LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Funnel Libraries for Real-Time Robust Feedback Motion Planning

We consider the problem of generating motion plans for a robot that are guaranteed to succeed despite uncertainty in the environment, parametric model uncertainty, and disturbances. Furthermore, we consider scenarios where these plans must be generated in real-time, because constraints such as obstacles in the environment may not be known until they are perceived (with a noisy sensor) at runtime. Our approach is to pre-compute a library of “funnels” along different maneuvers of the system that the state is guaranteed to remain within (despite bounded disturbances) when the feedback controller corresponding to the maneuver is executed. The resulting funnel library is then used to sequentially compose motion plans at runtime while ensuring the safety of the robot. A major advantage of the work presented here is that by explicitly taking into account the effect of uncertainty, the robot can evaluate motion plans based on how vulnerable they are to disturbances. We demonstrate and validate our method using extensive hardware experiments on a small fixed-wing airplane avoiding obstacles at high speed (∼12 mph), along with thorough simulation experiments of ground vehicle and quadrotor models navigating through cluttered environments. To our knowledge, the resulting hardware demonstrations on a fixed-wing airplane constitute one of the first examples of provably safe and robust control for robotic systems with complex nonlinear dynamics that need to plan in realtime in environments with complex geometric constraints. The key computational engine we leverage is sums-of-squares (SOS) programming. While SOS programming allows us to apply our approach to systems of relatively high dimensionality (up to approximately 10-15 dimensional state spaces), scaling our approach to higher dimensional systems such as humanoid robots requires a different set of computational tools. In this thesis, we demonstrate how DSOS and SDSOS programming, which are recently introduced alternatives to SOS programming, can be employed to achieve this improved scalability and handle control systems with as many as 30-50 state dimensions. Thesis Supervisor: Russ Tedrake Title: Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Intervention to Lower Household Wood Smoke Exposure in Guatemala Reduces ST-Segment Depression on Electrocardiograms

BACKGROUND
A large body of evidence suggests that fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution is a cause of cardiovascular disease, but little is known in particular about the cardiovascular effects of indoor air pollution from household use of solid fuels in developing countries. RESPIRE (Randomized Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects) was a randomized trial of a chimney woodstove that reduces wood smoke exposure.


OBJECTIVES
We tested the hypotheses that the stove intervention, compared with open fire use, would reduce ST-segment depression and increase heart rate variability (HRV).


METHODS
We used two complementary study designs: a) between-groups comparisons based on randomized stove assignment, and b) before-and-after comparisons within control subjects who used open fires during the trial and received chimney stoves after the trial. Electrocardiogram sessions that lasted 20 hr were repeated up to three times among 49 intervention and 70 control women 38-84 years of age, and 55 control subjects were also assessed after receiving stoves. HRV and ST-segment values were assessed for each 30-min period. ST-segment depression was defined as an average value below -1.00 mm. Personal fine PM [aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM₂.₅] exposures were measured for 24 hr before each electrocardiogram.


RESULTS
PM₂.₅ exposure means were 266 and 102 μg/m³ during the trial period in the control and intervention groups, respectively. During the trial, the stove intervention was associated with an odds ratio of 0.26 (95% confidence interval, 0.08-0.90) for ST-segment depression. We found similar associations with the before-and-after comparison. The intervention was not significantly associated with HRV.


CONCLUSIONS
The stove intervention was associated with reduced occurrence of nonspecific ST-segment depression, suggesting that household wood smoke exposures affect ventricular repolarization and potentially cardiovascular health.
SOSPES: SPIRIVA® observational study measuring SGRQ score in routine medical practice in Central and Eastern Europe

PURPOSE
The long-acting inhaled anticholinergic agent, tiotropium, is recommended as first-line maintenance therapy for moderate to very severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to improve symptoms, exercise tolerance, health status, and to reduce exacerbations. Few studies have evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of tiotropium in patients in routine clinical conditions. The current study was designed to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of tiotropium delivered via the HandiHaler® device on the health status of patients with COPD with Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) disease classification 2-4 in six central and eastern European countries in a real-life clinical setting.


METHODS
The study was an open-label, prospective, uncontrolled, and single-arm surveillance study with three clinic visits during a 6-month observation period (baseline, and months 3 and 6). Health status was measured using the disease-specific St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). The primary efficacy endpoint was the mean change from baseline in SGRQ total score at the end of the 6-month observational period.


RESULTS
Patients treated with tiotropium 18 μg once daily showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction (improvement) of 21.7 units in the SGRQ total score, regardless of smoking status or cardiac comorbidities at enrollment (P < 0.0001). The analysis also showed that age, treatment compliance, and GOLD disease classification were significant factors that impact the health status of patients with COPD differently.


