Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Service-oriented middleware for dynamic, real-time management of heterogeneous geosensors in flood management

ASSIS, L. F. F. G. Service-oriented middleware for dynamic, real-time management of heterogeneous geosensors in flood management. 2016. 117 f. Master dissertation (Master student Program in Computer Science and Computational Mathematics) – Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação (ICMC/USP), São Carlos – SP. Natural disasters such as floods, droughts and storms cause many deaths and a great deal of damage worldwide. Recently, several countries have suffered from an the increased number of floods. This has led government agencies to seek to improve flood risk management by providing historical data obtained from stationary sensor networks to help communities that live in hazardous areas. However, the sensor networks can only help to check specific features (e.g. temperature and pressure), and are unable to contribute significantly to supplying the missing information that is required. In addition to stationary sensors, mobile sensors have also been used to monitor floods since they can provide images and reach distances that are not within the coverage of stationary sensors. By combining these heterogeneous sensors, an initiative called Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) seeks to free these applications from the idiosyncrasies that affect the implementation of these heterogeneous sensors. However, SWE cannot always be applied effectively in a context where sensors are embedded and removed dynamically. This dynamic context makes it a complex task to handle, control, access and discover sensors. In view of this, the aim of this work is to dynamically manage heterogeneous sensors involved in flood risk management in near real-time, by enabling interoperable access to their data and using open and reusable components. To achieve this goal, a service-oriented middleware was designed that contains a common protocol message, a dynamic sensor management component and a repository. This approach was evaluated performed by employing an application that prioritizes geographically social media messages based on sensor data. Key-words: Service-Oriented Middleware, Flood Risk Management, Sensor Web Enablement.
A Review on Prognostics of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are promising energy devices that can be used as the power sources in many applications. But short life duration of the PEMFCs still limits their large scale commercialization. The prognostics and health management (PHM) is a series of methods that not only monitor the state of health (SOH), but also take proper actions to extend the remaining useful life (RUL) of PEMFCs. Prognostics is the key process of PHM that can predict the future behavior and RUL of the PEMFCs, which is the main topic discussed in this paper. This paper aims at reviewing the existing methods about the prognostics of PEMFCs by classifying them into three categories: model-based methods, data-based methods, and hybrid methods. The remaining challenges and future trends are also provided.
A Study on the Chinese Enterprise Annuity Replacement Rate Problem

Abstract In this paper, the enterprise annuity replacement rate in China is discussed. The enterprise annuity replacement rate refers to the ratio of pension income and wages income before retired. It is an important indicator to measure the standard of living of the elderly population. The paper succeeded derived the equilibrium model of the enterprise annuity fund under the cost and management fee, and the enterprise annuity replacement rate is deduced. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis of each parameter is given, and the enterprise annuity rate of substitution for different gender is also obtained, which shows that the existing system of enterprise annuity unfairness to exist between men and women.
Chlamydia trachomatis seroprevalence atlas of Finland 1983–2003

Objectives: To study Chlamydia trachomatis seroprevalence trends and geographical distribution over time in Finland. Materials and methods: First pregnancy serum samples were retrieved from the Finnish Maternity Cohort serum bank for the subcohort of 8000 women stratified by calendar years (1983–1989, 1990–1996, 1997–2003) and age at time of sample withdrawal (14–22 and 23–28 years). C trachomatis antibodies were determined using standard major outer membrane protein peptide ELISA. The spatiotemporal variation of C trachomatis seroprevalence rates was visualised by a series of maps. Results: A decreasing C trachomatis seroprevalence trend from 1983 to 2003 was seen for both women under 23 years of age (20.8% to 10.6%) and 23–28-year-old women (19.1% to 12.5%). Constant clusters were seen around the largest cities and in eastern Finland although seroprevalence rates were generally decreasing throughout the country. Conclusions: Only a few population-based serological studies have been undertaken on C trachomatis epidemiology over time. In Finland the seroprevalence of C trachomatis is decreasing all over the country, albeit with small clusters remaining.
High‐Resolution Intravital NADH Fluorescence Microscopy Allows Measurements of Tissue Bioenergetics in Rat Ileal Mucosa

