LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
An automatic image enhancement method adaptive to the surround luminance variation for small sized mobile transmissive LCD

The loss in contrast discrimination ability of the human visual system was estimated under a variety of ambient illumination levels first. Then it was modelled as a non-linear weighting function defined in spatial frequency domain to determine which of parts of the image, whatever their spatial frequency, will appear under a given surround luminance level. The weighting function was adopted as a filter for developing an image enhancement algorithm adaptive to surround luminance. The algorithm aims to improve the image contrast under various surround levels especially for small-sized mobile phone displays through gain control of a 2D contrast sensitivity function.
Computational Offloading or Data Binding? Bridging the Cloud Infrastructure to the Proximity of the Mobile User

Mobile and cloud computing are converging as the prominent technologies that are leading the change to the post personal computing (PC) era. Computational offloading and data binding are the core techniques that foster to elastically augment the capabilities of low-power devices, such as smartphones. Mobile applications may be bonded to cloud resources by following a task delegation or code offloading criteria. In a delegation model, a handset can utilize the cloud in a service-oriented manner to delegate asynchronously a resource-intensive mobile task by direct invocation of the service. In contrast, in an offloading model, a mobile application is partitioned and analyzed so that the most computational expensive operations at code level can be identified and offloaded to a remote cloud-based surrogate. We compared in this paper, the mobile cloud computing models for offloading and delegation. We utilized our own frameworks for computational offloading and data binding in the analysis. While in principle, offloading and delegation are viable methods to augment the capabilities of the mobile devices with cloud power, they enrich the mobile applications from different perspectives at diverse computational scales.
On Weakly Prime and Weakly Quasi-Prime Fuzzy Left Ideals in Ordered Semigroups

In this paper, we first introduce the concepts of weakly prime and weakly quasi-prime fuzzy left ideals of an ordered semigroup S. Furthermore, we give some characterizations of weakly prime and weakly quasi-prime fuzzy left ideals of an ordered semigroup S by the ordered fuzzy points and fuzzy subsets of S. Keywords—Ordered semigroup; ordered fuzzy point; weakly prime fuzzy left ideal; weakly quasi-prime fuzzy left ideal.
The study protocol of a cluster-randomised controlled trial of family-mediated personalised activities for nursing home residents with dementia

BACKGROUND
Following admission to a nursing home, the feelings of depression and burden that family carers may experience do not necessarily diminish. Additionally, they may experience feelings of guilt and grief for the loss of a previously close relationship. At the same time, individuals with dementia may develop symptoms of depression and agitation (BPSD) that may be related to changes in family relationships, social interaction and stimulation. Until now, interventions to alleviate carer stress and BPSD have treated carers and relatives separately rather than focusing on maintaining or enhancing their relationships. One-to-one structured activities have been shown to reduce BPSD and also improve the caring experience, but barriers such as a lack of resources impede the implementation of activities in aged care facilities. The current study will investigate the effect of individualised activities based on the Montessori methodology administered by family carers in residential care.


METHODS/DESIGN
We will conduct a cluster-randomised trial to train family carers in conducting personalised one-to-one activities based on the Montessori methodology with their relatives. Montessori activities derive from the principles espoused by Maria Montessori and subsequent educational theorists to promote engagement in learning, namely task breakdown, guided repetition, progression in difficulty from simple to complex, and the careful matching of demands to levels of competence. Persons with dementia living in aged care facilities and frequently visiting family carers will be included in the study. Consented, willing participants will be randomly assigned by facility to a treatment condition using the Montessori approach or a control waiting list condition. We hypothesise that family carers conducting Montessori-based activities will experience improvements in quality of visits and overall relationship with the resident as well as higher self-rated mastery, fewer depressive symptoms, and a better quality of life than carers in the waiting list condition.


DISCUSSION
We hypothesise that training family carers to deliver personalised activities to their relatives in a residential setting will make visits more satisfying and may consequently improve the quality of life for carers and their relatives. These beneficial effects might also reduce nursing staff burden and thus impact positively on residential facilities.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry - ACTRN12611000998943.
IMPLEMENTATION OF A CELL-WISE BLOCK-GAUSS-SEIDEL ITERATIVE METHOD FOR SN TRANSPORT ON A HYBRID PARALLEL COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE

