Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrodermal responses to discrete stimuli measured by skin conductance, skin potential, and skin susceptance

Presently, electrodermal activity (EDA) is the preferred term for changes in electrical properties of the skin. Change in the skin conductance responses (SCRs) and skin potential responses (SPRs) due to external stimuli have previously been investigated in a number of studies, but very little for skin susceptance responses (SSRs) recorded simultaneously at the same skin site. This study aimed to investigate the association between the three parameters of EDA, skin conductance (SC), skin potential (SP), and skin susceptance (SS) responses generated by different types of psychological stimuli.
Binarity in Cool Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars: A GALEX Search for Ultraviolet Excesses

The search for binarity in AGB stars is of critical importance for our understanding of how planetary nebulae acquire the dazzling variety of aspherical shapes which characterizes this class. However, detecting binary companions in such stars has been severely hampered due to their extreme luminosities and pulsations. We have carried out a small imaging survey of AGB stars in ultraviolet light (using GALEX), where these cool objects are very faint, in order to search for hotter companions. We report the discovery of significant far-ultraviolet excesses toward nine of these stars. The far-ultraviolet excess most likely results either directly from the presence of a hot binary companion or indirectly from a hot accretion disk around the companion.
Aligning RGB-D Point Clouds through Adaptive Integration of Color and Depth Cues

One of the most important tasks in building environment maps with partial information is to find a good alignment between pairs of point clouds representing consecutive frames. RANSAC and ICP are widely used algorithms to align pairs of frames: the former finds an initial transformation which is refined by the latter. Decreasing the alignment error in the first step can reduce the computational cost in the subsequent step. A robot with a RGB-D camera navigating indoors can come across scenes under different conditions. When the environment presents a high degree of image texture and low degree of structure, better results are achieved using only color images. Otherwise, depth information is better suited. In this paper, we contribute a new adaptive technique for the effective integration of color and depth information in two consecutive frames in the alignment process. Our proposal provides automatic means to weigh the relevance of each type of information depending on the visual texture and structure of the scene.
Public knowledge and concern about polar-region warming

In 2006 and 2010, before and after the International Polar Year, the General Social Survey asked cross-sections of the US public for their knowledge and opinions about polar regions. The opinion items sought respondents’ levels of concern about global warming in polar regions, and whether they favored opening Antarctica for development or reserving it for science. Polar knowledge scores show significant improvement from 2006 to 2010, while general science literacy scores and opinions remain largely unchanged. Regression of concern and Antarctic items on background characteristics, ideology, education and the two knowledge tests finds that ideology and knowledge have the most consistent effects. Conservative ideology negatively predicts all six concern items and supports for reserving the Antarctic. Polar knowledge exhibits a positive effect on most of the concern items and on support for reserving the Antarctic. General science knowledge has mainly positive effects on concern and Antarctic opinions as well, but its effects are moderated by ideology. These findings support two contrasting but not mutually exclusive views about the role of information: that more science information generally leads to greater concern about environmental changes, or greater support for science; but also that some informed but strongly ideological respondents acquire information selectively in ways that reinforce their existing beliefs.
ToppGene Suite for gene list enrichment analysis and candidate gene prioritization

ToppGene Suite (http://toppgene.cchmc.org; this web site is free and open to all users and does not require a login to access) is a one-stop portal for (i) gene list functional enrichment, (ii) candidate gene prioritization using either functional annotations or network analysis and (iii) identification and prioritization of novel disease candidate genes in the interactome. Functional annotation-based disease candidate gene prioritization uses a fuzzy-based similarity measure to compute the similarity between any two genes based on semantic annotations. The similarity scores from individual features are combined into an overall score using statistical meta-analysis. A P-value of each annotation of a test gene is derived by random sampling of the whole genome. The protein–protein interaction network (PPIN)-based disease candidate gene prioritization uses social and Web networks analysis algorithms (extended versions of the PageRank and HITS algorithms, and the K-Step Markov method). We demonstrate the utility of ToppGene Suite using 20 recently reported GWAS-based gene–disease associations (including novel disease genes) representing five diseases. ToppGene ranked 19 of 20 (95%) candidate genes within the top 20%, while ToppNet ranked 12 of 16 (75%) candidate genes among the top 20%.
Spectroscopic and molecular docking studies on the interaction of Pd(II) & Co(II) Schiff base complexes with β-lactoglobulin as a carrier protein

