Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Denoising fNIRS Signals to Enhance Brain Imaging Diagnosis

Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals have the potential to permit accurate analysis of intracortical brain physiologic disease. The HomER graphical user interface is used to display the NIRS data, FastICA is updated to reduce data dimension and combined Wavelet & Pca method is developed to denoise NIRS signals. These signals include several types of noise spread from low to high frequencies such as respiratory interference frequency band of 0.1-0.3Hz, NIRS Mayer wave which is about 0.1Hz, cardiac interference frequency band which is 0.8-2.0Hz, artifacts from head and facial motions, and high frequency noise generated from electronic components. Wavelet & Pca is an efficient method to reduce biological noise, motion artifact and high-frequency noise. The applied processing technique consists of adaptively modifying the wavelet coefficients based on the degree of noise contaminating the processed NIRS signal. This is done subsequently to signal pre-processing by reducing data dimension using the FastICA method. The feasibility of the method was demonstrated by testing it on experimental fNIRS data collected from 47 subjects. Preliminary results, through signal-to-noise ratio and correlation indicators show that the technique reduces noise and improves the quality of the acquired NIRS signals and its corresponding analysis.
Optimal epidemic dissemination

We consider the problem of reliable epidemic dissemination of a rumor in a fully connected network of~$n$ processes using push and pull operations. We revisit the random phone call model and show that it is possible to disseminate a rumor to all processes with high probability using $\Theta(\ln n)$ rounds of communication and only $n+o(n)$ messages of size $b$, all of which are asymptotically optimal and achievable with pull and push-then-pull algorithms. This contradicts two highly-cited lower bounds of Karp et al. stating that any algorithm in the random phone call model running in $\mathcal{O}(\ln n)$ rounds with communication peers chosen uniformly at random requires at least $\omega(n)$ messages to disseminate a rumor with high probability, and that any address-oblivious algorithm needs $\Omega(n \ln \ln n)$ messages regardless of the number of communication rounds. The reason for this contradiction is that in the original work, processes do not have to share the rumor once the communication is established. However, it is implicitly assumed that they always do so in the proofs of their lower bounds, which, it turns out, is not optimal. Our algorithms are strikingly simple, address-oblivious, and robust against $\epsilon n$ adversarial failures and stochastic failures occurring with probability $\delta$ for any $0 \leq \{\epsilon,\delta\} < 1$. Furthermore, they can handle multiple rumors of size $b \in \omega(\ln n \ln \ln n)$ with $nb + o(nb)$ bits of communication per rumor.
Capacity Approximation of Massive MIMO with Optimal Successive Group Decoding System

Because of the crucial importance of the group decoding techniques to achieve higher data rates, and also since the massive MIMO expected to be a promising key 5G wireless technology, we aim in this paper to consider the problem of formulating the achieved capacity of the massive MIMO optimal successive group decoding (OSGD) system. To the best of the authors knowledge there is neither exact nor approximate closed-form expression describes the achieved capacity of the massive MIMO OSGD system, Therefore, in this paper we obtain a simple closed-form expression allows for tight approximation for the achieved capacity of the massive MIMO OSGD system. In addition to that we produce an accurate approximation formula describes the rate outage probability of this system. Numerical results is used to show the validation of the proposed formulas.
Assessment of Closure Competency of Sutureless Vitrectomy Sclerotomies After Scleral Hydration

Abstract Purpose: To assess the influence that hydration applied on the sclerotomy edges may have on incisional closure resistance after transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy (TSV). Methods: Experimental, randomized and observer-masked study in which 23-gauge TSV was performed in 80 cadaveric pig eyes. Once each vitrectomy was finished, hydration with balanced salt solution (BSS) was applied on the sclerotomy edges of one of the superior incision sites; no maneuver was performed on the other superior sclerotomy. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was gradually increased by means of the vitrectomy system (Accurus; Alcon Laboratories, TX) until one of the superior sclerotomies opened, allowing internal ocular solution to escape. Results: In 45% of cases (36 of 80 eyes), sclerotomies subjected to hydration allowed intraocular fluid escape (p = 0.43). There were no differences when comparing opening pressure values of hydrated and non-hydrated sclerotomies (p = 0.19). Conclusions: Scleral hydration did not demonstrate increase in the sclerotomy closure resistance in our experimental model. Given the widespread use of sutureless TSV around the world, the results obtained in our research, in spite of being negative, may contribute to the knowledge of the behavior of sutureless sclerotomies.
A Wideband FM Demodulator for a Low-Complexity FM-UWB Receiver

A wideband FM demodulator circuit for a low-complexity UWB communications system based upon double FM techniques is presented. The receiver demodulates the FM-UWB signal without frequency translation. The FM demodulator presented here covers the low band (3.1-5 GHz) and consumes 10 mW. The 0.72 mm2 demodulator IC is implemented in 0.18 mum Si-Ge BiCMOS technology
Clinical Presentation of Sarcoidosis and Diagnostic Work-Up

