LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of the impact of screen-positive results obtained from ultrasound and biochemical screening for Down syndrome in the first trimester: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE
To compare the experiences of women who received a screen-positive test result for Down syndrome after nuchal translucency screening or after biochemical screening in the first trimester of pregnancy in the Netherlands.


METHOD
Semi-quantitative questionnaires were sent to 40 women with a screen-positive test result for Down syndrome in the first trimester of pregnancy: 20 had undergone nuchal translucency screening (NT group) and 20 had undergone serum screening (PAPP-A and free beta-hCG) (SS group). In all the cases, chorionic villus sampling (CVS) had not revealed any chromosomal abnormalities.


RESULTS
The major reason for undergoing the screening test in both groups of women was to be more reassured about the health of the baby. In the NT group, 5 out of the 20 women stated that they had suddenly been confronted with the NT measurement during the ultrasound examination without even being asked, or had been caught by surprise about the possibility. Together with two other women, they felt that at that stage they had been insufficiently informed about what the test meant. In the SS group, two women also held this opinion. In 10 out of the 20 women in the SS group, the positive-screening result had caused (a great deal of) anxiety. In the NT group, this proportion was as high as 18 out of the 20. Six of the women in the NT group mentioned that 'seeing the baby' had been an important factor in their decision to undergo CVS. Even after a favourable result of CVS, a proportion of the pregnant women were still feeling anxious about the health of their baby (5 women in the SS group and 12 in the NT group). Nevertheless, a large proportion of the women in both groups was pleased that they had undergone the screening test. Only a few of them stated that they would not choose the same screening test again in a future pregnancy.


CONCLUSIONS
An unfavourable screening result after NT screening appeared to have a greater impact than an unfavourable result after serum screening. This might partly be explained by the ultrasound examination visualising the increased risk during NT screening. An additional important role may have been played by the fact that an abnormal NT screening result implies an increased risk of other disorders besides Down syndrome, which the women should be informed about beforehand. Several factors place special demands on the counselling prior to NT screening.
Top-down processing of symbolic meanings modulates the visual word form area.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies on humans have identified a region in the left middle fusiform gyrus consistently activated by written words. This region is called the visual word form area (VWFA). Recently, a hypothesis, called the interactive account, is proposed that to effectively analyze the bottom-up visual properties of words, the VWFA receives predictive feedback from higher-order regions engaged in processing sounds, meanings, or actions associated with words. Further, this top-down influence on the VWFA is independent of stimulus formats. To test this hypothesis, we used fMRI to examine whether a symbolic nonword object (e.g., the Eiffel Tower) intended to represent something other than itself (i.e., Paris) could activate the VWFA. We found that scenes associated with symbolic meanings elicited a higher VWFA response than those not associated with symbolic meanings, and such top-down modulation on the VWFA can be established through short-term associative learning, even across modalities. In addition, the magnitude of the symbolic effect observed in the VWFA was positively correlated with the subjective experience on the strength of symbol-referent association across individuals. Therefore, the VWFA is likely a neural substrate for the interaction of the top-down processing of symbolic meanings with the analysis of bottom-up visual properties of sensory inputs, making the VWFA the location where the symbolic meaning of both words and nonword objects is represented.
Inverse Kinematics for Modular Reconfigurable Robots

Inverse kinematics solutions of a reconfigurabie robot system built upon a collection of standardized components is dificult to obtain because of its varying configuration. This paper addresses the formulation of a generic numerical inverse kinematics model and automatic generation of the model for arbitrary robot geometry including serial type and branching type geometry. Both revolute and prismatic types of joints are considered. The inverse kinematics is obtained through the di@erential kinematics equations based on the Productof-exponential (POE) formulas. The Newton-Raphson iteration method is employed for solution. The automated model generation is accomplished through the introduction of Assembly Incidence Matrix (AIM) representation of a modular robot assembly configuration and the related accessibility matrix and path matrix. Examples of the inverse kinematics solutions for different types of modular robots are given to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
A Large-Scale Analysis of the Security of Embedded Firmwares

