Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
High performance ASIP implementation of PBDI — A new intra-field deinterlacing method

We present techniques used to create a high performance application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) implementation of the Pattern-Based Directional Interpolation (PBDI) intra-field deinterlacing algorithm. The proposed techniques focus primarily on an efficient utilization of the available memory bandwidth. They include the use of Very Long Instruction Words (VLIW) and an appropriate choice of custom instructions and application-specific registers in order to form a processing pipeline. We report a speedup factor of 1351 in comparison with a software-only implementation of the algorithm running on a general-purpose 32-bit RISC processor.
Rabbit snout growth. Effect of injury to septovomeral region.

Introduction and Review of Literature The septovomeral region is considered an important growth center of the nose and adjacent facial structures. 1-4 The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of injury to the septovomeral region upon the growth of the rabbit snout. Different degrees of injury were imposed by extirpating varying amounts of the septovomeral joint, caudal portion of the cartilaginous nasal septum, vomer, and maxillary process of the premaxilla. Fisk, 5 in 1858, removed a portion of the septum through a trephine opening of the nasal bones in growing dogs, cats, pigs, and goats. At autopsy, he found that the hard palate was markedly shortened anteroposteriorly. He concluded that growth of the hard palate was dependent upon the growth of the nasal septum. Landsberger, 6 in 1929, resected in part the anterior portion of the septum in dogs 2 weeks of age. After 6 months, the
Serum leptin in NASH correlates with hepatic steatosis but not fibrosis: A manifestation of lipotoxicity?

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a disorder characterized by hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis. Leptin is an adipocyte‐derived antiobesity hormone that in rodents prevents “lipotoxicity” by limiting triglyceride accumulation and also regulates matrix deposition (fibrosis) during wound healing. We therefore determined serum leptin levels in patients with NASH to determine whether relationships existed between leptin levels and severity of hepatic steatosis or fibrosis. We used a radioimmunoassay to determine serum [total] leptin concentrations in 27 men and 20 women with NASH and 47 controls matched for gender and body mass index (BMI; and partly for age). Serum leptin values were correlated with hepatic steatosis, fibrosis, and inflammation (each categorized semiquantitatively on liver histology), and with anthropometric indices, serum lipids, glucose, insulin, c‐peptide, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. Compared with the controls, mean serum leptin levels were raised in both men and women with NASH (men 14 ± 11 ng/mL vs. 7.2 ± 4.1 ng/mL, P = .003; women 35 ± 16 ng/mL vs. 15 ± 8.2 ng/mL, P < .001). Leptin values correlated with serum c‐peptide levels but not with BMI. In a multivariate analysis, serum leptin (P = .027), serum c‐peptide (P = .001), and age (P = .027) were selected as independent predictors of the severity of hepatic steatosis. However, serum leptin was not an independent predictor of hepatic inflammation or fibrotic severity. In conclusion, hyperleptinemia occurs in NASH and is not explained simply by gender, obesity, or the presence of type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, leptin levels correlate directly with the severity of hepatic steatosis but not with inflammation or fibrosis. We propose that the relationship between leptin and steatosis reflects a pathogenic role of leptin in hepatic insulin resistance and/or a failure of the antisteatotic actions of leptin (“peripheral leptin resistance”).
Týr: Blob Storage Meets Built-In Transactions

Concurrent Big Data applications often require high-performance storage, as well as ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) transaction support. Although blobs (binary large objects) are an increasingly popular storage model for such applications, state-of-the-art blob storage systems offer no transaction semantics. This demands users to coordinate data access carefully in order to avoid race conditions, inconsistent writes, overwrites and other problems that cause erratic behavior. We argue there is a gap between existing storage solutions and application requirements, which limits the design of transaction-oriented applications. We introduce Týr, the first blob storage system to provide built-in, multiblob transactions, while retaining sequential consistency and high throughput under heavy access concurrency. Týr offers fine-grained random write access to data and in-place atomic operations. Large-scale experiments with a production application from CERN LHC show Týr throughput outperforming state-of-the-art solutions by more than 75%.
Variations temporelles dans l'interpretation musicale : processus perceptifs et cognitifs

