Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bacterial colonization as a potential source of nosocomial respiratory infections in spirometers.

We read with interest the article by BURGOS et al. [1], which is a welcome addition to the literature on the potential problems of cross-infection of patients from respiratory testing equipment. Although few water-sealed spirometers are now used in the UK, the data provide valuable information on the potential types of microorganisms encountered during testing in patients without clinically apparent respiratory infection. We have two comments on this study. Firstly, the method of sampling from both devices may not provide the true picture of contamination. It is likely that, by sampling from discrete areas using swabs, colonies of organisms may have been missed completely. An alternative method may be to wash the entire area under investigation with a broth solution and then to culture samples of this broth accordingly [2]. This may well have provided a better picture of overall contamination of the tubing and spirometer bell. In our study [2], we recovered 82% of organisms from the spirometer tubing, whereas in the study by BURGOS et al. [1] only 13% of organisms were recovered from the pneumotachograph system. Secondly, BURGOS et al. [1] suggest that bacterial and antiviral filters may be a solution to preventing contamination of respiratory equipment, and readers may be lulled into thinking that this simple solution will solve cross-contamination problems. However, several studies have shown that, in practice, the filters currently available are not as efficient as expected. Although KIRK et al. [3] stated that the Pall Pf305 filter had a bacterial efficiency of 99.9%, this has subsequently been demonstrated to be incorrect both by ourselves [4] and by CLAYTON et al. [5] for the Pall and other filters. A more accurate figure is 66% efficiency [4]. The differences may be explained by the experimental methods used, in particular the assumptions made in calculating filter efficiency and in the flow rates at which testing took place. There are few studies that have used flow rates comparable to the peak flow rates encountered in routine lung function testing. Much of the early bench testing used flow rates of 50–100 L·min-1, which clearly do not reflect the conditions during actual measurements of peak expiratory flow (PEF) or forced vital capacity (FVC). Would the authors be willing, therefore, to indicate how effective bacterial filters are in protecting respiratory equipment from contamination and patients from possible cross-infection? In the light of our experience, we are cautious about the value of using filters routinely until a filter is produced for which convincing evidence of efficacy is provided.
Re/Forming the Anorexic “Prisoner”: Inpatient Medical Treatment as the Return to Panoptic Femininity

Through a theoretical and discursive text analysis, medical protocols for the inpatient treatment of anorexia nervosa are exposed as part of a disciplinary regime that enforces women's embodied conformity to normative femininity. Although anorectic practices are read as a threat to the patriarchal social apparatus because they represent women's autonomous manipulation of their bodies, medical protocols are read as a means of returning the female body to masculinist control. From a Foucauldian and feminist perspective, treatment mechanisms of surveillance and routinization function as a medical panopticon constructed to re/form the anorexic woman. Her return to the broader social panopticon is achieved only through her disciplined conformity, whereas her “recidivism” is deemed an individual failure. Medicine's collusion with the subjectifying force of normative femininity is thus laid bare: For her failure to conform to the punitive identity of “woman,” the anorexic individual becomes a patient/prisoner of the medical panopticon.
A secured energy efficient clustering and data aggregation protocol for wireless sensor network

Energy consumption is a main factor which increases the life time of the network, where the energy can be saved in each individual node as well as by cluster based routing in the network. If the network is energy consumed and the security is less, the network cannot be consider as a trustable network, and passing a secret message is highly impossible in the network. Even though the energy and the security are two different and independent factors in the WSN, a secured energy efficient network should consider both the factors. In this paper we proposed, a Secured Energy Efficient Clustering and Data Aggregation – [SEECDA] protocol for the heterogeneous WSN, in which the security, energy efficient clustering, data aggregation are combined to achieve a best performance in terms of QOS by security and energy. The proposed approach includes a security mechanism, and an innovative cluster head election mechanism and the route will be selected with less energy needed. The simulation output shows that the SEECDA balances the security, energy efficiency and prolongs the network life time is high when compared to LEACH, EEHCA and EDGA, EECDA respectively.
A Content Analysis of Environmental Advertising Claims: A Matrix Method Approach

Abstract As organizations seek to communicate with consumers who are concerned about the environment, advertisements containing environmental claims are becoming more prominent. While much has been written about environmental advertising, this phenomenon has seldom been examined systematically. This paper presents an empirical study which combines two classification schemes to create a matrix that identifies different types of environmental claims and the likelihood that such claims will be judged as misleading and/or deceptive. Results suggest that those claims which extol the environmental benefits of products and those that are designed to enhance the environmental image of an organization are most prone to be considered misleading and/or deceptive. Methods for improving environmental advertising are suggested.
Effect of Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST) in persons with aphasia: extension and replication of previous findings.