As embedded systems are more than ever present in our society, their security is becoming an increasingly important issue. However, based on the results of many recent analyses of individual firmware images, embedded systems acquired a reputation of being insecure. Despite these facts, we still lack a global understanding of embedded systems’ security as well as the tools and techniques needed to support such general claims. In this paper we present the first public, large-scale analysis of firmware images. In particular, we unpacked 32 thousand firmware images into 1.7 million individual files, which we then statically analyzed. We leverage this large-scale analysis to bring new insights on the security of embedded devices and to underline and detail several important challenges that need to be addressed in future research. We also show the main benefits of looking at many different devices at the same time and of linking our results with other large-scale datasets such as the ZMap’s HTTPS survey. In summary, without performing sophisticated static analysis, we discovered a total of 38 previously unknown vulnerabilities in over 693 firmware images. Moreover, by correlating similar files inside apparently unrelated firmware images, we were able to extend some of those vulnerabilities to over 123 different products. We also confirmed that some of these vulnerabilities altogether are affecting at least 140K devices accessible over the Internet. It would not have been possible to achieve these results without an analysis at such wide scale. We believe that this project, which we plan to provide as a firmware unpacking and analysis web service, will help shed some light on the security of embedded devices. http://firmware.re
Smartphone Use, Addiction, Narcissism, and Personality: A Mixed Methods Investigation

There are increasing numbers of people who are now using smartphones. Consequently, there is a risk of addiction to certain web applications such as social networking sites (SNSs) which are easily accessible via smartphones. There is also the risk of an increase in narcissism amongst users of SNSs. The present study set out to investigate the relationship between smartphone use, narcissistic tendencies and personality as predictors of smartphone addiction. The study also aimed to investigate the distinction between addiction specificity and co-occurrence in smartphone addiction via qualitative data and discover why people continue to use smartphones in banned areas. A self-selected sample of 256 smartphone users (Mean age = 29.2, SD = 9.49) completed an online survey. The results revealed that 13.3% of the sample was classified as addicted to smartphones. Higher narcissism scores and neuroticism levels were linked to addiction. Three themes of social relations, smartphone dependence and self-serving personalities emerged from the qualitative data. Interpretation of qualitative data supports addiction specificity of the smartphone. It is suggested smartphones encourage narcissism, even in non-narcissistic users. In turn, this increased use in banned areas. Future research needs to gather more in-depth qualitative data, addiction scale comparisons and comparison of use with and without SNS access. It is advised that prospective buyers of smartphones be pre-warned of the potential addictive properties of new technology.
Sequicity: Simplifying Task-oriented Dialogue Systems with Single Sequence-to-Sequence Architectures

Belief Spans • A text span to record Informable Slots and Requestable Slots to enable a RNN to decode it. For example: <Inf>Chinese; Expensive<\Inf> <Req>Address; Phone<\Req> • Roles: knowledge base search and response conditioning. Sequicity Formalization • Source-target sequence pair: {B0R0U1, B1R1}, {B1R1U2, B2R2}, ..., {Bt-1Rt-1Ut, BtRt}. • Two-stage decoding: – Bt=Seq2seq(Bt-1Rt-1Ut) – Rt=Seq2seq(Bt-1Rt-1Ut|Bt, KB search results)
Fingerprint Matching by Genetic Algorithms

Fingerprint matching is still a challenging problem for reliable person authentication because of the complex distortions involved in two impressions of the same finger. In this paper, we propose a fingerprint-matching approach based on genetic algorithms (GA), which tries to find the optimal transformation between two different fingerprints. In order to deal with low-quality fingerprint images, which introduce significant occlusion and clutter of minutiae features, we design a fitness function based on the local properties of each triplet of minutiae. The experimental results on National Institute of Standards and Technology fingerprint database, NIST-4, not only show that the proposed approach can achieve good performance even when a large portion of fingerprints in the database are of poor quality, but also show that the proposed approach is better than another approach, which is based on mean-squared error estimation. 2005 Pattern Recognition Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Determining the effectiveness of three software evaluation techniques through informal aggregation

Abstract Context An accepted fact in software engineering is that software must undergo verification and validation process during development to ascertain and improve its quality level. But there are too many techniques than a single developer could master, yet, it is impossible to be certain that software is free of defects. So, it is crucial for developers to be able to choose from available evaluation techniques, the one most suitable and likely to yield optimum quality results for different products. Though, some knowledge is available on the strengths and weaknesses of the available software quality assurance techniques but not much is known yet on the relationship between different techniques and contextual behavior of the techniques. Objective This research investigates the effectiveness of two testing techniques – equivalence class partitioning and decision coverage and one review technique – code review by abstraction, in terms of their fault detection capability. This will be used to strengthen the practical knowledge available on these techniques. Method The results of eight experiments conducted over 5 years to investigate the effectiveness of three techniques – code reading by stepwise abstraction, equivalence class partitioning and decision (branch) coverage were aggregated using a less rigorous aggregation process proposed during the course of this work. Results It was discovered that the equivalence class partitioning and the decision coverage techniques behaved similarly in terms of fault detection capacity (and type of faults caught) based on the programs and fault classification used in the experiments. They both behaved better than the code reading by stepwise abstraction technique. Conclusion Overall, it can be deducted from the aggregation results that the equivalence class partitioning and the decision coverage techniques used are actually equally capable in terms of the type and number of faults detected. Nevertheless, more experiments is still required in this field so that this result can be verified using a rigorous aggregation technique.
The Impact of Accelerated HF-rTMS on the Subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Refractory Unipolar Major Depression: Insights From <ce:sup loc=pre>18</ce:sup>FDG PET Brain Imaging