The milk is one of the most popular and of course the most essential beverage. This food source is rich of proteins, vitamins, and the other necessary ions for body healthy. The protein part of milk is contained of casein (78.3%), whey proteins (19%) and the other proteins (2.7%). Whey proteins are significantly used in the food and pharmaceutical industry due to their high nutritional value and excellent functional properties. The most important and abundant part of whey proteins is betalactoglobulin (BLG) with molecular weight of 18.400 Da (Papiz et al., 1986). This globular protein is contained of 162 amino acids that they are folded in structure including one α-helix, nine antiparallel β-strand with eight β-sheet forming a cone barrel shape with a hydrophobic pocket. This hydrophobic pocket is known as calyx and it is a very convenient location for binding ligands and drugs with very low solubility in water. Generally, BLG has three binding sites for suchlike ligands. Results of previous studies show that vast range of hydrophobic molecules such as fatty acids, cholesterol, porphyrin, bilirubin, aromatic hydrocarbons, vitamin D3, anticancer, and chemotherapy drugs can bind to BLG for transporting in body. Also, BLG is known as a carrier protein with controlled release ability (Reddy, Kella, & Kinsella, 1988). On the other hand, finding novel compounds with therapeutic properties, especially anticancer compounds, for binding to carrier proteins has biological and pharmacological importance (Hosainzadeh, Gharanfoli, Saberi, & Chamani, 2012; Moghaddam, Pirouzi, Saberi, & Chamani, 2014; Omidvar, Asoodeh, & Chamani, 2013; Omidvar et al., 2011). Recently, attention to synthesis of metalbased drugs has been enhanced. Schiff-bases are compounds with imine (C=N) functional group, which are formed from condensation reaction between aldehyde and amine. Researchers have focused on these compounds due to their biological aspects like antifungal, antitumor, antiviral, antioxidant, and so on (da Silva et al., 2011). Biochemists believe that the existence of imine group in Schiff-bases ligands is responsible for these biological effects. Also, the metal ions play important role in pharmaceutical properties of these low water soluble compounds, e.g. importance of Co(II) in vitamin B12 or Pd(II) role in anticancer and antitumor agents. With consideration the above-mentioned points, studying on the interaction of Schiff-base metal complexes and carrier proteins is very attractive for researches. In this study we investigated the interaction of PdL2 and CoL2 Schiff-base complexes which are synthesized from condensation reaction of salicylaldehyde and tertbutylamine (Scheme S1), (these complexes are prepared and characterized in our research group recently (Khorshidifard et al., 2015)) with BLG using UV–vis absorption, fluorescence spectroscopic, and molecular docking methods.
Statistical Reanalysis of Four Recent Randomized Trials of Acupuncture for Pain Using Analysis of Covariance

Objectives:Acupuncture has been promoted for the treatment of chronic pain. Though many randomized trials have been conducted, these have been criticized for deficiencies of methodology, acupuncture technique, and sample size. Somewhat less emphasis has been placed on methods of statistical analysis. This paper describes 4 recent randomized trials of acupuncture for musculoskeletal or headache pain. Each trial used statistical methods that did not adjust for baseline pain scores and were thus of suboptimal power. The objective of this study is to reanalyze the trials using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Methods:Raw data for the 4 trials were obtained from the original authors. Data were reanalyzed by ANCOVA. Results:For 2 trials—acupuncture versus placebo for chronic headache and acupuncture versus transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation for back pain—reanalysis did not change the conclusion of no difference between groups, but showed that clinically significant differences between groups could not ruled out. Reanalysis of a trial of acupuncture versus placebo for shoulder pain slightly strengthened the evidence of acupuncture effectiveness. Reanalysis of the fourth trial, which compared acupuncture to placebo acupuncture and massage for neck pain, reversed the results of the original paper: reanalysis found acupuncture to be effective and that its effectiveness could not be ascribed to a placebo effect. Discussion:Future trials of acupuncture and other modalities for pain should use efficient statistical methods. ANCOVA is more efficient than unadjusted analysis where used appropriately.
Place, space and materiality for pedagogy in a kindergarten

This study explores how kindergarten spaces and materiality can be vital for children’s exploration of participation and how the physical environment enables children to interact and position themselves in play and meaning making. Methodologically this study is based on ethnographic fieldwork with two groups of 2- to 5-year-old children in two Norwegian kindergartens. Place, space and materiality are analysed through a theoretical framework based on socio-cultural perspectives of learning and meaning making, aspects of power relations in play supported by Corsaro’s concept of children’s power-sharing relations and Bourdieu’s reflections on social fields as fields of force. The main findings of this study describe how kindergarten children create meaning and play within and outside of pedagogically staged spaces, and how materiality creates power relations and interplay with the actors involved.
Auditory features based on Gammatone filters for robust speech recognition

