LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A study of factors that affect user intentions toward email service switching

Internet portals have long been using email services to attract new members and retain existing customers. Recent announcements by major Internet portals of increases in email storage capacity demonstrate this strategy. It is, however, uncertain how people react to such announcements. We wished to understand the mechanisms associated with users’ intention to switch their current email service provider. Key variables pertaining to customer satisfaction with email service, attractive alternatives, and switching cost were examined to explain the dynamics of switching. An empirical study based on 1408 survey responses confirmed the importance of user satisfaction for service continuation. The variables attractive alternatives and continuity cost also demonstrated strong association with intention to switch. We found that the variable attractive alternatives moderated the relationship between customer satisfaction and intention to switch, but a moderating effect of switching cost was not found. Our investigation indicated that the findings of extant studies on the dynamics of service switching or re-purchase also apply to email services. # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Personal Mobility Map Construction for Crowd-Sourced Wi-Fi Based Indoor Mapping

This letter addresses the problem of wireless indoor positioning and proposes the concept of personal mobility map (PMM). As a graph describing an individual's typical mobility pattern over a physical or abstract space, PMM can be used as the building block for crowd-sourcing based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). PMM can also enable new kinds of location-based services (LBSs). To construct a PMM, we conduct intra-sequence clustering on the sequences of Wi-Fi received signal strength (RSS) measurements to cluster the measurements into different location points (LPs), followed by personal inter-sequence LP assembling, which aligns these LPs with the concept of the Smith-Waterman algorithm originally used for protein sequencing. Experiments with Wi-Fi RSS measurements collected in the university campus prove that the PMM performs well in indoor mapping and path estimation.
Wireless power transmission efficiency enhancement with metamaterials

In this paper, a wireless power transfer system with magnetically coupled resonators is studied. The idea to use metamaterials to enhance the coupling coefficient and the transfer efficiency is proposed and analyzed. With numerical calculations of a system with and without metamaterials, we show that the transfer efficiency can be improved with metamaterials.
Effect of powered gait orthosis on walking in individuals with paraplegia.

BACKGROUND
The important purpose of a powered gait orthosis is to provide active joint movement for patients with spinal cord injury.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of a powered gait orthosis on the kinematics and temporal-spatial parameters in paraplegics with spinal cord injury.


STUDY DESIGN
Quasi-experimental.


METHODS
Four spinal cord injury individuals experienced gait training with a powered gait orthosis for a minimum of 6 weeks prior to participating in the following walking trials: walking with an isocentric reciprocating gait orthosis and walking with both separate and synchronized movements with actuated orthotic hip and knee joints in a powered gait orthosis. Specific parameters were calculated and compared for each of the test conditions.


RESULTS
Using separate and synchronized actuated movement of the hip and knee joints in the powered gait orthosis increased gait speed and step length and reduced lateral and vertical compensatory motions when compared to the isocentric reciprocating gait orthosis, but there were no significant differences in these parameters. Using the new powered gait orthosis improved knee and hip joint kinematics.


CONCLUSIONS
The powered gait orthosis increased speed and step length as well as hip and knee joint kinematics and reduced the vertical and lateral compensatory motions compared to an isocentric reciprocating gait orthosis in spinal cord injury patients.


CLINICAL RELEVANCE
This new powered gait orthosis has the potential to improve hip and knee joint kinematics, the temporal-spatial parameters of gait in spinal cord injury patients walking.
Active Long Term Memory Networks