BACKGROUND
Although one of the most frequent diagnosed mental illnesses worldwide, it appears to be challenging to successfully treat major depressive disorder (MDD). Although the phenomenon of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) still remains unclear, the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) has been put forward as a possible neurobiological marker to evaluate clinical effects of a variety of antidepressant treatments, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Accelerated high-frequency (HF)-rTMS may have the potential to rapidly result in beneficial clinical outcomes in TRD. No studies yet examined the clinical effects of such accelerated stimulation treatment paradigms on sgACC regional glucose metabolism (CMRglc), nor the predictive value of the latter for clinical outcome.


OBJECTIVE
First, we investigated the predictive value of baseline sgACC metabolic activity for clinical outcome. Second, we hypothesized that in clinical responders only accelerated HF-rTMS treatment would result in significant metabolic decreases.


METHODS
We recruited right-handed antidepressant-free unipolar melancholic TRD patients to participate in a two-week randomized sham-controlled crossover HF-rTMS treatment study. Stimulation was applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Fifteen patients underwent 18FDG PET (CMRglc) at baseline (T0), after the first week (T1) of accelerated HF-rTMS and at the end of the treatment after the second week (T2).


RESULTS
Higher baseline sgACC metabolic activity may indicate beneficial clinical outcome to this kind of accelerated HF-rTMS treatment. Moreover, clinical response resulted in a significant decrease in sgACC CMRglc. Non-response did not affect sgACC CMRglc.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results add to the sgACC as a specific neurobiological marker for anti-depressive response in accelerated HF-rTMS treatment paradigms. Such protocols may not only have the ability to result in fast clinical responses but they may also have potential to acutely modulate a dysfunctional sgACC.
Successful antiretroviral therapy delivery and retention in care among asymptomatic individuals with high CD4+ T-cell counts above 350 cells/μl in rural Uganda.

BACKGROUND
HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) is being rapidly scaled up in sub-Saharan Africa, including recently patients with CD4 T-cell counts above 350 cells/μl. However, concerns persist about adherence and virologic suppression among these asymptomatic, high CD4 cell count individuals.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the virologic efficacy and safety of ART among asymptomatic HIV-positive Ugandan adults with high CD4 cell counts above 350 cells/μl via a streamlined model of care.


DESIGN
Prospective nonrandomized clinical study (EARLI Study: clinicaltrials.gov NCT#01479634).


SETTING
Prototypic rural Ugandan HIV clinic.


PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS
Asymptomatic, ART-naive adults (aged >18 years, N = 197) with CD4 at least 350 cells/μl, without pregnancy or WHO stage 3/4 illness.


INTERVENTIONS
ART included tenofovir/emtricitabine/efavirenz, with ritonavir/lopinavir substitution for efavirenz available. Streamlined ART model included nurse-driven visits with physician back-up, basic safety laboratory monitoring with HIV viral load, clinician telephone contact, and defaulter tracking. No incentives were provided.


OUTCOMES
Undetectable viral load (≤400 copies/ml) at 24 and 48 weeks [intention to treat (ITT); missing = detectable), self-reported ART adherence, retention in care, and laboratory/clinical ART toxicities.


RESULTS
Of the 197 patients with CD4 above 350 cells/μl, median CD4 cell count was 569 cells/μl (interquartile range 451-716). Undetectable viral load was achieved in 189 of 197 (95.9%, ITT) and 189 of 195 (96.9%, ITT) of participants at weeks 24 and 48, respectively. Self-reported adherence was 98% and 192 of 197 (97%) of the patients were retained at week 48. Laboratory adverse events and hospitalizations were rare.


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrate high virologic suppression, retention, and safety among asymptomatic individuals with CD4 above 350 cells/μl in a prototypic Ugandan clinic. Our results challenge current concerns that individuals with high CD4 cell count lack motivation for ART, and may not achieve sustained virologic suppression.
The vulnerability of UAVs to cyber attacks - An approach to the risk assessment

