LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Brief review on snubber circuits

This paper presents a summary of the main types of snubber circuits; generally classified as dissipative and non-dissipative or active and passive snubbers. This type of circuits are commonly used because of they can suppress electrical spikes, allowing a better performance on the main electrical circuit. This article intent to describe the currently snubber circuits and its applications without getting into their design.
Product HMMs for audio-visual continuous speech recognition using facial animation parameters

The use of visual information in addition to acoustic can improve automatic speech recognition. In this paper we compare different approaches for audio-visual information integration and show how they affect automatic speech recognition performance. We utilize Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs), supported by the MPEG-4 standard for the visual representation as visual features. We use both Single-stream and Multi-stream Hidden Markov Models (HMM) to integrate audio and visual information. We performed both state and phone synchronous multi-stream integration. Product HMM topology is used to model the phone-synchronous integration. ASR experiments were performed under noisy audio conditions using a relatively large vocabulary (approximately 1000 words) audio-visual database. The proposed phone-synchronous system, which performed the best, reduces the word error rate (WER) by approximately 20% relatively to audio-only ASR (AASR) WERs, at various SNRs with additive white Gaussian noise.
Prefrontal space ratio: comparison between trisomy 21 and euploid fetuses in the second trimester.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate a novel ultrasound measurement, the prefrontal space ratio (PFSR), in second-trimester trisomy 21 and euploid fetuses.


METHODS
Stored three-dimensional volumes of fetal profiles from 26 trisomy 21 fetuses and 90 euploid fetuses at 15-25 weeks' gestation were examined. A line was drawn between the leading edge of the mandible and the maxilla (MM line) and extended in front of the forehead. The ratio of the distance between the leading edge of the skull and that of the skin (d(1)) to the distance between the skin and the point where the MM line was intercepted (d(2)) was calculated (d(2)/d(1)). The distributions of PFSR in trisomy 21 and euploid fetuses were compared, and the relationship with gestational age in each group was evaluated by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (r(s) ).


RESULTS
The PFSR in trisomy 21 fetuses (mean, 0.36; range, 0-0.81) was significantly lower than in euploid fetuses (mean, 1.48; range, 0.85-2.95; P < 0.001 (Mann-Whitney U-test)). There was no significant association between PFSR and gestational age in either trisomy 21 (r(s) = 0.25; 95% CI, - 0.15 to 0.58) or euploid (r(s) = 0.06; 95% CI, - 0.15 to 0.27) fetuses.


CONCLUSION
The PFSR appears to be a highly sensitive and specific marker of trisomy 21 in the second trimester of pregnancy.
Predicting cardiovascular risk using conventional vs ambulatory blood pressure in older patients with systolic hypertension. Systolic Hypertension in Europe Trial Investigators.

CONTEXT
The clinical use of ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring requires further validation in prospective outcome studies.


OBJECTIVE
To compare the prognostic significance of conventional and ambulatory BP measurement in older patients with isolated systolic hypertension.


DESIGN
Substudy to the double-blind placebo-controlled Systolic Hypertension in Europe (Syst-Eur) Trial, started in October 1988 with follow up to February 1999. The conventional BP at randomization was the mean of 6 readings (2 measurements in the sitting position at 3 visits 1 month apart). The baseline ambulatory BP was recorded with a noninvasive intermittent technique.


SETTING
Family practices and outpatient clinics at primary and secondary referral hospitals.


PARTICIPANTS
A total of 808 older (aged > or =60 years) patients whose untreated BP level on conventional measurement at baseline was 160 to 219 mm Hg systolic and less than 95 mm Hg diastolic.


INTERVENTIONS
For the overall study, patients were randomized to nitrendipine (n = 415; 10-40 mg/d) with the possible addition of enalapril (5-20 mg/d) and/or hydrochlorothiazide (12.5-25.0 mg/d) or to matching placebos (n = 393).


