Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Cardiac Contractility: The Relation Between the Rate of Pressure Rise and Ventricular Pressure During Isovolumic Systole

It was considered that the relationship between dp/dt and simultaneously developed pressure during the course of isovolumic contraction might afford a more accurate measure of contractility than the maximum rate of intraventricular pressure rise (peak dp/dt). In six cat papillary muscles contracting isometrically from any given preload, the ratio of the rate of tension development (dT/dt) to simultaneously occurring isometric tension always varied directly with the contractile state. This ratio rose slightly as preload was increased, but it was not affected by changes in afterload. In 17 experiments in an intact canine heart preparation in which left ventricular end-diastolic pressure was constant, dp/dt at any given pressure during isovolumetric contraction again was observed to be a function of the contractile state when the latter was enhanced by norepinephrine and acetylstrophanthidin. High-fidelity left ventricular pressures and dp/dt were recorded throughout isovolumic contraction in eight patients. Isoproterenol and exercise raised the level of dp/dt at any given pressure prior to ejection. Interventions known to alter ventricular loading but not to influence the contractile state, such as elevation of ventricular end-diastolic pressure by leg raising and increases in aortic pressure induced by methoxamine, did not influence this relation significantly. In conclusion, the determination of dp/dt and intraventricular pressure throughout isovolumic contraction in the presence of variable arterial pressure and small changes of preload provides a useful, simple, and experimentally verified approach to the assessment of alterations of the contractile state of the heart in intact man.
Quantification of Nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum Spore Loads in Food Materials

ABSTRACT We have produced data and developed analysis to build representations for the concentration of spores of nonproteolytic Clostridium botulinum in materials that are used during the manufacture of minimally processed chilled foods in the United Kingdom. Food materials are categorized into homogenous groups which include meat, fish, shellfish, cereals, fresh plant material, dairy liquid, dairy nonliquid, mushroom and fungi, and dried herbs and spices. Models are constructed in a Bayesian framework and represent a combination of information from a literature survey of spore loads from positive-control experiments that establish a detection limit and from dedicated microbiological tests for real food materials. The detection of nonproteolytic C. botulinum employed an optimized protocol that combines selective enrichment culture with multiplex PCR, and the majority of tests on food materials were negative. Posterior beliefs about spore loads center on a concentration range of 1 to 10 spores kg−1. Posterior beliefs for larger spore loads were most significant for dried herbs and spices and were most sensitive to the detailed results from control experiments. Probability distributions for spore loads are represented in a convenient form that can be used for numerical analysis and risk assessments.
The role of emotion and context in musical preference

The powerful emotional effects of music increasingly attract the attention of music information retrieval researchers and music psychologists. In the past decades, a gap exists between these two disciplines, and researchers have focused on different aspects of emotion in music. Music information retrieval researchers are concerned with computational tasks such as the classification of music by its emotional content, whereas music psychologists are more interested in the understanding of emotion in music. Many of the existing studies have investigated the above issues in the context of classical music, but the results may not be applicable to other genres. This thesis focusses on musical emotion in Western popular music combining knowledge from both disciplines. I compile a Western popular music emotion dataset based on online social tags, and present a music emotion classification system using audio features corresponding to four different musical dimensions. Listeners’ perceived and induced emotional responses to the emotion dataset are compared, and I evaluate the reliability of emotion tags with listeners’ ratings of emotion using two dominant models of emotion, namely the categorical and the dimensional emotion models. In the next experiment, I build a dataset of musical excerpts identified in a questionnaire, and I train my music emotion classification system with these audio recordings. I compare the differences and similarities between the emotional responses of listeners and the results from automatic classification. Music emotions arise in complex interactions between the listener, the music, and the situation. In the final experiments, I explore the functional uses of music and musical preference in everyday situations. Specifically, I investigate emotional uses of music in different music-listening situational contexts. Finally, I discuss the use of emotion and context in the future design of subjective music recommendation systems and propose the study of musical preference using musical features.
Robust control for a flexible-link manipulator using sliding mode techniques and nonlinear H/sub /spl infin// control design methods

In this paper, two nonlinear robust controllers for a flexible-link manipulator are presented. These controllers are derived using both sliding mode techniques and nonlinear H/sub /spl infin// control methodologies. The effectiveness of the control law presented are shown by simulations and experiments carried out with the flexible robot arm, an experimental setup available in our Institute Laboratory. The problem of disturbances rejection and disturbances attenuation by handling plant uncertainties due to parameter deviations is addressed respectively in an appropriate way by two different robust control techniques and illustrated by the nonlinear plant under consideration.
Behavioral / Systems / Cognitive Functional Coupling of Human Prefrontal and Premotor Areas during Cognitive Manipulation

