Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interacting with Physically-Based Character Using Real-Time Motion Capture with Kinect Sensor

The use of animated characters is one of themain factors of success for games and simulators. Characters that react to the environment around them provide greater immersion to the user. Another way to improve the user's immersion is providing greater control over the character. Inthis work, we create a physically simulated character based onthe characteristics of the user. Thus, the character used in the simulation becomes unique, with their advantages and physical limitations. We use a Kinect Sensor in order to capture theuser's motion, along with the physical simulation library Open Dynamics Engine, responsible for creating the bodies thatcompose the character and considering the necessary torques and forces, calculated through PD (Proportional-Derivative) controllers. Once created the character, it is inserted into aninteractive scenario, previously configured to analyse user's interaction.
Liver transplantation in the UK.

INTRODUCTION This paper provides a review of the practice of liver transplantation with the main emphasis on UK practice and indications for transplantation. REFERRAL AND ASSESSMENT This section reviews the process of referral and assessment of patients with liver disease with reference to UK practice. DONOR ORGANS The practice of brainstem death and cadaveric organ donation is peculiar to individual countries and rates of donation and potential areas of improvement are addressed. OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE The technical innovations that have led to liver transplantation becoming a semi-elective procedure are reviewed. Specific emphasis is made to the role of liver reduction and splitting and living related liver transplantation and how this impacts on UK practice are reviewed. The complications of liver transplan-tation are also reviewed with reference to our own unit. Immunosuppression:The evolution of immunosuppression and its impact on liver transplantation are reviewed with some reference to future protocols. RETRANSPLANTATION The role of retransplantation is reviewed. OUTCOME AND SURVIVAL The results of liver transplantation are reviewed with specific emphasis on our own experience. FUTURE The future of liver transplantation is addressed.
Left-headed feet and phrasal stress in Chinese

Cet article vient en reponse aux divers problemes souleves, dans ce numero meme (pp. 33-63), par F. Dell au sujet de l'analyse de Duanmu (2000). Dans son livre, Duanmu propose, d'une part, que l'accentuation du chinois standard est caracterisee par des pieds accentuels dont la tete est a gauche et, d'autre part, que, dans les mots composes et dans les syntagmes, le constituant immediat qui recoit l'accent principal est celui qui ne joue pas le role de tete syntaxique. Sont ici presentes de nouveaux arguments en faveur d'une analyse qui postule des pieds dont la tete est a gauche, montrant que cette analyse est la plus simple.
Activation of the Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptor by the Calcium Storage Protein Chromogranin A*

Secretory granules of neuroendocrine cells are inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3)-sensitive Ca2+ stores in which the Ca2+ storage protein, chromogranin A (CGA), couples with InsP3-gated Ca2+ channels (InsP3R) located in the granule membrane. The functional aspect of this coupling has been investigated via release studies and planar lipid bilayer experiments in the presence and absence of CGA. CGA drastically increased the release activity of the InsP3R by increasing the channel open probability by 9-fold and the mean open time by 12-fold. Our results show that CGA-coupled InsP3Rs are more sensitive to activation than uncoupled receptors. This modulation of InsP3R channel activity by CGA appears to be an essential component in the control of intracellular Ca2+concentration by secretory granules and may regulate the rate of vesicle fusion and exocytosis.
On the semantics of disjunctive logic programs

Cette these s’interesse a la semantique denotationnelle (en theorie desmodeles et en theorie des jeux) de quatre langages de programmation logique: - LP, le plus restrictif de tous, - DLP, une extension de LP aux disjonctions, - LPN, une extension de LP aux negations, et - DLPN, qui inclut les deux.Ce manuscrit apporte trois contributions principales:(1) Un cadre abstrait pour la semantique de la programmation logique yest defini, et toutes les approches semantiques que nous etudions par lasuite prennent place dans ce cadre.Nous definissons la notion generale d'espace de valeurs de verite commeune structure algebrique specifique, satisfaisant un certain ensembled'axiomes. Les booleens forment l'exemple canonique d'un tel espace,mais nous devons etudier des cas plus generaux si nous voulonsconsiderer la "negation par l'echec". Pour cela, nous definissons etetudions une famille infinie d'espaces, parametree par un ordinal. (2) Une semantique des jeux pour LP a ete definie en 1986, et son etudea ete approfondie en 1998. Elle a ensuite ete etendue au cas desprogrammes LPN en 2005.Ici nous developpons en details une semantique pour les programmes DLP.Nous prouvons qu'elle est correcte et complete par rapport aux modelesminimaux de Minker. (3) Nous definissons un operateur semantique qui, etant donnee une semantique abstraite d'un langage non disjonctif, la transforme en une semantique disjonctive associee.La correction de cette transformation decoule du fait qu'elle conserveles equivalences de semantiques.Nous en presentons ensuite quelques applications qui permettent, entre autres, d'obtenir la premiere semantique des jeux pour DLPN.
Biological markers for differentiation of herpes-virus strains of oral and genital origin.