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Total and cardiovascular mortality, all cardiovascular end points, fatal and nonfatal stroke, and fatal and nonfatal cardiac end points.


RESULTS
After adjusting for sex, age, previous cardiovascular complications, smoking, and residence in western Europe, a 10-mm Hg higher conventional systolic BP at randomization was not associated with a worse prognosis, whereas in the placebo group, a 10-mm Hg higher 24-hour BP was associated with an increased relative hazard rate (HR) of most outcome measures (eg, HR, 1.23 [95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00-1.50] for total mortality and 1.34 [95% CI, 1.03-1.75] for cardiovascular mortality). In the placebo group, the nighttime systolic BP (12 AM-6 AM) more accurately predicted end points than the daytime level. Cardiovascular risk increased with a higher night-to-day ratio of systolic BP independent of the 24-hour BP (10% increase in night-to-day ratio; HR for all cardiovascular end points, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.03-1.94). At randomization, the cardiovascular risk conferred by a conventional systolic BP of 160 mm Hg was similar to that associated with a 24-hour daytime or nighttime systolic BP of 142 mm Hg (95% CI, 128-156 mm Hg), 145 mm Hg (95% CI, 126-164 mm Hg) or 132 mm Hg (95% CI, 120-145 mm Hg), respectively. In the active treatment group, systolic BP at randomization did not significantly predict cardiovascular risk, regardless of the technique of BP measurement.


CONCLUSIONS
In untreated older patients with isolated systolic hypertension, ambulatory systolic BP was a significant predictor of cardiovascular risk over and above conventional BP.
Clinical profiles and outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an efficacy and safety analysis of SHIFT study.

BACKGROUND
Heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently coexist, with undefined prognostic and therapeutic implications. We investigated clinical profile and outcomes of patients with chronic HF and COPD, notably the efficacy and safety of ivabradine, a heart rate-reducing agent.


METHODS
6505 ambulatory patients, in sinus rhythm, heart rate ≥ 70 bpm and stable systolic HF were randomised to placebo or ivabradine (2.5 to 7.5mg bid). Multivariate Cox model analyses were performed to compare the COPD (n=730) and non-COPD subgroups, and the ivabradine and placebo treatment effects.


RESULTS
COPD patients were older and had a poorer risk profile. Beta-blockers were prescribed to 69% of COPD patients and 92% of non-COPD patients. The primary endpoint (PEP) and its component, hospitalisation for worsening HF, were more frequent in COPD patients (HRs f, 1.22 [p=0.006]; and 1.34 [p<0.001]) respectively, but relative risk was reduced similarly by ivabradine in both COPD (14%, and 17%) and non-COPD (18% and 27%) patients (p interaction=0.82, and 0.53, respectively). Similar effect was noted also for cardiovascular death. Adverse events were more common in COPD patients, but similar in treatment subgroups. Bradycardia occurred more frequently in ivabradine subgroups, with similar incidence in patients with or without COPD.


CONCLUSIONS
The association of COPD and HF results in a worse prognosis, and COPD represents a barrier to optimisation of beta-blocker therapy. Ivabradine is similarly effective and safe in chronic HF patients with or without COPD, and can be safely combined with beta-blockers in COPD.
Robust Multi-Exposure Image Fusion: A Structural Patch Decomposition Approach

