Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conceptual Model of Providing Traffic Navigation Services to Visually Impaired Persons

In order to include people of reduced mobility in the traffic system it is necessary to provide accessibility and information of the users to all the facilities surrounding them. By analysing the currently available information and communication technologies a new conceptual model of providing navigation services to the visually impaired persons has been proposed. This model is based on Cloud Computing platform, and this research describes the method of navigating the users based on accurate and updated data. The users’ requirements have been analysed according to the needs of the movement of visually impaired persons along the traffic network. The information and communication solutions with the function of informing these groups of users have to provide accurate and updated data, which is made possible by the proposed model. This research was conducted on the most frequent routes in the city of Zagreb. With the review of model efficiency user’s sense of security is increased in the amount of 87%.
Interaction Techniques For Common Tasks In Immersive Virtual Environments - Design, Evaluation, And

for various collaborations and discussions • The members of the 3D UI mailing list • Drew Kessler for help with the SVE toolkit • The Virtual Environments group at Georgia Tech • The numerous experimental subjects who volunteered their time (* The linear mapping used in these cases was a one-to-one physical to virtual hand mapping). x SUMMARY Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) * in three dimensions is not well understood, and there are few 3D applications in common use. Moreover, the complications of 3D interaction are magnified in immersive virtual environment (VE) applications: characteristics such as inaccurate tracking and lack of access to traditional input devices cause the design of user interfaces (UIs) and interaction techniques (ITs) for immersive VEs to be extremely difficult. Despite these difficulties, we maintain that there are complex applications for which immersive VEs are desirable, so special attention needs to be paid to the design and implementation of ITs for these applications. A large percentage of interactions that take place in immersive VEs fall into a small number of general categories, which include travel (movement of the user's viewpoint from place to place), selection (indicating virtual objects within the environment), and manipulation (setting the position and/or orientation of virtual objects). Given techniques with good performance characteristics for these three interactions, a large number of complex and effective VE applications could be built. In this research we studied ITs for these three universal tasks in the context of a formal, systematic framework, including the design of novel ITs and empirical, comparative evaluations of techniques. This thesis presents several important results of the use of this methodology. First, we have developed new ITs perform well in a variety of application scenarios. Second, we have designed general testbeds for IT evaluation that may be reused for future performance comparisons. Third, we have obtained a large set of empirical results regarding the performance of ITs. These results led to general principles and guidelines (section 7.1) that can be applied to VE systems to improve performance. Finally, we validated these results by applying them to a real-world VE application, and showing that its usability was measurably improved as a direct result. The results presented in this thesis should be useful and important to anyone developing a VE system with even a moderate amount of interaction complexity. * For precise definitions of this and other key terms, see section 1.2.
A Morbidity Survey of South African Primary Care

Background Recent studies have described the burden of disease in South Africa. However these studies do not tell us which of these conditions commonly present to primary care providers, how these conditions may present and how providers make sense of them in terms of their diagnoses. Clinical nurse practitioners are the main primary care providers and need to be better prepared for this role. This study aimed to determine the range and prevalence of reasons for encounter and diagnoses found among ambulatory patients attending public sector primary care facilities in South Africa. Methodology/Principal Findings The study was a multi-centre prospective cross-sectional survey of consultations in primary care in four provinces of South Africa: Western Cape, Limpopo, Northern Cape and North West. Consultations were coded prior to analysis by using the International Classification of Primary Care-Version 2 in terms of reasons for encounter (REF) and diagnoses. Altogether 18856 consultations were included in the survey and generated 31451 reasons for encounter (RFE) and 24561 diagnoses. Women accounted for 12526 (66.6%) and men 6288 (33.4%). Nurses saw 16238 (86.1%) and doctors 2612 (13.9%) of patients. The top 80 RFE and top 25 diagnoses are reported and ongoing care for hypertension was the commonest RFE and diagnosis. The 20 commonest RFE and diagnoses by age group are also reported. Conclusions/Significance Ambulatory primary care is dominated by non-communicable chronic diseases. HIV/AIDS and TB are common, but not to the extent predicted by the burden of disease. Pneumonia and gastroenteritis are commonly seen especially in children. Women's health issues such as family planning and pregnancy related visits are also common. Injuries are not as common as expected from the burden of disease. Primary care providers did not recognise mental health problems. The results should guide the future training and assessment of primary care providers.
Clinical evaluation of free connective tissue grafts used to increase the width of keratinised gingiva.