Summary Herpes simplex virus from mouth and genitalia could be distinguished antigenically and also differed in certain biological properties. Viruses isolated from oral lesions replicated better in rabbit kidney cell cultures than did viruses isolated from genital lesions; however, the total number of virus particles produced was the same for both virus types. A greater proportion of particles in stocks of the oral strains grown in rabbit kidney cells were enveloped than in stocks of genital strains grown in the same cells. The genital strains formed plaques in chick embryo cell cultures, but the oral ones did not and replicated poorly. The genital strains were more neurovirulent when injected intracranially into mice than were the oral strains, based on the number of p.f. u. injected; however, there was no difference in neurovirulence if the doses were calculated in terms of total particles injected. These differences provide useful markers for characterizing the types of herpes virus.
Imaging grafted cells with [18F]FHBG using an optimized HSV1-TK mammalian expression vector in a brain injury rodent model

Introduction Cell transplantation is an innovative therapeutic approach after brain injury to compensate for tissue damage. To have real-time longitudinal monitoring of intracerebrally grafted cells, we explored the feasibility of a molecular imaging approach using thymidine kinase HSV1-TK gene encoding and [18F]FHBG as a reporter probe to image enzyme expression. Methods A stable neuronal cell line expressing HSV1-TK was developed with an optimised mammalian expression vector to ensure long-term transgene expression. After [18F]FHBG incubation under defined parameters, calibration ranges from 1 X 104 to 3 X 106 Neuro2A-TK cells were analysed by gamma counter or by PET-camera. In parallel, grafting with different quantities of [18F]FHBG prelabelled Neuro2A-TK cells was carried out in a rat brain injury model induced by stereotaxic injection of malonate toxin. Image acquisition of the rats was then performed with PET/CT camera to study the [18F]FHBG signal of transplanted cells in vivo. Results Under the optimised incubation conditions, [18F]FHBG cell uptake rate was around 2.52%. In-vitro calibration range analysis shows a clear linear correlation between the number of cells and the signal intensity. The PET signal emitted into rat brain correlated well with the number of cells injected and the number of surviving grafted cells was recorded via the in-vitro calibration range. PET/CT acquisitions also allowed validation of the stereotaxic injection procedure. Technique sensitivity was evaluated under 5 X 104 grafted cells in vivo. No [18F]FHBG or [18F]metabolite release was observed showing a stable cell uptake even 2 h post-graft. Conclusion The development of this kind of approach will allow grafting to be controlled and ensure longitudinal follow-up of cell viability and biodistribution after intracerebral injection.
Détermination des sens d'usage dans un réseau lexical construit grâce à un jeu en ligne

Les informations lexicales, indispensables pour les tâches realisees en TALN, sont difficiles a collecter. En effet, effectuee manuellement, cette tâche necessite la competence d'experts et la duree necessaire peut etre prohibitive, alors que realisee automatiquement, les resultats peuvent etre biaises par les corpus de textes retenus. L'approche presentee ici consiste a faire participer un grand nombre de personnes a un projet contributif en leur proposant une application ludique accessible sur le web. A partir d'une base de termes preexistante, ce sont ainsi les joueurs qui vont construire le reseau lexical, en fournissant des associations qui ne sont validees que si elles sont proposees par au moins une paire d'utilisateurs. De plus, ces relations typees sont ponderees en fonction du nombre de paires d'utilisateurs qui les ont proposees. Enfin, nous abordons la question de la determination des differents sens d'usage d'un terme, en analysant les relations entre ce terme et ses voisins immediats dans le reseau lexical, avant de presenter brievement la realisation et les premiers resultats obtenus.
Tratamiento endovascular cerebral simultáneo en múltiples vasos: reporte de dos casos y revisión de literatura