We propose a simple yet effective structural patch decomposition approach for multi-exposure image fusion (MEF) that is robust to ghosting effect. We decompose an image patch into three conceptually independent components: signal strength, signal structure, and mean intensity. Upon fusing these three components separately, we reconstruct a desired patch and place it back into the fused image. This novel patch decomposition approach benefits MEF in many aspects. First, as opposed to most pixel-wise MEF methods, the proposed algorithm does not require post-processing steps to improve visual quality or to reduce spatial artifacts. Second, it handles RGB color channels jointly, and thus produces fused images with more vivid color appearance. Third and most importantly, the direction of the signal structure component in the patch vector space provides ideal information for ghost removal. It allows us to reliably and efficiently reject inconsistent object motions with respect to a chosen reference image without performing computationally expensive motion estimation. We compare the proposed algorithm with 12 MEF methods on 21 static scenes and 12 deghosting schemes on 19 dynamic scenes (with camera and object motion). Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm not only outperforms previous MEF algorithms on static scenes but also consistently produces high quality fused images with little ghosting artifacts for dynamic scenes. Moreover, it maintains a lower computational cost compared with the state-of-the-art deghosting schemes.11The MATLAB code of the proposed algorithm will be made available online. Preliminary results of Section III-A [1] were presented at the IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, Canada, 2015.
G-spot anatomy: a new discovery.

INTRODUCTION
The anatomic existence of the G-spot has not been documented yet.


AIM
To identify the anatomic structure of the G-spot.


METHODS
  A stratum-by-stratum vaginal wall dissection on a fresh cadaver.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Primary outcome is the identification of the G-spot and the secondary outcome is its measurements and anatomic description of the G-spot.


RESULTS
The G-spot has a distinguishable anatomic structure that is located on the dorsal perineal membrane, 16.5 mm from the upper part of the urethral meatus, and creates a 35° angle with the lateral border of the urethra. The lower pole (tail) and the upper pole (head) were located 3 and 15 mm next to the lateral border of the urethra, respectively. Grossly, the G-spot appeared as a well-delineated sac with walls that resembled fibroconnective tissues and resembled erectile tissues. The superior surface of the sac had bluish irregularities visible through the coat. Upon opening the sac's upper coat, blue grape-like anatomic compositions of the G-spot emerged with dimensions of length (L) of 8.1 mm × width (W) of 3.6-1.5 mm × height (H) of 0.4 mm. The G-spot structure had three distinct areas: the proximal part (the head) L 3.4 mm × W 3.6 mm, the middle part L 3.1 mm × W 3.3 mm, and the distal part (tail) L 3.3 mm × W 3.0 mm. From the distal tail, a rope-like structure emerged, which was seen for approximately 1.6 mm and then disappeared into the surrounding tissue.


CONCLUSION
The anatomic existence of the G-spot was documented with potential impact on the practice and clinical research in the field of female sexual function.
Postural Adjustments in Preterm Infants at 4 and 6 Months Post-Term During Voluntary Reaching in Supine Position

Gradually it is getting clear that motor development – in particular balance control – in so-called “low-risk” preterm infants often differs from that in full-term infants. However, little is known on the etiology and pathophysiology of these problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate postural behavior during reaching by means of kinetic and kinematic measurements. Preterm infants (n = 32) without cerebral palsy were investigated longitudinally at the corrected ages of 4 and 6 mo. Thirteen age-matched full-term infants served as controls. Cognitive and motor development were assessed by means of the quality of General Movements (GMs) at 4 mo and Bayley scales at 6 and 12 mo. The infants were lying supine on a forceplate reaching for a toy and the kinetics of the total body's Center of Pressure (COP) was measured in cranial-caudal and medial-lateral direction. The analysis focused on COP displacement, Vmax and oscillatory changes of the COP displacement during reaching. The kinematic analysis of reaching focused on movement units, Vmax and a compound kinematic variable reflecting the quality of reaching. The results showed that preterm infants showed a remarkable “still” postural behavior, which differed significantly from the mobile COP behavior of the full-term infants. More “still” postural behavior at 6 mo was associated with a better quality of reaching movements and with normal GMs at 4 mo. We concluded that “still” postural behavior is an adequate postural strategy of preterm infants. But it might be that this postural behavior is an indicator of later dysfunction.
Adaptation, appropriation, or what you will

This essay examines the dominant terms currently in use in studies of Shakespearean rewritings (adaptation and appropriation), reviews their recent critical histories, and considers their theoretical advantages and drawbacks. The essay concludes that at the current moment, both terms are apt and useful and suggests a model for articulating their relationship to one another.
Symptomatic effects of chondroitin 4 and chondroitin 6 sulfate on hand osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial at a single center.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the symptomatic effects of highly purified chondroitin 4 and chondroitin 6 sulfate (CS) therapy in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand.