Cette these porte sur les processus d'organisation temporelle dans la production et la perception de la musique, apprehendes par l'analyse des variations temporelles systematiques produites dans l'interpretation musicale et par l'etude de leur perception. Deux processus sont presentes : le groupement et l'utilisation d'une regularite temporelle, eventuellement incorpores dans des organisations hierarchiques. Leur validite psychologique est montree a partir des sequences sonores simples, de la parole, et de la musique. Nous nous focalisons ensuite sur l'origine des variations temporelles systematiques produites dans l'interpretation musicale, et proposons : 1) une hypothese de communication structurale (interpretation de la structure musicale et sa communication aux auditeurs), 2) une hypothese perceptive (compensation de biais perceptifs) et 3) une hypothese motrice contraintes motrices). Une premiere experience montre que les variations expressives induisent la perception de pulsations a des niveaux plus eleves, leur role n'est donc pas purement ornemental. Nous testons ensuite les hypotheses proposees pour expliquer les variations temporelles. Les resultats suggerent une preponderance de la structure hierarchique de groupe, avec un ralentissement a la fin (ou au debut) des groupes a tous les niveaux, celle-ci augmentant avec la profondeur hierarchique, et communiquant effectivement une interpretation structurale particuliere (1). L'allongement du dernier intervalle de temps des groupes rythmiques compense le fait que cet intervalle est percu comme plus court qu'il n'est (2). Enfin, une serie d'experience examine la perception des accelerations par rapport aux ralentissements, montrant la synchronisation de rythmes internes
Risk Factors for Symptoms of Prescription Opioid Misuse: Do Older Adults Differ from Younger Adult Patients?

ABSTRACT Limited research is available regarding the health risks associated with opioid medication misuse among middle age (50–64 years) and older adults (65 and older). Understanding the misuse symptom risk profiles of these populations has potential to advance the national opioid epidemic response. A survey was conducted in four community pharmacies in southwestern Pennsylvania among adult, non-cancer patients filling opioid medications (N = 318) regarding opioid medication misuse symptoms and misuse risk factors. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses compared respondent characteristics, misuse symptoms, and misuse risks among those 65 and older, 50 to 64, and those less than 50 years old. Those 65 and older (Incidence Rate Ratio [IRR] = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.46–3.95) and those 50 to 64 years (IRR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.03–1.54) who reported illicit drug use had increased rates of misuse symptoms. Those 50–64 with posttraumatic stress disorder also had an increased rate of misuse symptoms (IRR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.08–1.54). Misuse behaviors of those 65 and older and 50–64 involved shortening time between dosages (≥65 = 11.4%, 50–64 = 27.6%), taking higher dosages than prescribed (≥65 = 11.4%, 50–64 = 13.6%), and early refills (≥11.8%, 50–64 = 12.7%). Gerontological social workers must continue to work to understand and identify individuals engaged in misuse in order to develop and provide age appropriate care.
Pediatric tracheostomies: A recent experience from one academic center*

Objectives: To describe the indications, surgical timing, length of stay, hospital charges, and discharge disposition of pediatric tracheostomy patients. Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Large urban academic pediatric hospital. Patients: Seventy children and adolescents undergoing tracheostomy placement over a 24-month period. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main results: Hospital database records were used to determine demographics and readmission rates, tabulate charges, and confirm deaths. Indications for tracheostomies included airway obstruction, inadequate airway protection, chronic lung disease, neuromuscular weakness, and central hypoventilation. Surgical timing of the tracheostomy was grouped into three categories: prolonged mechanical ventilation, elective, or emergent. The overall median hospital stay was 46 days (range 14–254) with a median hospital charge of $136,718 (range $36,237–$913,934). The prolonged mechanical ventilation group underwent a tracheostomy after a median of 26 days (mean 37.5 days) on the ventilator. Eighty-one percent of children were discharged home; 63% of children were readmitted within 6 months, with 11% requiring four or more admissions. The six-month mortality rate was 13%; no deaths were related to the tracheostomy. Conclusions: Children with tracheostomies are a heterogeneous population. Children who require tracheostomy for long-term mechanical ventilation have longer hospital stays than children who receive a tracheotomy on an elective or emergent basis. Hospital readmissions should be anticipated in this complex group of patients.
IS THE PREVALENCE OF TAENIA TAENIAEFORMIS IN MICROTUS ARVALIS DEPENDENT ON POPULATION DENSITY?

