Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamic balance of a bipedal robot with trunk and arms subjected to 3D external disturbances

This paper deals with a novel approach based on the synergy between the dynamic motions of balancing masses and arms to reject large perturbations applied to the upper part of a bipedal robot. Initially the stabilization is carried out with a trunk having 4 degrees of freedom: three translations and one rotation. In the second time the stabilization is performed with a system with arms and having 10 DOFs. At first, for a vertical posture of the robot, the trunk bodies of ROBIAN are used to compensate the external three-dimensional efforts applied to the robot. During the simulation, this study allows us to determine on-line, the required movements and accelerations of the trunk bodies in order to maintain the robot stability. In the following stage, we study the required movements of a system which is made up of a trunk and two arms in order to ensure the robot stability in presence of disturbances or during a handling of an object. The same formalism is chosen to study the dynamics of the new upper part of the robot. This study shows the importance of the arms for the robot stability.
Five-fold increase in national prevalence rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medications for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and other psychiatric disorders: a Danish register-based study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and time trends in prescriptions of methylphenidate, dexamphetamine, and atomoxetine in children and adolescents, within three diagnostic groups: 1) autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 2) attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 3) other psychiatric disorders. METHODS Data from six different national registers were used and merged to identify a cohort of all children and adolescents born in Denmark between 1990 and 2001 (n=852,711). Sociodemographic covariates on cohort members and their parents and lifetime prescriptions of methylphenidate, dexamphetamine, and atomoxetine were extracted from the registers. Prescriptions were also stratified by duration (<6 months. vs.≥ 6 months). RESULTS Sixteen percent of 9698 children and adolescents with ASD (n=1577), 61% of 11,553 children and adolescents with ADHD (n=7021) and 3% of 48,468 children and adolescents with other psychiatric disorders (n=1537) were treated with one or more ADHD medications. There was a significant increase in prescription rates of these medications for all three groups. From 2003 to 2010, youth 6-13 years of age with ASD, ADHD, and other psychiatric disorders had 4.7-fold (4.4-4.9), 6.3-fold (6.0-6.4), and 5.5-fold (5.0-5.9) increases, respectively, in prescription rates of ADHD medications. CONCLUSION This is the largest study to date assessing stimulant treatment in children and adolescents with ASD, and is the first prospective study quantifying the change over time in the prevalence of treatment with ADHD medications in a population-based national cohort of children and adolescents with ASD. The prevalence of stimulant treatment in youth with ASD of 16% is consistent with earlier studies. The past decade has witnessed a clear and progressive increase in the prescription rates of medications typically used to treat ADHD in children and adolescents in Denmark. This increase is not limited to only those with ADHD, but includes others with neuropsychiatric disorders, including ASD. The risks and benefits of this practice await further study.
Factors Associated with Teachers’ Job Dissatisfaction in Schools in Rural Eastern Cape Province

Abstract A qualitative case study research design was employed to identify teachers’ perspectives on job dissatisfaction. The sample size comprised 12 senior secondary school teachers. Data obtained through semistructured interviews and focus groups discussions were analysed by using the narrative analysis model. Results indicated that lack of resources, overcrowded classes and lack of discipline, administrative issues and no recognition by principals and parents for good work done, caused dissatisfaction among teachers who took part in this study. Findings also showed that job dissatisfaction had triggered disengagement in some teachers, with a consequential lack of focus in the activities of the profession. The study argued that teachers can perform better through their job satisfaction. Some recommendations for improvement have also been made.
Power consumption and bandwidth savings with video transcoding to mobile device-specific spatial resolution

Usage of mobile devices for multimedia content playback is drowning the battery power rapidly. High quality videos which are streamed from the internet are power consuming and demand high network bandwidth. We measured the power consumption and bitrate of video sequences in respect to different spatial resolutions and used acceptability-based Quality of Experience (QoE) model for determining the impact of video resolution on QoE. The results showed that both power and bandwidth can be saved without noticeable reduction in QoE when transcoding video to a resolution specific to the mobile device instead of using standard video resolutions.
Different distribution of neuromedin S and its mRNA in the rat brain: NMS peptide is present not only in the hypothalamus as the mRNA, but also in the brainstem