METHODS
This investigator-initiated, single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial included 162 symptomatic patients with radiographic evidence of hand OA (American College of Rheumatology criteria). Inclusion criteria included patient's assessment of global spontaneous hand pain of at least 40 mm on a 0-100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) and functional impairment of at least 6 (0-30 scale) on the Functional Index for Hand OA (FIHOA) in the most symptomatic hand. Patients received either 800 mg of CS (n = 80 patients) or placebo (n = 82 patients) once daily for 6 months and were analyzed in an intent-to-treat approach. The two primary outcomes were the change in the patient's assessment of global spontaneous hand pain and in hand function (by FIHOA score) from baseline to month 6. Secondary outcomes were improvement in grip strength, duration of morning stiffness, acetaminophen consumption, and the investigator's global impression of treatment efficacy.


RESULTS
There was a significantly more pronounced decrease in the patient's global assessment of hand pain in the CS group than in the placebo group (difference VAS scores -8.7 mm; P = 0.016). Hand function improved significantly more in the CS group than in the placebo group (difference in FIHOA scores -2.14; P = 0.008). There was a statistically significant between-group difference in favor of CS for the duration of morning stiffness and for the investigator's global impression of treatment efficacy. Changes in grip strength, acetaminophen consumption, and safety end points were not significantly different between the two groups.


CONCLUSION
This study demonstrates that CS improves hand pain and function in patients with symptomatic OA of the hand and shows a good safety profile.
A modified ETDRS visual acuity chart for European-wide use.

PURPOSE
The log MAR visual acuity (VA) chart developed for use in the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) is composed of 10 Sloan letters, which are not used in the Greek, Cyrillic, and Central European alphabets. In this study we evaluate a modified ETDRS chart, the University of Crete (UoC) chart, which contains a set of letters readable by all European citizens.


METHODS
In the UoC charts, the letters C, D, R, N, V, S, and Z were substituted with E, P, B, X, Y, A, and T, respectively. The similarity between the modified and the standard acuity charts was evaluated using two procedures. First, VA of 227 secondary school children (454 eyes) was evaluated using both sets of charts. Second, the relative difficulty for the identification of individual Sloan letters used in both charts, as well as letter M, was assessed from psychometric functions for five subjects.


RESULTS
Bland-Altman plots revealed no statistical significant differences in the value of VA between the standard and the UoC set of charts. Although, estimates of identification log MAR threshold showed relatively significant interletter variability, in total, the new set of Sloan letters was equally identifiable with the original set.


CONCLUSIONS
The overall pattern of results suggests that the modified log MAR UoC charts forms a valid alternative to the ETDRS for assessing VA in multinational clinical trials, offering the advantage of containing letters recognizable by a wider population basis, such as European citizens, as well as subjects from countries using the Cyrillic alphabet.
Automatic Analysis of Rhythmic Poetry with Applications to Generation and Translation

We employ statistical methods to analyze, generate, and translate rhythmic poetry. We first apply unsupervised learning to reveal word-stress patterns in a corpus of raw poetry. We then use these word-stress patterns, in addition to rhyme and discourse models, to generate English love poetry. Finally, we translate Italian poetry into English, choosing target realizations that conform to desired rhythmic patterns.
Time series: data analysis and theory [Book Review]