Objectives: NADH fluorescence microscopy has been used as an index of the metabolic state of tissue but is associated with various obstacles such as low spatial resolution and quenching effects of blood pigments that prevent reliable monitoring of tissue bioenergetics. The objective of this study was to develop a system to monitor tissue bioenergetics in vivo using NADH fluorescence microscopy in the rat ileal mucosa.
Noninvasive visualization of coronary arteries using contrast-enhanced multidetector CT: influence of heart rate on image quality and stenosis detection.

OBJECTIVE Although multidetector CT (MDCT) with retrospectively ECG-gated image reconstruction has been shown to permit noninvasive visualization of the coronary arteries, the 125-250 msec required for image acquisition frequently causes motion artifacts. We investigated the influence of a patient's heart rate on the presence of motion artifacts and on accuracy of stenosis detection on contrast-enhanced MDCT. MATERIALS AND METHODS In 100 patients, MDCT was performed, and ECG-gated cross-sectional images were retrospectively reconstructed. From the 10 data sets obtained for each patient (reconstructed at 0-90% of the cardiac cycle in increments of 10%), we chose the best data set for every coronary artery. The images of the arteries were evaluated for occurrence of artifacts and the presence of high-grade stenosis (diameter reduction exceeding 70%) or occlusions. MDCT results were compared with coronary angiographic findings. RESULTS Of the 400 coronary arteries, 115 (29%) could not be evaluated because of motion artifacts (n = 84) or other reasons (n = 31). Overall, 51 (49%) of 104 stenoses were revealed on MDCT. For detecting stenosis in those arteries that we could evaluate, MDCT had a sensitivity of 91% (51 of 56 stenoses detected) and a specificity of 89%. As the heart rate increased, the number of arteries that could be evaluated decreased, and overall sensitivity for stenosis detection decreased from 62% (heart rate < or = 70 beats per minute) to 33% (heart rate > 70 beats per minute). CONCLUSION MDCT can reveal coronary stenoses, but the usefulness of MDCT as an aid in accurately evaluating stenoses decreases as a patient's heart rate increases.
Whole‐body magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy

Introduction: Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is a hereditary disorder that causes progressive muscle wasting. Increasing knowledge of the pathophysiology of FSHD has stimulated interest in developing biomarkers of disease severity. Methods: Two groups of MRI scans were analyzed: whole‐body scans from 13 subjects with FSHD; and upper and lower extremity scans from 34 subjects with FSHD who participated in the MYO‐029 clinical trial. Muscles were scored for fat infiltration and edema‐like changes. Fat infiltration scores were compared with muscle strength and function. Results: The analysis revealed a distinctive pattern of both frequent muscle involvement and frequent sparing in FSHD. Averaged fat infiltration scores for muscle groups in the legs correlated with quantitative muscle strength and 10‐meter walk times. Conclusions: Advances in MRI technology allow for acquisition of rapid, high‐quality, whole‐body imaging in diffuse muscle disease. This technique offers a promising disease biomarker in FSHD and other muscle diseases. Muscle Nerve 52: 512–520, 2015
Experimental Comparison of Digital Implementations of Single-Phase PFC Controllers

This paper presents the design and the digital implementation of three controllers for a single-phase power factor corrector (PFC). Based on an averaged system model, an adaptive nonlinear control strategy is first designed, followed by a digital redesign of the standard cascaded linear controller and a notch-filter-based variant. All three controllers have been verified via simulation in Simulink using a continuous time plant model and a discrete time controller. Real-time implementation is performed on an experimental testbed utilizing a rapid prototyping tool. The three controllers are experimentally compared for steady-state performance and transient response. It is shown that the nonlinear controller gives a better steady-state performance, whereas the linear strategy and the notch-filter-based variant have a faster dynamic response. Furthermore, although the notch-filter-based linear design shows promise in simulation, practical difficulties degrade its experimental performance. Performance metrics are tabulated for easy comparison.
Functional Consequences of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapy: Myocardial ATP Turnover Rate in the In Vivo Swine Heart With Postinfarction Remodeling