Mitsunari Abe,1,3 Takashi Hanakawa,1,2 Yoshihiro Takayama,3 Chihiro Kuroki,4,5 Seiji Ogawa,4 and Hidenao Fukuyama1 1Human Brain Research Center, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan, 2Department of Cortical Function Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo 187-8502, Japan, 3Department of Speech Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan, 4Ogawa Laboratories for Brain Function Research, Hamano Life Science Research Foundation, Tokyo 160-0015, Japan, and 5Department of Brain and Nerve Science (Physiology), School of Medicine, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Oita 879-5593, Japan
The moduli stack of stable relative ideal sheaves

In this paper, we propose a definition of the moduli stack of stable relative ideal sheaves, and prove that it is a separated and proper Deligne-Mumford stack. It is the first part of the project of relative Donaldson-Thomas theory of ideal sheaves on projective threefolds, which in the end provides a degeneration formula of Donaldson-Thomas invariants of threefolds.
View-based 3D model retrieval using compressive sensing based classification

The number of available 3D models in various areas increases steadily. Efficient methods to search for 3D models by content, rather than textual annotations, are crucial. For this purpose, we propose content based 3D model retrieval using a compressive sensing technique which is very efficient in classification by using only few input information.
An experimental design to compare software requirements prioritization techniques

Software products are getting increasingly complex described by a large number of requirements that characterize the user needs. In most cases, not all requirements can usually be met with available time and resource constraints; therefore, taking correct decisions about which requirements to implement in a release is crucial as the wrong decision from requirements engineers results in implementation of the false requirements, which lead to failure of project or product in the market. Although much research is done on requirements prioritization techniques, but studies in the area pointed out that when investigating the research made within the area, there seems to be little evidence regarding which approach is better than others and in what situations and environments. This paper presents an initial design of a controlled experiment to compare three prioritization methods. The goal of this experiment is to investigate which technique is better in terms of time consumption, accuracy, and ease of use. The experiment will be conducted in an academic context in Malaysian university.
Impact of Dark Matter Substructure on the Matter and Weak-Lensing Power Spectra

We explore the effect of substructure in dark matter halos on the power spectrum and bispectrum of matter fluctuations and weak-lensing shear. By experimenting with substructure in a cosmological N = 5123 simulation, we find that when a larger fraction of the host halo mass is in subhalos, the resulting power spectrum has less power at 1 ≲ k ≲ 100 h Mpc-1 and more power at k ≳ 100 h Mpc-1. We explain this effect using an analytic halo model including subhalos, which shows that the 1 ≲ k ≲ 100 h Mpc-1 regime depends sensitively on the radial distribution of subhalo centers, while the interior structure of subhalos is important at k ≳ 100 h Mpc-1. The corresponding effect on the weak-lensing power spectrum due to substructures is up to ~11% at angular scale l ≲ 104. Predicting the nonlinear power spectrum to a few percent accuracy for future surveys would therefore require large cosmological simulations that also have exquisite numerical resolution to model accurately the survivals of dark matter subhalos in the tidal fields of their hosts.
Asymmetries in Time Problems in the Philosophy of Science

Time is generally thought to be one of the more mysterious ingredients of the universe. In this intriguing book, Paul Horwich makes precise and explicit the interrelationships between time and a large number of philosophically important notions.Ideas of temporal order and priority interact in subtle and convoluted ways with the deepest elements in our network of basic concepts. Confronting this conceptual jigsaw puzzle, Horwich notes that there are glaring differences in how we regard the past and future directions of time. For example, we can influence the future but not the past, and can easily gain knowledge of the past but not of the future. Moreover we see a profusion of decay processes but little spontaneous generation of order; time appears to "flow" in one privileged direction, not the other; and we tend to explain phenomena in terms of antecedent circumstances, rather than subsequent ones. Horwich explains such time asymmetries and examines their bearing on the nature of time itself.Asymmetries in Time covers many notoriously difficult problems in the philosophy of science: causation, knowledge, entropy, explanation, time travel, rational choice (including Newcomb's problem), laws of nature, and counterfactual implication -- and gives a unified treatment of these matters. The book covers an unusually broad range of topics in a lucid and nontechnical way and includes alternative points of view in the philosophical literature.
Variation in general practitioners’ information-seeking behaviour – a cross-sectional study on the influence of gender, age and practice form