Neuromedin S (NMS) is a neuropeptide identified as another endogenous ligand for two orphan G protein-coupled receptors, FM-3/GPR66 and FM-4/TGR-1, which have also been identified as types 1 and 2 receptors for neuromedin U structurally related to NMS. Although expression of NMS mRNA is found mainly in the brain, spleen, and testis, the distribution of its peptide has not yet been investigated. Using a newly prepared antiserum, we developed a highly sensitive radioimmunoassay for rat NMS. NMS peptide was clearly detected in the rat brain at a concentration of 68.3 ± 3.4 fmol/g wet weight, but it was hardly detected in the spleen and testis. A high content of NMS peptide was found in the hypothalamus, midbrain, and pons–medulla oblongata, whereas abundant expression of NMS mRNA was detected only in the hypothalamus. These differing distributions of the mRNA and peptide suggest that nerve fibers originating from hypothalamic NMS neurons project into the midbrain, pons, or medulla oblongata. In addition, abundant expression of type 2 receptor mRNA was detected not only in the hypothalamus, but also in the midbrain and pons–medulla oblongata. These results suggest novel, unknown physiological roles of NMS within the brainstem.
Linear multiview reconstruction of points, lines, planes and cameras using a reference plane

This paper presents a new linear method for reconstructing simultaneously 3D features (points, lines and planes) and cameras from many perspective views by solving a single linear system. It assumes that a real or virtual reference plane is visible in all views. We call it the Direct Reference Plane (DRP) method. It is well known that the projection relationship between uncalibrated cameras and 3D features is nonlinear in the absence of a reference plane. With a known reference plane, points and cameras have a linear relationship, as shown by Rother and Carlsson (2001). The main contribution of this paper is that lines and cameras, as well as, planes and cameras also have a linear relationship. Consequently, all 3D features and all cameras can be reconstructed simultaneously from a single linear system, which handles missing image measurements naturally. A further contribution is an extensive experimental comparison, using real data, of different reference plane and nonreference plane reconstruction methods. For difficult reference plane scenarios, with point or line features, the DRP method is superior to all compared methods. Finally, an extensive list of reference plane scenarios is presented, which shows the wide applicability of the DRP method.
An Investigation into Blood Clot Removal with the GP Mechanical Thrombectomy Device (GPTAD) in an Abattoir Porcine Artery Model

In this pilot study we investigate the effectiveness of blood clot in an abattoir porcine artery, using a novel thrombectomy device. We show using histological staining wall, that when suction pressures of up to 70 KPa are applied, there appears to be no damage to the artery wall. We conclude that this device may potentially be very useful as a blood clot removal device in human arteries.
AprilFEC: Real-Time Channel Estimation and Adaptive Forward Error Correction

Transporting large amounts of data over the wireless links of a mobile ad hoc network requires mitigating significant and unpredictable packet loss. Traditional acknowledgmentbased transport protocols (e.g. TCP) perform poorly as ACK messages are dropped and the transport falls back on retransmission timeouts. We propose a novel application-layer transport system, AprilFEC, that employs erasure codes to ensure reliable delivery over lossy, time-varying wireless links. Moreover, AprilFEC minimizes added overhead by estimating packet loss rates and adapting its encoding level accordingly. We show that AprilFEC delivers large media files over lossy, time-varying links more reliably than a traditional TCP-based system.
Examining a sentiment algorithm on session patient records in an eating disorder treatment setting: a preliminary study

