Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GLITCHES IN THE X-RAY PULSAR IZE 2259 + 586

Starquakes are considered for fast-rotating magnetic white dwarfs. The X-ray pulsar 1E 2259 + 586 may be such a white dwarf. It is shown that in this case starquakes may be responsible for the decrease of the mean spin-down rate which was observed for 1E 2259 + 586 between 1987 and 1990. The required mass of the white dwarf which is identified with 1E 2259 + 586 is $\sim 1.4 - 1.5 M_\odot$, making this X-ray pulsar the most massive white dwarf known.
A context-aware approach based on self-organizing maps to study web-users' tendencies from their behaviour

In the context of a highly volatile web of uneven quality, the identification of content deemed valuable by end users is of paramount importance. Where page content undergoes rapid change, this issue is particularly challenging. Web browsing activity represents a unique source of context by which the value of web pages can be determined via an assessment of individual user interactions, such as scrolling, clicking, saving and so forth. Over time, this data set forms a pattern of activity which can be mined for meaning. In this paper we present an approach to web content, based on Kohonen mapping, used to generate a topological model of users' behaviour over web-pages. Each web-document can thus be represented as a semantic map built by adopting unsupervised techniques where similar users' behaviour are mapped close together, with identification of information stability emerging as a by product of the identification of similarity in user activity over content. In this model, the more similar the outputs of the map for each user who has endorsed a web-page, the more the web site is considered current or in context with changing information. We illustrate the potential application of this approach to our ongoing work in social search.
Automatic learning of dialogue strategy using dialogue simulation and reinforcement learning

This paper describes a method for automatic design of human-computer dialogue strategies by means of reinforcement learning, using a dialogue simulation tool to model the user behaviour and system recognition performance. To the authors' knowledge this is the first application of a detailed simulation tool to this problem. The simulation tool is trained on a corpus of real user data. Compared to direct state transition modelling, it has the major advantage that different state space representations can be studied without collecting more training data. We applied Q-learning with eligibility traces to obtain policies for a telephone-based cinema information system, comparing the effect of different state space representations and evaluation functions. The policies outperformed handcrafted policies that operated in the same restricted state space, and gave performance similar to the original design that had been through several iterations of manual refinement.
gSVD++: supporting implicit feedback on recommender systems with metadata awareness

This paper proposes a recommender algorithm denominated "gSVD++" which exploits implicit feedback from users by considering not only the latent space of factors describing the user and item, but also the available metadata associated to the content. Such descriptions are an important source to construct a user profile containing relevant and meaningful information about his/her preferences. The method is evaluated on the MovieLens dataset, being compared against other approaches reported in the literature. The results show the effectiveness of incorporating metadata awareness into a latent factor model.
Inner ear volumetric measurements using high-resolution 3D T2-weighted fast spin-echo MR imaging: initial experience in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Adult size is achieved in the inner ear labyrinth by approximately 25 weeks' gestation, and minimal variability in age, sex, side, and race is found after birth. In this study, we opted to determine the reproducibility of inner ear volumetric measurements generated from high-resolution heavily T2-weighted 3D fast spin-echo MR images. METHODS The temporal bones of 23 volunteers were imaged using a heavily T2-weighted 3D fast spin-echo MR imaging technique. The images were assessed by a neuroradiologist for the presence of inner ear configurational anomalies and, most important, for complete coverage of the inner ear labyrinth. Subsequently, the volume of the fluid in the inner ear was determined by two observers using a semiautomated segmentation algorithm. The mean, SD, range, and coefficient of variation of fluid volume in the inner ear were calculated. Age-, sex-, and side-related differences in the inner ear volumetric measurements were evaluated using analysis of variance. Interrater consistency in the inner ear volumetric measurements was evaluated by comparing the calculated coefficients of reliability. RESULTS Volumetric measurements were available from 46 inner ears in 23 volunteers. The mean volume was 227.8 mm3 (SD, 24.4 mm3), and the coefficient of variation was 10.7%. No age-, sex-, or side-related differences in the inner ear volumetric measurements were found (F ratios were 4.33, 5.04, and 0.26, respectively). Interrater consistency, as assessed by the coefficient of reliability, was 5.3%. CONCLUSION Reproducible volumetric measurements of the inner ear labyrinth can be obtained by applying a semiautomated segmentation algorithm to a heavily T2-weighted 3D fast spin-echo MR imaging data set. These volumetric measurements may help identify patients with congenital sensorineural hearing loss and normal inner ear configuration.
Erectile dysfunction in a murine model of sleep apnea.