Populations of common voles Microtus arvalis were studied as hosts of the tapeworm Taenia taeniaeformis during a 14-yr survey. They were monitored in spring, summer, and autumn in a pastoral ecosystem in eastern France. A total of 7,574 voles were sampled during 2 multiannual population fluctuations. A third fluctuation was sampled during the increase phase only. Overall prevalence was lowest in summer (0.6%), increased by 3 times in autumn (1.5%) and a further 5 times in spring (7.8%). Analysis of prevalence, based on 7,384 voles, by multiple logistic regression revealed that extrinsic factors such as season and intrinsic factors such as host age and host density have a combined effect. In the longer term, host age and host density were positively associated with prevalence in summer. Host density was strongly associated with autumn prevalence. There was no association between the fluctuation phase and prevalence. The study shows that a long timescale (here a multiannual survey) is necessary to demonstrate the positive effect of host density on the prevalence of this indirectly transmitted parasite. The demonstration of this relationship depends on the rodents being intermediate rather than definitive hosts.
CMOS cells with continuously adjustable parameters for implementation of fuzzy and neurofuzzy systems

The use of fuzzy logic, neural networks, and more recently, neurofuzzy systems, has increased the necessity of counting with efficient architectures to solve the problems present in many research areas, not only at software level, but at hardware level, which presents a higher performance in most applications. In this manuscript we present a novel set of basic analog CMOS cells to generate triangular membership functions, which can adjust continuously their parameters in current-mode. This characteristic results crucial when implementing neurofuzzy systems such as NEFCLASS, NEFPROX and NEFCON architectures, which are aimed at in this work, nevertheless our cells will work well in any fuzzy/neuro fuzzy system using triangular, left and right shoulder membership functions. The proposed cells are extensions of those originally presented in early research, in such a way that the current gain can be electrically modified and set to the optimal value required by the neurofuzzy system.
Trapped vortices in rotating flow

A variational principle is presented which characterizes steady motions, at finite Rossby number, of rotating inviscid homogeneous fluids in which horizontal velocities are independent of depth. This is used to construct nonlinear solutions corresponding to stationary patches of distributed vorticity above topography of finite height in a uniform stream. Numerical results are presented for the specific case of a right circular cylinder and are interpreted using a series expansion, derived by analogy with a deformable self-gravitating body. The results show that below a critical free-stream velocity a trapped circular vortex is present above the cylinder and a smaller patch of more concentrated vorticity, of the opposite sign, maintains a position to the right (looking downstream) of the cylinder. An extension to finite Rossby number and finite obstacle height of Huppert's (1975) criterion for the formation of a Taylor column is presented in an appendix.
Sequential involvement of Cdk1, mTOR and p53 in apoptosis induced by the HIV‐1 envelope

Syncytia arising from the fusion of cells expressing the HIV‐1‐encoded Env gene with cells expressing the CD4/CXCR4 complex undergo apoptosis following the nuclear translocation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), mTOR‐mediated phosphorylation of p53 on Ser15 (p53S15), p53‐dependent upregulation of Bax and activation of the mitochondrial death pathway. p53S15 phosphorylation is only detected in syncytia in which nuclear fusion (karyogamy) has occurred. Karyogamy is secondary to a transient upregulation of cyclin B and a mitotic prophase‐like dismantling of the nuclear envelope. Inhibition of cyclin‐dependent kinase‐1 (Cdk1) prevents karyogamy, mTOR activation, p53S15 phosphorylation and apoptosis. Neutralization of p53 fails to prevent karyogamy, yet suppresses apoptosis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HIV‐1‐infected patients exhibit an increase in cyclin B and mTOR expression, correlating with p53S15 phosphorylation and viral load. Cdk1 inhibition prevents the death of syncytia elicited by HIV‐1 infection of primary CD4 lymphoblasts. Thus, HIV‐1 elicits a pro‐apoptotic signal transduction pathway relying on the sequential action of cyclin B–Cdk1, mTOR and p53.
Transforming an Online Portal Site into a Playground for Netizen

