LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
CoMutaR: A framework for multi-robot coordination and task allocation

In multi-robot systems, task allocation and coordination are two fundamental problems that share high synergy. Although multi-robot architectures typically separate them into distinct layers, relevant improvement may be expected from solutions that are able to concurrently handle them at the same “level”. This paper proposes a novel framework, called CoMutaR (Coalition formation based on Multitasking Robots), which is used for both tackle task distribution among teams of mobile robots, and to guarantee the coordination within the formed teams. Robot capabilities are modelled as actions, independent modules whose inputs do not depend on the robot that generated it. Solutions to tasks are devised as coalitions of actions, that can be spread amongst the available robots. We also define the concept of share-restricted resources, which are periodically checked and updated by the actions in the system. In contrast to prior approaches, this mechanism enables to quickly determine if two actions can be executed simultaneously, allowing a single robot to execute multiple tasks concurrently. A single-round auction protocol is used to automatically discover and form coalitions. Once a coalition is formed, coordination among robots is modelled as constraints imposed over the share-restricted resources. Finally, we have successfully implemented and applied CoMutaR in typical scenarios like object transportation, area surveillance, and multi-robot box pushing. Experimental results demonstrate that the system is able to provide good solutions even in the case of severe failures in participating robots.
Repeatability in computer systems research

To encourage repeatable research, fund repeatability engineering and reward commitments to sharing research artifacts.
Neurodevelopmental and growth impairment among extremely low-birth-weight infants with neonatal infection.

CONTEXT
Neonatal infections are frequent complications of extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants receiving intensive care.


OBJECTIVE
To determine if neonatal infections in ELBW infants are associated with increased risks of adverse neurodevelopmental and growth sequelae in early childhood.


DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Infants weighing 401 to 1000 g at birth (born in 1993-2001) were enrolled in a prospectively collected very low-birth-weight registry at academic medical centers participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. Neurodevelopmental and growth outcomes were assessed at a comprehensive follow-up visit at 18 to 22 months of corrected gestational age and compared by infection group. Eighty percent of survivors completed the follow-up visit and 6093 infants were studied. Registry data were used to classify infants by type of infection: uninfected (n = 2161), clinical infection alone (n = 1538), sepsis (n = 1922), sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis (n = 279), or meningitis with or without sepsis (n = 193).


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Cognitive and neuromotor development, neurologic status, vision and hearing, and growth (weight, length, and head circumference) were assessed at follow-up.


RESULTS
The majority of ELBW survivors (65%) had at least 1 infection during their hospitalization after birth. Compared with uninfected infants, those in each of the 4 infection groups were significantly more likely to have adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes at follow-up, including cerebral palsy (range of significant odds ratios [ORs], 1.4-1.7), low Bayley Scales of Infant Development II scores on the mental development index (ORs, 1.3-1.6) and psychomotor development index (ORs, 1.5-2.4), and vision impairment (ORs, 1.3-2.2). Infection in the neonatal period was also associated with impaired head growth, a known predictor of poor neurodevelopmental outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
This large cohort study suggests that neonatal infections among ELBW infants are associated with poor neurodevelopmental and growth outcomes in early childhood. Additional studies are needed to elucidate the pathogenesis of brain injury in infants with infection so that novel interventions to improve these outcomes can be explored.
Upper mantle heterogeneities beneath Eastern Europe

Abstract P-wave travel-time residuals for seismograph stations in eastern Europe as reported by ISC for the years 1964–1977 were used for constructing a seismic image of upper mantle heterogeneities in the network region. For the depth range 0–100 km, dominant tectonic features like the Pannonian Basin and the Aegean Sea and western Turkey correlate well with pronounced velocity lows which a ppear to extenddown to a 300 km depth. The velocity anomaly patterns in the depth intervals 300–500 km and 500–600 km are broadly similar but quite different from those of shallower depths. The observed seismic heterogeneities are briefly discussed in terms of large-scale tectonic and geophysical (heat-flow) characteristics of eastern Europe.
Does an IV bolus of methylprednisolone relieve dyspnea in asthma exacerbations?