RATIONALE Erectile dysfunction (ED) is frequent in obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), one of the hallmarks of OSAS, could mediate ED. OBJECTIVES To determine whether intermittent hypoxia during sleep affects erectile dysfunction in mice. METHODS Three groups of C57BL/6 mice were exposed to CIH for 5 or 24 weeks. Sexual function was evaluated by in vivo telemetry of corpus spongiosum pressure. Spontaneous erections, sexual activity during mating, and noncontact tests were assessed after 5 weeks of CIH and after treatment with tadalafil. Plasma testosterone was measured after 8 and 24 weeks of CIH, and the expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) isoforms was examined in penile tissue. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Noncontact, spontaneous, and contact sexual activity in the mice was suppressed after CIH. Spontaneous erection counts decreased after the first week of CIH by 55% (P < 0.001) and remained unchanged thereafter. Recovery of erectile activity during normoxia for 6 weeks was incomplete. Compared with control mice, latencies for mounts and intromissions increased by 60- and 40-fold, respectively (P < 0.001), and the sexual activity index decreased sixfold. Tadalafil treatment significantly attenuated these effects. Immunoblot analyses of NOS proteins in the erectile tissue showed decreased expression of endothelial NOS after CIH (P < 0.01), with no changes in plasma testosterone levels after 8 and 24 weeks of CIH. CONCLUSIONS CIH during sleep is associated with decreased libido in mice. The decreased expression of endothelial NOS protein in erectile tissue and the favorable response to tadalafil suggest that altered nitric oxide mechanisms underlie CIH-mediated ED. No changes in testosterone emerge after intermittent hypoxia.
Adult- and peer-created motivational climates in sport and injury rehabilitation

The motivational climate is the environment, within an achievement setting, created by influential individuals (e.g., coach, athletic trainer, peers) through situational cues, expectations, feedback, and rewards. The way individuals within the setting interpret the motivational climate influences emotions, values, and behaviors which then directly encourages a specific state of participation. Coaches, athletic trainers, and peers need to be aware of the motivational climate they generate and the potentially constructive and detrimental effects on athletes in sport and injury rehabilitation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the motivational climate in sport, sport commitment, and injury occurrence. Additionally, this study investigated the relationships between the motivational climate in rehabilitation, athlete rehabilitation behaviors, and athletes’ satisfaction with rehabilitation. NCAA Division II male and female athletes (N = 191) completed Time 1 survey measuring perceptions of the coachand peer-created motivational climates in sport and sport commitment type. From the initial sample, 88 participants sustained an injury during the on-going data collection period and met the inclusion criteria for the Time 2 survey, which measured perceptions of the athletic trainer-created motivational climate in rehabilitation, satisfaction with rehabilitation, and sport commitment. Results indicated athletes’ perceptions of the motivational climate in sport and sport commitment type did not differ based on injury status. Improved patient satisfaction and more productive behaviors during rehabilitation were predicted by an environment where the athletic trainer emphasized improvement, learning, and working hard. Additionally, more enthusiastic sport commitment was predicted by lower perceptions of unequal recognition and punishment for mistakes by the coach. Furthermore, sport commitment was found to be dynamic in nature with significant changes occurring following injury. Understanding the variables of sport commitment and the influence of the motivational climate will allow coaches, athletic trainers, and peers to assist athletes in having an enjoyable, productive sport career, as well as promote positive rehabilitation behavior and enhanced patient satisfaction. ADULTAND PEER-CREATED MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATES IN SPORT AND INJURY REHABILITATION A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education
Scalable name-based inter-domain routing for information-centric networks

Given the large volume of content on the Internet, scalability is one of the critical challenges in the design and development of information-centric network (ICN) architectures. In this paper we develop a scalable name-based inter-domain routing (NIDR) system that can meet the demanding requirement of supporting the large volume of content on the Internet in ICNs. NIDR adopts two critical techniques to improve its scalability. First, NIDR assumes a URL-like hierarchical content naming structure, and routes content-request packets based on only the domain name of content instead of the complete content name. Second, given the large number of domain names on the Internet, only a small subset of Internet domain names are announced at the inter-domain level. Domain names unknown to the NIDR system are first mapped (and routed) to their corresponding attachment point (AP) networks that are in the NIDR system, which is supported by a name resolution service. In addition to presenting the design of the NIDR system, we also evaluate the performance of NIDR and compare it with both BGP and EPIC, an enhancement over BGP. Our simulation studies based on the simBGP simulator show that NIDR can perform comparably with EPIC.
Encryption Quality Evaluation of Robust Chaotic Block Cipher for Digital Imaging

