Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Caretakers’ Perception towards Using Zinc to Treat Childhood Diarrhoea in Rural Western Kenya

Zinc treatment for diarrhoea can shorten the course and prevent future episodes among children worldwide. However, knowledge and acceptability of zinc among African mothers is unknown. We identified children aged 3 to 59 months, who had diarrhoea within the last three months and participated in a home-based zinc treatment study in rural Kenya. Caretakers of these children were enrolled in two groups; zinc-users and non-users. A structured questionnaire was administered to all caretakers, inquiring about knowledge and appropriate use of zinc. Questions on how much the caretakers were willing to pay for zinc were asked. Proportions were compared using Mantel-Haenszel test, and medians were compared using Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. Among 109 enrolled caretakers, 73 (67%) used zinc, and 36 (33%) did not. Sixty-four (88%) caretakers in zinc-user group reported satisfaction with zinc treatment. Caretakers in the zinc-user group more often correctly identified appropriate zinc treatment (98%-100%) than did those in the non-user group (64−72%, p<0.001). Caretakers in the zinc-user group answered more questions about zinc correctly or favourably (median 10 of 11) compared to those in the non-user group (median 6.3 of 11, p<0.001). Caretakers in the zinc-user group were willing to pay more for a course of zinc in the future than those in the non-user group (median US$ 0.26, p<0.001). Caretakers of children given zinc recently had favourable impressions on the therapy and were willing to pay for it in the future. Active promotion of zinc treatment in clinics and communities in Africa could lead to greater knowledge, acceptance, and demand for zinc.
Quantitative Verification and Synthesis of Attack-Defence Scenarios

Attack-defence trees are a powerful technique for formally evaluating attack-defence scenarios. They represent in an intuitive, graphical way the interaction between an attacker and a defender who compete in order to achieve conflicting objectives. We propose a novel framework for the formal analysis of quantitative properties of complex attack-defence scenarios, using an extension of attack-defence trees which models temporal ordering of actions and allows explicit dependencies in the strategies adopted by attackers and defenders. We adopt a game-theoretic approach, translating attack-defence trees to two-player stochastic games, and then employ probabilistic model checking techniques to formally analyse these models. This provides a means to both verify formally specified security properties of the attack-defence scenarios and, dually, to synthesise strategies for attackers or defenders which guarantee or optimise some quantitative property, such as the probability of a successful attack, the expected cost incurred, or some multi-objective trade-off between the two. We implement our approach, building upon the PRISM-games model checker, and apply it to a case study of an RFID goods management system.
Audiovisual Attentive User Interfaces – Attending to the needs and actions of the user

In the past few decades the role of computers has changed dramatically. Briefly put, the computer has advanced from being an exclusive and complex work tool to a ubiquitous and central communication and coordination tool. The mobile telephony, personal digital assistants and advanced watches, among other electrical devices, have introduced processors to a wider audience. The modern computing devices enable connections to be established between different devices and users, and hence profoundly change the conditions for devices and their users. The main issue here is the fact that the actual machines have not changed as dramatically as the environment they are being used in. The computers are more or less still created for working in isolation, lacking features for coordinating actions with other devices. As a result, many users struggle with organizing the devices that they use. This is where the attentive user interfaces may provide a solution. By using different techniques, such as eye tracking or registration of user presence and orientation, an AUI can infer knowledge about the user’s priorities in a task. The computing device can then use the information for estimating the quantity (volume) and timing of the communication with the user. [11] In this essay two popular techniques for collecting information about the user are presented; registration of gaze and speech activity. Both techniques have advantages, especially from the perspective of a disabled person. However, experiments show that gaze as well as speech at the present is insufficient as an input channel. Even though we normally use the eyes when interacting with a computer, the eye tracking must be considered relatively unreliable in this context. The complexity and spontaneity of eye movement is one main issue; inadequate tracking tools another. When it comes to speech control, insufficient speech recognition tools and algorithms are fundamental weaknesses. As long as these weak spots have not been attended to, the only way for getting a satisfactory result is to combine two or more of the input channels available. In this work several, so called, multimodal applications are presented.
Rate allocation scheme for Machine-to-Machine service based on 3GPP in heterogeneous wireless networks

In this study, an explicit adaptive traffic allocation scheme for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service is proposed to achieve optimum distribution in heterogeneous networks. Based on the characteristics of M2M services, the presented scheme is formulated as a convex optimization problem that maximises the utility of the M2M service, and then determines how to allocate the total rate among the multiple access networks. The analysis and numerical simulations indicate that the proposed scheme makes a significant improvement in performance compared with the traditional schemes.
Towards quantitative analysis of core-shell catalyst nano-particles by aberration corrected high angle annular dark field STEM and EDX

