Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Global Parity Measure for Incomplete Point Cloud Data

Shapes with complex geometric and topological features such as tunnels, neighboring sheets, and cavities are susceptible to undersampling and continue to challenge existing reconstruction techniques. In this work we introduce a new measure for point clouds to determine the likely interior and exterior regions of an object. Specifically, we adapt the concept of parity to point clouds with missing data and introduce the parity map, a global measure of parity over the volume. We first examine how parity changes over the volume with respect to missing data and develop a method for extracting topologically correct interior and exterior crusts for estimating a signed distance field and performing surface reconstruction. We evaluate our approach on real scan data representing complex shapes with missing data. Our parity measure is not only able to identify highly confident interior and exterior regions but also localizes regions of missing data. Our reconstruction results are compared to existing methods and we show that our method faithfully captures the topology and geometry of complex shapes in the presence of missing data.
The Technological Singularity

The idea that human history is approaching a "singularity" -- that ordinary humans will someday be overtaken by artificially intelligent machines or cognitively enhanced biological intelligence, or both -- has moved from the realm of science fiction to serious debate. Some singularity theorists predict that if the field of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop at its current dizzying rate, the singularity could come about in the middle of the present century. Murray Shanahan offers an introduction to the idea of the singularity and considers the ramifications of such a potentially seismic event. Shanahan's aim is not to make predictions but rather to investigate a range of scenarios. Whether we believe that singularity is near or far, likely or impossible, apocalypse or utopia, the very idea raises crucial philosophical and pragmatic questions, forcing us to think seriously about what we want as a species. Shanahan describes technological advances in AI, both biologically inspired and engineered from scratch. Once human-level AI -- theoretically possible, but difficult to accomplish -- has been achieved, he explains, the transition to superintelligent AI could be very rapid. Shanahan considers what the existence of superintelligent machines could mean for such matters as personhood, responsibility, rights, and identity. Some superhuman AI agents might be created to benefit humankind; some might go rogue. (Is Siri the template, or HAL? ) The singularity presents both an existential threat to humanity and an existential opportunity for humanity to transcend its limitations. Shanahan makes it clear that we need to imagine both possibilities if we want to bring about the better outcome.
The MIMO Gaussian broadcast channel: theoretical and system aspects

The MIMO-GBC is an idealized model of a downlink channel, where both the base station and the receivers may have more than one antenna. Despite its simplicity, it represents a very rich information-theoretic problem since it belongs to the very restricted class of non-degraded broadcast channels for which the whole capacity region has been fully characterized. In the past few years an impressive amount of exciting results in information theory, signal processing and channel coding have been generated, driven by the thorough investigation of the MIMO Gaussian Broadcast Channel (MIMO-GBC) model. Remarkably, its capacity region is achieved by a mix of "traditional" signal processing approaches suitably extended and reviewed: namely, beamforming and modulo pre-coding. As a side-effect of this investigation, beamforming and modulo pre-coding have enjoyed a whole fresh look and greatly renewed interest in current research. In this talk we shortly overview the main information-theoretic results about the MIMO-GBC, and their implications in terms of signal-processing and channel coding. Also, we shall give an overview of some practical proposals to the downlink transmission with multiple antennas and comment about recent results on suboptimal systems approaching the MIMO-GBC capacity limits in certain regimes.
They live in the land down under: thyroid function and basal metabolic rate in the Blind Mole Rat, Spalax