Abstract Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease of unknown cause characterized by the formation of immune granulomas which most often involve the lung and the lymphatic system. Sarcoidosis may encompass numerous different clinical presentations. Typical presentations often prompt a rapid diagnosis while in 25 to 50% of cases, diverse and less typical presentations may lead to delayed diagnosis. The mediastinopulmonary sphere is involved in 85 to 95% of cases, associated with extrapulmonary localizations in half of cases while extrapulmonary localizations without lung involvement may be seen in 5 to 15% of cases. Bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy is the most typical sign at chest radiography. Computed tomography (CT) is essential face for atypical manifestations of the disease to avoid confusion with differential diagnoses and, sometimes, comorbidities. CT typically evidences diffuse pulmonary perilymphatic micronodules, with a perilobular and fissural distribution and upper and posterior predominance, even when an atypical CT pattern is predominant. CT allows deciphering pulmonary lesions in cases of pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and airflow limitation. Pulmonary function tests generally correlate with the overall disease process. Forced vital capacity is the simplest and most accurate parameter to reflect the impact of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing helps in understanding the mechanism behind dyspnea of uncertain origin. Endoscopic transbronchial needle aspiration is an extra tool to support diagnosis in addition to more classical biopsy means. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) may be used for individual patients while it is not really decisive for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis for most patients. Diagnosis relies on compatible clinical and radiological presentation, evidence of noncaseating granulomas and exclusion of other diseases with a similar presentation or histology. The probability of diagnosis at presentation is variable from case to case and may often be reinforced with time. Some investigations are mandatory at diagnosis to assess organ involvement and disease activity. However, there are important variations in diagnostic work-up due to diverse expressions of sarcoidosis and differences in clinical practices among physicians.
Transmission and display technology for vital signs based on HTML5 canvas and COMET machanism

Vital sign's transmission and display is key point for telemedicine application. the usual solution is based on C/S architecture, which has poor compatibility and lacks of flexibility. In this paper, we push data from server to browser automatically using COMET mechanism and display vital signs data such as ECG data in browser using HTML5 canvas tag, which explores one new method to transmmit and display vital signs in the B / S architecture.
A heterogeneous tissue model for treatment planning for magnetic resonance-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy

Abstract We evaluated a physics-based model for planning for magnetic resonance-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy for focal brain lesions. Linear superposition of analytical point source solutions to the steady-state Pennes bioheat transfer equation simulates laser-induced heating in brain tissue. The line integral of the photon attenuation from the laser source enables computation of the laser interaction with heterogeneous tissue. Magnetic resonance thermometry data sets (n = 31) were used to calibrate and retrospectively validate the model’s thermal ablation prediction accuracy, which was quantified by the Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) between model-predicted and measured ablation regions (T > 57 °C). A Gaussian mixture model was used to identify independent tissue labels on pre-treatment anatomical magnetic resonance images. The tissue-dependent optical attenuation coefficients within these labels were calibrated using an interior point method that maximises DSC agreement with thermometry. The distribution of calibrated tissue properties formed a population model for our patient cohort. Model prediction accuracy was cross-validated using the population mean of the calibrated tissue properties. A homogeneous tissue model was used as a reference control. The median DSC values in cross-validation were 0.829 for the homogeneous model and 0.840 for the heterogeneous model. In cross-validation, the heterogeneous model produced a DSC higher than that produced by the homogeneous model in 23 of the 31 brain lesion ablations. Results of a paired, two-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated that the performance improvement of the heterogeneous model over that of the homogeneous model was statistically significant (p < 0.01).
Security analysis of bluetooth low energy based smart wristbands

Wearable devices are being more popular in our daily life. Especially, smart wristbands are booming in the market recently, which can be used to monitor health status, track fitness data, or even do medical tests, etc. For this reason, smart wristbands can obtain a lot of personal data. Hence, users and manufacturers should pay more attention to the security aspects of smart wristbands. However, we have found that some Bluetooth Low Energy based smart wristbands have very weak or even no security protection mechanism, therefore, they are vulnerable to replay attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, brute-force attacks, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, etc. We have investigated four different popular smart wristbands and a smart watch. Among them, only the smart watch is protected by some security mechanisms while the other four smart wristbands are not protected. In our experiments, we have also figured out all the message formats of the controlling commands of these smart wristbands and developed an Android software application as a testing tool. Powered by the resolved command formats, this tool can directly control these wristbands, and any other wristbands of these four models, without using the official supporting applications.
Cognitive processes mediating behavioral change.

