Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modified Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Adaptively Configuring Globally Optimal Classification and Regression Trees

The configuration of classification and regression trees (CART) used to include tree-growing by greedy recursive partitioning, which selects the splitting parameters (i.e., splitting variables and values) involved in tree, and tree-pruning, which aims to obtain a final tree of right size. This method is successful for most applications; however, it presents some well-known limitations and drawbacks, such as, less comprehensibility, inclination to overfitting, and suboptima. In the present study, the modified discrete particle swarm optimization method was invoked to adaptively configure the globally optimal CART (MPSOCART) via simultaneously selecting the optimal splitting parameters in CART and the appropriate structure of CART. A new objective function was formulated to decide the appropriate CART architecture and the optimum splitting parameters. The proposed MPSOCART was applied to predict the bioactivities of flavonoid derivatives and inhibitory activities of inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase, compared with partial least-squares and CART induced by greedy recursive partitioning. The comparison revealed that MPSO was a useful tool for inducing a globally optimal CART, which converges fast to the optimal solution and avoid overfitting in great extent.
The analysis of record‐linked data using multiple imputation with data value priors

Probabilistic record linkage techniques assign match weights to one or more potential matches for those individual records that cannot be assigned ‘unequivocal matches’ across data files. Existing methods select the single record having the maximum weight provided that this weight is higher than an assigned threshold. We argue that this procedure, which ignores all information from matches with lower weights and for some individuals assigns no match, is inefficient and may also lead to biases in subsequent analysis of the linked data. We propose that a multiple imputation framework be utilised for data that belong to records that cannot be matched unequivocally. In this way, the information from all potential matches is transferred through to the analysis stage. This procedure allows for the propagation of matching uncertainty through a full modelling process that preserves the data structure. For purposes of statistical modelling, results from a simulation example suggest that a full probabilistic record linkage is unnecessary and that standard multiple imputation will provide unbiased and efficient parameter estimates. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Charge simulation modeling for calculation of electrically induced human body currents

A new method is described for investigating the distribution of the electric field in the human body subjected to high voltage. The electric field distribution is obtained from Laplace's equation. This method of analysis is based on the charge simulation method coupled with genetic algorithms to determine the appropriate arrangement, optimum number and radius of simulating ring charges inside the human body. The presented model for simulating electrical field is a three dimensional field problem. The results have been assessed through comparison with the magnitude of total induced charge and its distribution over the body surface, as estimated in other experimental and computational work. The accuracy of the simulation is satisfied for the potential error, (not more than 1 %), and the field deviation angle, (not more than 5 degree) over the human body.
The effect of repeated acute hypoxaemia on fetal cardiovascular development in the sheep

1 Hypoxaemia during intrauterine life may be important in the development of cardiovascular diseases in later life. Thus it was the aim of this study to investigate the effect of repeated acute hypoxia on the cardiovascular development and growth of the fetus. 2 Fourteen fetal sheep (105–109 days gestational age) were instrumented with amniotic and vascular catheters, an electrocardiogram (ECG) electrode and a flow probe around the femoral artery. Seven animals were given repeated acute isocapnic hypoxaemia (Pa,O2 reduced to ca. 13 mmHg) for 1 h every day for 14 days and they were compared to seven animals which remained normoxic throughout with respect to fetal mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), fetal heart rate (FHR), and fetal baro‐ and chemoreflexes. 3 No differences were found between the two groups of fetuses in FHR, MAP, baro‐ or chemoreflexes, femoral blood flow, femoral vascular resistance or fetal growth. 4 Repeated acute hypoxaemia of a moderate degree over a period of 2 weeks in late gestation does not affect cardiovascular development or growth in the fetal sheep.
A BFGS-based method for designing a decentralized LQ controller for industrial robot manipulators

In this paper, a method based on BFGS optimization algorithm to design a decentralized controller is presented. This method maintains all the necessary conditions for convergence such as stability, descending direction, and positive definiteness. It is applied to a two-link robot manipulator, and it offers reasonable convergence rate which shows the effectiveness of the method. The controller designed with this method shows high performance and decoupling property in time response. Simulation results confirm the validity of the analytical work
Robust Digital Filters Part 1 — Minimax FIR Filters

The paper is the first of a series of research investigations on robust digital filters which refer to filters that offer optimal performance under variations of filter parameters. We begin with quantitative characterization of performance robustness of a digital filter against parameter uncertainties. This is followed by several properties of the proposed robust performance measures and design formulations of robust FIR filters in L2 (least-squares) and L∞ (minimax) sense as nonsmooth convex problems. We present an accelerated subgradient algorithm for the design of L∞-robust FIR filters with technical details involved in implementing the proposed algorithm. A numerical example is included for illustration of the proposed design method and performance evaluation in comparison with conventional minimax FIR filters.
Corrected and Uncorrected Hearing Impairment in Older Canadians

