Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using collaborative Autonomous Vehicles in Mine Countermeasures

This article describes concepts evaluated at NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC) recent experiment as the part of Autonomous Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Program. We investigated the possibility of reacquisition of the target with the Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV), the possibility of controlling the position of the ASV relative to the target location, and tested the concept of guiding a neutralization weapon to the target based on the contact location obtained from the hunting mission performed by an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Second part of the article focuses on implementation in the open-source MOOS-IvP software framework. This framework allows for flexibility in control and mission planning. Guidance is covered by the MOOS-IvP implementation of the controller while the COTS autopilot handles low-level control. The control performance is verified in simulation and confirms arbitrarily small tracking error as well as tested in real, at-sea environment which included external disturbances, such as currents and waves. This experiment has shown that the collaborative use of autonomous systems has the potential to transform MCM capability, from a Cold War legacy focused on post-operations clearance with surface ships, to a quickly deployable system, autonomous system.
A comparison between endovascular and surgical management of basilar artery apex aneurysms.

OBJECT The goal of this retrospective study was to evaluate endovascular treatment by means of Guglielmi detachable coils (GDCs) compared with surgical management for basilar artery (BA) apex aneurysms. METHODS Forty-one patients presented with saccular BA apex aneurysms with angiographically definable necks that were judged suitable for either treatment. Of 20 patients who underwent surgery and 21 who underwent GDC embolization, 15 (75%) and 11 (52%), respectively, were treated in the acute phase after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Twenty-four (92%) of the 26 patients presenting with an SAH had a Hunt and Hess Grade III or better. Fifteen patients with unruptured or ruptured aneurysms more than 14 days post-SAH were treated electively. Patients in the endovascular and surgical treatment groups had aneurysms with comparable dimensions and configurations. Overall, 15 (75%) of the surgical patients and 20 (95%) of the patients in whom GDC embolization was performed had a good outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale score of 4 or 5). Among those patients treated in the acute stage post-SAH, 11 (73%) of the surgical group and 10 (91%) of the endovascular group did well. Fourteen patients treated electively (93%) had good outcomes. There were two deaths (10%) in the surgical group and none in the endovascular group. Patients treated surgically were hospitalized twice as long and incurred twice the expenses of patients who underwent endovascular treatment (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Endovascular GDC embolization of select BA apex aneurysms may be a competitive alternative to direct surgical clipping. Long-term follow up is needed to better define the natural history of the endovascularly treated aneurysm and to further evaluate the accuracy of these preliminary results.
Exit from the Labor Force for Older Workers in Sweden: Can the NDC Pension System Help?

by Edward Palmer1. IntroductionPeopleinthemoreadvancedindustrialdemocracieslivelongerbutworkfeweryearsandleave the labor force earlier than they did three decades ago. These trends are costly for ourpublicpensionsystems.Pensioncostsarerisingrapidlyinmanycountriesandareprojectedtocontinue to do so in coming decades. The ﬁnancial consequence of this trend is that countrieshave to consider ways to reduce costs. I argue here that a possible approach is to modify thepublic pension system to reward longer work careers, but also by making it possible for olderworkers to combine work and retirement.Table1fromPalmer(1997)illustratestheproblem.Itshowstheaveragenumberofyearsworked andlife expectancythereafter,whichIcall‘‘dependencyyears’’. Ifwetakeoneofthemoreextremeexamplesinthetable,France,weseethatmeninthemid-1990sworkaround36yearstotheageof59.Withpresentlifeexpectancytheywilllive20yearslonger,inmostcaseson beneﬁts. French women willwork 29 years,on average until the age of 58. Thereafter theyare expectedtolive,and probablydrawon a beneﬁt, for almost 27 years.On the basisof thesestatistics, on average a Frenchmen works 33 years and is dependent on support from othersthereafterduring23to24years.Thisgivesaratioofworkerstopersonsdependentonworkersof under 1.5. In a system that is actuarially fair and advance-funded with individual ﬁnancialaccounts, individual decisions do not affect the resources and opportunities of others. Thisisthewayafullyadvance-fundedprivateinsurancesystemoperatesandiswhyfullyadvance-funded systems with individual privately managed ﬁnancial accounts have many supporterseven in the context of mandatory social security. The notional deﬁned contribution (NDC)pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system, which I will describe in greater detail below, provides a pay-as-you-goframeworkthatemulatesthissetup,withtwoimportantexceptions. Theﬁrstisthataccounts are notional, not ﬁnancial. Contributions to the system provide the resources to payforcontemporarypensioners.Thesecondisthattherateofreturnisbasedontheperformanceof the economy, speciﬁcally on the development of the number of contributors and theiraverage amount of contributions, and not on the performance of investments in the ﬁnancialmarket. ThenatureofthePAYGsystemissuchthatlabormarketdemographicsaffectthebeneﬁtoutcomesofothergenerations,andtheseeffectscanbesigniﬁcantiftheytaketheformofclear-
A Monopulse Based Correlation Technique for De-Garble Processing of SSR Replies

