Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parallel training and testing methods for complex image processing algorithms on distributed, heterogeneous, unreliable, and non-dedicated resources

Advances in the image processing field have brought new methods which are able to perform complex tasks robustly. However, in order to meet constraints on functionality and reliability, imaging application developers often design complex algorithms with many parameters which must be finely tuned for each particular environment. The best approach for tuning these algorithms is to use an automatic training method, but the computational cost of this kind of training method is prohibitive, making it inviable even in powerful machines. The same problem arises when designing testing procedures. This work presents methods to train and test complex image processing algorithms in parallel execution environments. The approach proposed in this work is to use existing resources in offices or laboratories, rather than expensive clusters. These resources are typically non-dedicated, heterogeneous and unreliable. The proposed methods have been designed to deal with all these issues. Two methods are proposed: intelligent training based on genetic algorithms and PVM, and a full factorial design based on grid computing which can be used for training or testing. These methods are capable of harnessing the available computational power resources, giving more work to more powerful machines, while taking its unreliable nature into account. Both methods have been tested using real applications.
Evaluation of long-baseline TanDEM-X DEM in tidal flat

TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement), a German SAR satellite, was launched in June 2010. Since 2012, TanDEM-X mission has provided the most detailed global DEM with unprecedented accuracy. Also, they carried out various experimental mode including long baseline XTI (cross track interferometry). Despite their progressive instrument calibration and high accurate orbit determination, the error of topographic height was still remained in the level of global DEM and was not entirely estimated. Particularly, the DEM accuracy in coastal area including tidal flats has never been reported. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of TanDEM-X DEM in coastal area by comparing with RTK GPS measurements, and we investigated the optimal baseline condition to generate significant DEM in tidal flat.
Conchal Cartilage and Composite Grafts for Correction of Lower Lid Retraction

Lower eyelid retraction may be due to vertical deficiency of the anterior lamella, supporting cartilage, or posterior lamella. We have used autologous cartilage grafts from the conchal bowl for reconstruction of the central lamella, reestablishing and augmenting support of the lower lid. The positioning of the graft is dependent on the specific anatomic deficiency, and the etiology of the lid retraction must be carefully evaluated. In patients with posterior lamella deficiency, the contracted lower lid retractors and conjunctiva are released and the graft is placed facing the bulbar conjunctiva and is allowed to reepithelialize. In patients in whom there is an associated skin deficiency, composite auricular grafts are used. We present our experience in 33 patients with lower lid retraction. Twenty-three patients required placement of a cartilage graft only, while 10 patients had an associated skin deficiency requiring placement of composite cartilage. In nine patients the cartilage graft was seated against the bulbar conjunctiva and allowed to reepithelialize. Reepithelialization was complete within 3 1/2 weeks in all but two of these patients. This technique has provided stable lid support in all 33 patients.
Notch1 and IL-7 Receptor Interplay Maintains Proliferation of Human Thymic Progenitors while Suppressing Non-T Cell Fates1

Notch signaling is critical for T cell development of multipotent hemopoietic progenitors. Yet, how Notch regulates T cell fate specification during early thymopoiesis remains unclear. In this study, we have identified an early subset of CD34highc-kit+flt3+IL-7Rα+ cells in the human postnatal thymus, which includes primitive progenitors with combined lymphomyeloid potential. To assess the impact of Notch signaling in early T cell development, we expressed constitutively active Notch1 in such thymic lymphomyeloid precursors (TLMPs), or triggered their endogenous Notch pathway in the OP9-Delta-like1 stroma coculture. Our results show that proliferation vs differentiation is a critical decision influenced by Notch at the TLMP stage. We found that Notch signaling plays a prominent role in inhibiting non-T cell differentiation (i.e., macrophages, dendritic cells, and NK cells) of TLMPs, while sustaining the proliferation of undifferentiated thymocytes with T cell potential in response to unique IL-7 signals. However, Notch activation is not sufficient for inducing T-lineage progression of proliferating progenitors. Rather, stroma-derived signals are concurrently required. Moreover, while ectopic IL-7R expression cannot replace Notch for the maintenance and expansion of undifferentiated thymocytes, Notch signals sustain IL-7R expression in proliferating thymocytes and induce IL-7R up-regulation in a T cell line. Thus, IL-7R and Notch pathways cooperate to synchronize cell proliferation and suppression of non-T lineage choices in primitive intrathymic progenitors, which will be allowed to progress along the T cell pathway only upon interaction with an inductive stromal microenvironment. These data provide insight into a mechanism of Notch-regulated amplification of the intrathymic pool of early human T cell progenitors.
A new closed frequent itemset mining algorithm based on GPU and improved vertical structure

