sense. This development has made possible robust recognition, like finger identification and hand gesture recognition in bad conditions such as dark light and rough background as well. In this paper, we proposed a new finger identification and hand gesture recognition techniques with kinect depth data. Our proposed finger identification and gesture recognition methods provide natural interactions and interface by using fingers. We implemented interfaces and designed hand gestures using this method. This paper explains finger identification method and hand gesture recognition in detail. We show the preliminary experiment for evaluating accuracy of finger identification and hand gesture recognition accuracy. Finally, we discuss the result of evaluation and our contributions.
Review: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy, prion angiopathy, CADASIL and the spectrum of protein elimination failure angiopathies (PEFA) in neurodegenerative disease with a focus on therapy

Failure of elimination of proteins from the brain is a major feature in many neurodegenerative diseases. Insoluble proteins accumulate in brain parenchyma and in walls of cerebral capillaries and arteries. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a descriptive term for amyloid in vessel walls. Here, we adopt the term protein elimination failure angiopathy (PEFA) to focus on mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of a spectrum of disorders that exhibit both unique and common features of protein accumulation in blood vessel walls. We review (a) normal pathways and mechanisms by which proteins and other soluble metabolites are eliminated from the brain along 100‐ to 150‐nm‐thick basement membranes in walls of cerebral capillaries and arteries that serve as routes for lymphatic drainage of the brain; (b) a spectrum of proteins involved in PEFA; and (c) changes that occur in artery walls and contribute to failure of protein elimination. We use accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ), prion protein and granular osmiophilic material (GOM) in cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) as examples of different factors involved in the aetiology and pathogenesis of PEFA. Finally, we discuss how knowledge of factors involved in PEFA may help to focus on new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. When Aβ (following immunotherapy) and prion protein are released from brain parenchyma they deposit in walls of cerebral capillaries and arteries; GOM in CADASIL accumulates primarily in artery walls. Therefore, the focus of therapy for protein clearance in neurodegenerative disease should perhaps be on facilitating perivascular elimination of proteins and reducing PEFA.
Gabor Wavelets and SVM Classifier for Liver Diseases Classiflcation from CT Images

In this paper, a liver diseases diagnosis based on Gabor wavelets and support vector machine (SVM) classifier is proposed. The diagnosis scheme includes two steps: features extraction and classification. The features derived from Gabor wavelets are obtained from the regions of interest (ROIs) among the normal and abnormal CT images. In the classification step, the SVM classifier is used to discriminate the fiver diseases. Finally the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve is employed to evaluate the performance of the diagnosis system. Three kinds of fiver diseases are identified including cyst, hepatoma and cavernous hemangioma. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through experimental results on CT images including 76 fiver cysts, 30 hepatomas, and 40 cavernous hemangiomas. From the results we can observe that the discrimination rate of cyst is higher than other diseases, and the classification accuracy decreases slightly between cavernous hemangiomas and hepatomas. However, a normal region can be discriminated from all of these diseases at most entirety.
Current issues and perspectives in food safety and risk assessment

In this review, current issues and opportunities in food safety assessment are discussed. Food safety is considered an essential element inherent in global food security. Hazard characterization is pivotal within the continuum of risk assessment, but it may be conceived only within a very limited frame as a true alternative to risk assessment. Elucidation of the mode of action underlying a given hazard is vital to create a plausible basis for human toxicology evaluation. Risk assessment, to convey meaningful risk communication, must be based on appropriate and reliable consideration of both exposure and mode of action. New perspectives, provided by monitoring human exogenous and endogenous exposure biomarkers, are considered of great promise to support classical risk extrapolation from animal toxicology.
Perineural Injection Therapy in the Management of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Sweet Solution to Pain.

Perineural injection therapy (PIT) is one of the latest advancements in regenerative medicine. It targets cutaneous nerves as a potential pain generator. First described by Dr. Paul Pybus and Dr. Roger WyburnMason, PIT targets neurogenic inflammation in subcutaneous nerves that potentially generates pain [1,2]. PIT was further refined by Dr. John Lyftgoft using dextrose injection, which provided substantial pain control in a series of 300 Achilles tendinopathy [3]. However, this treatment approach remains largely unknown; thus we sought to document the effect of PIT in the management of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and its outcome on pain and functional restoration.
The design and implementation of a cross-coupling controller for multi-link direct-drive robots

This paper presents a novel cross-coupling (CC) controller to effectively enhance the contouring accuracy for spatial contours in a multi-link direct-drive (DD) robot under gravity. A cross-coupling control (CCC) scheme based on Lyapunov theory and the recursive updating technique is proposed to reduce the contouring error by coordinating the motion of multiple axes in spite of considerable model uncertainties, disturbances, and gravitational effects. Experimental results on a three-degree-of-freedom (3DOF) DD robot also show that the proposed CCC significantly enhances the contouring accuracy in spatial contouring tasks.