We have implemented a cell-wise, block-Gauss-Seidel (bGS) iterative algorithm, for the solution of the Sn transport equations on the Roadrunner hybrid, parallel computer architecture. A compute node of this massively parallel machine comprises AMD Opteron cores that are linked to a Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.). LAPACK routines have been ported to the Cell/B.E. in order to make use of its parallel Synergistic Processing Elements (SPEs). The bGS algorithm is based on the LU factorization and solution of a linear system that couples the fluxes for all Sn angles and energy groups on a mesh cell. For every cell of a mesh that has been parallel decomposed on the higher-level Opteron processors, a linear system is transferred to the Cell/B.E. and the parallel LAPACK routines are used to compute a solution, which is then transferred back to the Opteron, where the rest of the computations for the Sn transport problem take place. Compared to standard parallel machines, a hundred-fold speedup of the bGS was observed on the hybrid Roadrunner architecture. Numerical experiments with strong and weak parallel scaling demonstrate the bGS method is viable and compares favorably to full parallel sweeps (FPS) on two-dimensional, unstructured meshes when it is applied to optically thick, multi-material problems. As expected, however, it is not as efficient as FPS in optically thin problems.
Spectral and wavelet based assessment of congestive heart failure patients

Heart rate variability (HRV) can be quantified, among others, in the spectral and wavelet domain. The wavelet transform (WT) is an alternative method for the analysis of non-stationary signals. Some recent work shows that the scale-dependent WT standard deviation of the R-R intervals of human ECG can be used to distinguish patients with certain forms of cardiac pathological function from normal subjects. In this paper, we show an explicit relationship between variance of WT and corresponding spectral measure. Also, the statistics of the estimator for variance of WT is obtained. Numerical simulations support the theoretical results. By comparing expected value and variance and spectral measures, we conclude that WT measures are able to diagnose certain cardiac system function.
Impact of renal denervation on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure: results from SYMPLICITY HTN-3.

BACKGROUND
Prior studies of catheter-based renal artery denervation have not systematically performed ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to assess the efficacy of the procedure.


OBJECTIVES
SYMPLICITY HTN-3 (Renal Denervation in Patients With Uncontrolled Hypertension) was a prospective, blinded, randomized, sham-controlled trial. The current analysis details the effect of renal denervation or a sham procedure on ABPM measurements 6 months post-randomization.


METHODS
Patients with resistant hypertension were randomized 2:1 to renal denervation or sham control. Patients were on a stable antihypertensive regimen including maximally tolerated doses of at least 3 drugs including a diuretic before randomization. The powered secondary efficacy endpoint was a change in mean 24-h ambulatory systolic blood pressure (SBP). Nondipper to dipper (nighttime blood pressure [BP] 10% to 20% lower than daytime BP) conversion was calculated at 6 months.


RESULTS
The 24-h ambulatory SBP changed -6.8 ± 15.1 mm Hg in the denervation group and -4.8 ± 17.3 mm Hg in the sham group: difference of -2.0 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI]: -5.0 to 1.1; p = 0.98 with a 2 mm Hg superiority margin). The daytime ambulatory SBP change difference between groups was -1.1 (95% CI: -4.3 to 2.2; p = 0.52). The nocturnal ambulatory SBP change difference between groups was -3.3 (95 CI: -6.7 to 0.1; p = 0.06). The percent of nondippers converted to dippers was 21.2% in the denervation group and 15.0% in the sham group (95% CI: -3.8% to 16.2%; p = 0.30). Change in 24-h heart rate was -1.4 ± 7.4 in the denervation group and -1.3 ± 7.3 in the sham group; (95% CI: -1.5 to 1.4; p = 0.94).


CONCLUSIONS
This trial did not demonstrate a benefit of renal artery denervation on reduction in ambulatory BP in either the 24-h or day and night periods compared with sham (Renal Denervation in Patients With Uncontrolled Hypertension [SYMPLICITY HTN-3]; NCT01418261).
Information-sharing in public organizations: A literature review of interpersonal, intra-organizational and inter-organizational success factors

Available online 17 March 2011
A Survey on Cross-Layer Quality-of-Service Approaches in WSNs for Delay and Reliability-Aware Applications

Using wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in delay and reliability critical environments is highly desired due to their unique advantages such as low cost, ease of deployment, and redundancy. However, successful deployment of resource-limited WSNs in such applications requires strict quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning techniques to meet the desired latency and reliability targets of those applications. Implementation of QoS techniques in WSNs is significantly challenging since WSNs have been initially devised for low-data-rate non-real-time applications. Therefore, WSN designers and developers resort to different cross-layer interaction and optimization techniques to provision QoS in WSNs. In this paper, we present a survey on the state of the art of cross-layer QoS approaches in wireless terrestrial sensor networks to achieve delay and reliability bounds in critical applications. Our paper provides a unique classification of cross-layer QoS approaches in WSNs that allows surveying a large amount of studies with utmost clarity. Furthermore, we highlight the main challenges of implementing QoS protocols in WSNs and present an overview of QoS-aware WSN applications.
Study protocol for the recreational stimulation for elders as a vehicle to resolve delirium superimposed on dementia (Reserve For DSD) trial

