LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Improved determination of the best fitting sine wave in ADC testing

The sine wave test of an ADC means to excite the ADC with a pure sine wave, look for the sine wave is which best fits the output in least squares sense, and analyze the difference. This is described in the IEEE standards 1241-2000 and 1057-1994. Least squares is the 'best' fitting method most of us can imagine. and it yields very good results indeed. Its known properties are achieved when the error (the deviation of the samples from the true sine wave) is random, white (the error samples are all independent), with zero mean Gaussian distribution. Then the LS fit coincides with the maximum likelihood estimate of the parameters. However, in sine wave testing of ADCs these assumptions are far from being true. The quantization error is partly deterministic, and the sample values are strongly interdependent. This makes the sine fit worse than expected, and since small changes in the sine wave affect the residuals significantly, especially close to the peaks, ADC error analysis may become misleading. Processing of the residuals (e.g. the calculation of the effective number of bits, ENOB) can exhibit serious errors. This paper describes this phenomenon, analyses its consequences, and suggests modified processing of samples and residuals to reduce the errors to negligible level.
Intensification of open-ocean oxygen depletion by vertically migrating animals

Throughout the ocean, countless small animals swim to depth in the daytime, presumably to seek refuge from large predators1,2. These animals return to the surface at night to feed1,2. This substantial diel vertical migration can result in the transfer of significant amounts of carbon and nutrients from the surface to depth3–7. However, its consequences on ocean chemistry at the global scale have remained uncertain8,9. Here, we determine the depths of these diel migrations in the global ocean using a global array of backscatter data from acoustic Doppler current profilers, collected between 1990 and 2011. We show that the depth of diel migration follows coherent large-scale patterns. We find that migration depth is greater where subsurface oxygen concentrations are high, such that seawater oxygen concentration is the best single predictor of migration depth at the global scale. In oxygen minimum zone areas, migratory animals generally descend as far as the upper margins of the low-oxygen waters. Using an ocean biogeochemical model coupled to a general circulation model, we show that by focusing oxygen consumption in poorly ventilated regions of the upper ocean, diel vertical migration intensifies oxygen depletion in the upper margin of oxygen minimum zones. We suggest that future changes in the extent of oxygen minimum zones could alter the migratory depths of marine organisms, with consequences for marine biogeochemistry, food webs and fisheries. The concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the ocean are determined by the interplay of the three-dimensional circulation and a wide range of ecosystem processes. The complexity of the marine ecosystem is overwhelmingly evident from the vast diversity of oceanic life, but this complexity must be greatly idealized in any attempt to quantify its role in ocean biogeochemistry. Among the typical simplifications of ocean biogeochemistry models, the respiration of organicmatter in the subsurface is generally treated as the work of ubiquitous microbes feeding on organic particles that settle passively through the water column, ignoring the potential role of animals in the transport and respiration of organic matter. However, the biomass of animals is large (>2.5 Pg; ref. 10), comparable to that of phytoplankton, and their motility makes their effect potentially very different from that of passive microbes. Although animals exhibit a daunting array of behaviours in the marine environment, many of which remain poorly understood, a commonobserved behaviour is the diel verticalmigration (DVM). The pervasive occurrence of DVM has long been recognized by the oceanographic community. Increased night-time catches near the surface became evident in oceanographic surveys of the early twentieth century and provided the first documented evidence of DVM (ref. 11). Extensive acoustic surveys subsequently revealed sound scattering layers that migrated on a diurnal basis between the surface andmid-depths1,12, and it became clear thatmesopelagic
Design of frequency tunable antennas for mobile devices

In mobile communications, frequency tunable antennas for handsets have become commonplace as it is increasingly difficult to cover all the necessary frequency bands required for mobile operation. This paper reviews the tuning technologies and components used in frequency tuning. Then the optimization criteria for tunable antennas are described. Typically, the minimum efficiency over the desired operation bands in maximized, but also conditions for the acceptable input matching level can be incorporated in the optimization. The optimization takes into account mismatch loss, component losses, radiation efficiency, losses in the tuning components and coupling to the other ports in multiantenna systems. Multiple impedance and efficiency data sets can be taken into account to make the matching circuits more robust to changes in the user environments.
ShapeCodes: Self-supervised Feature Learning by Lifting Views to Viewgrids

Abstract. We introduce an unsupervised feature learning approach that embeds 3D shape information into a single-view image representation. The main idea is a self-supervised training objective that, given only a single 2D image, requires all unseen views of the object to be predictable from learned features. We implement this idea as an encoderdecoder convolutional neural network. The network maps an input image of an unknown category and unknown viewpoint to a latent space, from which a deconvolutional decoder can best “lift” the image to its complete viewgrid showing the object from all viewing angles. Our class-agnostic training procedure encourages the representation to capture fundamental shape primitives and semantic regularities in a data-driven manner— without manual semantic labels. Our results on two widely-used shape datasets show 1) our approach successfully learns to perform “mental rotation” even for objects unseen during training, and 2) the learned latent space is a powerful representation for object recognition, outperforming several existing unsupervised feature learning methods.
Waste Pickers Perceptions among Households in Cosmo City , South