Mediante la practica adquirida en la aplicacion de tecnicas de angioplastia endovascular cerebral, cada vez se tienen mas casos exitosos, con menos reportes de complicaciones. En la practica clinica es frecuente encontrar pacientes con estenosis de multiples vasos extracraneanos o intracraneanos, asi que no es inusual enfrentarse a la necesidad de realizar simultaneamente angioplastia de dos o mas vasos cerebrales. En este articulo se describen dos casos de pacientes con estenosis de los cuatro vasos cerebrales. El primero fue llevado a angioplastia mas colocacion de endoprotesis (stent) en la arteria carotida interna izquierda y en la arteria vertebral izquierda. Posteriormente, en un segundo procedimiento se practico angioplastia de la arteria carotida interna derecha. El segundo requirio angioplastia y colocacion de stent en la arteria carotida interna derecha y la arteria vertebral izquierda. Aunque un caso presento isquemia transitoria debida a vasoespasmo, este se resolvio completamente; ambos casos se llevaron a termino exitosamente. Conclusiones. Se encuentran pocos casos y estudios en la literatura en los que se revise la seguridad y los beneficios de practicar simultaneamente angioplastia en multiples vasos, pero los casos descritos y las publicaciones revisadas informan una relativa seguridad y exito. Hasta el momento, no se conocen estudios que evaluen si hay un incremento significativo de complicaciones al realizar simultaneamente angioplastia endovascular en varios vasos en comparacion con el procedimiento en un solo vaso. Este tema podria ser objeto de futuras investigaciones
Angiographical and Doppler flow-derived parameters for assessment of coronary lesion severity and its relation to the result of exercise electrocardiography. DEBATE study group. Doppler Endpoints Balloon Angioplasty Trial Europe.

AIMS Evaluation of angiographical and intracoronary Doppler-derived parameters of coronary stenosis severity. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 225 patients with one-vessel disease were studied before PTCA and at 6 months follow-up. Exercise electrocardiography was performed to document presence (n = 157) or absence (n = 138) of an ST segment shift (> or =0.1 mV). Intracoronary blood flow velocity analysis was performed to determine the proximal/distal flow velocity ratio, the distal diastolic/systolic flow velocity ratio and coronary flow velocity reserve. Receiver operator characteristic curves were calculated to assess the predictive value of these variables compared with the exercise test. The distal coronary flow velocity reserve demonstrated the best linear correlation for both percentage diameter stenosis and minimum lumen diameter (r = 0.67 and r = 0.66; P<0.01), compared to the diastolic/systolic flow velocity ratio (r = 0.19 and r = 0.14; P<0.01) and the proximal/distal flow velocity ratio (r = 0.03 and r = 0.07; not significant). The areas under the curve were 0. 84+/-0.02; 0.82+/-0.03 and 0.83+/-0.03 for diameter stenosis, minimum lumen diameter and coronary flow velocity reserve, respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the percentage diameter stenosis or minimum lumen diameter and coronary flow velocity reserve were independent predictors for the result of stress testing. CONCLUSIONS The distal coronary flow velocity reserve is the best intracoronary Doppler parameter for evaluation of coronary narrowings. Angiographical estimates of coronary lesion severity and distal coronary flow velocity reserve are good and independent predictors for the assessment of functional severity of coronary stenosis, emphasizing the complementary role of these parameters for clinical decision making.
ENPP1 variants and haplotypes predispose to early onset obesity and impaired glucose and insulin metabolism in German obese children.