Secondary surveillance radar (SSR) aids in the identification of aircrafts and often works in conjunction with the primary radar for better target awareness. An important module of the SSR system is the reply signal processor unit. One of the major issues in reply processing is the occurrence of garbled replies, which occurs due to the overlapping of replies. Overlapping occurs when range difference between the two targets is less than de-garble resolution (3045 m). In practical scenarios SSR replies are often garbled (e.g.: formation flights). So efficient de-garbling algorithms are required for providing the target identification. In this paper a new algorithm towards de-garbling of SSR replies is discussed. The information derived from the delta to sigma ratio channel (Delta/Sigma) and the Sigma (sum) channel of the monopulse receiver are effectively combined for separating the garbled replies
Evaluating the performance of fluorescence microscopes

A simple means of evaluating the performance of fluorescence microscopes is described. The proposed test gives an overall figure of merit that takes into account all of the important instrumental parameters that determine image quality. The essence of the test is to use a specimen whose photobleaching rate is a measure of the illumination time–intensity integral. When this time–intensity integral is controlled, the signal‐to‐noise ratio in the image of small subresolution objects becomes a system‐independent measure of light throughput, resolution and intrinsic noise.
L. DiAnne Borders: Leadership Through Mentorship and Modeling

ABSTRACT Dr. L. DiAnne Borders has profoundly impacted professional counseling and counselor education, particularly in areas of scholarship and clinical supervision. In this leadership profile, the authors detail Borders’s prolific yet subdued and deeply personal leadership approach, and they highlight the personal and professional impact of her leadership efforts. Her unique abilities to mentor others and model exemplary leadership are captured in the voices of those with whom Borders has worked.
Hippocampus and Parahippocampal Gyrus Linear Measurements Based on Magnetic Resonance in Alzheimer’s Disease

MRI-based linear measurements of the hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus complex (HPC) discriminated 39 subjects with probable Alzheimer’s disease, from 15 patients with other dementias and 33 miscellaneous controls without evidence of dementia. The best discriminating parameter was the left height of the HPC at the level of the mammillary bodies, with a sensitivity of 79.49% and a specificity of 68.75%. The diagnostic value of these results is discussed considering the volumetric data found in the current literature.
Laser resurfacing of the skin for the improvement of facial acne scarring: a systematic review of the evidence