Abstract Fourteen sites were chosen in eight subjects where pre-operatively less than 2 mm of keratinised gingiva was present and associated with pocketing of less than 1.0 mm Three methods were used to provide gingival connective tissue for grafting which facilitated primary closure at the donor site. The pre-operative width of keratinised gingiva was measured by means of a Williams probe from the gingival margin to the mucogingival junction to the nearest 0.5 mm. This was repeated immediately post-operatively, and at 1, 2, 5, 10, and 12 weeks, and at 6 months. The results showed that a statistically significant increase in width of keratinised attached gingiva could be achieved with this method and the resultant tissue was histologically normal.
Development of Ground Surface Simulator for Tel-E-Merge system

Describes a series of stages in the development of a new virtual locomotion device that has been designed to enhance remote inter-personal communications. The latest system, called GSS (Ground Surface Simulator), inherits the features of two previous locomotion interfaces, viz. ATLAS (ATR Locomotion interface for Active Self-motion) and ALF (ALive Floor). GSS also incorporates two different features not found in ordinary treadmills: a movable belt and an active belt-speed controller. We built an initial prototype of GSS and developed a method that presents bumpy surfaces that are free from the mechanical limitations inherent in prior designs. Experimental results showed that a subject could distinguish a 1% difference in the virtual slope on the GSS.
Vitamin C intake and cardiovascular disease risk factors in persons with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. From the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study and the San Luis Valley Diabetes Study.

BACKGROUND Persons with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, partly due to concomitant worsening of traditional risk factors including dyslipidemia and hypertension. Based on evidence from small, controlled clinical trials, we hypothesized that increased intake of vitamin C would be associated with improved cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor status among community-dwelling persons with NIDDM. METHODS In separate but parallel statistical analyses, hypotheses were evaluated among persons with NIDDM confirmed by WHO criteria from the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS, n = 520) and from the San Luis Valley Diabetes Study (SLVDS, n = 422). For IRAS, diet and vitamin supplement use was assessed by food frequency interview and for SLVDS, by 24-hr dietary recall interview. RESULTS Mean vitamin C intake (mg/day) was 275 for IRAS and 133 for SLVDS, including supplements. In cross-sectional regression models from each data set, vitamin C intake was not associated with systolic or diastolic blood pressure nor with HDL-C, LDL-C, or triglycerides (P values > 0.10; adjusted for calories, demographic and lifestyle variables, obesity, diabetes duration, and medications). In prospective analyses including 285 SLVDS participants, baseline vitamin C intake was not related to any of these CVD risk factors measured an average of 4 years later nor to change in CVD risk factor status during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that, across a wide range of intake, vitamin C does not appear to be associated with improved CVD risk factor status among community-dwelling persons with diabetes.
Summarization-based Query Expansion in Information Retrieval

We discuss a semi-interactive approach to information retrieval which consists of two tasks performed in a sequence. First, the system assists the searcher in building a comprehensive statement of information need, using automatically generated topical summaries of sample documents. Second, the detailed statement of information need is automatically processed by a series of natural language processing routines in order to derive an optimal search query for a statistical information retrieval system. In this paper, we investigate the role of automated document summarization in building effective search statements. We also discuss the results of latest evaluation of our system at the annual Text Retrieval Conference (TREC).
The Association Between Renin-Angiotensin System Blockade and Long-term Outcomes in Renal Transplant Recipients: The Wisconsin Allograft Recipient Database (WisARD)

Background Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade reduces mortality in the general population and among non-dialysis–dependent patients with chronic kidney disease. The RAS blockade also decreases proteinuria and protects renal function in non-transplant patients with chronic kidney disease. It remains controversial, however, whether this translates to improved patient or graft survival among transplant recipients. Methods We analyzed 2684 primary kidney transplant recipients at the University of Wisconsin in 1994 to 2010 who had a functioning graft at 6 months after transplantation. We assessed the association of RAS blockade with patient and graft survival using time-dependent Cox and marginal structural models. Results Three hundred seventy-seven deaths and 329 graft failures before death (638 total graft losses) occurred during a median of 5.4 years of follow-up. The RAS blockade was associated with an adjusted-hazard ratio of 0.63 (95% confidence interval, 0.53-0.75) for total graft loss, 0.69 (0.55-0.86) for death, and 0.62 (0.49-0.78) for death-censored graft failure. The associations of RAS blockade with a lower risk of total graft loss and mortality were stronger with more severe proteinuria. The RAS blockade was associated with a 2-fold higher risk of hyperkalemia. Conclusions Our findings suggest RAS blockade is associated with better patient and graft survival in renal transplant recipients.
Design of a 20-month comprehensive, multicomponent school-based randomised trial to promote healthy weight development among 11-13 year olds: The HEalth In Adolescents study