BACKGROUND
Delirium is a state of confusion characterized by an acute and fluctuating decline in cognitive functioning. Delirium is common and deadly in older adults with dementia, and is often referred to as delirium superimposed on dementia, or DSD. Interventions that treat DSD are not well-developed because the mechanisms involved in its etiology are not completely understood. We have developed a theory-based intervention for DSD that is derived from the literature on cognitive reserve and based on our prior interdisciplinary work on delirium, recreational activities, and cognitive stimulation in people with dementia. Our preliminary work indicate that use of simple, cognitively stimulating activities may help resolve delirium by helping to focus inattention, the primary neuropsychological deficit in delirium. Our primary aim in this trial is to test the efficacy of Recreational Stimulation for Elders as a Vehicle to resolve DSD (RESERVE- DSD).


METHODS/DESIGN
This randomized repeated measures clinical trial will involve participants being recruited and enrolled at the time of admission to post acute care. We will randomize 256 subjects to intervention (RESERVE-DSD) or control (usual care). Intervention subjects will receive 30-minute sessions of tailored cognitively stimulating recreational activities for up to 30 days. We hypothesize that subjects who receive RESERVE-DSD will have: decreased severity and duration of delirium; greater gains in attention, orientation, memory, abstract thinking, and executive functioning; and greater gains in physical function compared to subjects with DSD who receive usual care. We will also evaluate potential moderators of intervention efficacy (lifetime of complex mental activities and APOE status). Our secondary aim is to describe the costs associated with RESERVE-DSD.


DISCUSSION
Our theory-based intervention, which uses simple, inexpensive recreational activities for delivering cognitive stimulation, is innovative because, to our knowledge it has not been tested as a treatment for DSD. This novel intervention for DSD builds on our prior delirium, recreational activity and cognitive stimulation research, and draws support from cognitive reserve theory.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01267682
CDMA vs . OFDM-Comparison and Hybrid OFDM-the Solution for the Next Generation

222  Abstract— This paper investigates the effectiveness of OFDM and proven in other conventional (narrowband) commercial radio technologies (e.g. DS-CDMA in cell phones) (e.g. OFDM in IEEE 802.11a/g).. The main aim was to assess the suitability of OFDM as a modulation technique for a fixed wireless phone system for rural areas. However, its suitability for more general wireless applications is also assessed. Most third generation mobile phone systems are proposing to use Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) as their modulation technique. For this reason, CDMA is also investigated so that the performance of CDMA could be compared with OFDM on the basis of various wireless parameters. At the end it is concluded that the good features of both the modulation schemes can be combined in an intelligent way to get the best modulation scheme as a solution for wireless communication high speed requirement, channel problems and increased number of users.
Taking Healthy Steps: rationale, design and baseline characteristics of a randomized trial of a pedometer-based internet-mediated walking program in veterans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

BACKGROUND
Low levels of physical activity are common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and a sedentary lifestyle is associated with poor outcomes including increased mortality, frequent hospitalizations, and poor health-related quality of life. Internet-mediated physical activity interventions may increase physical activity and improve health outcomes in persons with COPD.


METHODS/DESIGN
This manuscript describes the design and rationale of a randomized controlled trial that tests the effectiveness of Taking Healthy Steps, an Internet-mediated walking program for Veterans with COPD. Taking Healthy Steps includes an uploading pedometer, a website, and an online community. Eligible and consented patients wear a pedometer to obtain one week of baseline data and then are randomized on a 2:1 ratio to Taking Healthy Steps or to a wait list control. The intervention arm receives iterative step-count feedback; individualized step-count goals, motivational and informational messages, and access to an online community. Wait list controls are notified that they are enrolled, but that their intervention will start in one year; however, they keep the pedometer and have access to a static webpage.


DISCUSSION
Participants include 239 Veterans (mean age 66.7 years, 93.7% male) with 155 randomized to Taking Healthy Steps and 84 to the wait list control arm; rural-living (45.2%); ever-smokers (93.3%); and current smokers (25.1%). Baseline mean St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire Total Score was 46.0; 30.5% reported severe dyspnea; and the average number of comorbid conditions was 4.9. Mean baseline daily step counts was 3497 (+/- 2220).Veterans with COPD can be recruited to participate in an online walking program. We successfully recruited a cohort of older Veterans with a significant level of disability including Veterans who live in rural areas using a remote national recruitment strategy.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Clinical Trials.gov NCT01102777.
Mercy: A Fast Large Block Cipher for Disk Sector Encryption