Abstract The Israeli blind subterranean mole rat (Spalax ehrenbergi superspecies) lives in sealed underground burrows under extreme, hypoxic conditions. The four Israeli Spalax allospecies have adapted to different climates, the cool–humid (Spalax galili, 2 n = 52 chromosomes), semihumid (S. golani, 2 n = 54) north regions, warm–humid (S. carmeli, 2 n = 58) central region and the warm–dry S. judaei, 2 n = 60) southern regions. A dramatic interspecies decline in basal metabolic rate (BMR) from north to south, even after years of captivity, indicates a genetic basis for this BMR trait. We examined the possibility that the genetically-conditioned interspecies BMR difference was expressed via circulating thyroid hormone. An unexpected north to south increase in serum free thyroxine (FT4) and total 3, 5, 3′-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3) (p < 0.02) correlated negatively with previously published BMR measurements. The increases in serum FT4 and T3 were symmetrical, so that the T3:FT4 ratio – interpretable as an index of conversion of T4 to T3 in nonthyroidal tissues – did not support relative decrease in production of T3 as a contributor to BMR. Increased north-to-south serum FT4 and T3 levels also correlated negatively with hemoglobin/hematocrit. North-to-south adaptations in spalacids include decreased BMR and hematocrit/hemoglobin in the face of increasing thyroid hormone levels, arguing for independent control of hormone secretion and BMR/hematocrit/hemoglobin. But the significant inverse relationship between thyroid hormone levels and BMR/hematocrit/hemoglobin is also consistent with a degree of cellular resistance to thyroid hormone action that protects against hormone-induced increase in oxygen consumption in a hostile, hypoxic environment.
Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in patients with previous renal transplantation.

PURPOSE To evaluate the outcomes of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in patients with previous renal transplantation. PATIENTS AND METHODS We retrospectively identified all patients who had undergone RARP for localized prostate cancer between 2005 and 2008 at a single institution (N=228). Of these, three patients were renal transplant recipients. A four-arm robotic configuration was used in all patients. Port placement was modified in two of the three renal transplant recipients to avoid trauma to the renal allograft. Preoperative demographics, perioperative parameters, and postoperative outcomes were reviewed. RESULTS RARP was completed successfully in all three renal transplant recipients. As expected, the American Society of Anesthesiologists score (3.3 vs 2.4) and Charlson weighted index of comorbidity (4.7 vs 2.4) were greater in previous transplant patients. There were no major differences in mean age, Gleason score, body mass index, estimated blood loss, operative time, complications, or oncologic outcomes between the two groups. Each of the patients with renal allografts had an undetectable prostate-specific antigen level and was continent (needing no pads) at 13 months of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS RARP is feasible in patients with a previous renal transplant. Although technically more challenging, RARP can be performed in previous transplant patients with acceptable morbidity and oncologic outcomes similar to those of other prostate cancer patients.
What is the role of radiotherapy in malignant pleural mesothelioma?

OBJECTIVE A review of the evidence supporting the use of radiotherapy in patients with mesothelioma was performed. METHODS Relevant publications were searched for on Medline. RESULTS In a Medline search on radiotherapy and mesothelioma, 611 hits were obtained. A limited number of prospective phase II trials of radiotherapy as part of trimodality protocols for early disease and in the palliation of pain were found, along with three small randomized controlled trials of port-site prophylaxis. CONCLUSION No randomized data exist to support the use of radiotherapy after radical surgery, although there are a large number of publications describing its use as an integral part of therapy, including seven phase II studies. One ongoing trial is randomizing patients to radiotherapy or not after extrapleural pneumonectomy. None of these studies provided any assessment of radiotherapy independent of the other modalities investigated, nor did any formally assess intensity-modulated radiotherapy. There have been several reports of excessive toxicity with this technique, and its use should be limited to phase I studies until the basis of this toxicity is better understood. Three trials have looked at port-site prophylaxis, one supporting its use and two showing no evidence of benefit. Two studies addressed pain control prospectively, one showing definite but short-lived benefits. Implications. Radiotherapy is widely used in treating mesothelioma with little supporting evidence. More randomized trials are required to justify this use in all three common settings for its use.
In vitro-in vivo evaluation of fast-dissolving tablets containing solid dispersion of pioglitazone hydrochloride