Cox, Matthew L. Miller, and Jeffrey A. Bloom. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2002, 576 pp. $69.96 (hardbound). A key ingredient to copyright protection, digital watermarking provides a solution to the illegal copying of material. It also has broader uses in recording and electronic transaction tracking. This book explains “the principles underlying digital watermarking technologies, describes the requirements that have given rise to them, and discusses the diverse ends to which these technologies are being applied.” [book notes] The authors are extensively experienced in digital watermarking technologies. Cox recently joined the NEC Research Institute after a five-year stint at AT&T Bell Labs. Miller’s interest began at AT&T Bell Labs in 1979. He also is employed at NEC. Bloom is a researcher in digital watermarking at the Sarnoff Corporation. His acquaintance with the field began at Signafy, Inc. and continued through his employment at NEC Research Institute. The book features the following: Review of the underlying principles of watermarking relevant for image, video, and audio; Discussion of a wide variety of applications, theoretical principles, detection and embedding concepts, and key properties; Examination of copyright protection and other applications; Presentation of a series of detailed examples that illustrate watermarking concepts and practices; Appendix, in print and on the Web, containing the source code for the examples; Comprehensive glossary of terms. “The authors provide a comprehensive overview of digital watermarking, rife with detailed examples and grounded within strong theoretical framework. Digital Watermarking will serve as a valuable introduction as well as a useful reference for those engaged in the field.”—Walter Bender, Director, M.I.T. Media Lab
An Empirical Investigation on End-Users' Acceptance of Enterprise Systems

Despite the huge investments by organizations in ERP implementation, maintenance, and user training, ERP implementation failures and less-than-satisfactory productivity improvements are common. End-users’ reluctance or unwillingness to adopt or use the newly implemented ERP system is often cited as one of the main reasons for ERP failures. To examine factors leading to the lack of end-user acceptance of ERP systems, we reviewed the literature on user adoption of IT in mandatory contexts, developed hypotheses to explain ERP user acceptance, and conducted a survey study to test the hypotheses. In particular, we examined end-users’ attitudes toward system use and symbolic adoption, which refers to users’ voluntary mental acceptance of a system, to understand user acceptance in the ERP context. Four cognitive constructs— perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived compatibility, and perceived fit—were hypothesized as the antecedents. The research model was tested through a survey of end-users’ perceptions concerning adopting and using a newly implemented ERP system. The findings support most of our hypotheses. Specifically, perceived compatibility and perceived ease of use have both direct and indirect effects (mediated by attitude) on symbolic adoption, while perceived fit and perceived usefulness influence symbolic adoption by being fully mediated through attitude. The study provides managerial implications for organizations that are striving to engender user acceptance of newly adopted enterprise systems and applications.
Indian Classical Dance Mudra Classification Using HOG Features and SVM Classifier

Received Dec 9, 2016 Revised Jun 17, 2017 Accepted Sep 17, 2017 Digital understanding of Indian classical dance is least studied work, though it has been a part of Indian Culture from around 200BC. This work explores the possibilities of recognizing classical dance mudras in various dance forms in India. The images of hand mudras of various classical dances are collected form the internet and a database is created for this job. Histogram of oriented (HOG) features of hand mudras input the classifier. Support vector machine (SVM) classifies the HOG features into mudras as text messages. The mudra recognition frequency (MRF) is calculated for each mudra using graphical user interface (GUI) developed from the model. Popular feature vectors such as SIFT, SURF, LBP and HAAR are tested against HOG for precision and swiftness. This work helps new learners and dance enthusiastic people to learn and understand dance forms and related information on their mobile devices. Keyword:
The influence of the psychology of programming on a language design: Project status report

Research in Psychology of Programming (PoP) and related fields over the past thirty years has identified many important usability issues for programming languages and tools. However, when new programming languages are designed these findings do not seem to have much impact, so popular modern languages continue to exhibit many of the same old problems. This paper reviews the progress of an ongoing project to elevate the influence of PoP on the design of a new programming language. In the context of designing a new programming language for children, we cataloged and interpreted the prior work, performed new studies where questions remained unanswered, and have focused on usability throughout the design. In addition to producing a system that is easier to learn and use than existing systems, we hope to exemplify a process that could be adopted by other language designers to improve the usability of their systems.