Background: Hearing impairment (HI) is a common chronic condition in later life, but one that can often be improved with the use of a hearing aid. However, a distinction is not often made between corrected and uncorrected HI in the literature. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of corrected and uncorrected HI, and assess whether there are differences in sociodemographic factors among older adults (age 50+) with corrected HI, uncorrected HI and no HI. Method: Secondary data came from two national data sources: the 1994 National Population Health Survey (n = 6,202) and the Canadian Community Health Survey 1.1 (n = 50,113). We use multinomial logistic regression to assess sociodemographic risk markers for both corrected and uncorrected HI. Results: Both corrected and uncorrected HI was common in this age group: 6.5 and 4.0%, respectively, in the National Population Health Survey and 5.7 and 2.5% in the Canadian Community Health Survey. In both samples, the prevalence of corrected and uncorrected HI increased with age and was more common among men. Respondents with either corrected or uncorrected HI were less likely to be married and more likely to report other physical health problems compared to respondents with no HI. In the Canadian Community Health Survey, income was associated with lower odds of reporting uncorrected HI, while education was associated with reduced likelihood of reporting corrected HI. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that HI is prevalent in later life, and sociodemographic factors such as marital status, education, and income do not differ significantly between those with corrected and uncorrected HI compared with respondents with no HI. Further investigation into the factors associated with hearing aid use is necessary to better target older adults who might benefit from wearing a hearing aid.
Optimal environmental tax swaps and double dividend hypothesis

Taking environmental tax rate as given, is there an optimal allocation of tax revenues to benefit economic variables? This paper analyzes this issue in an overlapping-generations model with the pollution-related health damage. It finds the optimal allocations towards pollution abatement and labor income to maximize the steady-state lifetime welfare and per-worker output, respectively. Moreover, a greater shift towards labor income might enhance steady-state welfare while reducing per-worker output.
Photothrombotic infarct impairs experience-dependent plasticity in neighboring cortex

Spontaneous restorative plasticity is reported frequently after stroke. To test whether conditions in perinfarct cortex facilitate plastic changes, we examined experience-dependent plasticity of cortical functional representation of vibrissae in rat brain after focal photothrombotic stroke. Cortical activation was visualized with [14C]2-deoxyglucose. To induce plasticity, four rows of whiskers were trimmed on one side of the snout for a month, whereas one row was spared. This deprivation was started immediately after the stroke. In control rats, cortical representation of the spared row whiskers was significantly enlarged compared with undeprived controls. In rats with infarct posterior to the barrel cortex, no plastic change of the spared row representation was observed. We conclude that early after stroke, use-dependent plasticity is impaired in the perinfarct cortex.
Online Signature Verification Based on Generative Models

The success of generative models for online signature verification has motivated many research works on this topic. These systems may use hidden Markov models (HMMs) in two different modes: user-specific HMM (US-HMM) and user-adapted universal background models (UBMs) (UA-UBMs). Verification scores can be obtained from likelihood ratios and a distance measure on the Viterbi decoded state sequences. This paper analyzes several factors that can modify the behavior of these systems and which have not been deeply studied yet. First, we study the influence of the feature set choice, paying special attention to the role of dynamic information order, suitability of feature sets on each kind of generative model-based system, and the importance of inclination angles and pressure. Moreover, this analysis is also extended to the influence of the HMM complexity in the performance of the different approaches. For this study, a set of experiments is performed on the publicly available MCYT-100 database using only skilled forgeries. These experiments provide interesting outcomes. First, the Viterbi path evidences a notable stability for most of the feature sets and systems. Second, in the case of US-HMM systems, likelihood evidence obtains better results when lowest order dynamics are included in the feature set, while likelihood ratio obtains better results in UA-UBM systems when lowest dynamics are not included in the feature set. Finally, US-HMM and UA-UBM systems can be used together for improved verification performance by fusing at the score level the Viterbi path information from the US-HMM system and the likelihood ratio evidence from the UA-UBM system. Additional comparisons to other state-of-the-art systems, from the ESRA 2011 signature evaluation contest, are also reported, reinforcing the high performance of the systems and the generality of the experimental results described in this paper.
Does the Fisher Hypothesis Hold in Sweden? An Analysis of Long-Term Interest Rates under the Regime of Inflation Targeting?

This paper examines the validity of the Fisher hypothesis in Sweden by analyzing inflation expectations and long-term interest rates from January 1993 to February 2015 under a regime of inflation targeting. The Fisher hypothesis holds for the maturities of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 but not 10 years. The results show that changes in inflation expectations move in the same direction and degree as nominal long-term interest rates for the maturities of 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 years. This can primarily be attributed to the credibility of the inflation-targeting framework in Sweden for the last 20 years and the success it has achieved in locking inflation expectations into the target range within these maturities. In the maturity of 10 years, this credibility has never been as certain.
Total Retinal Blood Flow in a Nonhuman Primate Optic Nerve Transection Model Using Dual-Beam Bidirectional Doppler FD-OCT and Microsphere Method.

