Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The QT dispersion and QTc dispersion in patients presenting with acute neurological events and its impact on early prognosis

Aims: To find out and investigate whether the QT dispersion and QTc dispersion is related to type and prognosis of the acute stroke in patients presenting within 24 h of the onset of stroke. Settings and Design: This was a observational study conducted at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Dr. SN. Medical College, Jodhpur, during January 2014 to January 2015. Subjects and Methods: The patients presented within 24 h of onset of acute stroke (hemorrhagic, infarction, or transient ischemic event) were included in the study. The stroke was confirmed by computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging. Patients with (i) altered sensorium because of metabolic, infective, seizures, trauma, or tumor; (ii) prior history of cardiovascular disease, electrocardiographic abnormalities' because of dyselectrolytemia; and (iii) and patients who were on drugs (antiarrhythmic drugs, antipsychotic drugs, erythromycin, theophylline, etc.,) which known to cause electrocardiogram changes, were excluded from the study. National Institute of Health Stroke Score (NIHSS) was calculated at the time of admission and Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) at the time of discharge. Fifty age- and sex-matched healthy controls included. Statistical Analysis Used: Student's t-test, ANOVA, and area under curve for sensitivity and specificity for the test. Results: We included 52 patients (male/female: 27/25) and 50 controls (26/24). The mean age of patients was 63.17 ± 08.90 years. Of total patients, infarct was found in 32 (61.53%), hemorrhage in 18 (34.61%), transient ischemic attack (TIA) in 1 (1.9%), and subarachnoid hemorrhage in 1 (1.9%) patient. The QT dispersion and QTc dispersion were significantly higher in cases as compare to controls. (87.30 ± 24.42 vs. 49.60 ± 08.79 ms; P < 0.001) and (97.53 ± 27.36 vs. 56.28 ± 09.86 ms; P < 0.001). Among various types of stroke, the mean QT dispersion and QTc dispersion were maximum and significantly higher in hemorrhagic stroke as compared to infarct and TIA (P < 0.001). The mean QT dispersion and QTc dispersion was found significantly high in nonsurvivors (n = 16) as compared to survivors group (n = 36) (P < 0.05). The mean QT dispersion was directly correlated with the NIHSS and functional outcome score MRS. Patients with greater QT and QTc dispersion having high NIHSS had poor prognosis. Conclusion: We concluded that patients presenting with acute neurological events having increased QT dispersion and QTc dispersion is related to high mortality and poor functional outcomes on hospital discharge and if the values of dispersion score are very high we can predict for hemorrhagic stroke.
TREnD: A Timely, Reliable, Energy-Efficient and Dynamic WSN Protocol for Control Applications

Control applications over wireless sensor networks (WSNs) require timely, reliable, and energy efficient communications. Cross-layer interaction is an essential design paradigm to exploit the complex interaction among the layers of the protocol stack and reach a maximum efficiency. Such a design approach is challenging because reliability and latency of delivered packets and energy are at odds, and resource constrained nodes support only simple algorithms. In this paper, the TREnD protocol is introduced for control applications over WSNs in industrial environments. It is a cross-layer protocol that embraces efficiently routing algorithm, MAC, data aggregation, duty cycling, and radio power control. The protocol parameters are adapted by an optimization problem, whose objective function is the network energy consumption, and the constraints are the reliability and latency of the packets. TREnD uses a simple algorithm that allows the network to meet the reliability and latency required by the control application while minimizing for energy consumption. TREnD is implemented on a test-bed and compared to some existing protocols. Experimental results show good performance in terms of reliability, latency, low duty cycle, and load balancing for both static and time-varying scenarios.
Health Learning and Adult Education: In Search of a Theory of Practice

Fifty-five percent of Canadians aged 16 to 64 years lack the skills necessary to read and appropriately interpret health information in textual format. This critical review of research explores issues related to adults’ health and health literacy learning in an effort to illuminate why this unacceptable condition persists. The authors also explore avenues that show promise in leading to more success-producing strategies for health promotion among adults. Given the cyclical relationship of health with other social conditions, the problem has proved stubbornly resistant to educational intervention. A community of practice model is proposed as a means of addressing some of the weaknesses in previous adult education programs.
Bayesian inference model for applications of time-varying acoustic system identification

A major challenge in acoustic signal processing lies in the uncertainty regarding the current state of the acoustic environment. The relevant applications in the field of speech and audio signal processing include the multichannel sound capture, the signal processing for spatial sound control, and the acoustic echo/interference cancellation. In this paper, a Bayesian impulse response model is proposed for acoustic system identification. It is justified by the stochastic nature of time-varying and noisy environments. In particular, we argue for a state-space dynamical model of the unknown impulse responses as a suitable form to incorporate a priori information of the acoustic environment. For the echo/interference cancellation case, we then describe the Bayesian inference of the acoustic system. It is structurally and experimentally compared to maximum-likelihood and least-squares estimators which are both rooted in deterministic system modeling. Algorithmic structure and performance, both speak for the Bayesian inference.
Dynamic Polygon Cloud Compression (draft as of October 2, 2016 — See Arxiv.com for Updates)