CONCLUSION
These results provide further support for the use of the tiotropium HandiHaler® as first-line maintenance treatment of patients with COPD with a clinician-assessed disease.
Motivational orientation modulates the neural response to reward

Motivational orientation defines the source of motivation for an individual to perform a particular action and can either originate from internal desires (e.g., interest) or external compensation (e.g., money). To this end, motivational orientation should influence the way positive or negative feedback is processed during learning situations and this might in turn have an impact on the learning process. In the present study, we thus investigated whether motivational orientation, i.e., extrinsic and intrinsic motivation modulates the neural response to reward and punishment as well as learning from reward and punishment in 33 healthy individuals. To assess neural responses to reward, punishment and learning of reward contingencies we employed a probabilistic reversal learning task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation were assessed with a self-report questionnaire. Rewarding trials fostered activation in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC) as well as the amygdala and nucleus accumbens, whereas for punishment an increased neural response was observed in the medial and inferior prefrontal cortex, the superior parietal cortex and the insula. High extrinsic motivation was positively correlated to increased neural responses to reward in the ACC, amygdala and putamen, whereas a negative relationship between intrinsic motivation and brain activation in these brain regions was observed. These findings show that motivational orientation indeed modulates the responsiveness to reward delivery in major components of the human reward system and therefore extends previous results showing a significant influence of individual differences in reward-related personality traits on the neural processing of reward.
A unified presentation of identities involving Weierstrass-type functions and their applications

Abstract In this work, we investigate and discuss Weierstrass-type functions ℘ 2 k to the power of m , and then derive a general formula for identities among them. Applications of this general formula include not only producing many of the familiar identities among Weierstrass-type functions, but also infinitely many new ones. Moreover, it is observed that new Bernoulli identities could be constructed systematically by means of the new identities among Weierstrass-type functions.
Review on determining number of Cluster in K-Means Clustering

Clustering is widely used in different field such as biology, psychology, and economics. The result of clustering varies as number of cluster parameter changes hence main challenge of cluster analysis is that the number of clusters or the number of model parameters is seldom known, and it must be determined before clustering. The several clustering algorithm has been proposed. Among them k-means method is a simple and fast clustering technique. We address the problem of cluster number selection by using a k-means approach We can ask end users to provide a number of clusters in advance, but it is not feasible end user requires domain knowledge of each data set. There are many methods available to estimate the number of clusters such as statistical indices, variance based method, Information Theoretic, goodness of fit method etc...The paper explores six different approaches to determine the right number of clusters in a dataset
Quantum trajectory approach to circuit QED : Quantum jumps and the Zeno effect

Jay Gambetta, Alexandre Blais, M. Boissonneault, A. A. Houck, D. I. Schuster, and S. M. Girvin Departments of Applied Physics and Physics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA Institute for Quantum Computing and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada Département de Physique et Regroupement Québécois sur les Matériaux de Pointe, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec J1K 2R1, Canada Received 26 September 2007; revised manuscript received 26 November 2007; published 25 January 2008
Outcome After Surgical Repair of Proximal Hamstring Avulsions: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND
At the present time, no systematic review, including a quality assessment, has been published about the outcome after proximal hamstring avulsion repair.


PURPOSE
To determine the outcome after surgical repair of proximal hamstring avulsions, to compare the outcome after acute (≤4 weeks) and delayed repairs (>4 weeks), and to compare the outcome after different surgical techniques.


STUDY DESIGN
Systematic review and best-evidence synthesis.


METHODS
PubMed, CINAHL, SPORTdiscus, Cochrane library, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched (up to December 2013) for eligible studies. Two authors screened the search results separately, while quality assessment was performed by 2 authors independently using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale. A best-evidence synthesis was subsequently used.


RESULTS
Thirteen studies (387 participants) were included in this review. There were no studies with control groups of nonoperatively treated proximal hamstring avulsions. All studies had a low methodological quality. After surgical repair of proximal hamstring avulsion, 76% to 100% returned to sports, 55% to 100% returned to preinjury activity level, and 88% to 100% were satisfied with surgery. Mean hamstring strength varied between reporting studies (78%-101%), and hamstring endurance and flexibility were fully restored compared with the unaffected side. Symptoms of residual pain were reported by 8% to 61%, and reported risk of major complications was low (3% rerupture rate). No to minimal difference in outcome was found between acute and delayed repair in terms of return to sports, patient satisfaction, hamstring strength, and pain. Achilles allograft reconstruction and primary repair with suture anchors led to comparable results.