STUDY OBJECTIVES
To assess whether IV methylprednisolone exerts a specific early effect on dyspnea in patients with an exacerbation of asthma.


DESIGN
Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover trial.


SETTING
Medium-sized university general hospital.


PATIENTS
Twenty-five asthma patients attending the chest clinic with spontaneous complaints of increases in dyspnea and with a Borg scale dyspnea rating >/= 1 at rest.


INTERVENTIONS
At 0 min, IV methylprednisolone (125 mg) vs saline solution; at 60 min, 5 x 500 microg terbutaline inhaled from an inhaler device.


MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
Change in dyspnea was assessed with bipolar visual analog scale (VAS) (much more short of breath, -100%; much less short of breath, + 100%), FEV(1), and visual memory (using the Benton visual retention test). Eighteen subjects (mean age, 61 years) completed the study. At 5 min and 60 min, shortness of breath improved with no statistically significant difference between saline solution and methylprednisolone. The mean (SD) VAS rating at 60 min was 29% (39%) on the day that saline solution was administered and 36% (25%) on the day the steroid was administered. FEV(1) and Benton score did not significantly change from baseline on either study day. Shortness of breath and FEV(1) improved following terbutaline administration, with no significant difference between the days on which saline solution and the steroid were administered. In the seven subjects who were randomized to receive methylprednisolone on the first day, baseline dyspnea rated on the Borg scale was significantly lower on the second day (first day: median, 3; range, 3 to 4; second day: median, 2; range, 0.5 to 3; p = 0.040).


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that in patients with an exacerbation of asthma, an IV bolus of methylprednisolone does not reduce dyspnea more than saline solution after 5 min and 60 min.
Effect of Exenatide, Sitagliptin, or Glimepiride on β-Cell Secretory Capacity in Early Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE
Agents that augment GLP-1 effects enhance glucose-dependent β-cell insulin production and secretion and thus are hoped to prevent progressive impairment in insulin secretion characteristic of type 2 diabetes (T2D). The purpose of this study was to evaluate GLP-1 effects on β-cell secretory capacity, an in vivo measure of functional β-cell mass, early in the course of T2D.


RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
We conducted a randomized controlled trial in 40 subjects with early T2D who received the GLP-1 analog exenatide (n = 14), the dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor sitagliptin (n = 12), or the sulfonylurea glimepiride (n = 14) as an active comparator insulin secretagogue for 6 months. Acute insulin responses to arginine (AIRarg) were measured at baseline and after 6 months of treatment with 5 days of drug washout under fasting, 230 mg/dL (glucose potentiation of arginine-induced insulin release [AIRpot]), and 340 mg/dL (maximum arginine-induced insulin release [AIRmax]) hyperglycemic clamp conditions, in which AIRmax provides the β-cell secretory capacity.


RESULTS
The change in AIRpot was significantly greater with glimepiride versus exenatide treatment (P < 0.05), and a similar trend was notable for the change in AIRmax (P = 0.1). Within each group, the primary outcome measure, AIRmax, was unchanged after 6 months of treatment with exenatide or sitagliptin compared with baseline but was increased with glimepiride (P < 0.05). α-Cell glucagon secretion (AGRmin) was also increased with glimepiride treatment (P < 0.05), and the change in AGRmin trended higher with glimepiride than with exenatide (P = 0.06).