PURPOSE Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST) is an aphasia treatment that targets verbs (e.g., measure) and their related thematic roles (e.g., carpenter-lumber). Previous studies reported encouraging results in a number of participants using single-subject design with improvements observed on naming, sentence production, and discourse. The purpose of the current study was to conduct a group analysis evaluating the effect of VNeST on similar outcomes. METHOD A multiple baseline design across participants was conducted with 11 persons with aphasia due to stroke. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used to evaluate potential improvement from pre- to posttreatment and maintenance. Individual effect sizes were also calculated to evaluate magnitude of change within and across participants. RESULTS Results showed significant improvement at posttreatment and maintenance on trained and untrained sentence probes and object and action naming. Improvement in the production of sentences not targeted in treatment was nonsignificant at posttreatment assessment but significant at maintenance. Moderate increases in percentage of complete utterances and overall informativeness were observed on discourse. CONCLUSION The results of this study replicate previous findings and provide evidence that VNeST may promote specific and generalized lexical retrieval abilities and affect basic syntax production in both constrained and discourse production tasks.
Myocardial Energetics and Efficiency: Current Status of the Noninvasive Approach

The heart is an aerobic organ that relies almost exclusively on the aerobic oxidation of substrates for generation of energy. Consequently, there is close coupling between myocardial oxygen consumption (MVo2) and the main determinants of systolic function: heart rate, contractile state, and wall stress.1 As in any mechanical pump, only part of the energy invested is converted to external power. In the case of the heart, the ratio of useful energy produced (ie, stroke work [SW]) to oxygen consumed is defined as mechanical efficiency, as originally proposed by Bing et al.2 Under normal conditions this ratio is ≈25%, and the residual energy mainly dissipates as heat.3 In pathophysiological disease states, such as heart failure, mechanical efficiency is reduced, and it has been hypothesized that the increased energy expenditure relative to work contributes to progression of the disease.4,5 Moreover, therapeutic interventions that enhance mechanical efficiency have proven to be beneficial with respect to outcome.6 It is therefore desirable to quantify efficiency of the heart to study disease processes and monitor interventions. Both cardiac oxidative metabolism and mechanical work, and thus efficiency, can be quantified through invasive measurements. Although these measurements are accurate and currently considered the gold standard, in clinical practice they are limited because of the need for dual-sided heart catheterization and selective catheterization of the coronary sinus. Recent advances in imaging techniques, however, offer the possibility to noninvasively estimate MVo2 and mechanical work by positron emission tomography and echocardiography or by magnetic resonance imaging, respectively. This review discusses the principles of mechanical efficiency, together with its invasive and noninvasive assessment, as well as their strengths and pitfalls. Finally, results from clinical pathophysiological studies are discussed. To calculate the efficiency of the heart, input and output energy must be obtained. The …
Phase Synchrony Rate for the Recognition of Motor Imagery in Brain-Computer Interface

Motor imagery attenuates EEG µ and β rhythms over sensorimotor cortices. These amplitude changes are most successfully captured by the method of Common Spatial Patterns (CSP) and widely used in brain-computer interfaces (BCI). BCI methods based on amplitude information, however, have not incoporated the rich phase dynamics in the EEG rhythm. This study reports on a BCI method based on phase synchrony rate (SR). SR, computed from binarized phase locking value, describes the number of discrete synchronization events within a window. Statistical nonparametric tests show that SRs contain significant differences between 2 types of motor imageries. Classifiers trained on SRs consistently demonstrate satisfactory results for all 5 subjects. It is further observed that, for 3 subjects, phase is more discriminative than amplitude in the first 1.5-2.0 s, which suggests that phase has the potential to boost the information transfer rate in BCIs.
Sampling and meshing a surface with guaranteed topology and geometry

This paper presents an algorithm for sampling and triangulatinga smooth surface Σ ⊂ ℝ3 where the triangulation is homeomorphic to Σ. The only assumption we make is that the input surface representation is amenable to certain types of computations, namely computations of the intersection points of a line with the surface, computations of the critical points of some height functions defined on the surface and its restriction to a plane, and computations of some silhouette points. The algorithm ensures bounded aspect ratio, size optimality, and smoothness of the output triangulation. Unlike previous algorithms, this algorithm does not need to compute the local feature size for generating the sample points which was a major bottleneck. Experiments show the usefulness of the algorithm in remeshing and meshing CAD surfaces that are piecewise smooth.
Partial criteria system of estimation of pilot preparedness level before simulator training