We introduce the polygon cloud, also known as a polygon set or soup, as a compressible representation of 3D geometry (including its attributes, such as color texture) intermediate between polygonal meshes and point clouds. Dynamic or timevarying polygon clouds, like dynamic polygonal meshes and dynamic point clouds, can take advantage of temporal redundancy for compression, if certain challenges are addressed. In this paper, we propose methods for compressing both static and dynamic polygon clouds, specifically triangle clouds. We compare triangle clouds to both triangle meshes and point clouds in terms of compression, for live captured dynamic colored geometry. We find that triangle clouds can be compressed nearly as well as triangle meshes, while being far more robust to noise and other structures typically found in live captures, which violate the assumption of a smooth surface manifold, such as lines, points, and ragged boundaries. We also find that triangle clouds can be used to compress point clouds with significantly better performance than previously demonstrated point cloud compression methods.
Purposeful interaction: ways Latino men communicate about prostate cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To develop a descriptive framework of the communication processes used by Latinos with prostate cancer to communicate about their diagnosis. RESEARCH APPROACH A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyze and build a descriptive framework from semistructured interviews. SETTING A university-affiliated urban hospital in southern California. PARTICIPANTS 30 Latinos treated for prostate cancer, who had at least one first-degree male relative (FDMR), and who lived near the medical center. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH Semistructured interviews with bilingual Latinos were conducted in participants' homes in the language they preferred. Individual and collaborative analyses of translated transcripts were guided by constructivist grounded theory. FINDINGS Analysis uncovered an overarching process of purposeful interacting. Components of the process included occasionally overlapping spheres of communication, which were connected to purposes and content. Balanced in and influenced by the spheres were cross-cutting processes of respectful silence and selective disclosure. CONCLUSIONS Men communicated different content about their prostate cancer to people representing different reference groups. Respectful silence and selective disclosure could be viewed as men's enactment of social interaction-using and choosing words based on the symbolic meaning the men perceived would have their intended meaning for the people in each of the spheres. INTERPRETATION Culturally sensitive educational interventions should be targeted at Latinos with prostate cancer to understand risk and encourage disclosure to FDMRs.
An Adaptive Hybrid Multi-level Intelligent Intrusion Detection System for Network Security

Intrusion Detection System (IDS) plays a vital factor in providing security to the networks through detecting malicious activities. Due to the extensive advancements in the computer networking, IDS has become an active area of research to determine various types of attacks in the networks. A large number of intrusion detection approaches are available in the literature using several traditional statistical and data mining approaches. Data mining techniques in IDS observed to provide significant results. Data mining approaches for misuse and anomaly- based intrusion detection generally include supervised, unsupervised and outlier approaches. It is important that the efficiency and potential of IDS be updated based on the criteria of new attacks. This study proposes a novel Adaptive Hybrid Multi-level Intelligent IDS (AHMIIDS) system which is the combined version of anomaly and misuse detection techniques. The anomaly detection is based on Bayesian Networks and then the misuse detection is performed using Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). The outputs of both anomaly detection and misuse detection modules are applied to Decision Table Majority (DTM) to perform the final decision making. A rule-base approach is used in this system. It is observed from the results that the proposed AHMIIDS performs better than other conventional hybrid IDS.
Troop movement and food habits of white-faced monkeys in a tropical-dry forest.

Home-range, movement and activity patterns and diet of a group of 16 white-faced monkeys (Cebus capucinus) were studied in a Costa Rican tropical dry forest at the end of the dry season (March and April) of 1982. The troop used an area of . 67 km2 and moved an average of 4.5 km +/- 0.6 daily. Three basic daily activities were identified: resting, moving and feeding. Resting was greatest between 1000-1500 hours. Movement, which was strongly correlated with feeding, occurred most between 0500-0900 hrs and 1300-1800 hrs. The primates were omnivores, feeding on parts of 27 species of plants, four species of insects and an Anolis lizard.
Heterogeneous Video Transcoder for H.264/AVC to HEVC: Review

As a successor to the H.264/Advance Video Coding (AVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) is invented to get more compression and high quality video. But HEVC increases the complexity of video coding. To reduce this complexity various methods are proposed with different approach which also enhance the video compression and quality of video. This paper contains different techniques for video transcoding such as dynamic thresholding, mode mapping, machine learning, complexity scalable and background modeling. Comparison of all techniques gives their advantages and disadvantages to modify video transcoder which benefits from the strength points of existing methods.
Developmental Tuning in a Spinal Nociceptive System: Effects of Neonatal Spinalization