The visual inspection is an important fac tor in examining encrypted images, where the highly disappeared features of the image, the better the encryption al gorithm used. However, depending on the visual inspection only is not enough in judging the quality of complete hiding of the co ntent of the data image. In this paper, we estimate the degree of image encryption quality not only practically using visua l inspection, but also quantitatively using quality evaluation me trics. The efficient robust chaotic block cipher (RCBC) encryp tion quality algorithm for digital imaging is investigat ed. Comparative analysis regarding encryption quality (EQ) of the RCBC with algorithms such as RC6, and RC5 is performed. Ciphers design parameters are analyzed for their opt imal values, as function of different ciphers operation modes, i ncluding ECB, CBC, CFB, and OFB. Thorough experimental tests are carried out with detailed analysis demonstrating the better performance of the RCBC block cipher.
Driven to Distraction: Dual-Task Studies of Simulated Driving and Conversing on a Cellular Telephone

Dual-task studies assessed the effects of cellular-phone conversations on performance of a simulated driving task. Performance was not disrupted by listening to radio broadcasts or listening to a book on tape. Nor was it disrupted by a continuous shadowing task using a handheld phone, ruling out, in this case, dual-task interpretations associated with holding the phone, listening, or speaking. However, significant interference was observed in a word-generation variant of the shadowing task, and this deficit increased with the difficulty of driving. Moreover, unconstrained conversations using either a handheld or a hands-free cell phone resulted in a twofold increase in the failure to detect simulated traffic signals and slower reactions to those signals that were detected. We suggest that cellular-phone use disrupts performance by diverting attention to an engaging cognitive context other than the one immediately associated with driving.
A fast windowing technique for designing discrete wavelet multitone transceivers exploiting spline functions

A very fast technique for designing discrete wavelet multitone (DWMT) transceivers without using time-consuming nonlinear optimization is introduced. In this method, the filters in both the transmitting and receiving filter banks are generated based on the use of a single linear-phase finite-impulse response prototype filter and a cosine-modulation scheme and the prototype filter is optimized by using the windowing technique. The novelty of the proposed technique lies in exploiting spline functions in the transition band of the ideal filter, instead of using the conventional brick-wall filter. In this approach, a simple line search is used for finding the passband edge of the ideal filter for minimizing a predetermined cost function. The resulting DWMT transceivers closely satisfy the perfect reconstruction property, as is illustrated by means of examples.
Green Networking in Cellular HetNets: A Unified Radio Resource Management Framework With Base Station ON/OFF Switching

In this paper, the problem of energy efficiency in cellular heterogeneous networks (HetNets) is investigated using radio resource and power management combined with the base station (BS) ON/OFF switching. The objective is to minimize the total power consumption of the network while satisfying the quality of service requirements of each connected user. We consider the case of coexisting macrocell BS, small cell BSs, and private femtocell access points (FAPs). Three different network scenarios are investigated, depending on the status of the FAPs, i.e., HetNets without FAPs, HetNets with closed FAPs, and HetNets with semiclosed FAPs. A unified framework is proposed to simultaneously allocate spectrum resources to users in an energy efficient manner and switch OFF redundant small cell BSs. The high complexity dual decomposition technique is employed to achieve optimal solutions for the problem. A low complexity iterative algorithm is also proposed and its performances are compared to those of the optimal technique. The particularly interesting case of semiclosed FAPs, in which the FAPs accept to serve external users, achieves the highest energy efficiency due to increased degrees of freedom. In this paper, a cooperation scheme between FAPs and mobile operator is also investigated. The incentives for FAPs, e.g., renewable energy sharing and roaming prices, enabling cooperation are discussed to be considered as a useful guideline for interoperator agreements.
Developing an Intelligent System for Diagnosis of Asthma Based on Artificial Neural Network

Introduction: Lack of proper diagnosis and inadequate treatment of asthma, leads to physical and financial complications. This study aimed to use data mining techniques and creating a neural network intelligent system for diagnosis of asthma. Methods: The study population is the patients who had visited one of the Lung Clinics in Tehran. Data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical tool and the chi-square Pearson’s coefficient was the basis of decision making for data ranking. The considered neural network is trained using back propagation learning technique. Results: According to the analysis performed by means of SPSS to select the top factors, 13 effective factors were selected, in different performances, data was mixed in various forms, so the different modes was made for training the data and testing networks and in all different modes, the network was able to predict correctly 100% of all cases. Conclusion: Using data mining methods before the design structure of system, aimed to reduce the data dimension and the optimum choice of the data, will lead to a more accurate system. So considering the data mining approaches due to the nature of medical data is necessary.
Image retrieval based on multi-feature similarity score fusion using genetic algorithm