CONCLUSIONS
After 6 months of treatment, exenatide or sitagliptin had no significant effect on functional β-cell mass as measured by β-cell secretory capacity, whereas glimepiride appeared to enhance β- and α-cell secretion.
Deep Human Parsing with Active Template Regression

In this work, the human parsing task, namely decomposing a human image into semantic fashion/body regions, is formulated as an active template regression (ATR) problem, where the normalized mask of each fashion/body item is expressed as the linear combination of the learned mask templates, and then morphed to a more precise mask with the active shape parameters, including position, scale and visibility of each semantic region. The mask template coefficients and the active shape parameters together can generate the human parsing results, and are thus called the structure outputs for human parsing. The deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is utilized to build the end-to-end relation between the input human image and the structure outputs for human parsing. More specifically, the structure outputs are predicted by two separate networks. The first CNN network is with max-pooling, and designed to predict the template coefficients for each label mask, while the second CNN network is without max-pooling to preserve sensitivity to label mask position and accurately predict the active shape parameters. For a new image, the structure outputs of the two networks are fused to generate the probability of each label for each pixel, and super-pixel smoothing is finally used to refine the human parsing result. Comprehensive evaluations on a large dataset well demonstrate the significant superiority of the ATR framework over other state-of-the-arts for human parsing. In particular, the F1-score reaches 64.38 percent by our ATR framework, significantly higher than 44.76 percent based on the state-of-the-art algorithm [28].
Particle swarm optimization for solving the inverse kinematics of 7-DOF robotic manipulators

This paper presents a particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) for solving the inverse kinematics of 7 degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic manipulators. Although the 7-DOF robotic manipulator agilely maneuvers from one pose to another and easily performs some tasks, the inverse kinematics problem of the system is redundant. This problem has no general closed-form solutions or analytical solutions for the 7-DOF manipulator. The PSO algorithm is proposed to solve the redundant inverse kinematics problem of the 7-DOF robotic manipulators more efficiently. This PSO algorithm is shown to take advantage of powerful intelligent background and constructive cooperation between particles. Simulation results are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness and merit of the proposed methods.
A WAVELET TRANSFORM APPLIED TO ACOUSTIC EMISSION SIGNALS : PART 2 : SOURCE LOCATION

In Part 2, the same finite-element-generated database of acoustic emission (AE) signals was used, as in Part 1: Source Identification, to examine the application of a wavelet transform (WT) to improve the accuracy of AE source location. These signals represented the top surface out-ofplane displacement versus time from buried dipole sources in aluminum plates 4.7 mm thick. The method utilizes a WT result to select AE signal-arrival times for a single group velocity from energetic modes. The cases of both the large plate without edge reflections and the small plate (coupon) with multiple edge reflections were examined. The arrival time of a specific frequency of an energetic fundamental mode of the far-field signals was determined from the WT. Using these arrival times at three propagation distances, a group velocity was determined for comparison with the appropriate group velocity based on dispersion curves. Both filtered narrow-band (100 to 300 kHz) and wideband (40 kHz high-pass) signals were examined. In addition, in the large-plate case, experimental sensor/preamplifier electronic noise was added to the AE signals to examine the effect of noise on the determination of accurate arrival times as a function of signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios. Results for the large plate indicate that very accurate arrival times can be determined that correspond to a particular group velocity. In the coupon case, the results indicate significant distortions in the arrival times due to the multiple edge reflections. The perturbation due to the presence of electronic noise was relatively small for the case of the wideband signals in the large plate until signal-to-noise ratios reached levels where an AE hit would likely not be recorded.
Differentiation Mechanisms for IEEE 802.11

The IETF is currently working on service differentiation in the Internet. However, in wireless environments where bandwidth is scarce and channel conditions are variable, IP differentiated services are suboptimal without lower layers’ support. In this paper we present three service differentiation schemes for IEEE 802.11. The first one is based on scaling the contention window according to the priority of each flow or user. The second one assigns different inter frame spacings to different users. Finally, the last one uses different maximum frame lengths for different users. We simulate and analyze the performance of each scheme with TCP and UDP flows. Keywords—QoS, DiffServ, TCP, UDP, CBR, Wireless communications.
Consequences of Customer Engagement in Social Networking Sites : Employing Fuzzy Delphi Technique for Validation