We discuss the special requirements imposed on the underlying cipher of systems which encrypt each sector of a disk partition independently, and demonstrate a certificational weakness in some existing block ciphers including Bellare and Rogaway’s 1999 proposal, proposing a new quantitative measure of avalanche. To address these needs, we present Mercy, a new block cipher accepting large (4096-bit) blocks, which uses a key-dependent state machine to build a bijective F function for a Feistel cipher. Mercy achieves 9 cycles/byte on a Pentium compatible processor.
Building a Concept-Level Sentiment Dictionary Based on Commonsense Knowledge

Sentiment dictionaries are essential for research in the sentiment analysis field. A two-step method integrates iterative regression and random walk with in-link normalization to build a concept-level sentiment dictionary. The approach uses ConceptNet as a framework to propagate sentiment values, based on the assumption that semantically related concepts share a common sentiment.
A randomised placebo controlled exploratory study of vitamin B-12, lofepramine, and L-phenylalanine (the "Cari Loder regime") in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether combination therapy with lofepramine, L-phenylalanine, and intramuscular vitamin B-12 (the "Cari Loder regime") reduces disability in patients with multiple sclerosis.


METHODS
A placebo controlled, double blind, randomised study carried out in five United Kingdom centres on outpatients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis, measurable disability on Guy's neurological disability scale (GNDS), no relapse in the preceding six months, and not on antidepressant drugs. Over 24 weeks all patients received vitamin B-12, 1 mg intramuscularly weekly, and either lofepramine 70 mg and L-phenylalanine 500 mg twice daily, or matching placebo tablets. Outcome was assessed using the GNDS, the Kurtzke expanded disability status scale; the Beck depression inventory, the Chalder fatigue scale, and the Gulick MS specific symptom scale.


RESULTS
138 patients were entered, and two were lost from each group. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups at entry or at follow up. Analysis of covariance suggested that treated patients had better outcomes on four of the five scales used. Both groups showed a reduction of 2 GNDS points within the first two weeks, and when data from all time points were considered, the treated group had a significant improvement of 0.6 GNDS points from two weeks onwards.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with multiple sclerosis improved by 2 GNDS points after starting vitamin B-12 injections. The addition of lofepramine and L-phenylalanine added a further 0.6 points benefit. More research is needed to confirm and explore the significance of this clinically small difference.
African cognitive ability: Research, results, divergences and recommendations

Please cite this article in press as: Rindermann, H Differences (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.p In the past different researchers have come to diverging cognitive ability estimates for people in Africa and of African descent. The paper tries to check the validity of past results by comparing them with outcomes of two new psychometric test studies from East and South Africa; with results from student assessment studies; with predictions based on those variables which, outside Africa, correlate most strongly with intelligence; and by comparing them with further indicators of cognitive ability (descriptions of everyday life and human accomplishment). Integrating these cognitive ability measures with the application of several corrections (due to the higher age of students in Africa, lower African school enrollment, selectivity of samples and higher African secular IQ rise), the best guess for an African average is IQ 75. Finally, possible environmental and genetic (evolutionary, therefore past environmental) causes are discussed and suggestions are given how to enhance cognitive development in African countries. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Topic oriented community detection through social objects and link analysis in social networks

0950-7051/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. A doi:10.1016/j.knosys.2011.07.017 ⇑ Corresponding author at: Shenzhen Institutes of A Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China. E-mail addresses: zy.zhao@siat.ac.cn, zy.zhao10@ @siat.ac.cn (S. Feng), qiang.wang1@siat.ac.cn (Q. (J.Z. Huang), Graham.Williams@togaware.com (G.J. W Fan) . Community detection is an important issue in social network analysis. Most existing methods detect communities through analyzing the linkage of the network. The drawback is that each community identified by those methods can only reflect the strength of connections, but it cannot reflect the semantics such as the interesting topics shared by people. To address this problem, we propose a topic oriented community detection approach which combines both social objects clustering and link analysis. We first use a subspace clustering algorithm to group all the social objects into topics. Then we divide the members that are involved in those social objects into topical clusters, each corresponding to a distinct topic. In order to differentiate the strength of connections, we perform a link analysis on each topical cluster to detect the topical communities. Experiments on real data sets have shown that our approach was able to identify more meaningful communities. The quantitative evaluation indicated that our approach can achieve a better performance when the topics are at least as important as the links to the analysis. 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A revised behavioral model of consumer durable demand

Abstract A general model of consumer demand for durable goods has recently been proposed by Pickering (1978,1981). Of particular note is the use of expectations of both personal financial and general economic conditions to capture the consumer's willingness to buy. However, it is argued first that these two expectations have Jointly interdependent rather than unique contributions to consumer confidence. In addition, it is proposed that the concept of expectations should be extended to specific product attributes as well. Pickering's model is subsequently revised to incorporate the conceptual modifications.