Municipal solid waste is a major challenge facing developing countries [1]. Amount of waste generated by developing countries is increasing as a result of urbanisation and economic growth [2]. In Africa and other developing countries waste is disposed of in poorly managed landfills, controlled and uncontrolled dumpsites increasing environmental health risks [3]. Households have a major role to play in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfills [4]. Recycling is accepted by developing and developed countries as one of the best solution in municipal solid waste management [5]. Households influence the quality and amount of recyclable material recovery [1]. Separation of waste at source can reduce contamination of recyclable waste material. Households are the key role players in ensuring that waste is separated at source and their willingness to participate in source separation of waste should be encouraged by municipalities and local regulatory authorities [6,7].
Intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide and steroids induce immunological and clinical remission in New-incident and relapsing primary membranous nephropathy.

AIM
Primary membranous nephropathy is associated with progression to end stage renal diseasein some patients. Standard therapy with cyclical cyclophosphamide and corticosteroids can be associated with significant adverse effects. We aimed to assess immunological and clinical response with intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide and oral steroids in patients with severe nephrotic syndrome - in a prospective observational cohort study.


METHODS
A total of 17 consecutive patients (nine new-incident and eight relapses) with severe nephrotic syndrome received monthly intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide and oral steroids after failure to achieve remission with supportive therapy. Immunosuppressive therapy was discontinued at 6 months or earlier if proteinuria regressed to <100 mg/mmol and patients were followed for 12 months. Achievement of partial remission was primary outcome; changes in clinical parameters and anti-PLA2 R were secondary outcomes.


RESULTS
Dose of cyclophosphamide received was 5.4 g in New-incident patients and 4.2 g in patients with relapses. All 17 patients achieved partial remission within 6 months: proteinuria improved from 656 to 102 mg/mmol at 6 months and 55 mg/mmol at 12 months (P < 0.001); eGFR improved from 31 to 48 mL/min per 1.73 m2 at 6 months and 45 mL/min per 1.73 m2 at 12 months (P < 0.05). Anti-PLA2 R levels reduced from 244 to 10 U/L at 6 months and 10 U/L at 12 months (P < 0.001). Two out of nine patients in the New-incident group developed subsequent relapse. Cumulative doses of cyclophosphamide and steroids that patients received was about half of the standard regime.


CONCLUSION
Pulse cyclophosphamide with oral steroids induced immunological and clinical partial remission at significantly reduced doses in primary membranous nephropathy.
An integrated technique for splicing and copy-move forgery image detection

Digital images can be easily forged with various image processing tools; nowadays the issue of digital image forgery becomes more and more important. As JPEG has been popularly used in image compression standard, forgery detection of JPEG images plays an important role now. Forging on compressed images often involves recompression and tends to erase those forging traces existed in un-compressed images. We could, however, attempt to discover new traces caused by recompression and use these traces to detect the recompressed image's forgery. The artifacts introduced by lossy JPEG compression can be regarded as an inherent feature for recompressed images. In this paper, a novel forgery image detection for splicing and copy-move forgery image is proposed. We first use a forgery image detection approach by periodicity analysis with the double compression effect in spatial and DCT domain. Then, the feature extracted by SURF descriptors is applied to resisting the variation of rotation and/or scaling. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique is performed well on the detection of forgery localization. Especially for the copy-move forgery images, the proposed technique is able to locate the forged regions and recognize the non-original regions.
wrist fl exor spasticity in patients with stroke : protocol for a neurophysiological study

Correspondence to Dr Noureddin Nakhostin Ansari; nakhostin@sina.tums.ac.ir ABSTRACT Introduction: Reliable and valid tools must be used to assess spasticity in clinical practise and research settings. There is a paucity of literature regarding the validity of the Modified Modified Ashworth Scale (MMAS) and the Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS). No study, to date, has been performed to compare the validity of the MMAS and the MTS. This neurophysiological study protocol will compare the validity of the MMAS and the MTS in the assessment of poststroke wrist flexor spasticity. Methods and analysis: Thirty-two patients with stroke from the University Rehabilitation clinics will be recruited to participate in this cross-sectional, noninterventional study. All measurements will be taken in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department of Shafa University Hospital in Tehran, Iran. First, wrist flexor spasticity will be assessed clinically using the MMAS and MTS. The tests will be applied randomly. For the MTS, the components of R1, R2, R2−R1 and quality of muscle reaction will be measured. Second, neurophysiological measures of H-reflex latency, Hmax/ Mmax ratio, Hslp and Hslp/Mslp ratio will be collected from the affected side. The results will be analysed using Spearman’s ρ test or Pearson’s correlation test to determine the validity of the MMAS and the MTS as well as to compare the validity between the MMAS and the MTS. Ethics and dissemination: The Research Council, School of Rehabilitation and the Ethics Committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) approved the study protocol. The study results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and presented at international congresses.
Decomposition of Boolean Functions Specified by Cubes