Continual Learning in artificial neural networks suffers from interference and forgetting when different tasks are learned sequentially. This paper introduces the Active Long Term Memory Networks (A-LTM), a model of sequential multitask deep learning that is able to maintain previously learned association between sensory input and behavioral output while acquiring knew knowledge. A-LTM exploits the non-convex nature of deep neural networks and actively maintains knowledge of previously learned, inactive tasks using a distillation loss [1]. Distortions of the learned input-output map are penalized but hidden layers are free to transverse towards new local optima that are more favorable for the multi-task objective. We re-frame the McClelland’s seminal Hippocampal theory [2] with respect to Catastrophic Inference (CI) behavior exhibited by modern deep architectures trained with back-propagation and inhomogeneous sampling of latent factors across epochs. We present empirical results of non-trivial CI during continual learning in Deep Linear Networks trained on the same task, in Convolutional Neural Networks when the task shifts from predicting semantic to graphical factors and during domain adaptation from simple to complex environments. We present results of the A-LTM model’s ability to maintain viewpoint recognition learned in the highly controlled iLab-20M [3] dataset with 10 object categories and 88 camera viewpoints, while adapting to the unstructured domain of Imagenet [4] with 1,000 object categories.
The Lowry method for protein quantitation.

The most accurate method of determining protein concentration is probably acid hydrolysis followed by amino acid analysis. Most other methods are sensitive to the amino acid composition of the protein, and absolute concentrations cannot be obtained (1). The procedure of Lowry et al. (2) is no exception, but its sensitivity is moderately constant from protein to protein, and it has been so widely used that Lowry protein estimations are a completely acceptable alternative to a rigorous absolute determination in almost all circumstances in which protein mixtures or crude extracts are involved. The method is based on both the Biuret reaction, in which the peptide bonds of proteins react with copper under alkaline conditions to produce Cu+, which reacts with the Folin reagent, and the Folin–Ciocalteau reaction, which is poorly understood but in essence phosphomolybdotungstate is reduced to heteropolymolybdenum blue by the copper-catalyzed oxidation of aromatic amino acids. The reactions result in a strong blue color, which depends partly on the tyrosine and tryptophan content. The method is sensitive down to about 0.01 mg of protein/mL, and is best used on solutions with concentrations in the range 0.01–1.0 mg/mL of protein.
Fire-Protective and Flame-Retardant Coatings - A State-of-the-Art Review

This review covers mainly intumescent coatings, with briefer discussions of non-intumescent organic fire-resistive coatings and cementitious inorganic coatings. Emphasis is placed on the more recent developments, and the more recent patent literature is surveyed. Modeling and optimizing are covered both from basic and applied aspects. The chemistry of the production of a foamed char barrier is discussed. Enhancing the performance by adjuvants and choice of binders is shown to be possible. The important interactions of ammonium polyphosphate with other components such as titanium dioxide are described. Testing is briefly discussed, as are some shortcomings of present-day coatings, such as limited water resistance, and some opportunities for improvement.
PowerHammer: Exfiltrating Data from Air-Gapped Computers through Power Lines

In this paper we provide an implementation, evaluation, and analysis of PowerHammer, a malware (bridgeware [1]) that uses power lines to exfiltrate data from air-gapped computers. In this case, a malicious code running on a compromised computer can control the power consumption of the system by intentionally regulating the CPU utilization. Data is modulated, encoded, and transmitted on top of the current flow fluctuations, and then it is conducted and propagated through the power lines. This phenomena is known as a ’conducted emission’. We present two versions of the attack. Line level powerhammering: In this attack, the attacker taps the in-home power lines that are directly attached to the electrical outlet. Phase level power-hammering: In this attack, the attacker taps the power lines at the phase level, in the main electrical service panel. In both versions of the attack, the attacker measures the emission conducted and then decodes the exfiltrated data. We describe the adversarial attack model and present modulations and encoding schemes along with a transmission protocol. We evaluate the covert channel in different scenarios and discuss signal-to-noise (SNR), signal processing, and forms of interference. We also present a set of defensive countermeasures. Our results show that binary data can be covertly exfiltrated from air-gapped computers through the power lines at bit rates of 1000 bit/sec for the line level power-hammering attack and 10 bit/sec for the phase level power-hammering attack.
The Reliability and Validity of the Norwegian Version of the Quality of Life in Late-Stage Dementia Scale.

AIM
To translate the Quality of Life in Late-Stage Dementia (QUALID) Scale into Norwegian, and to evaluate the test-retest reliability and validity of the scale.