ABSTRACT NHN was a laggard in the Internet portal business in Korea. When it entered the market, global giants such as Yahoo already had built a formidable presence in the Korean market, where leadership advantage was cited as a defining success factor. NHN was far behind not only because of timing but also because of information sources–which are the real root of their business–due to a lack of open web sites in Korea. They also discovered that an information portal has an inherent limitation in creating stickiness in its site. People click and leave the typical information portal upon finding their query results. However, the portal site business model is based on web advertisement, and performance depends on stickiness. This case explains how NHN beat the odds and became the leading portal in Korea. This company's innovative technology and customer-oriented strategy not only allowed it to surpass all of its competitors, but it also is revolutionizing the portal business both in Korea and globally.
Transfer of Sjögren's syndrome‐like autoimmune lesions into SCID mice and prevention of lesions by anti‐CD4 and anti‐T cell receptor antibody treatment

We describe the successful transfer of murine Sjögren's syndrome‐like autoimmune lesions from MRL/lpr mice (H‐2k) to severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice (H‐2d) and prevention of lesions by anti‐CD4 and ‐T cell receptor Vβ8 antibody treatment. Mononuclear cells (1 × 106) isolated from the inflammed submandibular salivary gland tissues of MRL/lpr mice were transferred intraperitoneally into SCID mice. Autoimmune lesions resembling those seen in Sjögren's syndrome developed in the salivary and lacrimal glands of SCID mice 8 weeks after the injection, whereas other organs did not show any lesion. This pathology resembles Sjögren's syndrome in humans involving both the salivary and lacrimal glands. Immunohistochemically, a major proportion of these infiltrating cells in transferred SCID mice were CD4+ and Vβ8+. When the spleen cells from MRL/lpr mice were injected, severe inflammatory lesions, probably resulting from a graft‐versus host reaction, were observed in multiple organs of SCID mice. The disease could not be induced by intraperitoneal administration of the sera from MRL/lpr mice, or of the spleen cells from C3H/He (H‐2k) and BALB/c (H‐2d) mice. We detected autoantibody production specific for the salivary gland tissue in sera from transferred SCID mice. Moreover, we found that the lesions were prevented by administration of the isolated cells treated in vitro with anti‐CD4 and anti‐Vβ8 monoclonal antibodies. These results suggest that CD4‐ and Vβ8‐bearing T cells are involved in recognizing an autopeptide and triggering autoimmunity in the salivary and lacrimal glands, and therapies designed with anti‐CD4 and anti‐Vβ8 antibodies may prove effective in treating the murine autoimmune disease.
Dengue Virus Type 4, Manaus, Brazil

We report dengue virus type 4 (DENV-4) in Amazonas, Brazil. This virus was isolated from serum samples of 3 patients treated at a tropical medicine reference center in Manaus. All 3 cases were confirmed by serologic and molecular tests; 1 patient was co-infected with DENV-3 and DENV-4.
Guided touch screen: enhanced eyes-free interaction

Touch screen based interfaces are pervading into areas such as car and industrial machinery control systems, where more tangible, physical interfaces have historically been used. This often results in a reduction in the possibility to operate the interface without the need to continuously look at the display. We present a novel approach aiming to increase the performance of eyes-free interaction with a touch screen User Interface (UI). A layer of transparent Perspex with cut-outs corresponding to the tracks of slider components in the visual UI is attached to the touch screen, guiding the interaction. A prototype system, where the user operated a remote visual task via a touch screen was evaluated in a user test with both unguided and guided conditions. The results illustrate the potential for adding a guidance layer to touch screens in applications where the output of the interaction is disconnected from the touch screen based input.
An empirical evaluation of beam search and pruning in BEXA