Investigation of in vitro/in vivo behavior of fast-dissolving tablets containing solid dispersions of pioglitazone hydrochloride (PIO) is the focus of the present research work. The effect of various hydrophilic polymers on the aqueous solubility of PIO was studied. Poly vinyl pyrrolidine K 30 (PVPK 30) carrier was selected and solid dispersions were prepared by various methods. Evaluation of solid dispersion for percentage yield, drug content, solubility, and Fourier Transform Infrared-indicated kneading method was most appropriate. Furthermore, the dissolution studies exhibited an enhancement in drug dissolution. One-way ANOVA of in vitro data suggested that there was significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference in dissolution profile of PIO solid dispersion when compared with pure drug and commercial product. Infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and powder X-ray diffraction performed on solid dispersion indicated lack of physicochemical interaction between the drug and the carrier. The selected formulation is compressed into fast-dissolving tablets which were further evaluated for tablet properties and in vitro drug release. In vivo studies of pure drug, selected formulation, and marketed product were carried out in male Wistar rats and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated using Kinetica software 2000. The best formulation has shown Tmax of 1 hour which was highly significant (P < 0.01) when compared with pure drug and marketed formulation. Therefore, the solid dispersions prepared by kneading method using PVPK 30 as hydrophilic carrier can be successfully used for improvement of dissolution of PIO and resulted in faster onset of action as indicated by in vivo studies.
Peculiarities of Raman scattering in bioconjugated CdSe/ZnS quantum dots

The article presents the results of analysis of Raman scattering spectra of non-conjugated and bioconjugated CdSe/ZnS core–shell quantum dots (QDs). Commercial CdSe/ZnS QDs used covered by polymer are characterized by color emission with the maxima at 605–610 nm (2.03–2.05 eV). The bioconjugation process is performed to biomolecules—the antihuman Interleukin 10 (IL10) antibodies (mab). Raman scattering spectra measured at room temperature with excitation by a He–Ne laser line (632.8 nm) demonstrate two groups of peaks: (1) related to the Si substrate at 230–460, 522, 610, 670, 940–1040 cm − 1 and (2) to the PEG polymer on the QD surface in the range of 837–3320 cm − 1. It is revealed that the CdSe/ZnS QD bioconjugation to the antihuman Interleukin 10 antibodies is accompanied with the dramatic changes in the intensity of the Raman lines of both types: the intensity of the Si related line increases six- or ten-fold, but the intensity of the polymer related line decreases ten-fold. The models explaining the mentioned effects in Raman scattering spectra have been discussed.
Role of endotoxin in mononuclear phagocyte‐mediated inflammatory responses

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is derived from the cell wall of gram‐negative and some gram‐positive bacteria, plays a major role is the pathogenesis of septic shock. Initiation of these responses depends on LPS interaction with a number of immune cells, not least the mononuclear phagocyte (MP). Mononuclear phagocytes bind the LPS/lipopolysaccharide‐binding protein complex through the CD14 receptor and thus mediate the release of a wide range of inflammatory mediators. Release of these mediators is teleologically beneficial but under certain circumstances may be detrimental, resulting in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome. The development of this syndrome is not clearly understood but appears, in part, to be dependent on the ability of the host to respond to these mediators. This review evaluates the mechanisms of LPS‐MP interaction and the therapeutic strategies aimed at inhibiting this interaction. J. Leukoc. Biol. 56: 95–103; 1994.
Avaliação de concentradores de tensão em estruturas aplicando a técnica de submodelagem em elementos finitos

O objetivo deste trabalho e estudar estruturas, com particular interesse em regioes com concentradores de tensoes. Para isso, um modelo numerico de uma estrutura simples de barras e inicialmente elaborado, utilizando a tecnica de submodelagem, que permite maior grau de acuracia nos resultados, alem da melhoria na eficiencia computacional. Utilizando elementos finitos, inicialmente e criado um modelo global cujos parâmetros mecânicos sao extraidos, e a partir do qual e possivel analisar e identificar potenciais concentradores de tensao. Em seguida o problema e particularizado para uma regiao especifica de interesse, onde e possivel obter uma malha localmente melhorada e suficientemente refinada para o grau desejado de resposta. Nessa regiao especifica, parâmetros como as tensoes maximas e minimas obtidas (atraves do software ANSYS®) sao comparadas com as calculadas analiticamente. Na presente pesquisa identificou-se que o uso do submodelo permitiu melhorar a resposta para tensao maxima e minima na regiao estudada. A tecnica foi ainda empregada na analise de uma placa plana com fissura, objetivando obter o fator de intensidade de tensao. Porem, verificou-se que nesse caso, o emprego da submodelagem na analise nao proporcionou maior acuracia nos resultados, comparados com a resposta analitica do problema. Neste trabalho, o modelo e aplicado a uma estrutura simples de barras e a uma placa plana com fissura, mas em trabalhos futuros pretende-se amplia-lo, a fim de aplicar a tecnica a estruturas com geometrias mais complexas, tais como pontes ferroviarias em estruturas metalicas.
Complex regional pain syndrome with selective emotional sudomotor failure