CONCLUSION
The quality of studies included is low. Surgical repair of proximal hamstring avulsions appears to result in a subjective highly satisfying outcome. However, decreased strength, residual pain, and decreased activity level were reported by a relevant number of patients. Minimal to no differences in outcome of acute and delayed repairs were found. Limited evidence suggests that an Achilles allograft reconstruction yields results comparable with primary repair in delayed cases where primary repair is not possible. High-level studies are required to confirm these findings.
Designing Automatic Meter Reading System Using Open Source Hardware and Software

Received Apr 18, 2017 Revised Jul 9, 2017 Accepted Aug 8, 2017 The importance of quality of the measured values is very dependent on the device that measures these values: the size of the sample, the time of measurement, periods of measurement, the mobility and the robustness of the device, etc. Contemporary devices intended for the measurement of physical quantities that are on the market vary in price, as well as and the quality of the measured values. The rule "the more expensive the better" is not necessarily always a rule that is valid because it all depends on the characteristics and capabilities of the device, and the customer’s needs. In this paper, a device based on "Open Source" components of hardware and software will be presented. Device was used to measure voltages and currents on low voltage networks, on which a virtually unlimited number of sensors can be added, and the device is assembled of components available on electronic components Internet. Keyword:
Trajectories of receptive language development from 3 to 12 years of age for very preterm children.

OBJECTIVES
The goal was to examine whether indomethacin use, gender, neonatal, and sociodemographic factors predict patterns of receptive language development from 3 to 12 years of age in preterm children.


METHODS
A total of 355 children born in 1989-1992 with birth weights of 600 to 1250 g were evaluated at 3, 4.5, 6, 8, and 12 years with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. Hierarchical growth modeling was used to explore differences in language trajectories.


RESULTS
From 3 to 12 years, preterm children displayed catch-up gains on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. Preterm children started with an average standardized score of 84.1 at 3 years and gained 1.2 points per year across the age period studied. Growth-curve analyses of Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised raw scores revealed an indomethacin-gender effect on initial scores at 3 years, with preterm boys assigned randomly to receive indomethacin scoring, on average, 4.2 points higher than placebo-treated boys. However, the velocity of receptive vocabulary development from 3 to 12 years did not differ for the treatment groups. Children with severe brain injury demonstrated slower gains in skills over time, compared with those who did not suffer severe brain injury. Significant differences in language trajectories were predicted by maternal education and minority status.


CONCLUSION
Although indomethacin yielded an initial benefit for preterm boys, this intervention did not alter the developmental trajectory of receptive language scores. Severe brain injury leads to long-term sequelae in language development, whereas a socioeconomically advantaged environment supports better language development among preterm children.
Concordance between clinical and histopathologic diagnoses of oral mucosal lesions.

PURPOSE
To study the epidemiology of oral soft tissue lesions in New Zealand from 2002 to 2006 and to determine the concordance between the clinical diagnosis and the definitive histopathologic diagnosis achieved by general dental practitioners and by specialists.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
The details from biopsy referrals and the corresponding histopathologic reports of oral soft tissue lesions were recorded into a statistical software package, and the concordance between the clinical diagnosis and histopathologic diagnosis was determined for all the lesions.


RESULTS
Most biopsies were benign lesions, and both clinician groups achieved a high diagnostic concordance for these lesions. However, when considering all lesion types, the overall concordance for both groups was a moderate 50.6%, with little difference between specialists and general dental practitioners, although specialists were more accurate in diagnosing a malignant or premalignant lesion.


CONCLUSIONS
The clinical and histopathologic concordance achieved by oral health practitioners in New Zealand appears to be moderate.
A prospective, randomized clinical trial of antiretroviral therapies on carotid wall thickness.

OBJECTIVE
This article compares the effects of initiating three contemporary antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens on progression of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) over 3 years.


DESIGN
Randomized clinical trial.


SETTING
Multicenter (26 institutions).


PATIENTS
ART-naive HIV-infected individuals (n = 328) without known cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus.


INTERVENTION
Random assignment to tenofovir/emtricitabine along with atazanavir/ritonavir (ATV/r), darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r), or raltegravir (RAL).


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Right-sided carotid IMT was evaluated by B-mode ultrasonography before ART initiation, and then after 48, 96, and 144 weeks. Comparisons of yearly rates of change in carotid IMT used mixed-effects linear regression models that permitted not only evaluation of the effects of ART on carotid IMT progression but also how ART-associated changes in traditional risk factors, bilirubin, and markers of HIV infection were associated carotid IMT progression.


RESULTS
HIV-1 RNA suppression rates were high in all arms (>85%) over 144 weeks. Modest increases in triglycerides and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were observed in the protease inhibitor-containing arms compared with decreases with RAL. In contrast, carotid IMT progressed more slowly on ATV/r [8.2, 95% confidence interval (5.6, 10.8) μm/year] than DRV/r [12.9 (10.3, 15.5) μm/year, P = 0.013]; changes with RAL were intermediate [10.7 (9.2, 12.2) μm/year, P = 0.15 vs. ATV/r; P = 0.31 vs. DRV/r]. Bilirubin and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels appeared to influence carotid IMT progression rates.