The present experiment was designed to test the theory that psychological procedures achieve changes in behavior by altering the level and strength of self-efficacy. In this formulation, perceived self-efficacy. In this formulation, perceived self-efficacy influences level of performance by enhancing intensity and persistence of effort. Adult phobics were administered treatments based upon either performance mastery experiences, vicarious experiences. , or they received no treatment. Their efficacy expectations and approach behavior toward threats differing on a similarity dimension were measured before and after treatment. In accord with our prediction, the mastery-based treatment produced higher, stronger, and more generalized expectations of personal efficacy than did the treatment relying solely upon vicarious experiences. Results of a microanalysis further confirm the hypothesized relationship between self-efficacy and behavioral change. Self-efficacy was a uniformly accurate predictor of performance on tasks of varying difficulty with different threats regardless of whether the changes in self-efficacy were produced through enactive mastery or by vicarious experience alone.
Decentralized dynamic spectrum access in full-duplex cognitive radio networks

In the dynamic spectrum access (DSA) paradigm for cognitive radio networks (CRNs), one of the commonly used Medium Access Control (MAC) schemes is designed on basis of the popular carrier sensing multiple access with collision avoidance. However, this proposal suffers from two major problems that may significantly decrease the system performance: (1) collision among the secondary users (SUs) can hardly be detected, thus leading to the secondary transmission failures, and (2) SUs cannot abort transmission when collision occurs, making the long collision duration possible. In this paper, we propose a new cognitive MAC protocol for efficient DSA based on full-duplex CRNs (FD-CRNs), where SUs are able to perform simultaneous spectrum sensing and data transmission owing to full-duplex techniques. Specifically, SUs can detect the collision during transmission, so as to reduce the collision time and improve secondary network performance. Analytical results include the derivations of key design parameters such as the collision ratio with the PU, spectrum usage ratio, optimal contention window size, and the performance comparisons with the conventional DSA in half-duplex CRNs (HD-CRNs), which are further confirmed by simulation results.
Cooperation Between Translating Ribosomes and RNA Polymerase in Transcription Elongation

Transcription and Translation in Train In bacteria, translation of messenger RNA into proteins by the ribosome usually begins soon after the ribosome binding site emerges from RNA polymerase. Now there is evidence for direct coupling between transcription and translation in bacteria. Proshkin et al. (p. 504; see the Perspective by Roberts) show that the trailing ribosome controls the rate of transcription by preventing RNA polymerase from spontaneous backtracking, which allows precise adjustment of transcriptional yield to translational needs under various growth conditions. Burmann et al. (p. 501; see the Perspective by Roberts) provide a potential mechanism for coupling by showing that the transcription factor NusG, which binds RNA polymerase through its amino-terminal domain, competitively binds either a ribosomal protein or the Rho transcription termination factor through its carboxy-terminal domain. Rho binding might occur after release of the ribosome from messenger RNA, thus linking termination of transcription and translation. The ribosome pushes RNA polymerase to prevent backtracking, which links rates of translation with transcription. During transcription of protein-coding genes, bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) is closely followed by a ribosome that translates the newly synthesized transcript. Our in vivo measurements show that the overall elongation rate of transcription is tightly controlled by the rate of translation. Acceleration and deceleration of a ribosome result in corresponding changes in the speed of RNAP. Moreover, we found an inverse correlation between the number of rare codons in a gene, which delay ribosome progression, and the rate of transcription. The stimulating effect of a ribosome on RNAP is achieved by preventing its spontaneous backtracking, which enhances the pace and also facilitates readthrough of roadblocks in vivo. Such a cooperative mechanism ensures that the transcriptional yield is always adjusted to translational needs at different genes and under various growth conditions.
The N-Terminal Region of the Medium Subunit (PduD) Packages Adenosylcobalamin-Dependent Diol Dehydratase (PduCDE) into the Pdu Microcompartment

ABSTRACT Salmonella enterica produces a proteinaceous microcompartment for B12-dependent 1,2-propanediol utilization (Pdu MCP). The Pdu MCP consists of catabolic enzymes encased within a protein shell, and its function is to sequester propionaldehyde, a toxic intermediate of 1,2-propanediol degradation. We report here that a short N-terminal region of the medium subunit (PduD) is required for packaging the coenzyme B12-dependent diol dehydratase (PduCDE) into the lumen of the Pdu MCP. Analysis of soluble cell extracts and purified MCPs by Western blotting showed that the PduD subunit mediated packaging of itself and other subunits of diol dehydratase (PduC and PduE) into the Pdu MCP. Deletion of 35 amino acids from the N terminus of PduD significantly impaired the packaging of PduCDE with minimal effects on its enzyme activity. Western blotting showed that fusing the 18 N-terminal amino acids of PduD to green fluorescent protein or glutathione S-transferase resulted in the association of these fusion proteins with the MCP. Immunoprecipitation tests indicated that the fusion proteins were encapsulated inside the MCP shell.
Microscopic theory of ultrashort pulse compression and break-up in a semiconductor optical amplifier