We report a patient with sympathetically maintained pain following a mild limb injury. Only emotional sudomotor failure was found in the painful limb. Thermoregulatory vasomotor function was intact. However, the patient had other target‐specific sympathetic lesions, including thermoregulatory vasomotor failure in a different limb, not associated with pain. We hypothesize that the sympathetic failure preceded the symptoms and that the mild injury may have provoked collateral sprouting of emotional sudomotor fibres, coupling them with somatic sensory fibres to cause continuous pain.
A highly sensitive RF-to-DC power converter with an extended dynamic range

This paper proposes a highly sensitive RF-to-DC power converter with an extended dynamic range that is designed to operate at the medical band 433 MHz and simulated using 0.18 μm CMOS technology. Compared to the conventional fully cross-coupled rectifier, the proposed design offers 3.2× the dynamic range. It is also highly sensitive and requires −18 dBm of input power to produce a 1 V-output voltage when operating with a 100 kΩ load. Furthermore, the proposed design offers an open circuit sensitivity of −23.4 dBm and a peak power conversion efficiency of 67%.
UNDERSTANDING TRANSITIONS WITHIN EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE AND EDUCATION SETTINGS : THE PERSPECTIVES OF PROFESSIONALS

For a significant number of children attending centre-based Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) settings transitions between age groups are likely to be an inevitable experience. However, the literature on these transitions is remarkably sparse, with only a handful of studies contributing to an understanding of these times of change. To address this gap the present study used semi-structured interviews to investigate the perspectives of eight ECCE managers from six centre-based ECCE settings on how transitions occurred and practices used to support these moves. Thematic analysis identified six themes within the data: times of challenge and opportunity; factors influencing children’s adaptation to transitions; what works; what helps; what gets in the way, and; early childhood matters. Suggestions for future research include the need for research on parents’ and children’s perspectives of their transition experiences. The findings also detail a catalogue of strategies used by managers to support transitions, which may help to inform practice in this area.
Low PAPR Precoding Design with Dynamic Channel Assignment for SCBT System

The single carrier block transmission (SCBT) system has become one of most popular modulation system due to its low peak to average power ratio (PAPR). In this paper, the precoding systems at the transmitter side are proposed to retain low PAPR, acquire better performance, and reduce the computation complexity at receiver side. It is designed in accordance with the following procedure. First, the upper-triangular dirty paper coding (UDPC) is proposed to pre-cancel the multiple streams interference and post one-tap time-domain equalizer for SCBT system. Next, to overcome the high PAPR problem for UDPC precoding system, Tomlinson-Harashima precoding (THP) is introduced to maintain low PAPR performance. Finally, because the UDPC-THP system will be degraded by the deep fading channel, the dynamic channel on/off assignment via the water filling algorithm is proposed to enhance bit error rate (BER) performance. Simulation results show that the proposed precoding transceiver can provide excellent BER and low PAPR performances for SCBT system over multipath fading channel.
Management of pregnancy in women with pulmonary hypertension secondary to SLE and anti-phospholipid syndrome