PURPOSE We validated noninvasive Doppler-optical coherence tomography (OCT) blood flow measurements against the terminal microsphere method in a surgical induced optic nerve transection nonhuman primate model. METHODS In 6 nonhuman primates, total retinal blood flow (TRBF) was measured with a custom-built dual-beam bidirectional Doppler Fourier Domain (FD)-OCT. Peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFLT) was measured by Spectralis spectral-domain (SD)-OCT. Measurements were performed every 10 to 15 days before and after unilateral optic nerve transection (ONT) until RNFLT was reduced by more than 40% from baseline. Before the animals were killed, TRBF was measured using the microsphere technique. RESULTS A significant correlation between all arterial and venous Doppler OCT TRBF measurements was found in ONT and contralateral control eyes (both P < 0.01, n = 6). The Bland-Altman analysis showed a bias of 0.57 in the ONT group and 0.02 in the contralateral control group. Also, excellent agreement was observed between Doppler OCT and microsphere measurements (P < 0.01, r = 0.976, bias = 0.54). After ONT, TRBF and RNFLT decreased by -51% ± 42% and -44% ± 2% (n = 5), respectively. In the contralateral control eyes, TRBF and RNFLT were unchanged. CONCLUSIONS Very good accordance was found between TRBF measurements, obtained with dual-beam bidirectional Doppler FD-OCT and the microsphere method. It also was possible to monitor changes over time in TRBF after ONT with Doppler OCT. These findings highlight the accuracy and potential of noninvasive Doppler OCT to provide valuable information for detecting early changes in ocular disease in future.
Stress variations owing to single-stance load and sideways fall result in fracture at proximal femur

Femoral neck region is the weakest in which the fracture takes place when someone falls sideways. The sideways fall develops peak tensile and compressive stresses in the inferior and superior surfaces of the femoral neck, whereas the state of stress is reversed for a single-stance loading. Therefore, a CT based finite element analysis can be an effective tool for determining the state of stresses at the femoral neck region to predict the probability of fracture considering the 3D complex geometry of femur, its material properties and load conditions. The present work aims to represent the mechanism of hip fracture at the femoral neck region due to sideways fall, which results in greater tensile and compressive stresses at the femoral neck.
River Water Remediation Using Electrohydraulic Discharges or Ozonation

River water cleaning from microorganisms using electrohydraulic discharges and ozonation was investigated. The processed water was highly polluted with the total number of microorganisms (70 400 cfu/mL) and total Escherichia coli bacteria (280 cfu/mL). The processing was conducted in a tube reactor with a hollow needle-rod electrode configuration. A 400-mL sample of river water was treated at different flow rates. Ozonation was performed in a washing bottle with an ozone concentration of 20 g/m3. The corona discharge treatment showed a steady decrease of bacteria and microorganisms but did not kill them completely. Spark discharge killed the bacteria and microorganisms completely; however, its energy efficiency was much lower than that of ozonation. The ozone treatment decreased the concentration of microorganisms and coli bacteria down to 785 and 10 cfu/mL, respectively, in 45 s which resulted in higher energy efficiency than processing using corona and spark discharges. The NPOC analysis of the treated samples showed its concentration of 5 ± 0, 4 ppm in all samples.
Biological activities of cytokine‐neutralizing hyaluronic acid–antibody conjugates

Wound healing represents a highly regulated, orchestrated response of cells recruited to sites of injury. High molecular weight hyaluronic acid was conjugated with monoclonal antibodies to the cytokine interleukin‐1β to create a matrix‐forming polymer capable of modifying healing. Using gel electrophoresis and fluorescence immunosorbent assays, we determined a degree of antibody functionalization per hyaluronic acid chain of 13.6±1.6%. The biological activity of the conjugate in vitro, measured using a nuclear factor‐κB translocation assay in activated THP‐1 monocytes, was comparable in inhibiting cytokine signaling to a similar level as the unconjugated antibody. Incisional wound studies in Sprague–Dawley rats indicates that viscous hyaluronic acid solutions were immunologically active, but covalent functionalization with antibodies against tumor necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐1β resulted in significant reductions in the inflammatory response. Covalent attachment of cytokine‐neutralizing antibodies to matrix‐forming polymers could lead to the development of materials capable of locally regulating wound healing and inflammatory responses in the setting of tissue regeneration.
Plasma Fluoxetine Concentrations and Clinical Improvement in an Adolescent Sample Diagnosed With Major Depressive Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or Generalized Anxiety Disorder