Recent studies indicate a modular organization of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex system. Each module has a characteristic receptive field, closely matching the withdrawal movement caused by its effector muscle. In the rat, the strength of the sensory input to each module is tuned during the first postnatal weeks, i.e., erroneous spinal connections are depressed, and adequate connections are strengthened. To clarify if this tuning is dependent on supraspinal structures, the effect of a complete neonatal spinal cord transection on the postnatal tuning of withdrawal reflexes was studied. The nociceptive receptive fields of single hindlimb muscles and compound withdrawal reflexes were examined in decerebrate unanesthetized and awake rats, respectively. Noxious thermal CO2 laser stimulation was used to evoke reflex responses. Neonatal spinal cord transection resulted in a disrupted reflex organization in the adult rat, resembling that previously found in neonatal rats. The receptive fields of single hindlimb muscles exhibited abnormal distribution of sensitivity not matching the withdrawal action of the effector muscles. Likewise, the composite nocifensive movements, as documented in the awake rat, often resulted in erroneous movements toward the stimulus. It is concluded that withdrawal reflexes do not become functionally adapted in rats spinalized at birth. These findings suggest a critical role for supraspinal systems in the postnatal tuning of spinal nociceptive systems.
Short-term appetite control in response to a 6-week exercise programme in sedentary volunteers.

Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that sedentary males, unlike their active counterparts, are unable to compensate for previous energy intake (EI). The present study therefore investigated the effects of a 6-week moderate exercise programme (4 times per week, 65-75 % maximal heart rate) on appetite regulation in healthy sedentary volunteers using a longitudinal design. EI at a buffet meal 60 min after high-energy (HEP; 607 kcal) and low-energy (LEP; 246 kcal) preloads, together with 24 h cumulative EI, were measured in twenty-five healthy volunteers (eleven men; mean age 30 (SD 12) years, mean BMI 22.7 (SD 2.3) kg/m2), at baseline and after the exercise intervention. Subjective hunger and fullness were assessed throughout using visual analogue scales. ANOVA showed a significant preload x exercise interaction on 24 h cumulative EI, supporting an improvement in appetite control over this time period with the exercise programme. There was a trend towards improvement in energy compensation over the same period (8.9 (SD 118.5) % v. 79.5 (SD 146.4) %; P = 0.056). No preload x exercise interaction was observed for buffet EI. Secondary analysis, however, showed that although buffet EI after the two preloads was not significantly different at baseline, buffet EI after the HEP was significantly lower than after the LEP following the exercise intervention. The improvement in short-term appetite control with exercise was not explained by changes in subjective hunger or satiety. This longitudinal study supports the original cross-sectional findings and suggests that exercise may have a significant impact on short-term appetite control by leading to a more sensitive eating behaviour in response to previous EI. Further studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms involved.
Media Revenue Management with Audience Uncertainty: Balancing Upfront and Spot Market Sales

An important challenge faced by media broadcasting companies is how to allocate limited advertising space between upfront (forward) contracts and the spot market (referred to in advertising as the scatter market) to maximize profits and meet contractual commitments. We develop stylized optimization models of airtime capacity planning and allocation across multiple clients under audience uncertainty. In a short-term profit maximizing setting, our results provide insight for capacity planning decisions upfront and during the broadcasting season. Our results suggest that broadcasting companies should prioritize upfront clients according to marginal revenue per audience unit. We find that accepted upfront market contracts can be aggregated across clients and served in proportion to the audience demanded. Closed-form solutions are obtained in a static setting. These results remain valid in a dynamic setting, when considering the opportunity to increase allocation by airing make-goods during the broadcasting season. Our structural results characterize the impact of contracting parameters, time, and audience uncertainty on profits and capacity decisions. The results hold under general audience and spot market profit models. Overall, we find that ignoring audience uncertainty can have a significant cost for media capacity planning and allocation.
Evaluating medical diagnostic tests at the subunit level in the presence of verification bias

We advocate that medical diagnostic tests should be evaluated at the subunit level instead of the patient level if a disease can occur in multiple parts/units within a patient, for example, vessels, segments, ears, eyes etc. When a non‐invasive test is compared to an invasive gold standard test, often not all of the subunits receive the gold standard test and verification bias is present if the subunits without the gold standard test are discarded. Here we address estimation and inference issues in assessing the performance of medical diagnostic tests at the subunit level while accounting for verification bias and the correlation among subunits. We present a weighted least squares approach and demonstrate how the method can be implemented by using the procedure PROC CATMOD from the popular SAS software. A cardiology example is presented and we discuss application of the method to the case of multiple tests and a single gold standard test. Copyright© 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Salt Processing in Larval Drosophila: Choice, Feeding, and Learning Shift from Appetitive to Aversive in a Concentration-Dependent Way