METHOD
QUALID was translated according to standardised procedures. Residents with dementia living in nursing homes were included in the study and assessed using QUALID, Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Physical Self-Maintenance Scale and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale.


RESULTS
Cronbach's α of QUALID was 0.79. In the reliability study, the intra-class correlation was 0.83. The validity study showed a strong association between depressive symptoms and QUALID, and a moderate association between QUALID and assessments of level of functioning and agitation.


CONCLUSIONS
The Norwegian version of QUALID is a reliable and valid scale for assessing quality of life in nursing home residents with dementia.
Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Does Not Improve Visuo-Motor Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate how bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) affects visuo-motor coordination (VMC) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).


BACKGROUND
VMC involves multi-sensory integration, motor planning, executive function and attention. VMC deficits are well-described in PD. STN-DBS conveys marked motor benefit in PD, but pyscho-cognitive complications are recognized and the effect on VMC is not known.


METHODS
Thirteen PD patients with bilateral STN-DBS underwent neurological, cognitive, and mood assessment before VMC testing with optimal DBS stimulation parameters ('on-stimulation') and then, on the same day without any medication changes, after DBS silencing and establishing motor function deterioration ('off-stimulation'). Twelve age-matched healthy controls performed 2 successive VMC testing sessions, with a break of similar duration to that of the PD group. The computer cursor was controlled with a dome-shaped 'mouse' hidden from view that minimized tremor effects. Movement duration, hand velocity, tracking continuity, directional control variables, and feedback utilization variables were measured. MANOVA was performed on (1) clinically measured motor function, (2) VMC performance and (3) mood and attention, looking for main and interaction effects of: (1) group (controls/PD), (2) test-order (controls: first/second, PD: on-stimulation/off-stimulation), (3) path (sine/square/circle) and (4) hand (dominant/non-dominant).


RESULTS
Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) Part III worsened off-stimulation versus on-stimulation (mean: 42.3 versus 21.6, p = 0.02), as did finger tapping (p = 0.02), posture-gait (p = 0.01), upper limb function (p<0.001) and backwards digit span (p = 0.02). Stimulation state did not affect mood. PD patients performed worse in non-velocity related VMC variables than controls (F(5,18) = 8.5, p<0.001). In the control group there were significant main effects of hand (dominant/non-dominant), path (sine/square/circle) and test-order (Test_1/Test_2). In the PD group, hand and path effects, but no test-order (on-stimulation/off-stimulation), were found.


CONCLUSIONS
'Low-level' clinically-measured motor function responds to STN-DBS but 'high-level' motor and cognitive functions relating to VMC may be unresponsive to STN-DBS.
Sentiment Predictability for Stocks

In this work, we present our findings and experiments for stock-market prediction using various textual sentiment analysis tools, such as mood analysis and event extraction, as well as prediction models, such as LSTMs and specific convolutional architectures.
Factors associated with institutional delivery service utilization in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND
Most obstetric complications occur unpredictably during the time of delivery, but they can be prevented with proper medical care in the health facilities. Despite the Ethiopian government's efforts to expand health service facilities and promote health institution-based delivery service in the country, an estimated 85% of births still take place at home.


OBJECTIVE
The review was conducted with the aim of generating the best evidence on the determinants of institutional delivery service utilization in Ethiopia.


METHODS
The reviewed studies were accessed through electronic web-based search strategy from PubMed, HINARI, Mendeley reference manager, Cochrane Library for Systematic Reviews, and Google Scholar. Review Manager V5.3 software was used for meta-analysis. Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Heterogeneity of the study was assessed using I (2) test.


RESULTS
People living in urban areas (OR =13.16, CI =1.24, 3.68), with primary and above educational level of the mother and husband (OR =4.95, CI =2.3, 4. 8, and OR =4.43, CI =1.14, 3.36, respectively), who encountered problems during pregnancy (OR =2.83, CI =4.54, 7.39), and living at a distance <5 km from nearby health facility (OR =2.6, CI =3.33, 6.57) showed significant association with institutional delivery service utilization. Women's autonomy was not significantly associated with institutional delivery service utilization.


CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Distance to health facility and problems during pregnancy were factors positively and significantly associated with institutional delivery service utilization. Promoting couples education beyond primary education regarding the danger signs of pregnancy and benefits of institutional delivery through available communication networks such as health development army and promotion of antenatal care visits and completion of four standard visits by pregnant women were recommended.
On-line/Off-line: Joint Negotiation Teaching in Montreal and Vienna

E-business systems, the most recent generation of information systems, can be effectively used in teaching. One such system was developed and used in a collaborative project that involved teaching of negotiation theory and practice to students from Austria and Canada. The system provides customized course materials and a platform to conduct various e-negotiation activities. The design allows combining e-learning technologies designed to support students in their independent and individual learning with conventional face-to-face training. Our experience indicates that professional negotiation training accompanied by e-learning, and tools to support decision-making and negotiation can foster students’ appreciation of the technology as well as demonstrate its limitations. The combination of technologyintensive and conventional resources contributed to students’ awareness of social influences on negotiations, importance of communication, and focussed their attention on the problem and its solution. Deeper customization of the course content and delivery may further contribute to effective learning and acquiring both communication and analytical skills.
Unsupervised Analysis of Human Gestures

Recognition of human gestures is important for analysis and indexing of video. To recognize human gestures on video, generally a large number of training examples for each individual gesture must be collected. This is a labor-intensive and error-prone process and is only feasible for a limited set of gestures. In this paper, we present an approach for automatically segmenting sequences of natural activities into atomic sections and clustering them. Our work is inspired by natural language processing where words are extracted from long sentences. We extract primitive gestures from sequences of human motion. Our approach contains two steps. First, the sequences of human motion are segmented into atomic components and clustered using a Hidden Markov Model. Thus we can represent the original sequences by discrete symbols. Then we extract lexicon from these discrete sequences by using an algorithm named COMPRESSIVE. Experimental results on music conducting gestures demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach
Free-space-optical mobile ad hoc networks: Auto-configurable building blocks

Existence of line of sight (LOS) and alignment between the communicating antennas is one of the key requirements for free-space-optical (FSO) communication. To ensure uninterrupted data flow, auto-aligning transmitter and receiver modules are necessary. We propose a new FSO node design that uses spherical surfaces covered with transmitter and receiver modules for maintaining optical links even when nodes are in relative motion. The spherical FSO node provides angular diversity in 3-dimensions, and hence provides an LOS at any orientation as long as there are no obstacles in between the communicating nodes. For proof-of-concept, we designed and tested an auto-configurable circuit, integrated with light sources and detectors placed on spherical surfaces. We demonstrated communication between a stationary and a mobile node using these initial prototypes of such FSO structures. We also performed the necessary theoretical analysis to demonstrate scalability of our FSO node designs to longer distances as well as feasibility of denser packaging of transceivers on such nodes. M. Yuksel ( ) University of Nevada – Reno, CSE Department, MS 171, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557, USA e-mail: yuksem@cse.unr.edu J. Akella · S. Kalyanaraman · P. Dutta Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, ECSE Department, JEC 6049, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180, USA J. Akella e-mail: akellj@rpi.edu S. Kalyanaraman e-mail: shivkuma@ecse.rpi.edu P. Dutta e-mail: duttap@rpi.edu
Aloe barbadensis Miller mediated green synthesis of mono-disperse copper oxide nanoparticles: optical properties.

In this paper, we report on the synthesis of nanostructured copper oxide particles by both chemical and biological method. A facile and efficient synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles was carried out with controlled surface properties via green chemistry approach. The CuO nanoparticles synthesized are monodisperse and versatile and were characterized with the help of UV-Vis, PL, FT-IR, XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques. The particles are crystalline in nature and average sizes were between 15 and 30 nm. The morphology of the nanoparticles can be controlled by tuning the amount of Aloe vera extract. This new eco-friendly approach of synthesis is a novel, cheap, and convenient technique suitable for large scale commercial production and health related applications of CuO nanoparticles.
Nonlocal $s$-minimal surfaces and Lawson cones