CONCLUSION
In ART-naive HIV-infected individuals at low cardiovascular disease risk, carotid IMT progressed more slowly in participants initiating ATV/r than those initiating DRV/r, with intermediate changes associated with RAL. This effect may be due, in part, to hyperbilirubinemia.
Prognostic value of six minute walk test in cystic fibrosis adults.

BACKGROUND
The 6 min walk test (6MWT) provides prognostic information in various respiratory diseases, but limited data exist in cystic fibrosis (CF) adults.


METHODS
Consecutive CF adults who performed 6MWT at Cochin Hospital (Paris, France) over 12 years were analyzed. The cut-off 6 min walking distance (6MWD) value that best predicted a combined endpoint (death without transplant or lung transplant) was established using a receiver operating curve. Determinants of low 6MWD or of desaturation (SpO2 ≤ 90%) during 6MWT were examined using multivariate logistic regressions. Prognostic value of these variables was assessed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox analyses.


RESULTS
6MWT was performed in 286 CF adults (median: age, 28 yr; FEV1, 45% predicted) of whom 14% (n = 40) had lung transplant and 6% (n = 18) died without transplant. 6MWD correlated with FEV1% predicted (r = 0.43; P < 0.001), but markedly differed in subjects within the same range of FEV1. A 6MWD ≤ 475 m predicted death or transplant and was mostly found in patients with FEV1 ≤ 60% predicted. Desaturation during the 6MWT occurred in 29% of patients, exclusively in subjects with FEV1 ≤ 60% predicted. Both 6MWD ≤ 475 m and desaturation during the 6MWT were independent predictors of death or transplant.


CONCLUSION
The 6MWT provides prognostic information in CF adults, especially in subjects with FEV1 ≤ 60% predicted.
Stretch marks: treatment using the 1,064-nm Nd:YAG laser.

BACKGROUND
Striae are frequent skin lesions that cause considerable aesthetic concern. The 1,064-nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser has been used to promote an increase in dermal collagen and is known to be a laser that has a high affinity for vascular chromophores.


OBJECTIVE
This study aims to verify the efficacy of the long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser in the treatment of immature striae.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty patients who had immature striae, i.e., red striae, were treated using the 1,064-nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The analysis of treatment efficacy was performed by the comparison between the images taken before and after each treatment session as well as through a subjective assessment carried out by the patients themselves.


RESULTS
Results were considered satisfactory to both patients and doctors. A higher number of patients (55%) considered the results excellent when compared to the same assessment made by the doctor (40%).


CONCLUSION
The clinical improvement of immature striae can be obtained with the use of the 1,064-nm long-pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The low incidence of side effects makes this laser a good alternative in the treatment of these common skin lesions.
Bone regeneration in critical-sized bone defect enhanced by introducing osteoinductivity to biphasic calcium phosphate granules.

OBJECTIVES
Biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) is frequently used as bone substitute and often needs to be combined with autologous bone to gain an osteoinductive property for guided bone regeneration in implant dentistry. Given the limitations of using autologous bone, bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2)-coprecipitated, layer-by-layer assembled biomimetic calcium phosphate particles (BMP2-cop.BioCaP) have been developed as a potential osteoinducer. In this study, we hypothesized that BMP2-cop.BioCaP could introduce osteoinductivity to BCP and so could function as effectively as autologous bone for the repair of a critical-sized bone defect.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
We prepared BMP2-cop.BioCaP and monitored the loading and release kinetics of BMP2 from it in vitro. Seven groups (n = 6 animals/group) were established: (i) Empty defect; (ii) BCP; (iii) BCP mixed with biomimetic calcium phosphate particles (BioCaP); (iv) BCP mixed with BMP2-cop.BioCaP; (v) BioCaP; (vi) BMP2-cop.BioCaP; (vii) BCP mixed with autologous bone. They were implanted into 8-mm-diameter rat cranial critical-sized bone defects for an in vivo evaluation. Autologous bone served as a positive control. The osteoinductive efficacy and degradability of materials were evaluated using micro-CT, histology and histomorphometry.


RESULTS
The combined application of BCP and BMP2-cop.BioCaP resulted in significantly more new bone formation than BCP alone. The osteoinductive efficacy of BMP2-cop.BioCaP was comparable to the golden standard use of autologous bone. Compared with BCP alone, significantly more BCP degradation was found when mixed with BMP2-cop.BioCaP.


CONCLUSION
The combination of BCP and BMP2-cop.BioCaP showed a promising potential for guided bone regeneration clinically in the future.