A major challenge for automatic speech recognition (ASR) relates to significant performance reduction in noisy environments. Recent research has shown that auditory features based on Gammatone filters are promising to improve robustness of ASR systems against noise, though the research is far from extensive and generalizability of the new features is unknown. This paper presents our implementation of the Gamma-tone filter-based feature and the experimental results on Mandarin speech data. By some thorough designs, we obtained significant performance gains with the new feature in various noise conditions when compared with the widely used MFCC and PLP features. A particular novelty of our implementation is that the filter design is purely in the time domain. This means that the channel signals are obtained with a set of Gammatone filters applied directly on the speech signals in time domain, which is totally different from the commonly adopted frequency-domain design that first converts signals to spectra and then applies the filter banks upon them. The time-domain implementation on the one hand avoids the approximation introduced by short-time spectral analysis and hence is more precise; and on the other hand, it avoids the complex spectral computation and hence simplifies hardware realization.
Structured reactive controllers and transformational planning for manufacturing

While current manufacturing systems are built to avoid uncertainty, the increase of setup reconfiguration frequency and ever higher numbers of variants produced on the same systems motivate the exploration of new approaches to manufacturing and manufacturing control. In this paper we discuss the application of plan based controllers and transformational planning in manufacturing. Autonomous control techniques are used to create flexible, robust and adaptive behaviour in the artificial intelligence community for about 20 years. In order to show the applicability and adequacy of plan based control in manufacturing, we examplify the approach in a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS). The experiments show that significant performance boosts are possible through transformational planning.
A New Waveform Design Method for Cognitive Radar

In cognitive radar system, how the transmitted waveform adapts in response to information regarding the radar environment is an important problem. In this paper, the waveform design for cognitive radar is viewed as an optimization problem. Then a new waveform design method for cognitive radar is proposed, which uses IPM (interior-point method) to carry out the optimization task. The simulation results demonstrate the validity of our algorithm.
Carotid Intima-media thickness in childhood and adolescent obesity relations to abdominal obesity, high triglyceride level and insulin resistance

Aim: To investigate risk factors which impact on common carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT). Methods: A total of 86 obese children and adolescents and 22 healthy children and adolescents with normal weight were enrolled. Moreover, 23 of 86 obese children and adolescents were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (MetS). The clinical, biochemical data and the IMT of the common carotid artery were measured in all subjects. Results: Obese and obese with MetS subjects demonstrated a significantly (p < 0.01) thicker intima media (0.69mm, 0.66mm) as compared to the control group (0.38mm), but there was no significant difference of IMT between obese and MetS group. IMT was correlated to body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, fasting insulin, homoeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein- cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and fatty liver. Waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, triglyceride and homoeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance were independent determinants of mean IMT level. Conclusion: Obesity especially abdominal obesity, high TG and insulin resistance may be the main risk predictors of increased IMT.
Effect of Comorbid Depression on Substance Use Disorders

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of depression on pattern of substance use disorders (SUDs). Consecutive samples of (200) Egyptian male SUD inpatients were examined over 1-year period. Study and control samples were chosen. Study group consisted of 30 patients with comorbid substance dependence and depression. Control group consisted of 30 substance-dependent patients without depression. Semistructured interviews, Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS), were applied. Comparison between both groups showed significant differences for prescribed opioid use (100% versus 86%), polysubstance use (73% versus 43%), frequency of suicidal attempts (86% versus 43%), mean of admissions to substance use treatment (SUT) units (5 versus 2.2), mean of abstinence periods (3.8 versus 1.2); study group showed greater medical status impairment (P = .05), social and psychiatric impairment (P = .01). It was concluded that depression might affect SUD as regards type of substance used, pattern of use, suicide rate, duration of hospitalization, rate of rehospitalization, and finally medical, social, and psychiatric status impairment.
The Role of MDM2 in Promoting Genome Stability versus Instability

In cancer, the mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) is an oncoprotein that contributes to the promotion of cell growth, survival, invasion, and therapeutic resistance. The impact of MDM2 on cell survival versus cell death is complex and dependent on levels of MDM2 isoforms, p53 status, and cellular context. Extensive investigations have demonstrated that MDM2 protein–protein interactions with p53 and other p53 family members (p63 and p73) block their ability to function as transcription factors that regulate cell growth and survival. Upon genotoxic insults, a dynamic and intricately regulated DNA damage response circuitry is activated leading to release of p53 from MDM2 and activation of cell cycle arrest. What ensues following DNA damage, depends on the extent of DNA damage and if the cell has sufficient DNA repair capacity. The well-known auto-regulatory loop between p53-MDM2 provides an additional layer of control as the cell either repairs DNA damage and survives (i.e., MDM2 re-engages with p53), or undergoes cell death (i.e., MDM2 does not re-engage p53). Furthermore, the decision to live or die is also influenced by chromatin-localized MDM2 which directly interacts with the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 complex and inhibits DNA damage-sensing giving rise to the potential for increased genome instability and cellular transformation.
Blood pulse is an important human physiological signal commonly used for the understanding of the individual physical health . Current methods of non-invasive blood pulse sensing require direct contact or access to the human skin

