Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Mobile Web Quality of Experience using a non-intrusive, context-aware, mobile-to-cloud system approach

This study presents a modelling approach for quantifying the Mobile Web Quality of Experience (MWQoE). It builds on current QoE and Web QoE research, and by fusing together data that is available on modern mobile devices, constructs a novel MWQoE model that is user-centered, context-aware and non-intrusive (does not depend on user feedback). This study identifies the factors which affect Web QoE and measures their effect on it in mobile scenarios. Moreover, this study explores scenarios in which Web QoE can be effectively characterized and enhanced, delivering a novel Mobile-to-Cloud system for the continuous evaluation of MWQoE in real-world environments. The significance of defining and evaluating MWQoE is identified. Specifically, MWQoE can be used by online providers to uncover customer insights and illustrate how the experience in using their products is perceived by their customers. In fact, MWQoE can be considered an important key performance indicator showing the technology acceptance or satisfiability of customers for a specific web product or service.
Assistive Hand Gesture Glove for Hearing and Speech Impaired

Hand based gestures are words of communication for people impaired of speech and hearing. This results in communication mismatch between such impaired people and a normal one. A deaf and dumb person many times finds difficulty in informing about basic phrases or words representing certain actions like “How are you? ”, “Yes”, etc. to a normal human. To tackle this issue, one hand gesture recognition system is presented which uses a sensor and a microcontroller to capture a gesture movement in the form of a signal. This hand gesture recognition system uses 1D Convolutional Neural Network (1D-CNN) which can extract feature directly from the raw temporal signals captured. The resulted word or phrase is communicated to a normal person through the Mobile phone of a disabled person in terms of audio voice and text-based notification. Furthermore, to reduce the latency in predicting output, the trained 1D-CNN model is deployed in Android phone itself rather than running the model on the server. The trained model achieves recognition accuracy of 97.96% on test data consisting of many samples of 10 different patterns.
Phenotypic correlates of Clock gene variation in a wild blue tit population: evidence for a role in seasonal timing of reproduction

The timing of reproduction in birds varies considerably within populations and is often under strong natural selection. Individual timing within years is dependent on a range of environmental factors in addition to having an additive genetic basis. In vertebrates, an increasing amount is known about the molecular basis for variation in biological timing. The Clock gene includes a variable poly‐glutamine (poly‐Q) repeat influencing behaviour and physiology. Recent work in birds, fish and insects has demonstrated associations between Clock genotype and latitude across populations, which match latitudinal variation in breeding time. In this study, we investigated the phenotypic correlates of variation in Clock genotype within a single blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus population over two successive breeding seasons. In females, but not in males, we observed a general trend for birds with fewer poly‐Q repeats to breed earlier in the season. Incubation duration was shorter in both females and males with fewer repeats at the polymorphic Clock locus. Poly‐Q Clock allele‐frequency was homogenously distributed within the study population and did not exhibit any consistent environment‐related variation. We further tested for effects of Clock genotype on reproductive success and survival, and found that females with fewer poly‐Q repeats produced a higher number of fledged offspring. Our results therefore suggest that (i) selection in females, but not in males, for fewer poly‐Q repeats may be operating, (ii) the across–population associations in timing of breeding involving this locus could be linked to variation within populations, and (iii) the Clock gene might be involved in local adaptation to seasonal environments.
User identification by matching radio “vision” and computer vision through means of machine learning

In the context of 5G networks, the possibility to fusion "radio vision" with "computer vision" is a must-have asset, enabler of building the extensive navigation maps through the so-called MirrorWorld. This demo will showcase an essential building block for merging the two environments: matching a user equipment’s identity in video stream and in radio measurements. We demonstrate the integration of a computer vision system with a radio access network and showcase the identification of the true radio transmitter between two equipment existing in a video feed.
Enhanced Bioinspired Backstepping Control for a Mobile Robot With Unscented Kalman Filter

Tracking control has been an important research topic in robotics. It is critical to design controllers that make robotic systems with smooth velocity commands. In addition, the robustness of the robotic system in the presence of system and measurement noises is an important consideration as well. This paper presents a novel tracking control strategy that integrates a biologically inspired backstepping controller and a torque controller with unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and Kalman filter (KF). The bioinspired backstepping controller and torque controller are capable of avoiding and reducing the velocity jumps and overshoots that occur in conventional backstepping control and provide smooth velocity commands. The integration of KF and UKF enables the proposed control strategy capable of providing accurate state estimates. The stability and convergence of tracking errors are guaranteed by Lyapunov stability analysis. The novelty of the proposed bioinspired tracking control strategy is to take the system and measurement noises and robot dynamic constraints into the consideration. The results show that the proposed control strategy provides accurate state estimates and avoids large velocity jumps and overshoot that occurs in conventional backstepping control. This tracking control strategy is suitable for autonomous mobile robots under hard conditions with system and measurement noises.
Effectiveness of Antioxidant Nutraceuticals in Attenuating Canonical NF-κB Signaling in Human Skeletal Muscle Resulting From Exercise-Induced Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