&NA; Fluoxetine (FLX) has been one of the most widely studied selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in adolescents. Despite its efficacy, however, 30% to 40% of patients do not respond to treatment. Aims The aim of this study was to evaluate whether clinical improvement or adverse events are related to the corrected dose of FLX at 8 and 12 weeks after starting treatment in a sample of adolescents diagnosed with major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. Methods Seventy-four subjects aged between 10 and 17 years participated in the study. Clinical improvement was measured with the Clinical Global Impression–Improvement Scale, whereas the UKU (Udvalg for Klinske Undersogelser) scale was administered to assess adverse effects of treatment. Results Fluoxetine per kilograms of body weight was related to serum concentration of FLX, NORFLX (norfluoxetine), FLX + NORFLX, and FLX/NORFLX. No relationship was found between dose-corrected FLX levels and therapeutic or adverse effects. No differences in serum concentrations were found between responders and nonresponders to treatment. Sex differences were observed in relation to dose and FLX serum concentration. The analysis by diagnosis revealed differences in FLX dose between obsessive-compulsive disorder patients and both generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder patients. Conclusions Fluoxetine response seems to be influenced by factors such as sex, diagnosis, or certain genes that might be involved in the drug’s pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Clinical and pharmacogenetic studies are needed to elucidate further the differences between treatment responders and nonresponders.
Ligand Interactions of the ArsC Arsenate Reductase*

ArsC encoded by Escherichia coliplasmid R773 catalyzes the reduction of arsenate to arsenite. The enzymatic reaction requires reduced glutathione and glutaredoxin. In this study a direct association between ArsC and glutaredoxin was demonstrated. An arsC gene with six histidine codons added to the 5′ end of the gene was constructed, and the resulting ArsC enyzme was shown to be functional. Interaction of the histidine-tagged ArsC and glutaredoxin was examined by Ni2+ affinity chromatography. The association required the presence of reduced glutathione and either the substrate arsenate or a competitive inhibitor, phosphate or sulfate. A free thiolate on glutathione was not required. A tryptophan residue was introduced into ArsC at the 11th position, immediately adjacent to the active site Cys-12. Trp-11 fluorescence was quenched upon addition of arsenate. Addition of reduced glutathione after arsenate resulted in a rapid increase in fluorescence followed by a slower decay of the signal. These spectroscopic signals were specific for arsenate and reduced glutathione; neither competitive inhibitors nor non-thiol glutathione analogs produced this effect. Cys-12 thiolate was also required. Thus the intrinsic fluorescence of Trp-11 provides a useful probe to investigate the mechanism of this novel reductase.
The Pragmatic Parliament: A Framework for Socially-Appropriate Utterance Selection in Artificial Agents

One of the hallmarks of human natural language (NL) interaction is the ability for people to balance a variety of social and communicative goals when choosing how to realize their speech actions. These goals can include pragmatic criteria such as correctness, informativeness, and brevity (i.e., Gricean conversational maxims) or social factors such as politeness. However, there currently does not exist a general algorithmic method to explicitly modulate language generated by artificial agents based on an arbitrary number of pragmatic and social criteria. We propose a novel method to accomplish this task, in which rankings of candidate utterances by different pragmatic or social criteria are fused by use of a voting algorithm. We then give a proof-of-concept demonstration of the application of this method in the context of directive generation for human-robot interaction.
Rhombic Split Ring Resonator (R-SRR) RFID tag for UHF band

Radio frequency identification (RFID) in the UHF band and its supporting communication technology has received increasing research interest recently. RFID has several benefits over the conventional method of identification, such as a higher reading range, faster data transfer, and ability to simultaneously read a massive amount of tags. An RFID tag consisting of a microchip and an antenna is an important part of an RFID system. Proper impedance matching between the antenna and the chip is crucial in achieving good read range for the RFID tag. Many modified forms of dipoles with T-match network are reported for RFID tag antennas. Recently Split Ring Resonator (SRR) consisting of two concentric rings separated by a gap and splits on the opposite sides of the rings are incorporated in the RFID tag design. In this paper design and development of an RFID tag based on a dipole antenna with T-mach network whose arms are loaded with a Rhombic Split ring resonator (R-SRR) to operate in the European UHF RFID band of 865-867MHz is reported. The R-SRR loaded in the arms of the dipole tag reduces the overall size and produce inductive input impedance required for conjugate impedance matching with the chip. A chip of impedance 27 - j212Ω at 866MHz is connected at the terminals of the proposed antenna. The CST microwave studio is used for tuning the R-SRR parameters and a T-matching network is implemented in the antenna design to get impedance matching and miniaturization. The read range measurements are carried out with an STA IR0507E reader with a receiver sensitivity of -80dBm and RF power of 28dBm with circularly polarized antennas and a maximum read range of 7.4m is obtained. The proposed UHF tag exhibits appreciably good read range over the entire azimuth and elevation angular ranges.