Vertical data structure is very important for closed frequent itemset mining. All closed frequent itemsets can be found by simply using the operations of AND/OR. However, it consumes a large amount of storage space, especially in the case of large‐size dataset. This paper proposes an algorithm for mining closed frequent itemsets based on a new vertical data structure. The proposed data structure is helpful to save storage space by using a multi‐layer index. At the same time, numerous CPU and graphics processing unit can be employed in parallel to achieve high‐efficiency computing. Especially when dealing with large datasets, the proposed algorithm can obtain a high‐speed computing with the help of graphics processing unit. The improved vertical structure reduces the storage space of the data. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm requires much less computation time than other related methods. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Automated parking space detection using convolutional neural networks

Finding a parking space nowadays becomes an issue that is not to be neglected, it consumes time and energy. We have used computer vision techniques to infer the state of the parking lot given the data collected from the University of The Witwatersrand. This paper presents an approach for a real-time parking space classification based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) using Caffe and Nvidia DiGITS framework. The training process has been done using DiGITS and the output is a caffemodel used for predictions to detect vacant and occupied parking spots. The system checks a defined area whether a parking spot (bounding boxes defined at initialization of the system) is containing a car or not (occupied or vacant). Those bounding boxes coordinates are saved from a frame of the video of the parking lot in a JSON format, to be later used by the system for sequential prediction on each parking spot. The system has been trained using the LeNet network with the Nesterov's Accelerated Gradient as solver and the AlexNet network with the Stochastic Gradient Descent as solver. We were able to get an accuracy on the validation set of 99% for both networks. The accuracy on a foreign dataset(PKLot) returned as well 99%. Those are experimental results based on the training set show how robust the system can be when the prediction has to take place in a different parking space.
Primary reason for tooth extraction in a Brazilian adult population.

PURPOSE To identify the primary reasons for tooth extraction in a Brazilian adult population. MATERIALS AND METHODS Interviews and oral examinations were conducted with 466 subjects aged from 18-76 years in the city of Maceió, Brazil. Frequency distributions, means and medians were calculated and the chi-square test was used to determine the level of significance. A logistic regression model was used to evaluate the variables associated with reasons for tooth extraction. RESULTS Of the 466 extractions, 295 (63.3%) were due to dental caries, 61 (13.1%) due to periodontal disease, 56 (12.0%) for orthodontic reasons, 32 (6.9%) at the patient's request, 15 (3.2%) for pre-prosthetic reasons, four (0.9%) due to pericoronitis, two (0.4%) due to trauma and one (0.2%) for other reasons. Tooth extraction due to caries and other causes (excluding periodontal disease) shows a significant association with family income, toothache, type of health centre (public or private), educational level (P < 0.001) and marital status (P = 0.002). The logistic regression model has shown that patients undergoing treatment at a public health centre, those suffering from toothache or with an incomplete secondary education were more likely to lose their teeth due to caries, with educational level as the strongest indicator. For tooth extraction due to periodontal disease and other causes (excluding dental caries) the variables age, family income, type of health centre, tooth types (anterior or posterior), educational level (P < 0.001) and toothache (P = 0.006) were statistically significant, and age was the only associated variable in the logistic regression model. CONCLUSION Dental caries was the main cause of tooth extraction in the study group, following tooth extraction due to periodontal disease.
Estrogen: A Mitochrondrial Energizer That Keeps on Going

Estrogens demonstrate vasoprotective activity in many experimental models. These effects have been attributed to beneficial activity of these steroids on lipid metabolism as well as direct effects on the vasculature via modulation of nitric-oxide synthase and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt signaling pathways. In this issue of Molecular Pharmacology, Stirone et al. (p. 959) present evidence suggesting that 17β-estradiol may also exert vasoprotective effects in cerebral blood vessels via stimulation of mitochondrial energy production capacity and inhibition of reactive oxygen species production. These data indicate not only yet another potential mechanism underlying the vasoprotective effects of estrogens but also that the estrogen receptor may coordinate gene expression in both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes.
Hepatoblastoma and APC gene mutation in familial adenomatous polyposis

Editor,—The recent article by Giardiello et al ( Gut 1996; 39: 867–9) reported eight patients with hepatoblastoma collected from the Johns Hopkins Polyposis Registry. As the authors acknowledge, hepatoblastoma is very rare in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Only 33 cases (24 men, nine women) have been reported in the literature since the first description in 1982.1 2 In particular, the exact site of the APC gene mutation has been detected in only a minority of these patients. Here, we report an additional patient with FAP associated hepatoblastoma, who was discovered during intensive …
Trends in the quality of care and racial disparities in Medicare managed care.