Core-shell structured heterogeneous catalyst nano-particles offer the promise of more efficient precious metal usage and also novel functionalities but are as yet poorly characterised due to large compositional variations over short ranges. High angle annular dark field detector in a scanning transmission electron microscope is frequently used to image at high resolution because of its Z-contrast and incoherent imaging process, but generally little attention is paid to quantification. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis provides information on thickness and chemical composition and, used in conjunction with HAADF-STEM, aids interpretation of imaged nano-particles. We present important calibrations and initial data for truly quantitative high resolution analysis.
An energy efficient time-sharing pyramid pipeline for multi-resolution computer vision

We introduce an energy efficient time-sharing pyramid pipeline architecture designed for multi-resolution image analysis in mobile computer vision. The time-sharing pipeline efficiently reduces the off-chip memory traffic by re-organizing the data storage and processing order of an image pyramid. We build a parameterized image pyramid hardware generator and successfully evaluate the overall pyramid design space. Our results demonstrate that the time-sharing pyramid pipeline achieves about 50% of hardware savings in terms of area and power consumption compared to the traditional linear pipeline implementation. We also implement the multi-resolution Lucas-Kanade optical flow algorithm on the time-sharing pipeline, and demonstrate an order of magnitude savings in off-chip memory traffic and system energy consumption.
39 Inhibition of Aβ aggregation in Alzheimer’s disease using the poly-ion short single stranded DNA: in silico study

References Bar-Even, A. , Noor, E. , Savir, Y. , Liebermeister, W. , Davidi, D. , et al. (2011). The moderately efficient enzyme: Evolutionary and physicochemical trends shaping enzyme parameters. Biochemistry, 50, 4402–4410. Copeland, R. A. , Pompliano, D. L. , & Meek, T. D. (2007). Drug-target residence time and its implications for lead optimization (vol 5, pg 730, 2006). Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 6, 249–249.
Frontal eye field efferents in the macaque monkey: II. Topography of terminal fields in midbrain and pons

Frontal eye field (FEF) projections to the midbrain and pons were studied in nine macaque monkeys that were used to study FEF projections to the striatum and thalamus (Stanton et al.: J. Comp. Neurol. 271:473‐492, '88). Injections of tritiated amino acids or WGA‐HRP were made into FEF cortical locations where low‐level microstimulation (≤50 μA) elicited saccadic eye movements, and anterograde axonal labeling was mapped. The injections were made into the anterior bank of the arcuate sulcus from dorsomedial sites where large saccades were evoked (lFEF) to ventrolateral sites where small saccades were evoked (sFEF).
Automated Simulation Creation from Military Operations Documents

The creation of virtual reality simulations for training or analysis is an arduous process requiring specialized knowledge. Graphical models and even animated, articulated figures can now be obtained from websites or hired artists. Even after these assets are obtained, putting scenes together and authoring character behaviors can be a lengthy process. Furthermore, ensuring that character behaviors will be successfully performed in a virtual environment is often a trial-and-error process. Automating the creation of these behaviors and facilitating their modification by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) – as opposed to technicians – will shorten the time required and reduce costs. This paper presents a framework (VerbsEye) for using descriptive texts, such as military operations documents to semi automate simulation creation. While previous research, such as the WordsEye system, have created static scenes from natural language inputs, our framework further automates the process and includes the generation of agent behavior scripts from the text. Specifically, we present a text-to-scene system that generates 1) scene scripts and 2) agent behavior scripts for virtual environments. The spatial information required for the scenes is obtained both explicitly through prepositions found in the input text and implicitly from the described agent behaviors. Motion data used to depict agent behaviors is exploited to provide additional spatial constraints and assure the behaviors will be possible. Automated scene creation is challenging and unlikely to result in perfection. The VerbsEye framework is evaluated in terms of how well sample military operations documents can be used to generate scenes and behaviors. The specific metrics used are the percentage of scenes and behaviors in the sample operation documents successfully processed. Our framework shows how additional automation can be used to enable SMEs and technicians to better and more quickly create training tools and environments.
Finite Element Simulation of the Orthogonal Metal Cutting Process

In this paper, a finite element model of a two-dimensional orthogonal metal cutting process is used to simulate the chip formation, cutting forces, stress, strain and temperature distributions. Two deformable parts are involved in this model: the workpiece and the cutting tool. To make the results of the simulation agree the orthogonal cutting test better, the separation surface between the chip and the machined surface is not predefined in this simulation. The chip-separation criterion is based on the Johnson and Cook law. This work will help as a reference to tackle more complex cutting processes such as oblique and discontinuous cutting.
Overview of the ImageCLEF 2012 Medical Image Retrieval and Classification Tasks