Oxidative stress is a process that produces cellular damage by oxidation of cellular components such as lipids, protein, and DNA. It is also a regulator of the acute phase inflammatory response, and also involves the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by mitochondrial respiratory activity and from the capillary endothelium in contracting skeletal muscles. Exercise-induced muscle damage is associated with an acute phase inflammatory response. This response results in the production of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis alpha (TNF-? ) which is a mediator of muscle wasting and acts through the stimulation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-? B). Skeletal muscle damage and injury becomes evident in many catabolic scenarios and is characterized by proteolysis and muscle wasting. Inflammation and oxidative stress are associated with skeletal muscle wasting in various disease states including cancer cachexia, muscular dystrophy, AIDS, sepsis, etc. Antioxidant supplementation has been suggested to attenuate exercise-induced oxidative stress and the subsequent activation of NF-? B through various mechanisms; however, there is still conflicting evidence and more research needs to be completed to better understand the role of NF-? B signaling in skeletal muscle. Antioxidant supplementation has also been shown to attenuate oxidative stress and the subsequent formation of reactive oxygen nitrogen species (ROS, RONS) in skeletal muscle. As a result, this area requires further research as this process has also been demonstrated to mediate NF-? B signaling. Prior evidence suggests that various nutraceutical supplements seem to play a beneficial role in maintaining muscle mass during periods of heightened inflammation and oxidative stress and possible muscle wasting.
Mouse CAF1, a mouse homologue of the yeast POP2 gene, complements the yeast pop2 null mutation

The yeast POP2 protein (Pop2p) is a component of a global transcription regulatory complex and is required for gene expression of many genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We constructed POP2 deletion plasmids encoding various Pop2p regions under the native POP2 promoter and found that the minimum functional region was located in two‐thirds of the carboxyl terminal region. A mouse homologue of the POP2 gene (mCAF1), which corresponds to the Pop2p minimum region, partially rescued the growth defect of pop2 null mutant cells. Addition of the Pop2p amino terminal region to mCAF1 strengthened the suppression. mCAF1 also weakly suppressed the relatively high expression of the SUC2 gene of pop2 cells under glucose‐repressing conditions; however, it failed to suppress the defect of full expression of the SUC2 gene under glucose‐derepressing conditions. Our findings clearly demonstrate that a mammalian homologue can substitute for the yeast POP2 gene in some aspect. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A novel strategy for plant breeding based on simulations of gene network models

This paper describes a new computational method to make predictions on the outcome of pair-wise crosses of plant lines limiting expensive laboratory breeding experiments to carry out crosses of the most promising pairs of lines. Compared to the well-known marker assisted breeding, the proposed approach approximates plant gene regulatory networks to estimate outcomes of all possible crossovers, thereby taking into account epistatic relationships between alleles. The proposed method is tested and compare with various breeding approaches on artificial NK landscape models and an extensive synthetic model of Arabidopsis plant's flowering time system. The results show our method outperforms other breeding strategies.
Soluble CD146, a novel endothelial marker, is increased in physiopathological settings linked to endothelial junctional alteration

Summary CD146, a novel cell adhesion molecule localized at the endothelial junction, is involved in the control of cell-cell cohesion. It is found as a soluble form in conditioned medium of cultured endothelial cells. We developed an ELISA and report for the first time the presence of a soluble form of CD146 (sCD146) in the plasma of healthy subjects. Mean sCD146 values (260 ± 60 ng/ml) were higher in subjects over 50 years and in men. We therefore investigated sCD146 values in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), a clinical setting associated with junctional alterations. A significant increase in sCD146 was found in patients with CRF matched with controls (457 ± 181 ng/ml versus 288 ± 82 ng/ml respectively, p<0.0001). This increase was corroborated by increased endothelial expression of CD146 on kidney biopsies from patients with CRF. In contrast, in patients with CRF no modulation was observed for the soluble and cell-associated form of CD31, another junctional molecule. Together these data indicate that sCD146 circulates in the plasma of healthy subjects. Modifications of its basal levels could reflect alterations of junctional functions such as vascular permeability.
Effects of gait training using a robotic constraint (Lokomat®) on gait kinematics and kinetics in chronic stroke patients.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of a 20-min gait training session using the Lokomat® combined with a negative kinematic constraint on the non-paretic limb and a positive kinematic constraint on the paretic limb, on peak knee flexion and other biomechanical parameters in chronic hemiparetic subjects. DESIGN Preliminary study, before-after design. SUBJECTS Fifteen hemiparetic subjects. METHODS Subjects were evaluated using 3-dimensional gait analysis before, immediately after the end of the training, and after a 20-min rest period. The positive constraint increased the range of motion of the paretic limb (hip and knee), while the negative constraint reduced the range of motion of the non-paretic limb (hip and knee). RESULTS Peak knee flexion and other, kinematic, kinetic and spatiotemporal, parameters were significantly improved following the training session. These positive effects occurred predominantly in the paretic limb. Moreover, there was no worsening of biomechanical parameters of the non-paretic limb despite the use of negative constraint on this limb. These effects persisted for at least 20 min following the end of the gait training session. CONCLUSION This type of training may be effective to improve gait in hemiparetic patients. A larger investigation of the training programme is justified.
Aristotle's Syllogistic from the Standpoint of Modern Formal Logic . By Jan Lukasiewicz. (Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1951. Pp. xi + 141. 15s.)