BACKGROUND Since 1997, all managed-care plans administered by Medicare have reported on quality-of-care measures from the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS). Studies of early data found that blacks received care that was of lower quality than that received by whites. In this study, we assessed changes over time in the overall quality of care and in the magnitude of racial disparities in nine measures of clinical performance. METHODS In order to compare the quality of care for elderly white and black beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare managed-care plans who were eligible for at least one of nine HEDIS measures, we analyzed 1.8 million individual-level observations from 183 health plans from 1997 to 2003. For each measure, we assessed whether the magnitude of the racial disparity had changed over time with the use of multivariable models that adjusted for the age, sex, health plan, Medicaid eligibility, and socioeconomic position of beneficiaries on the basis of their area of residence. RESULTS During the seven-year study period, clinical performance improved on all measures for both white enrollees and black enrollees (P<0.001). The gap between white beneficiaries and black beneficiaries narrowed for seven HEDIS measures (P<0.01). However, racial disparities did not decrease for glucose control among patients with diabetes (increasing from 4 percent to 7 percent, P<0.001) or for cholesterol control among patients with cardiovascular disorders (increasing from 14 percent to 17 percent; change not significant, P=0.72). CONCLUSIONS The measured quality of care for elderly Medicare beneficiaries in managed-care plans improved substantially from 1997 to 2003. Racial disparities declined for most, but not all, HEDIS measures we studied. Future research should examine factors that contributed to the narrowing of racial disparities on some measures and focus on interventions to eliminate persistent disparities in the quality of care.
Reconfigurable Metamaterial Structure at Millimeter Wave Frequency Range

In this paper, reconfigurable metamaterial structure at millimeter wave frequency range was designed and simulated for a future fifth generation (5G) mobile-phone beam switching applications. The new proposed structure was composed of a bridge-shaped resonator (BSR) in the front face and strip line at the back face of the unit cell which operates at 28 GHz. First, non-reconfigurable low loss BSR unit cell was designed and subsequently, the reconfigurability was achieved using four switches formed in the gaps of the structure. The proposed structure achieves the lowest loss and almost full transmission among its counterparts by -0.06 dB (0.99 in linear scale). To demonstrate the reconfigurability of the metamaterial, the reflection and transmission coefficients and real parts of the effective refractive index at each reconfigured frequency were studied and investigated. Simulation results showed that a high transmission and reflection peaks occur at each resonance frequency according to change the state of the switches.
Tracking the Eastern Interconnection frequency governing characteristic

The Eastern Interconnection frequency governing characteristic, sometimes called Beta, has been tracked by one of the authors for a period of more than 15 years. While there are some errors inherent to the process followed, we believe that the errors do not obscure the overall trend. We have found that Beta has been declining and has reached a level of approximately 25 MW/mHz. This has important implications in system behavior, particularly in situations involving islanding. Study assumptions need to reflect this observed reduction in governing response.
A Polynomial Time Algorithm for Generating Neural Networks for Pattern Classification: Its Stability Properties and Some Test Results

Polynomial time training and network design are two major issues for the neural network community. A new algorithm has been developed that can learn in polynomial time and also design an appropriate network. The algorithm is for classification problems and uses linear programing models to design and train the network. This paper summarizes the new algorithm, proves its stability properties, and provides some computational results to demonstrate its potential.
Variability in diaphragm motion during normal breathing, assessed with B-mode ultrasound.

STUDY DESIGN Clinical measurement, cross-sectional. OBJECTIVES To establish a set of normal values for diaphragm thickening with tidal breathing in healthy subjects. BACKGROUND Normal values for diaphragm contractility, as imaged sonographically, have not been described, despite the known role of the diaphragm in contributing to spinal stability. If the normal range of diaphragm contractility can be defined in a reliable manner, ultrasound has the potential to be used clinically and in research as a biofeedback tool to enhance diaphragm activation/contractility. METHODS B-mode ultrasound was performed on 150 healthy subjects to visualize and measure hemi-diaphragm thickness on each side at resting inspiration and expiration. Primary outcome measures were hemi-diaphragm thickness and thickening ratio, stratified for age, gender, and body mass index. Interrater and intrarater reliability were also measured. RESULTS Normal thickness of the diaphragm at rest ranged from 0.12 to 1.18 cm, with slightly greater thickness in men but no effect of age. Average ± SD change in thickness from resting expiration to resting inspiration was 20.0% ± 15.5% on the right and 23.5% ± 24.4% on the left; however, almost one third of healthy subjects had no to minimal diaphragm thickening with tidal breathing. CONCLUSION There is wide variability in the degree of diaphragm contractility during quiet breathing. B-mode ultrasound appears to be a reliable means of determining the contractility of the diaphragm, an important muscle in spinal stability. Further studies are needed to validate this imaging modality as a clinical tool in the neuromuscular re-education of the diaphragm to improve spinal stability in both healthy subjects and in patients with low back pain.
Improving the performance of the DTC saturated model of the induction motor in case of two level and three level VSI using GA and PSO algorithms