CONTEXT ENPP1 (nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase-1) encodes a membrane-bound glycoprotein that inhibits the insulin-receptor tyrosine kinase activity, resulting in reduced insulin sensitivity. Hence, variants in this gene may be related to obesity and insulin resistance. OBJECTIVE Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the role of ENPP1 genetic variants in obesity and related traits in a representative population of Caucasian children and in cohorts of obese children with detailed metabolic characteristics including oral glucose tolerance test. DESIGN We genotyped the K121Q, IVS20delT-11, and A/G+1044TGA ENPP1 genetic variants for association analyses in 712 schoolchildren (346 boys and 366 girls; mean age 12 +/- 3 yr; mean body mass index-sd score 0.09 +/- 0.04) and in independent cohorts of 205 obese children from Leipzig and 195 obese children from Datteln, Germany. RESULTS We identified a significantly increased risk of obesity in Leipzig children carrying the 121Q variant (adjusted odds ratio, 1.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.30-2.56; P = 0.0005) or the [Q-delT-G] haplotype [1.75 (1.17-2.62), P = 0.006] as compared with a lean control group. This was replicated in another independent obesity/overweight cohort from Leipzig as well as obese children from Datteln. In addition, obese children from Leipzig with the [Q-delT-G] haplotype were characterized by impaired glucose metabolism, whereas the [K-delT-G] and [K-insT-A] haplotypes were significantly associated with improved insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism (all P < 0.05 after adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index). CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, our study suggests a potential role of the K121Q polymorphism or derived ENPP1 haplotypes in increased susceptibility to obesity and early impairment of glucose and insulin metabolism in children.
Protein trafficking in Plasmodium falciparum-infected red cells and impact of the expansion of exported protein families

SUMMARY Erythrocytes are extensively remodelled by the malaria parasite following invasion of the cell. Plasmodium falciparum encodes numerous virulence-associated and host-cell remodelling proteins that are trafficked to the cytoplasm, the cell membrane and the surface of the infected erythrocyte. The export of soluble proteins relies on a sequence directing entry into the secretory pathways in addition to an export signal. The export signal consisting of five amino acids is termed the Plasmodium export element (PEXEL) or the vacuole transport signal (VTS). Genome mining studies have revealed that PEXEL/VTS carrying protein families have expanded dramatically in P. falciparum compared with other malaria parasite species, possibly due to lineage-specific expansion linked to the unique requirements of P. falciparum for host-cell remodelling. The functional characterization of such genes and gene families may reveal potential drug targets that could inhibit protein trafficking in infected erythrocytes. This review highlights some of the recent advances and key knowledge gaps in protein trafficking pathways in P. falciparum-infected red cells and speculates on the impact of exported gene families in the trafficking pathway.
On the Role of Thalamic Pathology in Diencephalic Amnesia

Although it is now accepted that medial diencephalic lesions can produce severe amnesia in humans, the specific nuclei and neural pathways that must be damaged to impair memory have not yet been identified. Recent studies have shown that pyrithiamine-induced thiamine deficiency (PTD) in the rat can produce a consistent pattern of pathology in the thalamus and mammillary bodies and result in permanent impairments on behavioral measures of working memory. Behavioral deficits comparable to the PTD model have been observed in rats with thalamic lesions involving lateral portions of the internal medullary lamina (the L-IML site). Such impairments are not observed following lesions of limbic-related pathways associated with the fornix, mammillary bodies, or midline thalamus. The L-IML lesion affects the mediodorsal nucleus (MDn) and both the intralaminar and paralaminar non-specific thalamic nuclei. The relationship between the non-specific thalamic nuclei and working memory is underscored by the limited behavioral effects of MDn lesions, as compared to either L-IML or PTD-induced lesions, and by anatomical analyses of PTD-related pathology, which seems to destroy the non-specific nuclei while sparing large portions of the MDn. Recent physiological studies of thalamocortical processes suggest that there are several possible mechanisms by which the non-specific nuclei might participate in memory and by which lesions in these pathways might interfere with the consolidation of memories within the cortex.
Limitations of the fitness-proportional negative slope coefficient as a difficulty measure