Pulmonary hypertension is found in about 10% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE). Pulmonary hypertension may be present at the time of diagnosis or may develop after the diagnosis of SLE or anti-phospholipid syndrome (APS). It often presents in the reproductive years and has a significant impact on pregnancy outcome, being a significant cause of indirect maternal deaths. In our observationalcase series of three patients there were two deaths (66%). In cases 1 and 2 the pulmonary hypertension developed during pregnancy and deteriorated rapidly with markedly abnormal mean pulmonary artery pressures of 80 and 70 mmHg respectively prior to death. Both patients died within 48 hours of delivery. In case 3 the pulmonary hypertensionwas milder and was diagnosed very early in pregnancy. The patient received multidisciplinary care from the first trimester and the management of the pregnancy, delivery and the early puerperium was planned. Careful epidural anaesthesia was used and the patient had invasive monitoring on the intensive therapy unit (ITU) for 72 hours. Women with pulmonary hypertensionneed to be aware of the high risk of maternal mortality associated with pregnancy but we believe that an improvement in outcome can be achieved by careful assessment and the use of a multidisciplinary approach from early in pregnancy.
Health behavior and outcomes in sequential pregnancies of black and white adolescents.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationships among parity, preterm delivery, fetal growth retardation, and prenatal care utilization in first and second adolescent pregnancies. DESIGN A longitudinal, retrospective study in which obstetric, behavioral, and sociodemographic data were used to examine birth outcomes of 737 low-income black (80%) and white (20%) teenagers delivering first and second singleton infants at 20 or more weeks' gestation. SETTING Public health clinics in Jefferson County, Alabama, between January 1983 and February 1990. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mean birth weight, preterm delivery, fetal growth retardation, Apgar scores, and perinatal mortality. MAIN RESULTS In their second pregnancies, adolescents presented 2.8 weeks later for care (P = .0001) and made fewer total clinic visits. Mean infant birth weight increased by 91 g (P = .0005). This increase was significantly associated with an increase in maternal prepregnancy body mass index. The rate of fetal growth retardation decreased (P = .0001) and the rate of preterm delivery increased (P < .02) in the second pregnancy. The rate of recurrence of fetal growth retardation was 13% and the rate of preterm delivery was 46%. CONCLUSIONS Poorer utilization of prenatal care and high risk for recurrence of adverse outcomes are characteristic of adolescents' second pregnancies and should be considered in teenage pregnancy intervention programs.
An Unconventional Diacylglycerol Kinase That Regulates Phospholipid Synthesis and Nuclear Membrane Growth*♦

Changes in nuclear size and shape during the cell cycle or during development require coordinated nuclear membrane remodeling, but the underlying molecular events are largely unknown. We have shown previously that the activity of the conserved phosphatidate phosphatase Pah1p/Smp2p regulates nuclear structure in yeast by controlling phospholipid synthesis and membrane biogenesis at the nuclear envelope. Two screens for novel regulators of phosphatidate led to the identification of DGK1. We show that Dgk1p is a unique diacylglycerol kinase that uses CTP, instead of ATP, to generate phosphatidate. DGK1 counteracts the activity of PAH1 at the nuclear envelope by controlling phosphatidate levels. Overexpression of DGK1 causes the appearance of phosphatidate-enriched membranes around the nucleus and leads to its expansion, without proliferating the cortical endoplasmic reticulum membrane. Mutations that decrease phosphatidate levels decrease nuclear membrane growth in pah1Δ cells. We propose that phosphatidate metabolism is a critical factor determining nuclear structure by regulating nuclear membrane biogenesis.
On the Physical Layer Design for Low Cost Machine Type Communication in 3GPP LTE

This paper brings to light the reasoning and principles shaping the standardization direction in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) regarding provision of low complexity Machine Type Communication (MTC), via Long Term Evolution (LTE) of 3GPP. It elaborates 3GPP's approaches and suggestions towards addressing the physical layer challenges and discusses solutions 3GPP proposed specifically in relation to the low complexity operation of MTC devices and the coverage extension of current cellular networks to challenging scenarios of MTC. Results of comprehensive set of simulations are presented to assess the impact of repetition coding and power boosting on the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). In addition, novel ideas are presented to reduce the complexity of channel estimation, one of the most computation intensive blocks in the baseband receive chain. These results all leap towards finding the physical layer design for low cost MTC devices via 3GPP LTE.