Background Clinicians collect session therapy notes within patient session records. Session records contain valuable information about patients’ treatment progress. Sentiment analysis is a tool to extract emotional tones and states from text input and could be used to evaluate patients’ sentiment during treatment over time. This preliminary study aims to investigate the validity of automated sentiment analysis on session patient records within an eating disorder (ED) treatment context against the performance of human raters. Methods A total of 460 patient session records from eight participants diagnosed with an ED were evaluated on their overall sentiment by an automated sentiment analysis and two human raters separately. The inter-rater agreement (IRR) between the automated analysis and human raters and IRR among the human raters was analyzed by calculating the intra-class correlation (ICC) under a continuous interpretation and weighted Cohen’s kappa under a categorical interpretation. Furthermore, differences regarding positive and negative matches between the human raters and the automated analysis were examined in closer detail. Results The ICC showed a moderate automated-human agreement (ICC = 0.55), and the weighted Cohen’s kappa showed a fair automated-human (k = 0.29) and substantial human-human agreement (k = 0.68) for the evaluation of overall sentiment. Furthermore, the automated analysis lacked words specific to an ED context. Discussion/conclusion The automated sentiment analysis performed worse in discerning sentiment from session patient records compared to human raters and cannot be used within practice in its current state if the benchmark is considered adequate enough. Nevertheless, the automated sentiment analysis does show potential in extracting sentiment from session records. The automated analysis should be further developed by including context-specific ED words, and a more solid benchmark, such as patients’ own mood, should be established to compare the performance of the automated analysis to.
Prion-Forming Ability of Ure2 of Yeasts Is Not Evolutionarily Conserved

[URE3] is a prion (infectious protein) of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ure2p, a regulator of nitrogen catabolism. We show that wild S. paradoxus can be infected with a [URE3] prion, supporting the use of S. cerevisiae as a prion test bed. We find that the Ure2p of Candida albicans and C. glabrata also regulate nitrogen catabolism. Conservation of amino acid sequence within the prion domain of Ure2p has been proposed as evidence that the [URE3] prion helps its host. We show that the C. albicans Ure2p, which does not conserve this sequence, can nonetheless form a [URE3] prion in S. cerevisiae, but the C. glabrata Ure2p, which does have the conserved sequence, cannot form [URE3] as judged by its performance in S. cerevisiae. These results suggest that the sequence is not conserved to preserve prion forming ability.
CT angiographic analysis of carotid artery stenosis: comparison of manual assessment, semiautomatic vessel analysis, and digital subtraction angiography.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To compare multisection CT angiography (CTA) analyzed with source/maximum intensity projection (MIP) images as well as semiautomated vessel analysis software with intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in detection and grading of carotid artery bifurcation stenosis. METHODS Consecutive patients with sonography evidence of a marked internal carotid artery stenosis underwent both carotid CTA and DSA (37 patients, 73 vessels). In CTA, the grade of stenosis was determined using axial source and MIP images as well as vessel analysis. The scans were blind-analyzed by 2 neuroradiologists using the NASCET criteria. RESULTS Correlation of CTA source/MIP images versus DSA estimates of stenosis (R = 0.95) was higher than for the vessel analysis method versus DSA (R = 0.89). Compared with DSA, CTA source/MIP images underestimated high (78.2% versus 86.4%, P < .05) and moderate grades of stenosis (57.3% versus 63.1%, P < .05) to a lesser extent than the vessel analysis method (68.5% versus 83.5% and 51.8% versus 63.1%, P < .05). For a high-grade stenosis, sensitivity and specificity of source/MIP image CTA were 75% and 96%, respectively, whereas for the vessel analysis method, they were 47% and 96%, respectively. For moderate stenosis, the source/MIP image CTA sensitivity and specificity were 88% and 82%, respectively, and for vessel analysis method, 62% and 82%, respectively. CTA detected all 4 occlusions. CONCLUSION In evaluation of carotid stenosis, CTA provides an adequate, less invasive alternative with a high correlation to conventional DSA, though it tends to underestimate clinically relevant grades of stenosis. Its accuracy is not improved by semiautomated analysis. The data support the use of CTA in confirming carotid occlusion.
Chemokines in rapid leukocyte adhesion triggering and migration.