probability, as he understands it, has no application to hypotheses such as the theory of relativity. Chapter X deals with the questions about inverse probability mentioned in an earlier paragraph of this review, but contains also a final section on the historical development of the logic of inductive probability. In this summary of the contents of Professor von Wright's book I have not been able to do justice to his very close and detailed arguments and in particular to the arguments of the chapters on elimination and the axiomatics of probability. Any reader who goes through the book carefully must be impressed by the remarkable thoroughness with which the author carries out his task. But a reader who hopes for philosophical illumination, as distinct from the formal reconstruction of arguments, may be disappointed by the author's deliberate avoidance of topics which he wishes to have discussed. Sometimes we can gather from short references what view Professor von Wright favours on some large philosophical issue, but in general he keeps rigidly to the programme expounded in the preface and the first chapter. At the end we feel that he has given us an extremely good course of preparation for a philosophical inquiry about induction and probability, but has not answered all our questions or even convinced us that they are muddles. Perhaps he was wise to follow this modest plan; for much philosophical discussion of the last twenty years has been bedevilled by slipshod use of logical jargon on the one hand and by facile appeals to ordinary language on the other. But it is to be hoped that he will carry out the project at which he hints in his preface and write another work in which the results of this are summarized and used explicitly for the resolution of philosophical perplexities.
Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia in relation to level of cognitive impairment

ABSTRACT Background: Many people with dementia exhibit some behavioral or psychological symptoms, e.g. aggressive or aberrant motor behavior, depression or hallucinations, at some time during the course of the disorder. The aim of the present study was to describe the probability of the occurrence of these symptoms of dementia in relation to the level of cognitive impairment. Methods: 3404 people with cognitive impairment were selected from two large cross-sectional surveys of those in geriatric care settings, conducted in 1982 and 2000 in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden. Symptoms were assessed using the Multi-Dimensional Dementia Assessment Scale (MDDAS), subsumed with a rotated factor analysis, and investigated in relation to level of cognitive impairment, measured using the Gottfries cognitive scale. Results: The passiveness factor had an almost linear correlation to the level of cognitive impairment (r2 = 0.237). Non-linear correlations, with highest prevalences in middle-stage cognitive impairment, were found for aggressive behavior (r2 = 0.057), wandering behavior (r2 = 0.065), restless behavior (r2 = 0.143), verbally disruptive/attention-seeking behavior (r2 = 0.099), regressive/inappropriate behavior (r2 = 0.058), hallucinatory symptoms (r2 = 0.021) and depressive symptoms (r2 = 0.029). Conclusion: The relations between the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and level of cognitive impairment were non-linear, with higher prevalence rates in the middle stages of dementia, apart from the symptom of passiveness, which increased almost linearly with the severity of cognitive impairment.
Indirection Explains Flexible Tuning of Neurons in Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is broadly seen as supporting cognitive flexibility quickly adapting behavior in response to changing circumstances. Some PFC neurons appear to actively maintain rule-like information associated with the current task, with firing changing with task context. Some PFC neurons, however, have been found to exhibit activity related to specific stimulus features or action options, but the tuning of these neurons appears to dynamically change with task shifts (Duncan, 2001). Short-term synaptic plasticity has been proposed as the primary mechanism for rapidly adapting the response profiles of these cells. Using a computational cognitive neuroscience model of hierarchical structure in PFC (Kriete, Noelle, Cohen, & O’Reilly, 2013), an alternative account is offered in which flexible neural tuning arises not from fast synaptic change but from a frontal representational scheme involving neurons that encode references to other PFC areas rather than directly encoding task relevant sensory/motor information.
Charge carrier transport mechanisms in CdZnTe detectors grown by the vertical Bridgman technique

