Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Contribution à la caractérisation des images par transformée polynomiale : application à l'indexation des images et des vidéos

Ce travail de these porte sur l'indexation d'images et de videos, basee sur l'extraction de primitives. Dans ce cadre, nous nous sommes interesses aux differentes transformees construites a partir de polynomes, et plus particulierement aux transformees de Hermite et de Laguerre (construites a partir des polynomes de Hermite et de Laguerre). Notre approche fait une place importante a la perception visuelle humaine par le choix de la transformee de Hermite, puisqu'un certain nombre d'etudes ont montre de grandes similitudes entre le fonctionnement de la vision humaine (perception, filtrages, choix des informations importantes. . . ) et les grandeurs mises en evidence par cette transformee. Par ailleurs, la dimension temporelle de la video est le plus souvent traitee au meme titre et avec les memes outils que les deux dimensions spatiales. Il nous a paru interessant de faire une distinction a ce niveau puisque le temps et l'espace different au moins sur un aspect important: la causalite. Cette distinction a ete faite par le choix de polynomes differents pour l'espace et pour le temps. Pour cela, nous avons choisi la transformee de Laguerre, construite a partir des polynomes de Laguerre, pour le traitement de la dimension temporelle. Dans un premier temps, nous presentons une analyse theorique des filtres de Hermite et leurs liens avec les filtres de Gabor comme modeles du systeme visuel humain. Ensuite, dans le cadre de l'indexation d'images, nous nous sommes interesses plus particulierement a la texture et a l'extraction de ses caracteristiques par filtrage. Dans cette demarche, et afin d'ameliorer la discrimination des caracteristiques de texture resultant de l'application de ces filtres, nous proposons le banc de filtres de Hermite type Gabor. Ceux-ci ont la meme structure que les filtres de Hermite mais avec une decomposition frequentielle similaire a celle des filtres de Gabor. Nous proposons ensuite deux approches, une globale et l'autre locale, pour l'indexation d'images texturees basee sur des mesures d'autocorrelation a la sortie des ces filtres. Enfin, dans le cadre des videos, nous proposons une approche d'indexation basee sur la combinaison d'informations spatiales et temporelles, extraites separement des sequences video. Dans la version spatiale, nous utilisons les filtres de Hermite et dans la version temporelle, les filtres de Laguerre qui preservent la causalite. Par integration des deux modeles, nous construisons un systeme d'indexation spatio-temporel.
Determinants of Customer Satisfaction and Willingness to Use Self-Service Kiosks in the Hotel Industry

As various industry adopted self-service kiosk (SSK) technology, the hospitality industry has implemented SSK in service procedure. However, what drives CS with SSKs has not been fully examined because the system is still new in the hotel industry. The purpose of this study was to identify how self-service kiosk (SSK) attributes like ease of use, speed of delivery, and monetary promotion affect customer satisfaction (CS) in hotel setting. The study also explored the association between CS and willingness to use an SSK in the future. The results of this study showed that ease of use and speed of delivery had a positive association with CS, but showed no significant relationship between monetary promotion and CS. In addition, CS was positively associated with the willingness to use SSKs in the future. The study contributes new knowledge about what drives CS with SSKs and, additionally, confirms the determinants needed to achieve successful CS with SSKs in hotel settings
Innervation of the pectoralis major muscle: anatomical study.

BACKGROUND Owing to the diverse application of the pectoralis major muscle (Pmaj) in reconstructive surgery, with special reference to its safe and functional transfer, a precise knowledge of its nerve supply becomes mandatory. The aim of the present study was to investigate its innervations. METHODS A total of 30 specimens of pectoral regions pertaining to 15 embalmed adult human cadavers, aged between 30 and 67 years (10 males, 5 females), were dissected in pursuit of this aim. RESULTS The proximal and the upper third of the distal segments of the muscle were constantly supplied by the ventral division, through medial and lateral branches, and the dorsal division of the lateral pectoral nerve, respectively. The ventral branches of either the pectoral loop (in 26/30 specimens) or the medial pectoral nerve (MPN) (4/30) penetrated the upper third of the pectoralis minor to supply the lower two-thirds of the distal segment of the Pmaj through 1 or 2 branches. Concomitantly, the dorsal branch of either the MPN (26/30) or the pectoral loop (4/30) supplied the posterior limb of its tendon. The fourth intercostal nerve participated in the inferolateral muscle supply (4/30). CONCLUSIONS The muscle is mainly innervated by the lateral pectoral nerve supplemented by the branches of the MPN. The proximal segment, having a separate nerve, allows its functional transfer. Care should be practiced whenever the distal segment is to be harvested, because of having multiple nerves.
The Role of Transformational Leader in Developing Knowledge Culture in Public Sector Hospitals