Leukocyte subsets are recruited from the blood to lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues via a multi-step process that involves distinct adhesive and activation steps. Chemokines, a family of chemotactic cytokines that signal through G-protein-coupled receptors, play critical roles in regulating the leukocyte recruitment cascade. Chemokines can be transported and immobilized on the surface of vascular endothelial cells, where they activate leukocyte subsets expressing specific receptors. Activation signals induce firm adhesion of rolling leukocytes by rapidly upregulating integrin affinity and/or avidity. Chemokines can also direct migration of adherent cells across the endothelium, and control segregation of cells into specific microenvironments within tissues. The regulated expression of chemokines and their receptors is a critical determinant for homing of specialized lymphocyte subsets, and controls both tissue and inflammation-specific immune processes.
Motion Planning for Quadrupedal Locomotion: Coupled Planning, Terrain Mapping, and Whole-Body Control

Planning whole-body motions while taking into account the terrain conditions is a challenging problem for legged robots since the terrain model might produce many local minima. Our coupled planning method uses stochastic and derivatives-free search to plan both foothold locations and horizontal motions due to the local minima produced by the terrain model. It jointly optimizes body motion, step duration and foothold selection, and it models the terrain as a cost-map. Due to the novel attitude planning method, the horizontal motion plans can be applied to various terrain conditions. The attitude planner ensures the robot stability by imposing limits to the angular acceleration. Our whole-body controller tracks compliantly trunk motions while avoiding slippage, as well as kinematic and torque limits. Despite the use of a simplified model, which is restricted to flat terrain, our approach shows remarkable capability to deal with a wide range of noncoplanar terrains. The results are validated by experimental trials and comparative evaluations in a series of terrains of progressively increasing complexity.
Toward an Integrative Model of SCM Performance: Supply ChainStrategy and Environmental Uncertainty

A right supply chain (SC) strategy is widely believed to be able to improve supply chain management (SCM) performance. Ignoring the important concept of alignment, mostly SCM research singly investigated the influence of SC strategies on performance. Consequently, failures in SCM from a mismatch between two or more crucial factors (e.g., strategies and environmental uncertainties) are still in common. Accordingly, Lee proposed a simple but powerful environmental uncertainty framework to devise the right SC strategy. Four types of SC strategy are described with using two key factors: demand and supply uncertainty. However, that important paper stayed on an analytical or conceptual level until now. This study empirically examined the impact of alignment between SC strategy and environmental uncertainty on perceived SCM performance using Lee’s uncertainty framework. This study also developed the theoretical SC strategy profiles by using an integrated perspective with both Miller and Roth’s manufacturing capabilities and Sabherwal and Chan’s information system capabilities. The results indicate that the alignment between SC strategy and environmental uncertainty is positively associated with SCM performance. Our study not only provides an empirical contribution to robust theory building in the area of SCM, but also serves as a guideline for practitioners to construct SC strategy under different environmental uncertainties. Keyword: Alignment, Supply Chain (SC) Strategy, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Environmental Uncertainty, SCM Performance
Dry land strength and power training to enhance swimming in-water turn performance

Elite swimmers demonstrate faster swimming turn times that are potentially a result of having better strength-power characteristics than sub-elite swimmers. We quantified differences between dry-land and swimming turn force-time characteristics in elite swimmers and sub-elite swimmers. Sub-elite (11 males: 17.4 ± 0.6 y; 10 females: 17.1 ± 0.6 y) and elite swimmers (15 male: 23.2 ± 2.3 y; 7 female: 21.6 ± 2.5 y) were tested in a cross-sectional design. All swimmers performed a bodyweight and loaded (20 kg females, 30 kg males) squat jump (SJ) performed on a portable force platform. On the same day, all swimmers completed swimming turn analyses using a force platform fixed within the pool wall. The magnitude of difference between groups was estimated using a standardized mean difference (effect size statistic). Elite male and female swimmers had superior swimming turn and dry-land force-time characteristics to sub-elite swimmers in all tests. The standardized mean differences between groups ranged from small to very large. The largest differences were SJ peak velocity unloaded (3.07 ± 1.0 m/s males, 3.49 ± 2.29 m/s females; standardized mean difference ± 90% confidence limits) and SJ peak power unloaded (2.59 ± 0.79 w male, 2.80 ± 1.64 w female) with elite male and female swimmers ~25-50% higher performance than the sub-elites in both characteristics. Elite swimmers exhibit superior strength and power characteristics for the swimming turn compared with younger and less experienced swimmers. A well-planned and executed strength and conditioning program is needed for emerging swimmers to develop these qualities as they transition to senior levels.
A New Physical $\hbox{1}/f$ Noise Model for Double-Stack High-$k$ Gate-Dielectric MOSFETs