By 2012 the U.S. military had increased its investment in research and production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from $2.3 billion in 2008 to $4.2 billion [1]. Currently UAVs are used for a wide range of missions such as border surveillance, reconnaissance, transportation and armed attacks. UAVs are presumed to provide their services at any time, be reliable, automated and autonomous. Based on these presumptions, governmental and military leaders expect UAVs to improve national security through surveillance or combat missions. To fulfill their missions, UAVs need to collect and process data. Therefore, UAVs may store a wide range of information from troop movements to environmental data and strategic operations. The amount and kind of information enclosed make UAVs an extremely interesting target for espionage and endangers UAVs of theft, manipulation and attacks. Events such as the loss of an RQ-170 Sentinel to Iranian military forces on 4th December 2011 [2] or the “keylogging” virus that infected an U.S. UAV fleet at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada in September 2011 [3] show that the efforts of the past to identify risks and harden UAVs are insufficient. Due to the increasing governmental and military reliance on UAVs to protect national security, the necessity of a methodical and reliable analysis of the technical vulnerabilities becomes apparent. We investigated recent attacks and developed a scheme for the risk assessment of UAVs based on the provided services and communication infrastructures. We provide a first approach to an UAV specific risk assessment and take into account the factors exposure, communication systems, storage media, sensor systems and fault handling mechanisms. We used this approach to assess the risk of some currently used UAVs: The “MQ-9 Reaper” and the “AR Drone”. A risk analysis of the “RQ-170 Sentinel” is discussed.
SLAC: A Sparsely Labeled Dataset for Action Classification and Localization

This paper describes a procedure for the creation of large-scale video datasets for action classification and localization from unconstrained, realistic web data. The scalability of the proposed procedure is demonstrated by building a novel video benchmark, named SLAC (Sparsely Labeled ACtions), consisting of over 520K untrimmed videos and 1.75M clip annotations spanning 200 action categories. Using our proposed framework, annotating a clip takes merely 8.8 seconds on average. This represents a saving in labeling time of over 95% compared to the traditional procedure of manual trimming and localization of actions. Our approach dramatically reduces the amount of human labeling by automatically identifying hard clips, i.e., clips that contain coherent actions but lead to prediction disagreement between action classifiers. A human annotator can disambiguate whether such a clip truly contains the hypothesized action in a handful of seconds, thus generating labels for highly informative samples at little cost. We show that our large-scale dataset can be used to effectively pretrain action recognition models, significantly improving final metrics on smaller-scale benchmarks after fine-tuning. On Kinetics [14], UCF-101 [30] and HMDB-51 [15], models pre-trained on SLAC outperform baselines trained from scratch, by 2.0%, 20.1% and 35.4% in top-1 accuracy, respectively when RGB input is used. Furthermore, we introduce a simple procedure that leverages the sparse labels in SLAC to pre-train action localization models. On THUMOS14 [12] and ActivityNet-v1.3[2], our localization model improves the mAP of baseline model by 8.6% and 2.5%, respectively.
Information security management objectives and practices: a parsimonious framework

Purpose – As part of their continuing efforts to establish effective information security management (ISM) practices, information security researchers and practitioners have proposed and developed many different information security standards and guidelines. Building on these previous efforts, the purpose of this study is to put forth a framework for ISM. Design/methodology/approach – This framework is derived from the development of an a priori set of objectives and practices as suggested by literature, standards, and reports found in academia and practice; the refinement of these objectives and practices based on survey data obtained from 354 certified information security professionals; and the examination of interrelationships between the objectives and practices. Findings – The empirical analysis suggests: four factors (information integrity, confidentiality, accountability, and availability) serve as critical information security objectives; most of the security areas and items covered under ISO 17799 are valid with one new area – “external” or “inter-organizational information security”; and for moderately information-sensitive organizations, “confidentiality” has the highest correlation with ISM practices; for highly information-sensitive organizations, “confidentiality”, “accountability”, and “integrity” are the major ISM objectives. The most important contributor to information security objectives is “access control”. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the domain of information security research by developing a parsimonious set of security objectives and practices grounded in the findings of previous works in academia and practical literature. Practical implications – These findings provide insights for business managers and information security professionals attempting to implement ISM programs within their respective organizational settings. Originality/value – This paper fulfills a need in the information security community for a parsimonious set of objectives and practices based on the many guidelines and standards available in both academia and practice.
e-Learning Martial Arts

Traditionally, when people want to learn martial arts, they have to go to training clubs and learn under the coach together with the other students. To reduce the tuition fees, there are usually a lot of students under a single coach and hence, it is difficult for the students to get enough suggestions in the class. It would be far easier if the students could practice themselves at home and ask for suggestions from a virtual coach in the computer. Occasionally, in case they find difficulties going to the next step, they may then approach the real coach for suggestions and training. In this paper, we propose such a training system based on the motion capture system. The system automatically analyzes the motions of the player and gives suggestions. The students can also view the martial art techniques stored in the system or their own techniques captured by the motion capture system from various points of view in order to gain objective ideas of the techniques.