Background and purpose: The lack of effective school-based interventions for preventing obesity in children has caused a call for longer duration of interventions and better reporting on design and evaluation methodology. The purpose of this paper is to present the development of the intervention, the design of the effectiveness study, and the test-retest reliability of the main outcome measures in the HEalth In Adolescents (HEIA) study. Methods/design: The HEIA intervention programme was developed based on literature reviews, a social ecological framework, and focus groups. The intervention aimed to increase total physical activity (PA) and consumption of fruit and vegetables and to decrease screen time and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. The intervention programme consisted of a classroom component, including dietary behaviour lessons, computer tailoring, fruit/vegetable and PA breaks, and posters, and an environmental component including active transport campaigns, equipment, suggestions for easy improvements of schoolyards, inspirational courses for teachers (all with regards to PA), and fact sheets to parents. The effect of the intervention programme is evaluated in a cluster randomised controlled trial design (intervention = 12 schools, control = 25 schools) including process evaluation. Main outcomes include anthropometry, PA, screen time, and consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sugar-sweetened beverages. A 2-week test— retest study was conducted among 114 pupils. Determinants of the behaviours were assessed. Similar data were collected from parents. Children’s PA was measured objectively by accelerometers. Conclusions: The HEIA study represents a theoretically informed randomised trial comprising a comprehensive set of multilevel intervention components with a thorough evaluation using reliable outcome measures. The study will contribute to a better understanding of determinants of healthy weight development among young people and how such determinants can be modified.
LOUVRE: Landmark Overlays for Urban Vehicular Routing Environments

In this paper, we introduce a routing solution called "landmark overlays for urban vehicular routing environments" (LOUVRE), an approach that efficiently builds a landmark overlay network on top of an urban topology. We define urban junctions as overlay nodes and create an overlay link if and only if the traffic density of the underlying network guarantees the multi-hop vehicular routing between the two overlay nodes. LOUVRE contains a distributed traffic density estimation scheme which is used to evaluate the existence of an overlay link. Then, efficient routing is performed on the overlay network, guaranteeing a correct delivery of each packet. We evaluate LOUVRE against the benchmark routing protocols of GPSR and GPCR and show that LOUVRE performs higher in packet delivery and achieves lower hop count.
Telomere Length in Male Germ Cells Is Inversely Correlated with Telomerase Activity1

Abstract Telomeres, the noncoding sequences at the ends of chromosomes, progressively shorten with each cellular division. Spermatozoa have very long telomeres but they lack telomerase enzymatic activity that is necessary for de novo synthesis and addition of telomeres. We performed a telomere restriction fragment analysis to compare the telomere lengths in immature rat testis (containing type A spermatogonia) with adult rat testis (containing more differentiated germ cells). Mean telomere length in the immature testis was significantly shorter in comparison to adult testis, suggesting that type A spermatogonia probably have shorter telomeres than more differentiated germ cells. Then, we isolated type A spermatogonia from immature testis, and pachytene spermatocytes and round spermatids from adult testis. Pachytene spermatocytes exhibited longer telomeres compared to type A spermatogonia. Surprisingly, although statistically not significant, round spermatids showed a decrease in telomere length. Epididymal spermatozoa exhibited the longest mean telomere length. In marked contrast, telomerase activity, measured by the telomeric repeat amplification protocol was very high in type A spermatogonia, decreased in pachytene spermatocytes and round spermatids, and was totally absent in epididymal spermatozoa. In summary, these results indicate that telomere length increases during the development of male germ cells from spermatogonia to spermatozoa and is inversely correlated with the expression of telomerase activity.
Embodied Human Intersubjectivity: Imaginative Agency, To Share Meaning

Abstract Human beings move coherently as individual selves, body and mind adapted to perform complex activities with imagination, knowledge, and skill; perceiving the environment by engaging it with discrimination and care. Human beings live intersubjectively in communitiesl each with the rituals, beliefs, and language of a culture, along with a history of affective relationships and agreed habits for acting in cooperation. These attachments and cultural habits depend upon an ability to sense the intentions, interests, and feelings of other human selves through sympathetic response to motives and emotions as displayed in the shapes and rhythms of body movement: an ability that infants possess from birth. No brain theory explains this ‘felt immediacy’ of others’ life experience, which philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment accepted as proof that human beings are ‘innately sympathetic’. An innate time sense, capacity to ‘attune’ to the dynamics of body movement, and ability to recognise serial ordering in ‘stories’ all appear essential. A theory of ‘communicative musicality’ employs key parameters of pulse, quality of movement, and narrative, applying them to poetry, music, dance, the prosody and rhetoric of language, and the regulation of skillful practices of all kinds. These elements - present in foetal movements and engaged in through joyful intersubjective ‘story-telling’ from birth - give direct information on how the human brain orchestrates reflex functions to move the body with sensations of grace and efficiency. Their age-related development leads to mastery of language and cultural rituals. They conduct all cognitive functions and all meaning making.
A reference model for distributed user interfaces