In this letter, a new physical 1/f noise model is developed for double-stack high-k dielectric MOSFETs. This new model modifies the trapping-time-constant term in multistack unified noise model. Conventional 1/f noise model is built on the simple square potential approximation which did not account the electric field dependence on trapping time constant. The new model takes into account of a resultant tunneling process from the actual sloped potential in order to eliminate the discrepancies of dielectric trap density on the dielectric thickness and the gate bias. Our model successfully predicts 1/f noise data obtained from SiO2/HfO2 double-stack high- k devices with various gate-dielectric thicknesses using a single set of modeling parameter.
Triple-Band MIMO Antenna for 5 G Terminals

In this work, a triple-band, four-element antenna is designed for fifth-generation (5 G) terminals operating in LTE band 42 (3.4–3.6 GHz), LTE band 43 (3.6–3.8 GHz), and the new 5 G radio band (4.8–5.0 GHz). The proposed antenna array consists of two different types of antenna elements: a T-shaped element, which is connected to the feed line, and a C-shaped element, which is used to divide the bandwidth. The overall size of the proposed antenna element is only 10.5 mm × 5 mm. The multiantenna system has four antennas and is built on a 0.5-mm-thick Rogers 4003C substrate. The results for this antenna show a 10 dB measured bandwidth of 650 MHz at the center frequency of 3.6 GHz and 230 MHz at 4.9 GHz, a gain of more than 4 dBi, an isolation of more than 14 dB, and an overall radiation efficiency of more than 82%.
RI:Small:Collaborative Research: Distributed Inference Algorithms for Machine Learning

Our goal is to design, analyze, and implement novel inference algorithms that take advantage of emerging hardware paradigms to enable learning on and mining of massive datasets. In particular, we commit to: a) developing new optimization algorithms for machine learning; b) analyzing their convergence properties; and c) releasing open-source code for all our algorithms. We base this research upon four likely shifts in the designs of datacenters of the future:
Ets2 is necessary in trophoblast for normal embryonic anteroposterior axis development

Although the trophoblast is necessary for the growth, viability and patterning of the mammalian embryo, understanding of its patterning role is still rudimentary. Expression of the transcription factor Ets2 is restricted to the trophoblast in early postimplantation stages and Ets2 mutants have been previously shown to have defects in trophoblast development. We show here that Ets2 is necessary in the trophoblast for fundamental aspects of anteroposterior (AP) epiblast axis initiation, including mesoderm initiation at the primitive streak, establishment of posterior character in the epiblast and appropriate spatial restriction of the anterior visceral endoderm (AVE). Most homozygous Ets2 mutants also show highly reduced development of the trophoblast with an absence of extraembryonic ectoderm (EXE) markers. Embryos in which the EXE has been physically removed before culture in vitro phenocopy the patterning defects of Ets2 mutants. These defects cannot be rescued by providing Ets2 mutants with wild-type epiblast in tetraploid aggregations. Thus, EXE-derived signals are necessary for normal embryonic patterning. Ets2 is likely to be required in the EXE downstream of epiblast signals, such as Fgf, and, in turn, helps to regulate signals from the EXE that signal back to the epiblast to promote proper primitive streak and AVE development. This study provides new insights about the genetic and cellular basis of the patterning role and development of the early trophoblast.