The nonlocal $s$-fractional minimal surface equation for $\Sigma= \partial E$ where $E$ is an open set in $R^N$ is given by $$ H_\Sigma^ s (p) := \int_{R^N} \frac {\chi_E(x) - \chi_{E^c}(x)} {|x-p|^{N+s}}\, dx \ =\ 0 \quad \text{for all } p\in \Sigma. $$ Here $0<s<1$, $\chi$ designates characteristic function, and the integral is understood in the principal value sense. The classical notion of minimal surface is recovered by letting $s\to 1$. In this paper we exhibit the first concrete examples (beyond the plane) of nonlocal $s-$minimal surfaces. When $s$ is close to $1$, we first construct a connected embedded $s$-minimal surface of revolution in $R^3$, the {\bf nonlocal catenoid}, an analog of the standard catenoid $|x_3| = \log (r + \sqrt{r^2 -1})$. Rather than eventual logarithmic growth, this surface becomes asymptotic to the cone $|x_3|= r\sqrt{1-s}$. We also find a two-sheet embedded $s$-minimal surface asymptotic to the same cone, an analog to the simple union of two parallel planes. On the other hand, for any $0<s<1$, $n,m\ge 1$, $s-$minimal Lawson cones $|v|=\alpha|u|$, $(u,v)\in R^n\times R^m$, are found to exist. In sharp contrast with the classical case, we prove their stability for small $s$ and $n+m=7$, which suggests that unlike the classical theory (or the case $s$ close to 1), the regularity of $s$-area minimizing surfaces may not hold true in dimension $7$.
Empirical examination of the adoption of WebCT using TAM

Web Course Tools (WebCT) have enhanced the ability and motivation of institutes of higher education to support e-learning. In this study, we extended the Technology Acceptance Model to include technical support as a precursor and then investigated the role of the extended model in user acceptance of WebCT. Responses from 836 university students were used to test the proposed structural model. The data showed that technical support has a significant direct effect on perceived ease of use and usefulness, while perceived ease of use and usefulness are the dominant factors affecting the attitude of students using WebCT. The results indicate the importance of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness in mediating the relationship of technical support with attitude and WebCT usage. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Anthropometric and fitness characteristics of elite Australian female water polo players.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the anthropometric and fitness characteristics of elite female water polo players and examine the differences between players of different competition levels (national and international) and playing positions (center and perimeter). Twenty-six female water polo players (National League, n = 12, and National Squad, n = 14) underwent measurements of standard anthropometry (height, body mass, and sum of 7 skinfolds), lower-body muscular power (in-water vertical jump), speed (10-m maximal sprint swim), and aerobic fitness (multistage shuttle swim test). No goalkeepers were involved. The National Squad players were taller (173.7 +/- 5.5 vs. 169.6 +/- 4.4 cm; p < 0.05) and heavier (74.6 +/- 8.0 vs. 65.8 +/- 8.4 kg; p < 0.05) and had better jumping (139.0 +/- 7.0 vs. 129.7 +/- 4.6 cm; p < 0.001), sprinting (5.96 +/- 0.21 vs. 6.26 +/- 0.34 seconds; p < 0.05), and endurance swimming abilities (652 +/- 84 vs. 449 +/- 124 m; p < 0.001) compared with the National League players. Perimeter players had lower-body mass (70.2 +/- 3.8 vs. 82.5 +/- 7.4 kg; p < 0.001) and skinfold levels (88.7 +/- 14.1 vs. 118.6 +/- 22.2 mm; p < 0.01) and better sprinting (5.88 +/- 0.19 vs. 6.10 +/- 0.19 seconds; effect size [ES] = 1.16, p > 0.05) and endurance swimming abilities (678 +/- 65 vs. 606 +/- 102 m; ES = 0.84, p > 0.05) compared with center players. These findings demonstrate that anthropometric and fitness characteristics can discriminate between players of different competition levels and playing positions. These water polo-specific field tests may assist coaches in profiling players and evaluating adaptations to training.