This paper proposes an image retrieval method based on multi-feature similarity score fusion using genetic algorithm. Single feature describes image content only from one point of view, which has a certain one-sided. Fusing multi-feature similarity score is expected to improve the system's retrieval performance. In this paper, the retrieval results from color feature and texture feature are analyzed, and the method of fusing multi-feature similarity score is described. For the purpose of assigning the fusion weights of multi-feature similarity scores reasonably, the genetic algorithm is applied. For comparison, other three methods are implemented. They are image retrieval based on color feature, texture feature and fusion of color-texture feature similarity score with equal weights. The experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to other methods.
The Spread of Knowledge Management in SMEs: A Scenario in Evolution

This paper deals with knowledge management (KM) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Through a literature review, three research questions have been identified concerning the barriers hindering the spread of KM practices in SMEs, the main knowledge management systems (KMSs) adopted by SMEs and the impact of the use of KM practices on SME performance. The research questions were subsequently addressed through a field analysis conducted on a sample of SMEs. The empirical evidence highlights that the scenario has changed in the space of but a few years. Although SMEs are generally characterized by poor financial and human resources, they are able to overcome the barriers preventing the spread of KM practices. The SMEs investigated perceive the strategic value of KM and consequently adopt a variety of KMSs. Nevertheless, such systems are generally outdated in comparison with cheaper, more recent, and user-friendly applications. Finally, the paper emphasizes that the use of KM practices can contribute to the overall growth of SMEs by simultaneously and significantly enhancing their performance.
Model Based Approach to Non-Intrusive Human Motion Capture

Modelling and Animation of human movement with the use of motion capture is a valuable process for creating true 'life-like' motion for areas such as sports science, entertainment, and the medical industry. Traditional methods involved using intrusive techniques for the purpose of capturing the location and subsequent movements of joints and limbs. This paper describes the work being carried out by the Vision Systems Group of Dublin City University, where non-intrusive human motion capture techniques are used. It outlines the fully kinematical model created and the system used to segment and track a moving human from video sequences, using vision processing means only.
Urinary phthalate metabolites and ovarian reserve among women seeking infertility care.

STUDY QUESTION Are urinary phthalate metabolites associated with reduced antral follicle growth among women in an infertility setting? SUMMARY ANSWER Higher urinary concentrations of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) metabolites were associated with significant decreases in antral follicle count (AFC) among women seeking infertility care. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Experimental animal studies show that DEHP accelerates primordial follicle recruitment and inhibits antral follicle growth. Whether phthalates also reduce the growing antral follicle pool in humans remains unknown. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION We examined the association between urinary phthalate metabolites and AFC using prospective data from 215 females recruited between 2004 and 2012 in the Environment and Reproductive Health (EARTH) study. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS We quantified the urinary concentrations of 11 phthalate metabolites. We estimated the geometric mean for all urine samples provided prior to unstimulated day 3 AFC assessment for each woman. We evaluated the association of AFC with ∑DEHP (molar sum of four DEHP metabolites) and individual phthalate metabolites using Poisson regression, adjusting for age, BMI and smoking. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE We observed significant decreases in mean AFC for all higher quartiles of ∑DEHP as compared with the lowest quartile. Compared with women in the first quartile of ∑DEHP, women in the second, third and fourth quartiles had a -24% (95% confidence interval (CI): -32%, -16%), -19% (95% CI: -27%, -9%), and -14% (95% CI: -23%, -5%) decrease in mean AFC. The absolute mean AFC in the first quartile was 14.2 follicles (95% CI: 13.2, 15.2) compared with 10.7 follicles (95% CI: 9.9, 11.6) in the second quartile. We observed similar trends among the four individual DEHP metabolites. There was no consistent change in AFC among the remaining phthalate metabolite concentrations evaluated. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION We demonstrated a negative association between DEHP and a well-established marker of ovarian reserve among a subfertile population. However these findings may not be generalizable to women without fertility concerns, and we cannot rule out co-exposure to other chemicals. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Environmental chemicals that inhibit the size of the growing antral follicle pool can impair fertility and reduce fecundity. This study suggests evidence in need of further investigation on the impact of phthalates on the human oocyte and follicular development. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS Work supported by grants ES009718, ES022955, ES000002, and T32ES007069 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and grant T32 DK007703-16 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). C.M. was supported by a post-doctoral training award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. There are no competing interests to declare.