The ninth edition of the ImageCLEF medical image retrieval and classication tasks was organized in 2012. A subset of the open access collection of PubMed Central was used as the database in 2012, using a larger number of over 300'000 images than in 2011. As in previous years, there were three subtasks: modality classication, image{based and case{based retrieval. A new hierarchy for article gures was created for the modality classi- cation task. The modality detection could be one of the most important lters to limit the search and focus the results sets. The goal of the image{based and the case{based retrieval tasks were similar compared to 2011 adding mainly complexity. The number of groups submitting runs has remained stable at 17, with the number of submitted runs remaining roughly the same with 202 (207 in 2011). Of these, 122 were image{based retrieval runs, 37 were case{based runs while the remaining 43 were modality classication runs. Depending on the exact nature of the task, visual, textual or multimodal approaches performed better.
Simpler Transfer Learning (Using "Bellwethers")

Transfer learning has been the subject of much recent research. In practice, that research means that the models are unstable since they are continually revised whenever new data arrives. This paper offers a very simple “bellwether” transfer learner. Given N datasets, we find which one produces the best predictions on all the others. This “bellwether” dataset is then used for all subsequent predictions (when its predictions start failing, one may seek another bellwether). Bellwethers are interesting since they are very simple to find (wrap a for-loop around standard data miners). They simplify the task of making general policies in software engineering since as long as one bellwether remains useful, stable conclusions for N datasets can be achieved by reasoning over that bellwether. This paper shows that this bellwether approach works for multiple datasets from various domains in SE. From this, we conclude that (1) bellwether method is a useful (and simple) transfer learner; (2) Unlike bellwethers, other complex transfer learners do not generalized to all domains in SE; (3) “bellwethers” are a baseline method against which future transfer learners should be compared; (4) When building increasingly complex automatic methods, researchers should pause and compare more sophisticated method against simpler alternatives.
Prevalence of job-related distress and satisfaction in a nationwide cardiology setting: The IANUS – itAliaN cardiologists’ Undetected distress Study

Introduction and objectives Cardiologists’ work distress has been seldom studied. The ItAliaN cardiologists’ Undetected distress Study survey was designed to assess prevalence of work distress and satisfaction, and to gain insight into associations among these constructs and socio-demographics and job description. Methods We invited members of our national cardiological society (Associazione Nazionale Medici Cardiologi Ospedalieri) to participate in an anonymous, self-report, exclusively web-based survey, posted on the Associazione Nazionale Medici Cardiologi Ospedalieri website. ItAliaN cardiologists’ Undetected distress Study included socio-demographics, job description and a 15-item questionnaire on job-related distress and work satisfaction. Results Of 7393 invited cardiologists, 1064 completed the survey. Organizational problems and worries about medico-legal controversies were reported by 71% and 49% of participants, respectively; over one-third reported loss of enthusiasm, helplessness, work-life imbalance and lack of control over work. Conversely, 86% felt competent at work, 67% rewarded by the moral/human meaning of their work and 52% satisfied with their professional fulfilment. Factor analysis revealed a meaningful underlying structure including four factors: job strain, positive meaning, emotional fatigue and relational difficulties. Relational difficulties were more frequent in cardiologists working in primary-level than in secondary and tertiary care hospitals (P = 0.017 and P = 0.013, respectively). Interventional cardiologists reported higher positive meaning than those in the clinical inpatients area and outpatient diagnostic settings (P = 0.007 and P = 0.025, respectively) and lower emotional fatigue than subjects in the clinical inpatients area (P = 0.0005). Conclusion Cardiologists’ work distress should be interpreted integrating job-related negative aspects with a reappraisal of protective personal and relational resources, which should be fostered to promote physicians’ wellbeing at the individual, collective and organizational levels.
What Drives Banks' Geographic Expansion? The Role of Locally Non-Diversifiable Risk

We show that banks that are facing relatively high locally non-diversifiable risks in their home region expand more across states than banks that do not face such risks following branching deregulation in the United States during the 1990s and 2000s. Further, our evidence shows that these banks take into account the local risks in potential target regions: they expand more into counties where risks are relatively high and positively correlated with risks in their home region. This suggests that these banks do not only diversify but also build on their expertise in local risks when they expand into new regions.
He and Ne Ages of Large Presolar Silicon Carbide Grains: Solving the Recoil Problem

Abstract Knowledge about the age of presolar grains provides important insights into Galactic chemical evolution and the dynamics of grain formation and destruction processes in the Galaxy. Determination from the abundance of cosmic ray interaction products is straightforward, but in the past has suffered from uncertainties in correcting for recoil losses of spallation products. The problem is less serious in a class of large (tens of μm) grains. We describe the correction procedure and summarise results for He and Ne ages of presolar SiC ‘Jumbo’ grains that range from close to zero to ∼850 Myr, with the majority being less than 200 Myr. We also discuss the possibility of extending our approach to the majority of smaller SiC grains and explore possible contributions from trapping of cosmic rays.
Where you point is where the robot is