In this work, we report on the results of electrical characterization of CdZnTe (CZT) detectors, with gold electroless contacts, grown by the boron oxide encapsulated vertical Bridgman technique (B-VB), currently produced at IMEM-CNR (Parma, Italy). The detectors, with different thicknesses (1 and 2.5 mm), have the same electrode layout: the anode is a central electrode (2 × 2 mm2) surrounded by a guard-ring electrode. The cathode is a planar electrode covering the detector surface (4.1 × 4.1 mm2). Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics were measured at different temperatures in order to study the charge transport and the electrical properties. These detectors were compared with the traveling heater method (THM) CdZnTe grown detectors (Redlen, Canada), fabricated with the same electrode layout and deposition. The results highlight the low leakage currents of the B-VB CdZnTe detectors even at high bias voltages: 38 nA/cm2 (T = 25°C) at 10000 V/cm. This feature allows high bias voltage operation, very important for high flux applications. These activities are in the framework of an Italian research project on the development of energy-resolved photon counting (ERPC) systems for high flux energy-resolved X-ray imaging.
Characterization of a long isoform of IL-1R8 (TIR8/SIGIRR)

IL-1R8, also known as SIGIRR or TIR8, is a trans-membrane protein belonging to the IL-1 receptor family. The human gene includes ten exons, and alternative splicing can result in different isoforms. We, herein, characterized a longer isoform of IL-1R8 containing an in-frame additional sequence between the TIR domain and the C-terminal portion of the protein. IL-1R8 Long (IL-1R8L1) mRNA was specifically expressed and regulated in distinct cell lines, in a manner similar to the classic isoform. Overexpression of IL-1R8L1 resulted in the production of a corresponding protein that showed a pattern of cell localization similar to the classic isoform. An antibody directed against an IL-1R8L1 specific peptide, detected this novel isoform in different cell lines and tissues where this protein may complement the anti-inflammatory functions of classic IL-1R8.
Draft Genome Sequence of a Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolate (Sequence Type 1) from Seafood

ABSTRACT The draft genome sequence of a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolate (sequence type 1 [ST 1]) from the salted dried ribbonfish from Gujarat, India, is reported here. Staphylococcus genus-specific genes were present in this MRSA isolate. The whole-genome sequence of this strain contains 2,797 protein-coding genes and 80 RNAs within the 2.85-Mb genome.
Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Repair with a Cardiac Biologic Scaffold

Background: Surgical reconstruction of congenital heart defects is often limited by the nonresorbable material used to approximate normal anatomy. In contrast, biologic scaffold materials composed of resorbable non-cross-linked extracellular matrix (ECM) have been used for tissue reconstruction of multiple organs and are replaced by host tissue. Preparation of whole organ ECM by decellularization through vascular perfusion can maintain much of the native three-dimensional (3D) structure, strength, and tissue-specific composition. A 3D cardiac ECM (C-ECM) biologic scaffold material would logically have structural and functional advantages over materials such as Dacron™ for myocardial repair, but the in vivo remodeling characteristics of C-ECM have not been investigated to date. Methods and Results: A porcine C-ECM patch or Dacron patch was used to reconstruct a full-thickness right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) defect in a rat model with end points of structural remodeling function at 16 weeks. The Dacron patch was encapsulated by dense fibrous tissue and showed little cellular infiltration. Echocardiographic analysis showed that the right ventricle of the hearts patched with Dacron were dilated at 16 weeks compared to presurgery baseline values. The C-ECM patch remodeled into dense, cellular connective tissue with scattered small islands of cardiomyocytes. The hearts patched with C-ECM showed no difference in the size or function of the ventricles as compared to baseline values at both 4 and 16 weeks. Conclusions: The C-ECM patch was associated with better functional and histomorphological outcomes compared to the Dacron patch in this rat model of RVOT reconstruction.
Iterative Morphology-Based Segmentation of Breast Tumors in Ultrasound Images

Ultrasonic detection is currently an effective cancer screening and diagnosis method due to the convenience and harmlessness to human. A set of systems are investigated in this article to pick up the complete tumor outline. After noises in ultrasonic tumor images are removed automatically and areas of different characteristics are distinguished by cutting tumor outlines, images with similar attributes are integrated. Finally the tumor outline is described precisely to facilitate the computer tumor classification. Because ultrasound images often contain a lot of noises, preprocessing removes spot noises by Gaussian filter and select then the appropriate threshold to binarize images. ROD (Rank-ordered Differences) method is applied to calculate the grey level difference between neighbour pixels and the particular pixel to detect pixels contaminated by noises. Images become converged by interactive iteration of two masks of different sizes and a false boundary is obtained after Sobel treatment. Cut the original image into small regions by watershed conversion, label regions and calculate the standard deviation within a region. If the standard deviation is close to the region with the false boundary, the region is considered to be the tumor region.