Abstract Objective: To assess general practitioners’ (GPs’) information-seeking behaviour and perceived importance of sources of scientific medical information and to investigate associations with GP characteristics. Design: A national cross-sectional survey was distributed electronically in December 2013. Setting: Danish general practice. Subjects: A population of 3440 GPs (corresponding to approximately 96% of all Danish GPs). Main outcome measures: GPs’ use and perceived importance of information sources. Multilevel mixed-effects logit models were used to investigate associations with GP characteristics after adjusting for relevant covariates. Results: A total of 1580 GPs (46.4%) responded to the questionnaire. GPs’ information-seeking behaviour is associated with gender, age and practice form. Single-handed GPs use their colleagues as an information source significantly less than GPs working in partnership practices and they do not use other sources more frequently. Compared with their younger colleagues, GPs aged above 44 years are less likely to seek information from colleagues, guidelines and websites, but more likely to seek information from medical journals. Male and female GPs seek information equally frequently. However, whereas male GPs are more likely than female GPs to find that pharmaceutical sales representative and non-refundable CME meetings are important, they are less likely to find that colleagues, refundable CME meetings, guidelines and websites are important. Conclusion: Results from this study indicate that GP characteristics should be taken into consideration when disseminating scientific medical information, to ensure that patients receive medically updated, high-quality care. KEY POINTS Research indicates that information-seeking behaviour is associated with GP characteristics. Further insights could provide opportunities for targeting information dissemination strategies. Single-handed GPs seek information from colleagues less frequently than GPs in partnerships and do not use other sources more frequently. GPs aged above 44 years do not seek information as frequently as their younger colleagues and prefer other information sources. Male and female GPs seek information equally frequently, but do not consider information sources equally important in keeping medically updated.
Integrating Deflection Models and Image Feedback for Real-Time Flexible Needle Steering

Needle insertion procedures are commonly used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In this paper, an image-guided control system is developed to robotically steer flexible needles with an asymmetric tip. Knowledge about needle deflection is required for accurate steering. Two different models to predict needle deflection are presented. The first is a kinematics-based model, and the second model predicts needle deflection that is based on the mechanics of needle–tissue interaction. Both models predict deflection of needles that undergo multiple bends. The maximum targeting errors of the kinematics-based and the mechanics-based models for 110-mm insertion distance using a $\phi$ 0.5-mm needle are 0.8 and 1.7 mm, respectively. The kinematics-based model is used in the proposed image-guided control system. The control system accounts for target motion during the insertion procedure by detecting the target position in each image frame. Five experimental cases are presented to validate the real-time control system using both camera and ultrasound images as feedback. The experimental results show that the targeting errors of camera and ultrasound image-guided steering toward a moving target are 0.35 and 0.42 mm, respectively. The targeting accuracy of the algorithm is sufficient to reach the smallest lesions ($\phi$ 2 mm) that can be detected using the state-of-the-art ultrasound imaging systems.
An empirical study of crosstalk in VDSM technologies

We perform a detailed study of various crosstalk scenarios in VDSM technologies by using a distributed model of the crosstalk site and make a number of key observations about the crosstalk effects in VLSI circuits. As example of these observations, we report that the combination of one crosstalk event at some site and another crosstalk event at a different site in the transitive fan-out of the first site may cause a slowdown or speedup of the circuit by an amount that can significantly exceed the sum of crosstalk effects caused by each site in isolation. As another example, we report that the common assumption that zero skew between the input transitions of aggressor and victim lines causes the worst case crosstalk effect is not always valid, and therefore, optimization or test based on such an assumption may be invalid. We also demonstrate the non-monotone behavior of the crosstalk effect with respect to the skew between the input transition of aggressor and victim lines. This work provides a first step toward the development of a new framework for timing analysis and test development in the presence of crosstalk events.
A Mobile Robot Guidance System Based On Three Neural Network Modules

A combination of three separate neural network modules is employed to deal with the mobile robot control problem, giving very promising results. At the lower level, a neuro-fuzzy architecture, trained by reinforcement learning, steers the robot such that to avoid obstacles, exploiting ultrasonic sensor readings, and head to a target, given the heading error. ln the second and most important level, a topologically ordered Hopfield neural network performs global path finding in real time, using an environment map arranged on the fly. The third level involves an ordinary Hopfield neural network, used as an associative memory, which tries to match and complete the currently observed environment with one of the stored ones. Computer simulation valida tes the efficiency of the approach and shows its potential benefits.
Rfid in the Public and Private Sector: Key Implementation Considerations

Radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled devices are becoming increasingly common, facilitating many things from supply chain efficiencies to equipment tracking. Although there is a growing body of research on RFID systems, few studies address implementations that involve both public and private sectors. This paper outlines the results of a qualitative study that identified ten key cross-sector issues arising from four RFID implementations involving both public and private sectors being: cost, standards, infrastructure, trust, data management, privacy, security, information sharing/collaboration, legislation and organizational knowledge. The need for organizational knowledge in the capability of RFID systems has not been previously identified. Although all issues were common across both sectors, the public sector was more sensitive to privacy issues. It is anticipated that this research will assist academics and practitioners identify areas that need to be considered when implementing RFID systems across the public and private sectors.
Towards a bio-inspired control strategy for bilateral stroke rehabilitation based on motor control principles

Conventional robotic devices used for robot aided neurorehabilitation focus on unilateral training of the upper extremity post neurologic injury such as stroke, cerebral palsy etc. In this paper, we seek to establish adherence of bimanual motions of healthy and stroke subjects to the higher laws governing principles of symmetric and asymmetric division of labor in bimanual activities. As a first pass, we propose three metrics to capture these principles. We identify that the Euclidean and velocity difference metrics were able to capture key aspects of key bilateral motion control principles for the bilateral tasks studied, but may fall short if the tasks were different and asymmetric. We propose a control strategy to use the metrics to support task-oriented, bilateral stroke rehabilitation. Future work requires the development of metrics that more fully capture the motor control principles irrespective of tasks and the implementation of a bilateral controller.
Towards a Wireless EEG System for Ambulatory Mental Health Applications

The purpose of this thesis was to create and test a proof-of-concept novel ambulatory EEG system to monitor emotional valence in real-time. A qualitative comparison of a wireless EEG acquisition system by the imec group to a gold standard laboratory EEG system was successfully performed. A new wireless transmission system was created using the Texas Instruments’ ADS1299 EEG front-end chip and quantitatively compared to the gold standard system. This system and the ADS1299 performance demonstration kit were used to evaluate several equations for emotional valence classification. Three of these equations were able to correctly classify emotional valence on a positive-neutral vs. negative basis over 90% of the time on the performance demonstration kit and over 90% of the time on the wireless system. The wireless data was acquired and saved on a novel BlackBerry application that also allowed emotional selfassessment by the user during testing.
A Fuzzy Model for the Multiobjective Emergency Facility Location Problem with A-Distance

This paper proposes a new multiobjective location problem for emergency facilities, e.g. ambulance service stations and fire stations. In the problem, one of the objectives is to minimize the maximal distance of the paths from the located emergency facilities to hospitals via accidents. The other is to maximize the frequency of accidents that the emergency facilities can respond quickly. An interactive fuzzy satisficing method with particle swarm optimization (PSO) method is proposed for finding a satisficing location for the problem. Computational results illustrate the method with numerical examples of the multiobjective location problem.
Interleukin-6 enhances glucagon secretion: Amplification via the pancreas and brain

Inappropriate glucagon secretion contributes to hyperglycemia in inflammatory disease. Previous work implicates the pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), in glucagon secretion. IL-6 knock-out mice have a blunted glucagon response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that is restored by intravenous replacement of IL-6. Given that IL-6 has previously been demonstrated to have a transcriptional (i.e. slow) effect on glucagon secretion from islets, I hypothesized that the rapid increase in glucagon following LPS occurred by a faster mechanism such as by action within the brain. Using chronically catheterized, conscious mice, it was found that central IL-6 stimulates glucagon secretion uniquely in the presence of an accompanying stressor (hypoglycemia or LPS). Contrary to the original hypothesis, however, IL-6 was found to amplify glucagon secretion in two ways: IL-6 not only stimulates glucagon secretion via the brain but also by direct action on islets. Interestingly, IL-6 augments glucagon secretion from both sites only in the presence of an accompanying stressor (such as epinephrine). Given that both adrenergic tone and plasma IL-6 are elevated in multiple inflammatory diseases, the interactions of the IL-6 and catecholaminergic signaling pathways in regulating GCG secretion may contribute to our present understanding of these diseases.