It is virtually envisioned that in the near future home-service robots will be assisting people in their daily lives. While a wide spectrum of utility of home-service robots has been proposed, i.e., cleaning, surveillance or go-and-fetch jobs, usability studies of the home-service robots have been less undertaken. This paper explores the usability issues, in particular, a map-based user interface for instructing home-service robots in the home environment. It focused on how the different map representation of the co-located environment would affect task performance of locating the home-service robots. The effectiveness of the map-based human-robot interface was thus analysed according to the dimensionality of the map, the location information of the elements in the co-located workspace. The experimental results showed that task performance was varied by the different map representation, providing a better understanding of what characteristics of the map representation were able to effectively support the human operator in instructing the home-service robots in the home environment.
Traffic matrix estimation: existing techniques and new directions

Very few techniques have been proposed for estimating traffic matrices in the context of Internet traffic. Our work on POP-to-POP traffic matrices (TM) makes two contributions. The primary contribution is the outcome of a detailed comparative evaluation of the three existing techniques. We evaluate these methods with respect to the estimation errors yielded, sensitivity to prior information required and sensitivity to the statistical assumptions they make. We study the impact of characteristics such as path length and the amount of link sharing on the estimation errors. Using actual data from a Tier-1 backbone, we assess the validity of the typical assumptions needed by the TM estimation techniques. The secondary contribution of our work is the proposal of a new direction for TM estimation based on using choice models to model POP fanouts. These models allow us to overcome some of the problems of existing methods because they can incorporate additional data and information about POPs and they enable us to make a fundamentally different kind of modeling assumption. We validate this approach by illustrating that our modeling assumption matches actual Internet data well. Using two initial simple models we provide a proof of concept showing that the incorporation of knowledge of POP features (such as total incoming bytes, number of customers, etc.) can reduce estimation errors. Our proposed approach can be used in conjunction with existing or future methods in that it can be used to generate good priors that serve as inputs to statistical inference techniques.
Monovalent selectivity of the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-activated ion channel

Monovalent cation selectivity has been characterized for the 3',5'- cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-activated channel in vertebrate photoreceptor outer segment plasma membranes without divalent cations. Macroscopic currents in excised, inside-out patches were activated with saturating concentrations of cGMP (200 microM). Using a bi-ionic protocol with symmetrical 120 mM ion concentrations across the membrane, alkali metal ions and certain organic cations were substituted for sodium on the cytoplasmic face. The relative permeabilities, determined from shifts in the reversal potential (Erev), were NH4 much greater than Na greater than guanidinium greater than K greater than Li greater than Rb greater than Cs (3.34: 1.0: 0.97: 0.93: 0.92: 0.74: 0.50, respectively). Erev's were also measured as a function of [Na], [NH4], and [Cs], and the slope of the relation was -59.8, -52.1, and -49.1 mV/decade, respectively. The slopes for NH4 and Cs differ significantly from the Nernst-Planck prediction of -58.2 mV/decade expected for a single ion channel. Relative permeabilities were also determined for the alkali metal series of ions with 20 mM ionic concentrations on both sides of the membrane. The permeability sequence at 20 mM was unchanged, but the relative permeability for NH4 and Cs deviated significantly from the measurements at 120 mM with 1.46 and 0.75 ratios, respectively. The dependence of Erev on absolute concentrations and the deviation from Nernst-Planck predictions are best explained by multi-ion occupancy of the cGMP-activated channel. Selectivity was also examined by comparing the conductance ratios as a function of potential. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
ARABIDOPSIS : A RICH HARVEST 10 YEARS AFTER COMPLETION OF THE GENOME SEQUENCE Getting to the root of plant biology : impact of the Arabidopsis genome sequence on root research

Prior to the availability of the genome sequence, the root of Arabidopsis had attracted a small but ardent group of researchers drawn to its accessibility and developmental simplicity. Roots are easily observed when grown on the surface of nutrient agar media, facilitating analysis of responses to stimuli such as gravity and touch. Developmental biologists were attracted to the simple radial organization of primary root tissues, which form a series of concentric cylinders around the central vascular tissue. Equally attractive was the mode of propagation, with stem cells at the tip giving rise to progeny that were confined to cell files. These properties of root development reduced the normal four-dimensional problem of development (three spatial dimensions and time) to a two-dimensional problem, with cell type on the radial axis and developmental time along the longitudinal axis. The availability of the complete Arabidopsis genome sequence has dramatically accelerated traditional genetic research on root biology, and has also enabled entirely new experimental strategies to be applied. Here we review examples of the ways in which availability of the Arabidopsis genome sequence has enhanced progress in understanding root biology.