The consequences of the customer engagement in the Social Networking Sites (SNS) community have direct impact on the brand. This present research was conducted to examine the cohesive mechanisms for item verification on the most influential consequences of participating the brand community and joining the electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) as the manifestation of the behavior of such communities. Using Fuzzy Delphi techniques, a total of 12 heterogeneous experts are involved in the verification process through a 7-point linguistic scale of the questionnaire survey. The results show good evidence of expert consensus by reaching 75% for each consequence of the engaged customers. On the SNS platform, further aspects of the inspected effects can be expanded to be studied on relevant domains. Practitioners will be more strategic in maintaining and fostering customer relationships, and consistently influencing new customers when interacting actively through SNS brand pages. Keywords—Customer engagement; fuzzy delphi; SNS; consequences; brand page
Frequency and determinants of using pharmacological enhancement in the clinical practice of in-hospital stroke rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND
Pharmacological enhancement in stroke rehabilitation (PESR) is promising. Data about its use in clinical practice are missing.


METHODS
In a prospective, explorative study of four rehabilitation centers, we systematically observed the frequency and determinants of using PESR in consecutive patients. PESR was defined as using agents potentially enhancing post-stroke recovery exclusively to aid rehabilitation without an established indication.


RESULTS
257 (55.4%) of 464 patients had agents potentially enhancing recovery. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) (n = 125, 26.9%), levodopa (n = 114, 24.6%), serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) (n = 52, 11.2%), and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (n = 48, 10.3%) were used most often. SSRI in 102/125 patients and SNRI in 46/52 patients were mostly used for accompanying depressive symptoms. 159 (34.3%) patients had PESR (without an otherwise established indication). In PESR patients, levodopa (n = 102, 64.1%) was used most commonly. PESR was primarily used for aphasia (36.5%) and paresis (25.2%). PESR patients did not differ from non-PESR patients in age, gender and stroke type. However, the utilization rates of PESR differed significantly across centers (2, 4, 38 and 55%).


CONCLUSION
SSRI and SNRI were predominately used for accompanying depression, while levodopa was nearly exclusively used to aid stroke rehabilitation in the absence of an otherwise established indication. The differences in utilization rates for PESR between centers suggest therapeutic uncertainty and indicate the need for additional studies.
Quantum dot intermediate band solar cell material systems with negligible valence band offsets

In this paper, material triads (quantum-dot/barrier/substrate) are presented that may implement quantum dot intermediate band solar cells with conversion efficiencies greater than 60%. Triads whose barrier material and substrate material are lattice-matched are presented. In addition, triads are presented with the lattice constant of the substrate in-between the lattice constant of the barrier and the lattice constant of the quantum dot. The latter case provides triads that may remove strain during epitaxial growth.
Dietary consumption of advanced glycation end products and pancreatic cancer in the prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.

BACKGROUND
Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a heterogeneous group of compounds present in uncooked foods as well as in foods cooked at high temperatures. AGEs have been associated with insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and chronic inflammation in patients with diabetes. Dietary AGEs are an important contributor to the AGE pool in the body. N(ϵ)-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) AGE is one of the major biologically and chemically well-characterized AGE markers. The consumption of red meat, which is CML-AGE rich, has been positively associated with pancreatic cancer in men.


OBJECTIVES
With the use of a published food CML-AGE database, we estimated the consumption of CML AGE in the prospective NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study and evaluated the association between CML-AGE consumption and pancreatic cancer and the mediating effect of CML AGE on the association between red meat consumption and pancreatic cancer.


DESIGN
Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs for pancreatic cancer.


RESULTS
During an average of 10.5 y of follow-up, we identified 2193 pancreatic cancer cases (1407 men and 786 women) from 528,251 subjects. With the comparison of subjects in the fifth and the first quintiles of CML-AGE consumption, we observed increased pancreatic cancer risk in men (HR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.93, P-trend = 0.003) but not women (HR: 1.14; 95% CI: 0.76, 1.72, P-trend = 0.42). Men in the highest quintile of red meat consumption had higher risk of pancreatic cancer (HR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.70), which attenuated after adjustment for CML-AGE consumption (HR: 1.20; 95% CI: 0.95, 1.53).