The paper deals with partial criteria system of estimation of pilot preparedness level before simulator training that allow to evaluate the ability to perform operations of helicopter control by the pilot. Presented the formalized problem statement, which includes the effectiveness criteria of training on the simulator. Provided the algorithm of of pilot preparedness evaluation on the basis of partial criteria. Presented a comparative analysis of calculation results of pilot preparedness level evaluation by this algorithm. The proposed approach provides optimal distribution of trainingload for the pilot based on his executive preparedness.
Synoptic climate change as a driver of late Quaternary glaciations in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere

The relative timing of late Quaternary glacial advances in mid-latitude (40-55° S) mountain belts of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) has become a critical focus in the debate on global climate teleconnections. On the basis of glacial data from New Zealand (NZ) and southern South America it has been argued that interhemispheric synchrony or asynchrony of Quaternary glacial events is due to Northern Hemisphere (NH) forcing of SH climate through either the ocean or atmosphere systems. Here we present a glacial snow-mass balance model that demonstrates that large scale glaciation in the temperate and hyperhumid Southern Alps of New Zealand can be generated with moderate cooling. This is because the rapid conversion of precipitation from rainfall to snowfall drives massive ice accumulation at small thermal changes (1-4°C). Our model is consistent with recent paleo-environmental reconstructions showing that glacial advances in New Zealand during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Last Glacial Interglacial Transition (LGIT) occurred under very moderate cooling. We suggest that such moderate cooling could be generated by changes in synoptic climatology, specifically through enhanced regional flow of moist westerly air masses. Our results imply that NH climate forcing may not have been the exclusive driver of Quaternary glaciations in New Zealand and that synoptic style climate variations are a better explanation for at least some late Quaternary glacial events, in particular during the LGIT (e.g. Younger Dryas and/or Antarctic Cold Reversal).
Time domain passivity control with reference energy following

A recently proposed method for stabilizing haptic interfaces and teleoperation systems was tested with a PHANToM commercial haptic device. The passivity observer (PO) and passivity controller (PC) stabilization method was applied to stabilize the system but also excited a high-frequency mode in the device. To solve this problem, we propose a method to use a time-varying desired energy threshold instead of fixed zero energy threshold for the PO, and make the actual energy input follow the time-varying energy threshold. With the time-varying energy threshold, we make the PC control action smooth without sudden impulsive behavior by distributing the dissipation. The proposed new PO/PC approach is applied to PHANToM with high stiffness (K=5000N/m), and stable and smooth contact is guaranteed. Resetting and active environment display problems also can be solved with the reference energy following idea.
Atopic dermatitis update

Purpose of review Atopic dermatitis, one of the most common chronic illnesses of childhood, is encountered routinely by all providers of health care to children. Recent findings In recent years there has been a dramatic rise in the prevalence of atopic dermatitis and therefore a rapid increase in the number of studies investigating various aspects of the disease. Consequently, hundreds of publications are released each year, and it is difficult to stay up to date on the latest advances. Summary This review will examine and summarize recent literature on the diagnosis, epidemiology, pathogenesis, treatment, and complications of atopic dermatitis.
What is this thing called love? A gender implication of the ontologico-epistemic status of love in an African traditional marriage system

Though its actual nature and content remain debatable, the importance of love in human relations is indubitable. This paper attempts an exploration of the phenomenon of love in the institution of marriage in Esan traditional culture. It questions the reality or ontology of love or its epistemic content within the said culture. In other words, the question is, is there love in the Esan traditional marriage system? If there is none, then it is an ontological issue. And if there is, with what epistemological framework can it be accessed? To this end, the paper employs what could be regarded as a working definition of love which could include notions such as commitment, care, intimacy, and self-giving. With this understanding, the paper interrogates the doctrine of love among the Esan people and sets out how gender is implicated in the conception of love and marriage in traditional Esan society.
Stabilized Galerkin for transient advection of differential forms

We deal with the discretization of generalized transient advection problems for differential forms on bounded spatial domains. We pursue an Eulerian method of lines approach with explicit timestepping. Concerning spatial discretization we extend the jump stabilized Galerkin discretization proposed in $[$ H. HEUMANN and R.HIPTMAIR, Stabilized Galerkin methods for magnetic advection, Math. Modelling Numer. Analysis, 47 (2013), pp.1713--1732$]$ to forms of any degree and, in particular, advection velocities that may have discontinuities resolved by the mesh. A rigorous a priori convergence theory is established for Lipschitz continuous velocities, conforming meshes and standard finite element spaces of discrete differential forms. However, numerical experiments furnish evidence of the good performance of the new method also in the presence of jumps of the advection velocity.
SPAWN: Sensing, Probing and Accessing with sWitching eNergy Cost in Multichannel WSN