We study the problem of decomposing a Boolean function into a set of functions with fewer arguments. This problem has considerable practical importance in VLSI, for example, for designs using field-programmable gate arrays. The decomposition problem is old, and well understood when the function to be decomposed is specified by a truth table, or has one output only. However, modern design tools handle functions with many outputs and represent them by cubes, for reasons of efficiency. We develop a comprehensive theory of serial decompositions for multiple-output, partially specified, Boolean functions represented by cubes. A function f (x1 , . . . , xn) has a serial decomposition if it can be expressed as h(u1 , . . . , ur, g(v1 , . . . , vs)), where U = {u1 , . . . , ur} and V = {v1 , . . . , vs} are subsets of the set X = {x1 , . . . , xn} of input variables, and g and h have fewer input variables than f. The theory uses generalized set systems (which, in turn, are generalized partitions), which we call blankets.
Impact of atrial fibrillation on outcome of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: data from the Heart Muscle Disease Registry of Trieste.

OBJECTIVE
There is a paucity and inconsistency of data regarding the natural history of patients affected by idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) and atrial fibrillation (AF). We examined the prognostic implications of AF in a subset of patients with IDCM.


METHODS
We analyzed the data of 539 patients with IDCM enrolled in the Heart Muscle Disease Registry of Trieste.


RESULTS
At baseline, 52 (9.6%) of 539 patients had AF. There was no difference in survival of patients with either AF or sinus rhythm at enrollment (P = .28). During long-term follow-up (90 ± 58 months), AF was detected on ECG/ECG-Holter monitoring in 28 (5.7%) of 487 patients in sinus rhythm at baseline. Predictors of new onset of AF at multivariate analysis were a more dilated left atrium (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.06-1.72; P = .01) and a lower left ventricle ejection fraction (for 10% decrease, OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.24-4.69, P = .016). Patients developing AF had higher mortality/heart transplantation rate compared to patients who maintained sinus rhythm during follow-up (P < .001). At multivariate analysis, new onset AF (HR 3.67, 95% CI 2.07-6.5; P < .001) in the first three years after diagnosis, but not baseline AF, was found to be independently associated with a worse outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Atrial fibrillation is relatively frequent in patients with IDCM. The early development of AF during follow-up, but not its presence at baseline, is associated with poor survival.
On the waterfront: An empirical study of corruption in ports

This paper investigates how bureaucrats set bribes and whether these payments impose significant economic costs. We generate an original dataset on bribe payments at ports in Southern Africa that allows us to take an unusually close look into the blackbox of corruption. We find that bribes are product-specific, frequent and substantial. Bribes can represent up to a 14% increase in total shipping costs for a standard 20ft container and a 600% increase in the monthly salary of a port official. Bribes are paid primarily to evade tariffs, protect cargo on the docks and avoid costly storage. We identify three systemic effects associated with this type of corruption: a “diversion effect” where firms go the long way around to avoid the most corrupt port; a “revenue effect” as bribes reduce overall tariff revenue; and a “congestion effect” as the re-routing of firms increases congestion and transport costs in the region by generating imbalanced flows of cargo in the transport network. The evidence supports the theory that bribe payments at ports represent a significant distortionary tax on trade, as opposed to just a transfer between shippers and port officials that greases slow-moving clearing queues.
Simulating first-principles models of situated human performance

A simulation framework, WMC (for Work Models that Compute) has been developed to model the complex, heterogeneous dynamics of systems that include physical systems, humans, and automated agents whose behaviors depend on situation. Unlike human-computational performance models, the WMC work model describes the actions by which the agents collectively interact with the environment to achieve their task goals. The simulation engine parses the work model, passing actions to the agents when they need to be executed, rather than needing each agent model to encapsulate its own description of task. This model form is not intended to predict or describe individual elements of human cognitive behavior within isolated tasks, but instead to describe human agents managing a range of tasks when situated within operational context. The default perfect agent executes actions exactly, but this paper elaborates on those aspects of “first-principles” agent models particularly suited to this type of simulation, including the modeling of agents' ability to monitor their taskload, actively manage competing tasks to interrupt and delay on-going actions to meet the immediate demands of the work, predict and prepare for upcoming actions, and perform internal mental simulations. In addition, based on our recent studies of how human experts situated in a dynamic environment adjust their patterns of cognitive activity in response to context, this paper discusses how strategies may also be modeled to represent the organization of actions within a foreseeable event horizon. These constructs are addressed in this paper by demonstrating how they can be modeled conceptually and then specifically implemented in dynamic simulations.
A high Speed 8 Transistor Full Adder Design Using Novel 3 Transistor XOR Gates