CONCLUSION
Dietary CML-AGE consumption was associated with modestly increased risk of pancreatic cancer in men and may partially explain the positive association between red meat and pancreatic cancer.
Development, evaluation and validation of a new instrument for measurement quality of life in the parents of children with chronic disease

BACKGROUND
Childhood chronic disease may affect patients' and their family's functioning. Particularly parents, who play an important role in cooperation between patient and health care professionals, report impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The aim of this study was development, evaluation and validation of a new instrument: Quality of Life in a Child's Chronic Disease Questionnaire (QLCCDQ). The questionnaire is addressed to parents of children with a chronic disease.


METHODS
Study design included semi structured interview and qualitative study, which allowed to identify most troublesome problems. Following the results the questionnaire was developed, which consists of 15 questions and covers domains--emotions, patients -perceived symptoms, roles limitations. An observational study involving parents of asthma and diabetes children was conducted to assess the psychometric characteristics of the measure. Psychometric testing was based on the reliability of defined subscales, construct validity, reproducibility assessment, as well as comparison between stable/unstable disease stages and parents of healthy children.


RESULTS
Most troublesome concerns for parents of child with chronic disease included emotional distress and feeling depressed due to child's disease, avoiding social interactions due to child's disease or symptoms. 98 parents of children with asthma or insulin - depended diabetes participated in the psychometric testing of QLCCDQ. Internal consistency reliability for the defined subscales ranged between 0.77 and 0.93. Reproducibility based on the weighted kappa coefficients showed expected level of agreement and was almost perfect in case of 8 questions, substantial for 5 questions and moderate for 2 questions. QLCCDQ demonstrated very good construct validity--all subscales showed statistically significant correlations ranging from 0.4 to 0.9. QLCCDQ scores differed significantly by clinical status--parents of children qualified as stable presented higher scores in most subscales in comparison to parents of children with unstable disease.


CONCLUSIONS
The QLCCDQ shows good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. The questionnaire may be useful in helping to understand the impact of chronic child's disease on parental perception of health outcomes.
ON CERTAIN MEANS OF TWO ARGUMENTS AND THEIR EXTENSIONS

Inequalities for three means introduced by H.-J. Seiffert are 
obtained. Generalizations of these means, their basic properties, and inequalities satisfied by the new class of means are also included.
The Effect of Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery on Dietary Intake, Food Preferences, and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Post-Surgical Morbidly Obese Lebanese Subjects: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND
Data on gastrointestinal (GI) and dietary changes following bariatric surgery are scarce in the Middle Eastern region. The objective of this work was to retrospectively compare dietary intake, food preferences, and GI symptoms in subjects with extreme obesity after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG).


METHODS
Sixty subjects equally divided between RYGB and SG with a postoperative period of ≥6 months were recruited for a retrospective, non-randomized, and observational study. All subjects completed three questionnaires (GI symptoms, food preferences, and quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)) and three 24-h recalls.


RESULTS
At one year postoperatively, both surgical groups showed similar percentage of excess weight loss that exceeded 50%. In addition, percentage of carbohydrate, protein, and sugar intake from total energy, frequency of daily consumption from the eight food categories and daily energy intake were comparable between surgical groups. RYGB subjects consumed significantly more fruits and juices from total energy (P < 0.05) whereas SG subjects tended to consume more sweets and desserts. Heartburn (P < 0.001), regurgitation (P < 0.01), nausea (P < 0.01), vomiting (P < 0.001), and constipation (P < 0.05) were significantly more frequent among SG subjects. Flatulence (P < 0.001) and diarrhea (P < 0.05), as well as dizziness (P < 0.001), and fast heartbeat (P < 0.05) after eating were significantly more frequent after RYGB.


CONCLUSIONS
There were no major differences in dietary intake and food preferences between RYGB and SG groups. There was a trend for sweet-eating in SG subjects with less dumping symptoms to suggest different mechanisms of action for each procedure, which might impact eating behavior.