Multichannel accessing is a basic and important function in wireless sensor networks, where intelligent and low-cost methods are needed for energy-efficient spectrum utilization. Unfortunately, for energy constrained nodes, methods from cognitive radio technologies are not applicable in WSN multichannel systems due to computation and communication overhead, as well as extremely large energy consumptions. In this work, we propose a spectrum learning and utilizing paradigm, where sensor nodes can sense, probe, access and switch among channels automatically without prior knowledge. Under this basic and important learning method, we present a two-stage learning and utilization algorithm, which constitutes of two interleaving parts: `transmitting while learning' and `learning while transmitting'. Building these two parts is a non-trivial work, which need efficient channel learning and utilizing scheme working together seamlessly. In the first `transmitting while learning' stage, we propose the `non-call-back' policy and leverage the Lagrangian method for the additional energy cost considerations. Under this heuristic policy, an improved version for the traditional Gittins Index model is provided. After that, the heuristic algorithm is proved `2-approximate' to the optimal result. Furthermore, leveraging the channel correlations, the learning complexity is reduced from O(T) stages to O(log T) stages, where T is the number of time slots for channel learning. Secondly, we make a structural analysis on the `learning while transmitting' stage, leveraging the 2-dimensional optimal stopping theory. Notably, we use the a 16-node TelosB sensor network and an 8-node USRP network for performance evaluation. The USRP nodes are playing as interfering and monitoring nodes for controllable network states design, making network performance evaluation convincible. The proposed algorithm is designed in real implementations with experimental results, showing the efficiency of the proposed scheme.
Half the Thrill Is in the Chase: Twisted Inferences from Embodied Cognitions and Brand Evaluation

Do our bodies control our minds? That people approach positive outcomes is not surprising, but do people also infer an outcome is rewarding from their bodily sensation of approaching it, and does this positivity transfer indirectly to other outcomes linked in memory to the original negative outcome? We posit that, because people usually approach reward, they mistakenly infer that approach must equal reward. Thus, a sensation of approach, even toward a negative outcome, makes them feel more positively toward the negative outcome and associated outcomes. Experiment 1 demonstrates a positive effect of embodied movement in space toward an otherwise aversive product. Experiments 2 and 3 additionally show positive effects of psychological movement in time, using evaluative conditioning procedures, to associated stimuli in memory. Implications for downward spirals in habit formation-the idea that approaching one bad habit might increase liking of other bad habits-and affect regulation are discussed. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc.
Auto-categorization methods for digital archives

Archivists and records managers would benefit from a greater understanding of the use and effectiveness of various machine learning methods, especially in the related context of electronic discovery. However, the binary classification methods used in advance search techniques in the e-discovery space may or may not prove efficacious where the information task involves sorting records into multiple categories. A survey of the landscape of machine learning methods reveals areas of potential weakness, which in turn serve as a starting point for future research in the computational archives space.
3D Voltage Pattern Measurement of a 2.45 GHz Rectenna

In this communication, a fully automatic measurement setup for the voltage distribution of a rectenna in space is reported. This 3D voltage pattern defines the variation of the DC voltage obtained by a rectenna as a function of the direction away from the transmitting antenna. It allows optimizing the placement of the rectenna in the zone of interest. A comparison is performed between the 3D voltage pattern of a 2.45 GHz rectenna and the radiation pattern of the receiving antenna. The results demonstrate that the influence of the rectifier on the radiating part cannot be ignored and validate the need of a 3D voltage distribution measurement to accurately characterize a rectenna system.
Does our brain use the same policy for interacting with people and manipulating different objects?

Our first impression of other people is greatly affected by our previous experiences. Schematic processing, proposed in social psychology, explains our behavior in interacting with other people. It suggests existence of different schemas in our brain for different groups of people, e.g., extroverts, introverts, shy, women, men, etc. and also schemas related to special people like our parents, close friends, supervisor, and even ourselves. Each schema is recalled when we meet the corresponding person/personality (Atkinson, 1996). On the other hand there is a relatively well accepted theory–model based theory- in motor control and learning studies (Daw and Dayan, 2014; Dayan and Berridge, 2014). It suggests existence of some internal models (forward and/or inverse) in the brain which help us for planning and execution of the actions. Although these two viewpoints may seem very distinct, there are some interesting similarities between them, which are explained in the following section. I hypothesize that these correspondences may suggest that the brain employs same algorithms in dealing with both situations. Understanding the brain function is a great challenge for many scientists. Further evaluation of the proposed hypothesis may be helpful to achieve better understanding of the brain function, as advances in each field may encourage new ideas in the other one. In the following sections each of the two viewpoints and then their similarities are explained.