Sodium and chloride need to be ingested and cannot be stored. Therefore, choice of habitat and diet as related to NaCl needs to be tightly regulated. We thus expect that the behavioral effects of salt are organized according to its concentration. Here, we comparatively “fingerprint” the reflex releasing (in choice and feeding experiments) versus the reinforcing effects of sodium chloride (“salt”) in terms of their concentration dependencies, using larval Drosophila. Qualitatively, we find that the behavioral effects of salt in all 3 assays are similar: choice, feeding, and reinforcing effect all change from appetitive to aversive as concentration is increased. Quantitatively, however, the appetitive effects for choice and feeding share their optimum at around 0.02 M, whereas the dose–response curve for the reinforcing effect is shifted by more than one order of magnitude toward higher concentrations. Interestingly, a similar shift between these 2 kinds of behavioral effect is also found for sugars (Schipanski et al. 2008). Thus, for salt and for sugar, the sensory-to-motor system is more sensitive regarding immediate, reflexive behavior than regarding reinforcement. We speculate that this may partially be due to a dissociation of the sensory pathways signaling toward either reflexive behavior or internal reinforcement.
A high-speed image centroid computation sensor

We present a fully-integrated analog CMOS image centroid computation sensor. A 40×40 pixel array is designed and fabricated in a 0.5-μm CMOS process. The proposed centroid computation circuit achieves 7 times improvement in bandwidth compared to similar circuits in the literature. Moreover, the incorporation of a linearized transconductor improves precision in the computed centroid. The sensor is designed to operate over a wide range of photocurrents from 10 pA to 1 μA. Test results of the proposed architecture verify its superior performance.
Pre-Traumatic Vaccination Intervention: Can Dissociative Symptoms be Reduced?

Abstract The Pre-Traumatic Vaccination Intervention (PTV) has been developed in an attempt to help rescue personnel cope with anticipated and non-anticipated disasters, and to prevent trauma-related mental disorders during and after a traumatogenic exposure. Contrary to the generally accepted approach of treating trauma after it has occurred, the PTV has been designed to be administered prior to the potentially traumatic event. Based on empirical findings, the PTV training techniques were designed to prepare the participants for distressful situations. Trainees were gradually exposed to increasingly severe sights using cognitive-behavioral techniques along with foreseen situations relating to their profession. Various interventions were aimed at normalizing using personal resources and implementing relaxation techniques. The PTV was administrated as part of the Israeli Defense Forces rescue personnel's and military police training courses. The results of an uncontrolled, preliminary study suggest that the intervention reduced the level of dissociation leading to more awareness to the traumatic event's details, less suffering, lower probability of making mistakes, and increased likelihood of returning to normal functioning. Lower dissociation may suggest a lower probability to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder among rescue personnel.
Quality-of-Service (QoS) Framework for Multi-rate Wireless Ad-hoc Network (MWAN)

We propose MWAN, a multi-rate network model to deliver differentiated service in a wireless mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) with varying physical-layer link speed. The proposed architecture is modelled using a multi-dimensional Markov chain to support both real-time and non-real-time applications. It is demonstrated that various types of data arrival process can be modelled by a Markov Modulated Arrival Process (MMAP). Numerical analyzes are drawn to estimate the packet drop probability, effective throughput and packet queuing delay. We validate the scheme by simulating under different link utilizations with IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) ad hoc mode. Analytical and simulation results are compared to determine the accuracy of the presented methods. Increased Quality-of-Service (QoS) performance is achieved for high priority traffic.
Hybrid Clustering Based on a Graph Model

A hybrid clustering approach is proposed for processing image-like data such as plots in flow cytometry. Clustering or partitioning data into relatively homogeneous and coherent subpopulations can be an effective pre-processing method to achieve data analysis tasks such as pattern recognition and classification. Our method uses a graph to model the initial manual partition of the dataset. Based on the graph model, an algorithm is developed for automatic detection of regions defined by the partition. A clustering algorithm using Markov Chain Monte Carlo method is developed for finding optimal adjustments to the partition automatically.
Can achievement emotions be used to better understand motivation, learning, and performance in medical education?

In this article, we consider an emergent theory of human emotion. The overarching purpose of the article is to introduce medical education researchers to the notion of achievement emotions and provide a brief overview of how this work can inform the theory, research, and practice of medical education. First, we define achievement emotions and describe one of the leading contemporary theories of achievement emotions, control-value theory (Pekrun R. 2006. The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educ Psychol Rev 18:315–341.). Next, we distinguish between different types of achievement emotions, their proximal causes, and their consequences for motivation, learning, and performance, and we discuss several implications for educational practice. Finally, we end with a call for more research on achievement emotions in medical education to facilitate our understanding of emotions and their impact on important educational outcomes.