We explain recent nonlinear pulse propagation phenomena in a semiconductor optical amplifier as noted by Romstad et al. (see ibid., vol.12, p.1674, Dec. 2000). The microscopic model that me employ qualitatively captures all trends of the experimental measurements with no fitting parameters. Consequently, our findings are important for a detailed understanding, and future optimization of ultrafast processes in semiconductor amplifiers for ultrafast networks and pulse-shortening applications.
Antipsychotic Dosing in Preclinical Models Is Often Unrepresentative of the Clinical Condition: A Suggested Solution Based on in Vivo Occupancy

What is the appropriate dose of an antipsychotic in an animal model? The literature reveals no standard rationale across studies. This study was designed to use in vivo dopamine D2 receptor occupancy as a cross-species principle for deriving clinically comparable doses for animal models. The relationship between dose, plasma levels, and in vivo dopamine D2 receptor occupancy was established in rats for a range of doses administered as a single dose or multiple doses (daily injections or osmotic minipump infusions) for five of the most commonly used antipsychotics. As a single dose, haloperidol (0.04–0.08 mg/kg), clozapine (5–15 mg/kg), olanzapine (1–2 mg/kg), risperidone (0.5–1 mg/kg), and quetiapine (10–25 mg/kg) reached clinically comparable occupancies. However, when these “optimal” single doses were administered as multiple doses, either by injection or by a mini-pump, it led to no or inappropriately low trough (24-h) occupancies. This discrepancy arises because the half-life of antipsychotics in rodents is 4 to 6 times faster than in humans. Only when doses 5 times higher than the optimal single dose were administered by pump were clinically comparable occupancies obtained (e.g., haloperidol, 0.25 mg/kg/day; olanzapine, 7.5 mg/kg/day). This could not be achieved for clozapine or quetiapine due to solubility and administration constraints. The study provides a rationale as well as clinically comparable dosing regimens for animal studies and raises questions about the inferences drawn from previous studies that have used doses unrepresentative of the clinical situation.
Divergence of gastropod life history in contrasting thermal environments in a geothermal lake

Experiments using natural populations have provided mixed support for thermal adaptation models, probably because the conditions are often confounded with additional environmental factors like seasonality. The contrasting geothermal environments within Lake Mývatn, northern Iceland, provide a unique opportunity to evaluate thermal adaptation models using closely located natural populations. We conducted laboratory common garden and field reciprocal transplant experiments to investigate how thermal origin influences the life history of Radix balthica snails originating from stable cold (6 °C), stable warm (23 °C) thermal environments or from areas with seasonal temperature variation. Supporting thermal optimality models, warm‐origin snails survived poorly at 6 °C in the common garden experiment and better than cold‐origin and seasonal‐origin snails in the warm habitat in the reciprocal transplant experiment. Contrary to thermal adaptation models, growth rate in both experiments was highest in the warm populations irrespective of temperature, indicating cogradient variation. The optimal temperatures for growth and reproduction were similar irrespective of origin, but cold‐origin snails always had the lowest performance, and seasonal‐origin snails often performed at an intermediate level compared to snails originating in either stable environment. Our results indicate that central life‐history traits can differ in their mode of evolution, with survival following the predictions of thermal optimality models, whereas ecological constraints have shaped the evolution of growth rates in local populations.
Threshold effects in the relationship between inward foreign direct investment and import productivity growth in Latin America and the Caribbean

In the extensive literature on the role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in developing countries, some studies have found (see Blalock and Gertler 2004, Todo and Miyamoto 2002) that the impact of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows on growth was positive and significant. Apart from contributing to domestic investment and employment, FDI enhanced local technology capacity, assisted in promoting innovation through technology transfers and, generally, strengthened the competitive environment in a host country. While it is the case that FDI has been important to the development of many economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, concerns about the capacity of FDI to raise the technological sophistication of these economies and to create more intersectoral linkages are at the heart of the debate about the benefits of FDI. This study examines the impact of FDI on import productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean and found strong evidence of threshold effects with respect to the level of human capital. The findings indicated that the relationship between FDI and growth was dependent on the level of human capital available to the domestic economy. The implication was that raising the level of domestic human capital, through investment in domestic knowledge and innovation was important if countries in Latin America and the Caribbean were to benefit fully from FDI.
Using Artificial Tokens to Control Languages for Multilingual Image Caption Generation

Recent work in computer vision has yielded impressive results in automatically describing images with natural language. Most of these systems generate captions in a sin- gle language, requiring multiple language-specific models to build a multilingual captioning system. We propose a very simple technique to build a single unified model across languages, using artificial tokens to control the language, making the captioning system more compact. We evaluate our approach on generating English and Japanese captions, and show that a typical neural captioning architecture is capable of learning a single model that can switch between two different languages.