Background— The use of cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells as cellular therapy for myocardial injury has yet to be examined in a large-animal model. Methods and Results— Immunosuppressed Yorkshire pigs were assigned to 1 of 3 groups: A myocardial infarction group (MI group; distal left anterior descending coronary artery ligation and reperfusion; n=13); a cell-treatment group (MI with 4×106 vascular cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells administered via a fibrin patch; n=14); and a normal group (n=15). At 4 weeks, left ventricular structural and functional abnormalities were less pronounced in hearts in the cell-treated group than in MI hearts (P<0.05), and these improvements were accompanied by declines in scar size (10.4±1.6% versus 8.3±1.1%, MI versus cell-treatment group, P<0.05). The cell-treated group displayed a significant increase in vascular density and blood flow (0.83±0.11 and 1.05±0.13 mL·min−1·g−1, MI versus cell-treatment group, P<0.05) in the periscar border zone (BZ), which was accompanied by improvements in systolic thickening fractions (infarct zone, −10±7% versus 5±5%; BZ, 7±4% versus 23±6%; P<0.05). Transplantation of vascular cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells stimulated c-kit+ cell recruitment to BZ and the rate of bromodeoxyuridine incorporation in both c-kit+ cells and cardiomyocytes (P<0.05). Using a magnetic resonance spectroscopic saturation transfer technique, we found that the rate of ATP hydrolysis in BZ of MI hearts was severely reduced, and the severity of this reduction was linearly related to the severity of the elevations of wall stresses (r=0.82, P<0.05). This decline in BZ ATP utilization was markedly attenuated in the cell-treatment group. Conclusions— Transplantation of vascular cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells mobilized endogenous progenitor cells into the BZ, attenuated regional wall stress, stimulated neovascularization, and improved BZ perfusion, which in turn resulted in marked increases in BZ contractile function and ATP turnover rate.
The Causal Role of Alcohol Use in Adolescent Externalizing and Internalizing Problems: A Mendelian Randomization Study

BACKGROUND The co-occurrence of alcohol use and externalizing/internalizing problems threatens adolescents' mental health. Research on whether alcohol use and these problems are causal and the direction of the potential causal relationships is needed to understand the mechanisms of the co-occurrence. METHODS A Mendelian randomization analysis was conducted in which the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) rs671 polymorphism was used as an instrumental variable for alcohol use phenotypes. In total, 1,608 Chinese adolescents (mean age 14.11 ± 1.83 years) were genotyped for the ALDH2 rs671 polymorphism. Three externalizing problems (aggression, delinquency, and attention problems) were measured with the Youth Self-Report inventory, and 2 internalizing problems (depression and anxiety) were measured with the self-reported Children's Depression Inventory and the Trait subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. RESULTS Alcohol use was positively associated with all 3 externalizing and 2 internalizing problems, and the ALDH2 polymorphism had a significant effect on alcohol use. Aggression and attention problems were also significantly affected by the ALDH2 polymorphism, whereas no significant association was observed between the ALDH2 polymorphism and delinquency, anxiety, or depression. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that alcohol use is a cause of adolescent aggression and attention problems but not adolescent delinquency, anxiety, or depression.
A two-color acid-free cartilage and bone stain for zebrafish larvae