Blood pulse is an important human physiological signal commonly used for the understanding of the individual physical health. Current methods of non-invasive blood pulse sensing require direct contact or access to the human skin. As such, the performances of these devices tend to vary with time and are subjective to human body fluids (e.g. blood, perspiration and skin-oil) and environmental contaminants (e.g. mud, water, etc). This paper proposes a simulation model for the novel method of non-invasive acquisition of blood pulse using the disturbance created by blood flowing through a localized magnetic field. The simulation model geometry represents a blood vessel, a permanent magnet, a magnetic sensor, surrounding tissues and air in 2-dimensional. In this model, the velocity and pressure fields in the blood stream are described based on Navier-Stroke equations and the walls of the blood vessel are assumed to have no-slip condition. The blood assumes a parabolic profile considering a laminar flow for blood in major artery near the skin. And the inlet velocity follows a sinusoidal equation. This will allow the computational software to compute the interactions between the magnetic vector potential generated by the permanent magnet and the magnetic nanoparticles in the blood. These interactions are simulated based on Maxwell equations at the location where the magnetic sensor is placed. The simulated magnetic field at the sensor location is found to assume similar sinusoidal waveform characteristics as the inlet velocity of the blood. The amplitude of the simulated waveforms at the sensor location are compared with physical measurements on human subjects and found to be highly correlated.
Emerging concepts in the evaluation of ventilatory limitation during exercise: the exercise tidal flow-volume loop.

Traditionally, ventilatory limitation (constraint) during exercise has been determined by measuring the ventilatory reserve or how close the minute ventilation (VE) achieved during exercise (i.e., ventilatory demand) approaches the maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) or some estimate of the MVV (i.e., ventilatory capacity). More recently, it has become clear that rarely is the MVV breathing pattern adopted during exercise and that the VE/MVV relationship tells little about the specific reason(s) for ventilatory constraint. Although it is not a new concept, by measuring the tidal exercise flow-volume (FV) loops (extFVLs) obtained during exercise and plotting them according to a measured end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) within the maximal FV envelope (MFVL), more specific information is provided on the sources (and degree) of ventilatory constraint. This includes the extent of expiratory flow limitation, inspiratory flow reserve, alterations in the regulation of EELV (dynamic hyperinflation), end-inspiratory lung volume relative to total lung capacity (or tidal volume/inspiratory capacity), and a proposed estimate of ventilatory capacity based on the shape of the MFVL and the breathing pattern adopted during exercise. By assessing these types of changes, the degree of ventilatory constraint can be quantified and a more thorough interpretation of the cardiopulmonary exercise response is possible. This review will focus on the potential role of plotting the extFVL within the MFVL for determination of ventilatory constraint during exercise in the clinical setting. Important physiologic concepts, measurements, and limitations obtained from this type of analysis will be defined and discussed.
Lovers With Happy Feet: The Interdependence of Relationship and Activity Factors for Individuals Dancing With a Romantic Partner

The significance that romantic partners ascribe to joint activities and the impact these activities have on relationship quality were examined in the context of self-determination theory. Individuals who practice ballroom dancing with a romantic partner were invited to complete measures of motivation and perception of dyadic adjustment for their relationship and when dancing. Results from path analyses suggested direct and indirect effects of relationship motivation on satisfaction when dancing with a partner. Additionally, direct and indirect effects of motivation for dancing with a partner on relationship satisfaction were also found. Overall, this study suggests that couple functioning plays a role in joint activity functioning and satisfaction. Satisfaction in joint activities can also contribute to the overall quality of the relationship.
Image Extrema Analysis and Blur Detection with Identification

In real image processing applications, images may be blurred or not. When blur is present, the type and degree of degradation vary from one image to another. The process of restoring these images are usually computationally demanding so that there is a need to first detect blurs. If an image is not blurred then it need not undergo the restoration process. In this work, a novel algorithm that simultaneously detects and identifies blurs, is proposed. This method is based on the analysis of extrema values in an image. The extrema histograms are first constructed then analyzed in order to extract feature values. The distinctness of these values in the presence of blur is used. It is computationally simple and fast thereby making it suitable for preprocessing especially in practical imaging applications. Experimental results on natural images and its synthetically blurred versions show the validity of the proposed method.