Fitness-Proportional Negative Slope Coefficient is a fitness landscapes measure that has recently been introduced as a potential indicator of problem hardness for optimisation. It is inspired to an older measure, the Negative Slope Coefficient, and it has been theoretically modelled. Preliminary experiments have suggested that it may be a good predictor of problem hardness. However, this measure has not undergone any convincing and comprehensive empirical testing. Our objective is to fill this gap. So, we perform empirical tests using a large set of invertible functions of unitation. We find that while this measure may correctly predict the degree of evolvability of a landscape, this does not necessarily correlate with the difficulty of problems. Some landscapes may show, for example, limited evolvability and yet be easy to solve because either solutions are already present in the initial population or the computational resources provided exceed evolvability obstacles. Or it may be impossible to solve them irrespective of their evolvability simply because they are far too vast for the computational resources provided. These situations are hardly captured by the Fitness-Proportional Negative Slope Coefficient.
Smooth spectral unmixing using total variation regularization and a first order roughness penalty

Hyperspectral unmixing is the task of decomposing hyperspectral images into endmembers and their abundances. The endmembers are spectral signatures of specific material in the image and the abundances dictate the amount of the material found in each pixel. In this paper we present a blind signal separation method, based on the total variation penalty, that simultaneously estimates the endmembers and the abundances. We evaluate our method using both simulated and a real data set.
Sistema de Realidade Aumentada para o treinamento em montagem e manutenção de equipamentos

This work presents the development of an environment of teaching and training for assembly and maintenance of equipment supported by Augmented Reality, directed to the handling of complex equipment, which have an assembly process that requires prior training. Resumo. Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um ambiente de ensino e treinamento de montagem e manutencao de equipamentos apoiada por Realidade Aumentada, direcionado para o manuseio de equipamentos complexos, os quais possuem um processo de montagem que necessita de um treinamento previo. 1. Introducao O treinamento pratico em montagem e manutencao em equipamentos complexos, como motores, conjuntos de pecas hidraulicas ou ate mesmo equipamentos eletronicos, e uma atividade que demanda profissionais qualificados, muito tempo e e provavel que todo o conhecimento necessario para realizar a tarefa seja perdido com o passar do tempo. Isso acontece devido ao fato de que cada equipamento possui um padrao de montagem unico e quem esta realizando o processo de montagem e/ou manutencao pode esquecer uma etapa, principalmente por falta de experiencia ou devido a alta complexidade desta atividade. Atualmente, com o auxilio da Realidade Aumentada e possivel que um profissional consiga realizar uma montagem e/ou manutencao em um equipamento complexo apenas seguindo as instrucoes apresentadas pelo ambiente aumentado. Segundo Kirner e Siscoutto (2007), Realidade Virtual (RV) pode ser definida de uma maneira simplificada, como a forma mais avancada de interface do usuario de computador ate agora disponivel. Para Aukstakalnis et. al (1992) a RV e uma forma das pessoas visualizarem, manipularem e interagirem com computadores e dados extremamente complexos. A tecnologia conhecida como Realidade Aumentada (RA), por sua vez, e definida por Azuma (1997) como um sistema que: combina elementos virtuais com o ambiente real, e interativa, tem processamento em tempo real e e concebida em tres dimensoes.
Intracardiac impedance monitors stroke volume in resynchronization therapy patients.

AIMS Monitoring of haemodynamic parameters or surrogate parameters of the left ventricle is especially important for patients under cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Intracardiac impedance reflects left ventricular (LV) volume changes well in animal models. Since it is unknown whether this also holds in humans with heart failure (HF), we examined the correlation of LV intracardiac impedance with haemodynamic parameters in CRT patients for different positions of the LV lead. METHODS AND RESULTS In 14 HF patients with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (four female, age 70 +/- 6 years, NYHA 2.9 +/- 0.3, EF 26 +/- 6%), one or two suitable implantation sites for the LV lead were selected. Following atrial, right ventricular, and LV catheter positioning, a micro-manometer catheter was placed in the ascending aorta. Surface ECG, impedance, and aortic pressure were recorded during graded overdrive bi-ventricular pacing in DDD mode. The correlation between impedance and stroke volume (SV) or pulse pressure (PP) changes was compared for different LV lead positions. In total, 20 overdrive pacing tests were performed at six different LV lead positions. Strong correlations were found between stroke impedance (SZ) and SV (R = 0.82 +/- 0.16) as well as between SZ and PP (R = 0.81 +/- 0.16) without significant influence of LV lead position. CONCLUSION In HF patients, a strong correlation between changes in intracardiac impedance and LV SV was found. Typical LV lead implant positions have been tested and all appear to be suitable for this method of LV volume monitoring.