This review presents and evaluates the evidence of the effectiveness of laser resurfacing for facial acne scars. Primary studies of all types of design in any language were identified from MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane database, Science Citation Index and various internet sites. Studies were accepted if they included patients treated by any laser for atrophic or ice‐pick acne scars. The quality of the studies was assessed and data extracted by two independent researchers. There were no controlled trials but 14 case series were found which reported the effects of either the carbon dioxide or erbium:YAG laser. All of the studies were of poor quality. The types and severity of scarring were poorly described and there was no standard scale used to measure scar improvement. There was no reliable or validated measure of patient satisfaction; most improvement was based on visual clinical judgement, in many cases without blinded assessment. The inaccurate use of ordinal scales meant that any improvement was impossible to quantify with any validity, although the evidence suggested that laser treatment had some efficacy (a range in individual patients of 25–90% for both the carbon dioxide laser and the erbium:YAG laser). Changes in pigmentation as a side‐effect were common (in up to 44% of patients), although lasting only a few weeks. Laser resurfacing technology is increasingly used in clinical practice to treat acne scars. Despite the poor quality evidence, it is plausible that there is some improvement of acne scarring; there is insufficient information, however, for patients to make informed decisions on whether to opt for treatment and there is not enough evidence to compare the two types of laser. There is a particular lack of information about the psychological effects of acne scar improvement. Good quality randomized controlled trials are needed with standardized scarring scales and validated patient outcome measures in order to assess the effectiveness of laser resurfacing in this group of patients.
Exogenous melatonin supplementation prevents oxidative stress‐evoked DNA damage in human spermatozoa

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are essential for sperm physiological functions such as capacitation, hyperactivation, and acrosome reaction, on the one hand, and for stimulating the apoptotic processes involved in the regulation of spermatogenesis, on the other hand. However, the imbalance between production and removal of ROS leads to oxidative stress, which is referred to as one of the main factors involved in male infertility. The pineal hormone melatonin, given its low toxicity and well‐known antioxidant capacity, could be an excellent candidate to improve sperm quality. For this reason, the objective of the present work was to analyze whether long‐term supplementation with melatonin to infertile men affects human sperm quality and the quality of the embryos retrieved from their couples. Our findings showed that the daily supplementation of 6 mg melatonin, as early as after 45 days of treatment, produced an increase in melatonin endogenous levels, indirectly measured as urinary 6‐sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT6‐s), an enhancement of both urinary and seminal total antioxidant capacity, and a consequent reduction in oxidative damage caused in sperm DNA. Moreover, couples whose men were given melatonin showed a statistically significant increase in the percentage of grade A (embryo with blastomeres of equal size; no cytoplasmic fragmentation), B (embryo with blastomeres of equal size; minor cytoplasmic fragmentation), and C (embryo with blastomeres of distinctly unequal size; significant cytoplasmic fragmentation) embryos at the expense of grade D (embryo with blastomeres of equal or unequal size; severe or complete fragmentation.) embryos which were clearly reduced. In summary, melatonin supplementation improves human sperm quality, which is essential to achieve successful natural and/or assisted reproduction outcome.
Total Factor Productivity and China’s Outward FDI: Based on a Firm-Level Empirical Investigation

Since the reform and opening up, China’s economy has achieved continuous development and an increasing flow of foreign direct investment. This study focuses on the impact of enterprises’ total factor productivity on the outward foreign direct investment of companies at a micro level. The data comes from Chinese manufacturing companies from 2005 to 2007. We use a Probit model to empirically test the impact of total factor productivity of Chinese manufacturing companies on their outward foreign direct investment decisions. The test results show the following evidence: firstly, the total factor productivity of an enterprise is an influencing factor of Chinese enterprises' outward direct foreign investment decisions; secondly, the higher the total factor productivity, the greater the probability of outward direct foreign investment. Keywords—Enterprise heterogeneity; Outward Foreign Direct Investment; Total Factor Productivity; Probit Model
Personal Reflections on Russell and Burch, FRAME, and the HSUS

The coincidence of anniversaries associated with the publication of William Russell and Rex Burch's The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, the founding of the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME), and the establishment of the collaboration between FRAME and the University of Nottingham, provides an opportunity to reflect on Russell and Burch's legacy and how it was carried forward by FRAME. The Principles, published in 1959, was the pioneering work in what later became the alternatives or Three Rs field of replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal use. Such was the book's initial and undeserved obscurity, however, that FRAME, following its founding in 1969, pioneered a similar approach independently of Russell and Burch's work. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was also an early champion of the alternatives framework, and through the establishment of the Russell and Burch Award, helped unite Russell and Burch with what had emerged as the alternatives community. Thanks largely to FRAME, Russell and Burch were able to participate in Three Rs activity before their deaths. They lived long enough to see their ideas take hold, but not long enough to see the emerging revolution currently under way in toxicity testing, toward the use of non-animal methods.
Memory Efficient Hierarchical Lookup Tables for Mass Arbitrary-Side Growing Huffman Trees Decoding