BEXA is a covering algorithm whose specialization model generalizes those of CN2 and members of Michalski's AQ family (1986) such as AQ15. All of these algorithms employ a time-consuming beam search to construct concept descriptions. It is shown that BEXA, using a beam search, rarely generates a better quality width of one. Three pruning strategies are also evaluated for BEXA, namely CN2's significance test, a novel stop-growth test, and Quinlan's post-pruning scheme for production rules (J. Quinlan, 1986). The stop-growth test produced better results than CN2's significance test for a beamwidth of one, while both schemes produced the best results for the same number of test databases when performing a beam search. Post-pruning produced better results than a stop-growth or significance test for a beam search, but the stop-growth test yielded similar results than post-pruning for a beamwidth of one.
Expressive modifications of Musical audio recordings: Preliminary Results

A system is described that aims to modify the performance of a musical recording (classical music) by changing the basic performance parameters tempo, sound level and tone duration. The input audio file is aligned with the corresponding score, which also contains extra information defining rule-based modifications of these parameters. The signal is decomposed using analysis-synthesis techniques to separate and modify each tone independently. The user can control the performance by changing the quantity of performance rules or by directly modifying the parameters values. A prototype Matlab implementation of the system performs expressive tempo and articulation modifications of monophonic and simple polyphonic audio recordings.
Wave Propagation in Photonic Crystal Models

Abstract : We compute the transmission properties of 2-D electromagnetic TM waves that are normally incident on a Fabry-Perot structure with mirrors consisting of photonic crystals. We use a boundary integral formulation with quadratic boundary elements and utilize the Ewald representation for the Green's functions. We trace the frequencies of the Fabry-Perot cavity modes traversing the photon bandgap as the cavity length increases and calculate corresponding Q-values. For the case of lossy dielectrics, we compare bandgap frequencies and Q-values to experimental results obtained by H. Everitt and his group at Duke University.
FTIR Study of Enhanced Polymeric Blend Membrane with Amines

In this study, research will be carried out to identify the functional group behavior of glassy and rubbery polymeric blend membrane with amines. Polymeric blend membranes with different blending ratios were prepared and the developed membranes were characterized by FTIR to see the effect of blend ratio on different functional groups. The developed membranes are flat dense sheet membrane of 20% wt/wt. The pure and blend membrane polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polyvinyl acetate with different composition, with 10% methyl diethanol amine, mono ethanol amine, diethanol amine are developed with dimethyl acetamide solvent. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was utilized to study the interaction between two polymers and to analyze the type of bonding present. To observed frequencies were assigned to various mode of vibration in terms of fundamentals and combination. These spectral changes indicated the existence of molecular interaction among the enhanced polymeric blends; highlight the compatible nature among each other.
Dehydration and venous thromboembolism after acute stroke.

BACKGROUND Although it is widely assumed that dehydration predisposes to venous thromboembolism (VTE), there are no clinical studies to support this. AIM To evaluate the relationship between biochemical indices of dehydration and VTE after acute ischaemic stroke (AIS). DESIGN Prospective observational study. METHODS Unselected AIS patients (n = 102) receiving standard thromboprophylaxis with aspirin and graded compression stockings, underwent serial measurements of serum urea, creatinine and osmolality, and were screened for VTE using magnetic resonance direct thrombus imaging. RESULTS Serum osmolality of >297 mOsm/kg, urea >7.5 mmol/l and urea:creatinine ratio (mmol:mmol) >80 a few days post-AIS were associated with odds ratios for VTE of, respectively, 4.7, 2.8 and 3.4 (p = 0.02, 0.05, 0.02) on multivariable analysis. DISCUSSION Dehydration after AIS is strongly independently associated with VTE, reinforcing the importance of maintaining adequate hydration in these patients.