This paper proposes a reference model for classifying about different types of Distributed User Interfaces (DUIs) so that one could reason about their types: mouldable, distributable, and migratable UIs. The reference model explicitly captures concepts subject to distribution at different levels of abstraction (tasks, concepts, abstract UI, concrete UI, and deployed UI) so as to provide designers with a specification mechanism that enables them to express distribution. Some representative types of distributed UI are expressed according to the reference model to exemplify its usage.
Different forms of synaptic plasticity in somatosensory and motor areas of the neocortex

We have studied vertical synaptic pathways in two cytoarchitectonically distinct areas of rat neocortex--the granular primary somatosensory (SI) area and the agranular primary motor (MI) area--and tested their propensity to generate long-term potentiation (LTP), long-term depression (LTD), and related forms of synaptic plasticity. Extracellular and intracellular responses were recorded in layer II/III of slices in vitro while stimulating in middle cortical layers (in or around layer IV). Under control conditions, 5 Hz theta-burst stimulation produced LTP in the granular area, but not in the agranular area. Agranular cortex did generate short-term potentiation that decayed within 20 min. Varying the inter-burst frequency from 2 Hz to 10 Hz reliably yielded LTP of 21–34% above control levels in granular cortex, but no lasting changes were induced in agranular cortex. However, the agranular cortex was capable of generating LTP if a GABAA receptor antagonist was applied locally at the recording site during the induction phase. In contrast to LTP, an identical form of homosynaptic LTD could be induced in both granular and agranular areas by applying low frequency stimulation (1 Hz for 15 min) to the middle layers. Under control conditions, both LTP and LTD were synapse- specific; theta-burst or low-frequency stimulation in the vertical pathway did not induce changes in responses to stimulation of a layer II/III horizontal pathway. Application of the NMDA receptor antagonist D-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (AP5) blocked the induction of both LTP and LTD in granular and agranular cortex. In the presence of AP5, low-frequency conditioning stimuli yielded a short-term depression in both areas that decayed within 10–15 min. Nifedipine, which blocks L- type, voltage-sensitive calcium channels, slightly depressed the magnitudes of LTP and LTD but did not abolish them. Synaptic responses evoked during theta-burst stimulation were strikingly different in granular and agranular areas. Responses in granular cortex were progressively facilitated during each sequence of 10 theta-bursts, and from sequence-to-sequence; in contrast, responses in agranular cortex were stable during an entire theta-burst tetanus. The results suggest that vertical pathways in primary somatosensory cortex and primary motor cortex express several forms of synaptic plasticity. They were equally capable of generating LTD, but the pathways in somatosensory cortex much more reliably generated LTP, unless inhibition was reduced. LTP may be more easily produced in sensory cortex because of the pronounced synaptic facilitation that occurs there during repetitive stimulation of the induction phase.
Using tactile sensation for learning contact knowledge: Discriminate collision from physical interaction

Detecting and interpreting contacts is a crucial aspect of physical Human-Robot Interaction. In order to discriminate between intended and unintended contact types, we derive a set of linear and non-linear features based on physical contact model insights and from observing real impact data that may even rely on proprioceptive sensation only. We implement a classification system with a standard non-linear Support Vector Machine and show empirically both in simulations and on a real robot the high accuracy in off- as well as on-line settings of the system. We argue that these successful results are based on our feature design derived from first principles.
Continuous Answering Holistic Queries over Sensor Networks

Sensor networks are widely used in various domains like the intelligent transportation systems. Users issue queries to sensors and collect sensing data. Due to the low quality sensing devices or random link failures, sensor data are often noisy. In order to increase the reliability of the query results, continuous queries are often employed. In this work we focus on continuous holistic queries like Median. Existing approaches are mainly designed for non-holistic queries like Average. However, it is not trivial to answer holistic ones due to their non-decomposable property. We first propose two schemes based on the data correlation between different rounds, with one for getting the exact answers and the other one for deriving the approximate results. We then combine the two proposed schemes into a hybrid approach, which is adaptive to the data changing speed. We evaluate this design through extensive simulations. The results show that our approach significantly reduces the traffic cost compared with previous works while maintaining the same accuracy.