The study emphasizes on the role of transformational leader in developing a culture of knowledge sharing in public sector hospitals. Transformational leaders may become the source of inspiration and serve as role models for organizational members to share their valuable knowledge with others. The leaders are unable to develop an organizational culture where there is trust among organizational members to share their valued knowledge with each other. However, it is needed to know that whether a cause and effect relationship exists among transformational leader and knowledge sharing. The implication of the present study is the result of the dangerous nature of the problem that confronts not only some hospitals, but whole health sector and indeed countries as a whole. The present study helps in developing a trust based organizational culture where employees feel free to share their worthwhile knowledge. By sharing knowledge, the performance of the hospitals can also be enhanced and patient care becomes easier.
SOC Estimation of Lithium Battery Based on ELM-CKF Algorithm

For the problem of low accuracy of lithium battery state of charge (SOC) estimation by a single algorithm, this paper proposes an algorithm combining extreme learning machine (ELM) and cubature Kalman filter (CKF). By dynamically tracking the Thevenin equivalent circuit model parameters by recursive least squares (RLS), the initial estimate of SOC is obtained by the CKF algorithm. The battery operating voltage and current are used as input, corresponding to the estimation error of the CKF algorithm as output, using the ELM algorithm to build an error prediction model based on data-driven. Then the output of the ELM error prediction model is used to compensate for SOC initial estimation value to achieve the purpose of reducing the estimation error. The simulation results show that the proposed ELM-CKF algorithm effectively improves the SOC estimation accuracy compared with the CKF algorithm.
Poor outcome reporting in medical research; building practice on spoilt grounds.

Published medical literature forms an ever-expanding web of information, available to patients, clinicians and all healthcare providers in everyday practice. Data from some of these publications, especially from high-impact journals, may be used to guide therapeutic decisions. Moreover, these data will be used for future studies’ design, such as for sample size calculations based on previously published size effects (1) or for conducting systematic reviews and metaanalyses, that represent the highest level of evidence in Medical Research (2). Unfortunately, a growing volume of evidence suggests high rates of poor selection and reporting of research outcomes; the reasons are either inadequate formulation of the research question or deliberate selection of outcomes presented depending on their observed results (outcome reporting bias), but in any case this is a rather worrisome phenomenon that needs to be properly addressed in order to protect transparency and reliability of health care research.
Improved extreme value weighted sparse representational image denoising with random perturbation

Abstract. Research into the removal of mixed noise is a hot topic in the field of image denoising. Currently, weighted encoding with sparse nonlocal regularization represents an excellent mixed noise removal method. To make the fitting function closer to the requirements of a robust estimation technique, an extreme value technique is used that allows the fitting function to satisfy three conditions of robust estimation on a larger interval. Moreover, a random disturbance sequence is integrated into the denoising model to prevent the iterative solving process from falling into local optima. A radon transform-based noise detection algorithm and an adaptive median filter are used to obtain a high-quality initial solution for the iterative procedure of the image denoising model. Experimental results indicate that this improved method efficiently enhances the weighted encoding with a sparse nonlocal regularization model. The proposed method can effectively remove mixed noise from corrupted images, while better preserving the edges and details of the processed image.
Indeterminate ovarian mass at US: incremental value of second imaging test for characterization--meta-analysis and Bayesian analysis.

PURPOSE To compare value of current diagnostic strategies in assessment of changes in posttest probability of ovarian cancer when menopausal status and combination and sequence of diagnostic imaging tests are considered. MATERIALS AND METHODS Prevalence of ovarian cancer according to menopausal status in women with an ovarian mass and performance of combined gray-scale and Doppler ultrasonography (US), computed tomography (CT), and non-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and contrast material-enhanced MR imaging after indeterminate results at gray-scale US were derived from meta-analysis by using MEDLINE database and institutional data. Study was approved by the institutional review board of University Hospital Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; informed consent was waived. Posttest probability values were computed through Bayesian analysis and Monte Carlo simulation after initial gray-scale US and secondary combined gray-scale and Doppler US, CT, or MR imaging, while dependence of test results among imaging modalities was considered. Changes in posttest probability were compared among imaging modalities with summary receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS Prevalence of ovarian cancer was 8.75% in premenopausal women and 32.40% in postmenopausal women with an ovarian mass. After characterization with initial gray-scale US, posttest probability in pre- and postmenopausal women changed, respectively, to 25% and 63% for indeterminate results and to 2% and 7% for benign results. Subsequent use of combined gray-scale and Doppler US, CT, or MR imaging had significant higher positive and lower negative posttest probability than did use of gray-scale US alone. In women with an indeterminate initial US result, posttest probability decreased after secondary testing with benign results for all imaging modalities to 2% in premenopausal women and to 8%-10% in postmenopausal women. After secondary testing for suspicious lesions, posttest probability increased more after non-enhanced (premenopausal women, 70%; postmenopausal women, 92%) or contrast-enhanced MR imaging (premenopausal women, 80%; postmenopausal women, 95%) than it did after combined gray-scale and Doppler US (premenopausal women, 30%; postmenopausal women, 69%) or CT (premenopausal women, 38%; postmenopausal women, 76%) (P < .001). CONCLUSION In women with an indeterminate ovarian mass at gray-scale US, MR imaging results contributed to change in probability of ovarian cancer in both pre- and postmenopausal women more than did CT or combined gray-scale and Doppler US results.
Web Information Retrieval For Gold and Silver Prices : A Design of A Wrapper Program