Traditionally, cartilage is stained by alcian blue using acidic conditions to differentiate tissue staining. The acidic conditions are problematic when one wishes to stain the same specimen for mineralized bone with alizarin red, because acid demineralizes bone, which negatively affects bone staining. We have developed an acid-free method to stain cartilage and bone simultaneously in zebrafish larvae. This method has the additional advantage that PCR genotyping of stained specimens is possible.
The Role of Caregivers in Physical Activity for Older Adults With Alzheimer’s Disease

This study examined the determinants of physical activity (PA) for older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to learn more about how to promote PA in this population. Caregivers of older adults with AD (N = 99) provided information related to care recipient’s PA, as well as addressed sociodemographics and perceptions about their care recipient’s PA. Gender of care recipient was a significant predictor of PA (β = .80, P < .05); men with AD participated in more PA than women with AD. Also, caregiver's outcome expectation for care recipient's PA also predicted more PA (β = .82, P < .05). Caregiver’s perceived benefits of PA (outcome expectation) for their care recipient partially mediated the relationship between self-efficacy for care recipient’s PA and the reported levels of PA for the care recipient. This study demonstrated the importance of caregiver perceptions about care recipient’s PA.
Time-Optimal Trajectory Planning of Cable-Driven Parallel Mechanisms for Fully Specified Paths With G1-Discontinuities

Time-optimal trajectory planning (TOTP) is a well-studied problem in robotics and manufacturing, which involves the minimization of the time required for the operation point of a mechanism to follow a path, subject to a set of constraints. A TOTP technique, designed for fully specified paths that include abrupt changes in direction, was previously introduced by the first author of this paper: an incremental approach called minimum-time trajectory shaping (MTTS) was used. In the current paper, MTTS is converted to a dynamic technique and adapted for use with cable-driven parallel robots, which exhibit cable tension and motor torque constraints. For many applications, cable tensions along a path are verified after trajectory generation, rather than imposed during trajectory generation. For the technique proposed in this paper, the cable-tension constraints are imposed directly and fully integrated with MTTS, during trajectory generation, thus maintaining a time-optimal solution. MTTS is applied to a test system and path, and compared to the bang–bang technique. With the same constraints, the results obtained with both techniques are found to be very close. However, MTTS can be applied to a wider variety of paths, and accepts constraints on jerk and total acceleration that would be difficult to apply using the bang–bang approach.
High power factor modular polyphase AC/DC converters with galvanic isolation based on Resistor Emulators

This paper deals with a modular, isolated-output, polyphase, AC/DC converter based on the use of Resistor Emulators (REs). A RE is a DC/DC converter that behaves as a resistor at its input port. The value of this resistor (input impedance) is controlled by the converter duty cycle. In the proposed topology, all the REs are controlled to have the same input impedance, whose value is determined by the output-voltage feedback loop. Also the power processed by each RE is the same. As a consequence, the total power is distributed (and also the power losses), thus allowing us to build a modular system. Moreover, the behavior of these DC/DC converters as REs also allows their connection in series and/or in parallel with perfect sharing of voltage (when connected in series) and current (when connected in parallel). This fact makes possible to extend the proposed solution to high power applications.
Are larger organizations more efficient and strategically stronger? A crosssectional and longitudinal research into Dutch housing corporations

There is only limited research on the relation between the scale of operation of organizations and their efficiency. Moreover, the research methods used are coarse. The relation between scale of operation and strategic position has not been subject of systematic research at all. In this article, a sophisticated, theory-based method is developed to assess the relation between the scale of operation of organizations and their efficiency and strategic position. The method is applied to the sector of housing corporations in the Netherlands. Although the optimal scale of operation appears to be larger for efficiency than for strategic position, housing corporations have grown far beyond both optimal scales.
Proceedings of the Twelfth Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning

The 2008 Conference on Computational Natural Language Learning is the twelfth in the series of yearly meetings organized by SIGNLL, the ACL special interest group on natural language learning. CoNLL 2008 will be held in Manchester, UK, August 16-17, 2008, in conjunction with Coling 2008. We are delighted to report that CoNLL's main session received a large number of submissions. A total of 85 papers were under consideration for the main session after several withdrawals, and of them only 20 were accepted. This makes this year's CoNLL especially competitive and contributes to an interesting program. We are grateful to the program committee members for their service in evaluating the submissions. Special thanks to the program committee members who joined on a short notice to help with the larger than expected number of submissions. This year CoNLL had two special themes of interest, both of which solicited papers on models that explain natural phenomena relating to human language. The first concerned the central scientific problem addressed by CoNLL: the study of first language acquisition. The second theme was the central engineering problem: how to build systems that do something useful, especially complete systems that solve real problems.
Developing High-Frequency Foreign Exchange Trading Systems

The foreign exchange (FX) spot markets are well suited to high frequency trading. They are highly liquid, allow leverage, and trade 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. This paper documents and tests the stylized facts known about high-frequency FX markets. It then postulates a high frequency trading system on the basis of these stylized facts. Benchmarking confirms the robustness of the approach, demonstrating the role algorithmic trading has to play in higher frequency trading environments.
Gain Compression and Linewidth Enhancement Factor in Mid-IR Quantum Cascade Lasers

We have observed and quantified the adiabatic and transient chirp in a directly modulated quantum cascade laser (QCL). Those wavelength tuning effects are well-characterized in diode lasers, and the rate equation model that successfully describe the diode laser behavior also provides an excellent fit for the QCL data. In this study, we have extracted the linewidth enhancement factor (αH) from the transient chirp and the gain compression factor from the adiabatic chirp. We postulate that the extraction of the αH from the transient chirp is valid for the QCL case, despite additional tuning effects in QCLs (e.g., voltage tuning) that are negligible in diode lasers. Also in the QCL the adiabatic chirp coefficient strongly increases with laser output power but still stays an order of magnitude below typical values known from diode lasers. We hypotesize possibility of the adiabatic chirp to be connected to the χ(3) nonlinearity (responsible for four-wave mixing that was recently attributed to the FM self-locking in QCLs), but the exact origin remains to be experimentally confirmed in future work.
IP Onetime-Password Authentication Scheme over Insecure Data Channel

In this paper, we propose an IP onetime-password authentication scheme over insecure data channel, for resource access control at an edge router. We assume a master secret key is pre-established between a legitimate end-host and an edge router. Prior to data transfer, a four-message-handshake scheme for setup is applied over insecure data channel, through which a legitimate end-host communicates the commitment of a one-way key chain (i.e., the first key) with the ISP edge router. The legitimate end-host then uses the keys of the key chain as the onetime-passwords in the order reverse to the generation of these keys. The edge router, knowing the correct sequence of the valid onetime-passwords, verifies the received onetime-passwords and denies undesirable traffic to access the reserved network. The authentication scheme of IP onetime-password is secure even if an attacker can temper with and eavesdrop on the communication between end-host and edge router
Exploring the cognitive costs and benefits of using multiple-view visualisations

Multiple-view visualisations offer several advantages, such as providing different perspectives on the data. However, there are also associated cognitive costs, including the load on working memory and the effort required for comparison. Furthermore, little perception-based research has been conducted, with few answers to questions such as what tasks multiple views are best used for. Since task performance can be limited by visual attention and working memory, this article investigates how different tasks and their respective loads on attention and working memory affect the usability of two different multiple-view visualisations, namely sequential and simultaneous views. In Study 1, the effects when attention was loaded were studied, where users performed a real-time monitoring task. The results suggest that the divided attention problem was an issue with both view types, but design issues apparent with the simultaneous view were not issues with the sequential view. In Study 2, the effects when working memory was loaded were studied, where users made comparisons of different object sets. The results support the previous work on visual- and memory-based comparisons, i.e. the simultaneous view was more useful than the sequential view. The outcomes from both studies illustrate the importance of understanding how different tasks and their impact on attention and working memory can influence the usability of multiple-view visualisations.