This paper addresses the optimization problem of minimizing the number of memory access subject to a rate constraint for any Huffman decoding of various standard codecs. We propose a Lagrangian multiplier based penalty-resource metric to be the targeting cost function. To the best of our knowledge, there is few related discussion, in the literature, on providing a criterion to judge the approaches of entropy decoding under resource constraint. The existing approaches which dealt with the decoding of the single-side growing Huffman tree may not be memory-efficient for arbitrary-side growing Huffman trees adopted in current codecs. By grouping the common prefix part of a Huffman tree, in stead of the commonly used single-side growing Huffman tree, we provide a memory efficient hierarchical lookup table to speed up the Huffman decoding. Simulation results show that the proposed hierarchical table outperforms previous methods. A Viterbi-like algorithm is also proposed to efficiently find the optimal hierarchical table. More importantly, the Viterbi-like algorithm obtains the same results as that of the brute-force search algorithm.
Regulation of hepatic glucose production and the role of gluconeogenesis in humans: is the rate of gluconeogenesis constant?

We have been interested in the metabolic effects of ingested fuels, both in normal subjects and in people with type 2 diabetes. Recently, we have become interested in the regulation of glucose production and the regulation of gluconeogenesis in particular. We are not aware of a recent comprehensive review of these topics. Therefore, we have reviewed the currently available literature.
Implementation of Inclusive Early Childhood Education Policy and Change in Ghana: Four Case Sites of Practice

Inclusive early childhood education (IECE) represents a key policy and practice implementation that facilitates the education and socialisation of all children with and without disability and special educational needs in Ghana. Despite the development of IECE through Government commitments to both inclusive education (IE) and early childhood education (ECE); and as educational goals being realised, little research exists locally on IECE implementation and change practice. The study utilised a qualitative interpretive multiple case study approach to investigate how IECE is being implemented in Ghana. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 teachers and five headteachers of four early childhood learning centres and schools, and six senior education officials. Thematic data analysis results revealed differing understandings of IECE. What also emerged strongly in this study is that children’s human rights and economic benefits are fundamental moral purposes that frame IECE policy and change implementation. IECE presented valued outcomes for all children, and benefits for teachers and parents. Education officials and headteachers demonstrated high expectations for IECE, which were partly met as some headteachers and teachers reported the use of effective pedagogical and organisational IECE practices, and demonstrated effective teacher quality and dispositions that supported IECE practice. The expected and reported practices appear to be related to attitudes and beliefs about children with disability. Shared leadership was viewed as an indispensable component of IECE. Teacher training and PD were considered insufficient for IECE while other essential support was desirable for IECE practice. Self-learning and partnership programs with some universities served as additional training and learning opportunities for some teachers and headteachers in an IECE setting.
Effects of an internet-based educational intervention to prevent high-risk sexual behavior in Mexican adolescents

To evaluate the effect of an internet-based educational intervention to increase knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), attitudes and self-efficacy toward consistent condom use in Mexican adolescents. A field trial with an intervention and control group was conducted in 14- to 15-year-old students in two secondary schools. The intervention was delivered via a website that included four educational sessions during a 4-week period and six 30-min class discussions during a 3-month period. In the control group, the investigators observed the general sex education provided by the school. Outcome variables were 1) knowledge about STIs, 2) attitudes regarding condom use, and 3) self-efficacy toward consistent condom use. Differences-in-differences (Diff-in-Diff) treatment effect was estimated for each outcome variable. There were 246 adolescents in the intervention group and 210 in the control group. The intervention had a positive effect on improving knowledge of STIs, attitudes and self-efficacy toward consistent condom use. The major effect was observed on adolescents' knowledge on STIs (Diff-in-Diff 30.34 points, P < 0.0001). A youth-friendly, culturally-contextualized, internet-based educational intervention complemented by class discussions may be a significant addition to the regular secondary school sex education program to improve knowledge of STIs, attitudes and self-efficacy toward consistent condom use among adolescents. TRIAL REGISTRATION The study was registered at the ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02686736.
Do Equity-Based Factors Outperform Other Risk Factors? Evidence from a Large Cross-Section of Stock Returns