This paper presents a research on information retrieval for gold prices that intends to help users to get the information easily from the Internet. In gold trading, users usually visit more than a website to get information and compare the prices. Comparing prices from the individual websites is a timeconsuming job because each website presents a lot of information about the respective companies as well as their products. Hence, users have to spend a lot of time eliminating unnecessary information. In information retrieval, users usually perform tasks like searching, filtering and organizing information in the Internet. The tasks can be automated by a program called wrapper. This research proposes a wrapper model that has been demonstrated in a mobile application called Gold-Trader Application (GTA). The application provides information about gold and silver prices to sellers and buyers. It helps the users to compare the prices from multiple traders more effectively. A usability evaluation on GTA was carried out and presented in this paper.
Propofol‐induced Increase in Vascular Capacitance Is Due to Inhibition of Sympathetic Vasoconstrictive Activity

Background Venodilation is thought to be one of the mechanisms underlying propofol‐induced hypotension. The purpose of this study is to test two hypotheses: (1) propofol increases systemic vascular capacitance, and (2) the capacitance change produced by propofol is a result of an inhibition of sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity. Methods In 33 Wistar rats previously anesthetized with urethane and ketamine, vascular capacitance was examined before and after propofol infusion by measuring mean circulatory filling pressure (Pmcf). The P (mcf) was measured during a brief period of circulatory arrest produced by inflating an indwelling balloon in the right atrium. Rats were assigned into four groups: an intact group, a sympathetic nervous system (SNS)‐block group produced by hexamethonium infusion, a SNS‐block + noradrenaline (NA) group, and a hypovolemic group. The Pmcf was measured at a control state and 2 min after a bolus administration of 2, 10, and 20 mg/kg of propofol. Results The mean arterial pressure (MAP) was decreased by propofol dose‐dependently in intact, hypovolemic, and SNS‐block groups, but the decrease in MAP was less in the SNS‐block group (‐25%) than in the intact (‐50%) and hypovolemic (‐61%) groups. In the SNS‐block + NA group, MAP decreased only at 20 mg/kg of propofol (‐18%). The Pmcf decreased in intact and hypovolemic groups in a dose‐dependent fashion but was unchanged in the SNS‐block and SNS‐block + NA groups. Conclusions The results have provided two principal findings: (1) propofol decreases Pmcf dose‐dependently, and (2) the decrease in Pmcf by propofol is elicited only when the sympathetic nervous system is intact, suggesting that propofol increases systemic vascular capacitance as a result of an inhibition of sympathetic nervous system.
Antidiabetic drugs “ gliptins ” affect biofilm formation by the cariogenic bacterium Streptococcus mutans through inhibition of the bacterial DPP IV-like enzyme

Arpan De, Arianna Pompilio, Jenifer Francis, Iain C. Sutcliffe, Gary W. Black, Giulio Lupidi, Dezemona Petrelli, Luca A. Vitali* Authors’ affiliation 1. School of Pharmacy, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy. 2. Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, School of Medicine, "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara 3. Center of Excellence on Ageing, "G. d'Annunzio" University Foundation, Chieti. 4. Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK 5. School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Camerino, Italy.
Differential stability of the bovine prion protein upon urea unfolding

Prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are a group of infectious neurological diseases associated with the structural conversion of an endogenous protein (PrP) in the central nervous system. There are two major forms of this protein: the native and noninfectious cellular form, PrPC; and the misfolded, infectious, and proteinase K‐resistant form, PrPSc. The C‐terminal domain of PrPC is mainly α‐helical in structure, whereas PrPSc in known to aggregate into an assembly of β‐sheets, forming amyloid fibrils. To identify the regions of PrPC potentially involved in the initial steps of the conversion to the infectious conformation, we have used high‐resolution NMR spectroscopy to characterize the stability and structure of bovine recombinant PrPC (residues 121 to 230) during unfolding with the denaturant urea. Analysis of the 800 MHz 1H NMR spectra reveals region‐specific information about the structural changes occurring upon unfolding. Our data suggest that the dissociation of the native β‐sheet of PrPC is a primary step in the urea‐induced unfolding process, while strong hydrophobic interactions between helices α1 and α3, and between α2 and α3, stabilize these regions even at very high concentrations of urea.
Usefulness of the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales

In 1992 the government published its strategy for the health of the nation. For mental health there were three key aims: to reduce the suicide rate of the mentally ill by 33%. to decrease the overall suicide rate by 15% by the year 2000, and also "to improve significantly the health and social function of mentally ill people". While the firsr two aims were quantifiable, the third was left deliberately vague, possibly because baseline levels of health and social W o n of the mentally ill were unknown. At the same time, the governmentalso ushered in a series of hastily thoughtaut market reforms, and introduced the purchaser-provider split with its emphasis on contracts, money and cost containment, and closed down more beds than the system could bear. Possibly as a way of monitoring this self-inflicted damage, as well as to obtain some baseline national data on psychiatric disorder, it was felt necessary to develop new and better measures of outcome. As Epstein (1990) remarked, whenever financial considerations assume central importance, there is pressure on administrators and purchasers to have simple numerical measures of outcome and so help justify their expenditure. Few clinicians at the time were clamouring for new rating scales, but the only other readily available information was relatively meaningless activity data such as the length of stay, bed occupancy and the number of full consultant episodes. In the National Health Service (NHS) there is no easy access to information concerning symptoms or social function, although a myriad of detailed research inventories are described in the literature. A gap existed for a simple scale to measure key areas of mental health and social function, which would be suitable for routine use in the NHS. The quest for this holy grail is certainly not new, and other scales such as the Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) (Guy, 1976), and
Transcription of Y‐ and X‐linked genes in preimplantation ovine embryos

Because male ovine embryos develop faster than female embryos, the transcription of SRY and ZFY, two genes located on the Y chromosome, was examined in preimplantation stages using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). RNA was extracted from pools of ovine embryos matured and fertilized in vitro then cultured in synthetic oviduct fluid medium and recovered from 24 to 207 hr post‐insemination (two‐cell up to hatched blastocyst stage). Since primers used to amplify ZFY also amplify the homologue ZFX, located on the X chromosome, transcripts were differentiated by digestion with restriction enzymes. ZFY and ZFX transcripts were present in all stages examined following RT‐PCR, whereas transcripts for SRY were undetectable in all investigated stages following either RT nested PCR or Southern analysis. The presence of ZFY transcripts suggests that Y chromosome is transcriptionally active during early ovine preimplantation development. The possible relationship between a faster growth of male embryos and the transcription of Y‐linked genes at early stages of development is discussed. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Role of HR in organizational Culture and Knowledge Management

Organizations are confronted with complex mega trends characterized by rapid technological disruption, social engagement model that has heightened increased expectations for social responsibility, ethics, environmental sensitivity, diversity and inclusion to integrate sub cultures, accountability and transparency, competition, sophisticated customer profiles, and global markets.The creation of global consumer, branding and financial markets and the need to develop agile business models to deliver high quality products and services place enormous pressure on organizations to secure and sustain a competitive advantage. In achieving competitiveness knowledge has become very significant for organizations more than financial resources, market position, technology or any other company asset (Schwandt &Marquadt, 2000, p 10). The HR function is responsible for providing leadership to ensure the organization attracts, motivates and retains the best talent while serving as the guardian of organizational values to facilitate knowledge creation.
Stock Market Trend Analyzer

- The million-dollar question for stock investors is if the price of a stock will rise or not. The fluctuation of the stock market is violent and there are many complicated financial indicators. This topic has always attracted interest of researchers from different fields. Numerous studies have been conducted in the stock market to predict trends using machine learning algorithms such as Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Reinforcement learning. The prediction of a stock's future price will maximize investors' gains. In this project, we propose a machine learning prediction model that will predict stock prices. We have used Logistic Regression and Random Forest machine learning algorithms that exploit the relation between articles about stocks and stocks prices on a given day to predict the trend (UP/Down) and stock price for future. We combined results from sentiment analysis performed on various articles with historical data to form the input dataset.