The paper proposes the novel design of a 3T XOR gate combining complementary CMOS with pass transistor logic. The design has been compared with earlier proposed 4T and 6T XOR gates and a significant improvement in silicon area and power-delay product has been obtained. An eight transistor full adder has been designed using the proposed three-transistor XOR gate and its performance has been investigated using 0.15 m and 0.35 m technologies. Compared to the earlier designed 10 transistor full adder, the proposed adder shows a significant improvement in silicon area and power delay product. The whole simulation has been carried out using HSPICE. Keywords—XOR gate, full adder, improvement in speed, area minimization, transistor count minimization.
Crosslinking of an oesophagus acellular matrix tissue scaffold.

The oesophagus acellular matrix (EAM) tissue-scaffold has the potential to serve as the foundation for a tissue-engineered oesophagus for repair of ablative defects. Similar to all collagen-based biomaterials, the EAM is subject to enzymatic degradation in vivo. The introduction of exogenous crosslinks to collagen molecules via glutaraldehyde (Glu) is the most accepted method of stabilizing collagen biomaterials, but fixation with Glu incurs adverse effects. Genipin (Gp), a naturally occurring crosslinking agent, has shown to be effective at improving the stability of collagen-based biomaterials with less cytotoxicity and reduced in vivo inflammatory responses than Glu. The aim of this study was to show that crosslinking with Gp improves the stability of the EAM while maintaining minimal biological reactivity and preserving EAM regeneration potential in a rat model. EAMs were crosslinked with Gp and Glu. Uncrosslinked EAMs served as controls. Denaturation temperature measurement and burst-pressure measurement after enzymatic degradation assays were used to determine the effectiveness of crosslinking on in vitro stability. Subcutaneous allograft implantation and oesophageal epithelial cell-seeding studies assessed the crosslinking effects on biological reactivity and regeneration potential, respectively. Both Gp and Glu improved EAM stability. After 30 days of implantation, the EAM elicited a minimal inflammatory response and crosslinking did not increase inflammation. Gp-crosslinked EAMs supported epithelial adhesion and proliferation while Glu-crosslinked EAMs did not. Gp improves the stability of the EAM while maintaining minimal biological reactivity and preserving EAM epithelial proliferation capacity, yielding a tissue scaffold that may form the basis of a durable and biocompatible tissue-engineered oesophagus.
Stereotypes, Asian Americans, and Wages An Empirical Strategy Applied to Computer Use at Work

This article examines the effect on wages of the Asian-American stereotype as mathematically and technically adept, and the role this stereotype may play in explaining racial wage differences. We propose an empirical strategy to examine the influence of stereotypes on labor market outcomes, with a specific application to the wage premium associated with computer use at work. Using Current Population Survey data, ordinary least squares estimates do not provide compelling evidence that a positive stereotype affects wages for Asian Americans. Copyright © 2009 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc..
Non-wetting surface-driven high-aspect-ratio crystalline grain growth for efficient hybrid perovskite solar cells

Large-aspect-ratio grains are needed in polycrystalline thin-film solar cells for reduced charge recombination at grain boundaries; however, the grain size in organolead trihalide perovskite (OTP) films is generally limited by the film thickness. Here we report the growth of OTP grains with high average aspect ratio of 2.3-7.9 on a wide range of non-wetting hole transport layers (HTLs), which increase nucleus spacing by suppressing heterogeneous nucleation and facilitate grain boundary migration in grain growth by imposing less drag force. The reduced grain boundary area and improved crystallinity dramatically reduce the charge recombination in OTP thin films to the level in OTP single crystals. Combining the high work function of several HTLs, a high stabilized device efficiency of 18.3% in low-temperature-processed planar-heterojunction OTP devices under 1 sun illumination is achieved. This simple method in enhancing OTP morphology paves the way for its application in other optoelectronic devices for enhanced performance.
Strategic Performance Measurement and Management in Nonprofit Organizations

The managers and constituents of nonprofits are increasingly concerned about measuring and managing organizational performance. Financial measures alone, or even supplemented with a collection of ad hoc nonfinancial measures, are not sufficient to motivate and evaluate mission accomplishments. This article describes the adaptation of a new performance measurement and management approach, the Balanced Scorecard, to the nonprofit sector. Several examples of actual implementation are provided.