The problem of controlling the π-model induction motor with magnetic saturation is considered in this proposed research. Direct Torque Control (DTC) of induction motor has been developed since three decades. Furthermore many techniques have been proposed to improve the performance of the induction machines that using the DTC drives in industry. However, all the previous models are based on the linear model of the machine for approximation. This is not the exact model and there is no guarantee that the process will work outside the saturation region of the flux, especially in large rating of induction machines. In this paper, two types of voltage source inverters are applied on the saturated model of induction motor. We study the performance of the induction machine response in the two cases using MATLAB SIMULINK one is by using torque control and the other is by using speed control. GA and PSO are used for improvement of the speed control for the two and three level inverters.
Optical properties of soot–water drop agglomerates: An experimental study

[1] Black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC) are the largest contributors to the aerosol absorption in the atmosphere, yet the absorption cross sections of BC and OC per unit mass are subject to a large uncertainty due to morphology, physicochemical properties, and the mixing state of carbonaceous particles. Theoretical studies suggest the possibility of an enhanced absorption by soot–cloud drop agglomerates; however, the magnitude of the effect has never been measured directly and remains highly uncertain. This study is a laboratory experiment aimed at the modeling of direct radiation forcing due to soot-water interaction in the presence of glutaric acid, a water-soluble OC. Specifically, we generate, in the laboratory, hydrophobic soot (acetylene soot) and hydrophilic soot (mixture of acetylene soot and glutaric acid) and investigate the structural and optical properties of hydrophobic and hydrophilic soot particles in dry and water-saturated air. Hydrophobic soot (HBS) particles do not exhibit any structural or morphological differences under dry and saturated conditions, whereas hydrophilic soot (HLS) particles, i.e., BC with a monolayer of glutaric acid, collapse into globules when relative humidity (RH) is increased to saturation. The optical properties of HBS show very little dependence on RH while HLS scattering and absorption coefficient increase markedly with RH. For the cases considered here, the maximum enhancement in absorption for a soot–water drop mixture was as much as a factor of 3.5, very similar to theoretical predictions. The data provided in this study should advance the treatment of polluted cloud layers in climate models.
Programming Google App Engine - Build and Run Scalable Web Apps on Google's Infrastructure

As one of today's cloud computing services, Google App Engine does more than provide access to a large system of servers. It also offers you a simple model for building applications that scale automatically to accommodate millions of users. With Programming Google App Engine, you'll get expert practical guidance that will help you make the best use of this powerful platform. Google engineer Dan Sanderson shows you how to design your applications for scalability, including ways to perform common development tasks using App Engine's APIs and scalable services. You'll learn about App Engine's application server architecture, runtime environments, and scalable datastore for distributing data, as well as techniques for optimizing your application. App Engine offers nearly unlimited computing power, and this book provides clear and concise instructions for getting the most from it right from the source. Discover the differences between traditional web development and development with App Engine Learn the details of App Engine's Python and Java runtime environments Understand how App Engine handles web requests and executes application code Learn how to use App Engine's scalable datastore, including queries and indexes, transactions, and data modeling Use task queues to parallelize and distribute work across the infrastructure Deploy and manage applications with ease
Cancer surveillance series: interpreting trends in prostate cancer--part I: Evidence of the effects of screening in recent prostate cancer incidence, mortality, and survival rates.

BACKGROUND The prostate-specific antigen test was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1986 to monitor the disease status in patients with prostate cancer and, in 1994, to aid in prostate cancer detection. However, after 1986, the test was performed on many men who had not been previously diagnosed with prostate cancer, apparently resulting in the diagnosis of a substantial number of early tumors. Our purpose is to provide insight into the effect of screening on prostate cancer rates. Detailed data are presented for whites because the size of the population allows for calculating statistically reliable rates; however, similar overall trends are seen for African-Americans and other races. METHODS Prostate cancer incidence data from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program and mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics were analyzed. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS The following findings are consistent with a screening effect: 1) the recent decrease since 1991 in the incidence of distant stage disease, after not having been perturbed by screening; 2) the decline in the incidence of earlier stage disease beginning the following year (i.e., 1992); 3) the recent increases and decreases in prostate cancer incidence and mortality by age that appear to indicate a calendar period effect; and 4) trends in the incidence of distant stage disease by tumor grade and trends in the survival of patients with distant stage disease by calendar year that provide suggestive evidence of the tendency of screening to detect slower growing tumors. IMPLICATIONS The decline in the incidence of distant stage disease holds the promise that testing for prostate-specific antigen may lead to a sustained decline in prostate cancer mortality. However, population data are complex, and it is difficult to confidently attribute relatively small changes in mortality to any one cause.