I compare the explanatory power of equity multifactor models (where all the factors are excess returns) against ICAPM/macro models. I use a large cross-section of stocks and introduce a new cross-sectional R^2, based on the restriction that the risk price estimates are equal to the corresponding factor means. The equity factor models do not outperform significantly the ICAPM (and in some cases, the CAPM) in terms of explaining the broad cross-section of stock returns. This is especially true when the anomalies are not trivially related to the factors. This suggests that the performance of several multifactor models is probably overstated.
Sjögren‐Larsson syndrome in Sweden. A clinical, genetic and epidemiological study

Sjögren‐Larsson syndrome (SLS), originally described in Sweden, has been studied in a countrywide survey. A total of 58 SLS patients in 41 families were traced, 35 of them still alive. Thirty patients, 23 alive and seven deceased, have not been reported earlier. The mean incidences per 100,000 in the years 1901–1977 were 0.6 in the whole of Sweden, 10.2 in the county of Västerbotten and 2.7 per 100,000 in the county of Norrbotten. In the above‐mentioned areas, the prevalence figures for SLS on 31st December 1978 were estimated to be 0.4, 8.3 and 2.6 per 100,000 persons, the frequencies of SLS gene carriers 0.5, 2.0 and 1.0%, and the gene frequencies 0.002, 0.010 and 0.005, respectively. Of the 58 identified Swedish SLS patients, 45 were born in a restricted area in the northeast of Sweden.
Involvement of hydrogen peroxide in the differentiation of clonal HD‐11EM cells into osteoclast‐like cells

The present study uses the osteoclast precursor clonal line, HD‐11EM, to study the potential of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in mediating the differentiation of HD‐11EM into osteoclast‐like cells. HD‐11EM cells are a newly established clonal cell line that, in response to 1α,25‐(OH)2D3, differentiate into osteoclast‐like cells that are multinucleated (more than three nuclei), express tartrate‐resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), and excavate resorption pits when cultured on dentin slices in the presence of osteoblasts (Hsia et al., 1995, J. Bone Miner. Res., 10(Suppl 1):S424; Hsia, and Hauschka, 1997, unpublished data). Here we demonstrate that HD‐11EM express the reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)‐oxidase specific cytochrome b558 subunits, and that stimulation of HD‐11EM with 1 or 10 nM 1α,25‐(OH)2D3 increases the extracellular release of H2O2 within 5–10 min. Ours is the first report that stimulation of a cell with 1α,25‐(OH)2D3 enhances the activation of NADPH‐oxidase and increases the basal release of superoxide and the formation of its dismutation product, H2O2. To determine the possible involvement of H2O2 in the differentiation of HD‐11EM, these cells were exposed to glucose/glucose oxidase. This enzyme system was used to deliver a pure and continuous source of H2O2 in nanomole amounts consistent with quantities produced by HD‐11EM in response to 1α,25‐(OH)2D3. Both 1α,25‐(OH)2D3 and the exogenously generated H2O2 stimulated a dose‐ and time‐dependent increase in TRAP activity/cell and the number of multinucleated cells 24‐48 hr after treatment. Northern analysis confirmed an increase in expression of TRAP mRNA in response to either 1α,25‐(OH)2D3 or H2O2. Decreases in cell proliferation and v‐myc mRNA were also observed in response to these agents. Taken together, our findings indicate that production of H2O2 by HD‐11EM is an important local factor involved in differentiation of HD‐11EM into osteoclast‐like cells, and suggest that H2O2 may play a role in native osteoclast differentiation. J. Cell. Physiol. 176:574–587, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.