Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using a cVEP-Based Brain-Computer Interface to Control a Virtual Agent

Brain-computer interfaces provide a means for controlling a device by brain activity alone. One major drawback of noninvasive BCIs is their low information transfer rate, obstructing a wider deployment outside the lab. BCIs based on codebook visually evoked potentials (cVEP) outperform all other state-of-the-art systems in that regard. Previous work investigated cVEPs for spelling applications. We present the first cVEP-based BCI for use in real-world settings to accomplish everyday tasks such as navigation or action selection. To this end, we developed and evaluated a cVEP-based on-line BCI that controls a virtual agent in a simulated, but realistic, 3-D kitchen scenario. We show that cVEPs can be reliably triggered with stimuli in less restricted presentation schemes, such as on dynamic, changing backgrounds. We introduce a novel, dynamic repetition algorithm that allows for optimizing the balance between accuracy and speed individually for each user. Using these novel mechanisms in a 12-command cVEP-BCI in the 3-D simulation results in ITRs of 50 bits/min on average and 68 bits/min maximum. Thus, this work supports the notion of cVEP-BCIs as a particular fast and robust approach suitable for real-world use.
Sulfur and Chlorine in Late Cretaceous Deccan Magmas and Eruptive Gas Release

Large-volume pāhoehoe lava flows erupted 67 to 65 million years ago, forming the Deccan Traps, India. The impact of these flood basalt eruptions on the global atmosphere and the coeval end-Cretaceous mass extinction has been uncertain. To assess the potential gas release from this volcanism, we measured sulfur and chlorine concentrations in rare glass inclusions inside crystals and on glassy selvages preserved within lavas. Concentrations range from ∼1400 parts per million of S and 900 parts per million of Cl in inclusions down to a few hundred parts per million in the lava. These data indicate that eruptions of Deccan lavas could have released at most 0.103 weight % of S, yielding up to 5.4 teragrams of SO2 per cubic kilometer of lava. A more conservative estimate is 0.07 weight % of S and 0.04 weight % of Cl, yielding 3.5 teragrams of SO2 and 1 teragram of HCl for every cubic kilometer of lava erupted. The flows were very large in volume, and these results imply that huge amounts of S and Cl gases were released. The environmental impact from even individual eruptions during past flood basalt activity was probably severe.
Life Events and the Recurrence of Depression

In a study of the prevalence of life events in recurrent depression, 40 patients with recurrent episodes were compared to 33 who were experiencing their first depressive illness. Thirty out of 33 (90.9%) first episode cases experienced life events prior to the onset of illness whereas only 20 out of 40 (50%) of the recurrent group gave such as history. Patients with a first episode had an average of 2.2 life events in the six months prior to onset, whereas recurrent patients experienced average of only 0.8 life events (p < 0.05). Negative as well as exit events were also significantly more frequent among the first episode group. Although life events, age and sex all contributed to the recurrence of depression, most of the variance was not accounted for by any of these factors.
A Novel Sliding Mode Fuzzy Control based on SVM for Electric Vehicles Propulsion System

This paper presents a new sliding mode fuzzy control (SMFC) scheme for torque control of induction motors of the electric vehicles propulsion system. The control principle is based on sliding mode fuzzy control combined with space vector modulation (SVM) technique. The sliding mode fuzzy control contributes to the robustness of induction motor wheel drives of the electric vehicle propulsion system, and the space vector modulation improves the torque, flux, and current steady-state performance by reducing the ripple. The Lyapunov direct method reinforced with fuzzy logic is used to ensure the reaching and sustaining of sliding mode and stability of the control system. The performance of the proposed system is compared with those of conventional sliding mode controller and classical PI controller. Finally, computer simulation results verify the validity of the proposed method and show that the proposed control scheme provides robust dynamic characteristics with low torque ripple.
Lead-induced Hepatotoxicity and Evaluation of Certain Anti-stress Adaptogens in Poultry

A total of 225 day-old sexed male broiler chicks (Vencobb strain) were divided randomly into 15 groups consisting of 15 chicks in each group to study the toxicity of lead on hepatocytes. Group 1 was maintained on basal diet, group 2 on polyherbal formulation (PHF; stressroak), group 3 on shilajith, group 4 on amla and group 5 on vit E + Se. Group 6 was maintained on lead for 6 weeks and group 7 on lead for 4 weeks and subsequently on basal diet without lead for the remaining 2 weeks. Groups 8, 9, 10 and 11 were given lead along with PHF, shilajith, amla and vit E + Se, respectively, throughout 6 weeks. Groups 12, 13, 14 and 15 were given lead containing diet for the first 4 weeks and subsequently treated with PHF, shilajith, amla and vit E + Se, respectively, for the remaining 2 weeks. The activity of alanine transaminase (ALT) was significantly (P<0.05) increased in the toxic control groups at the end of 4 th week as compared to group 1. However, following treatment, there was a significant (P<0.05) reversal in groups 12-15. The activity of Na + /K + -ATPase, Ca 2+ ATPase, Mg 2+ ATPase and CYP 450 was significantly (P<0.05) reduced in the liver of toxic control groups 6 and 7 as compared to groups1 through 5, which had the maximum activity of all the groups. Groups 8 through 15 revealed a significant (P<0.05) increase in the activity of these hepatocytic enzymes. The histological sections of the liver in lead toxic control (group 6) showed moderate focal lymphoid aggregates in liver, whereas the lesions were mild to moderate in treated groups and there were no observable lesions in plain control groups. The study revealed protective effect of PHF (stressroak), shilajith, amla and vit E + Se in lead-induced hepatocytic damage.
Halothane fluothane in a country hospital.

REPORTS on the extensive clinical trials of haloThe pioneers of halothane proved to their own thane carried out by Johnstone (1956), Brycesatisfaction that a deep narcosis free from toxic Smith and O'Brien (1956), and Brennan, Hunter after-effects, explosion risks and cardiac catasand Johnstone (1957) will have been studied with trophe could be obtained with this drug. We degreat interest by most anaesthetists. Many, like cided in July 1957 to attempt to duplicate their the writers, must have wondered whether the results in the theatres of the North Down Hosnew discovery could bring about a basic change pitals Group. in current anaesthetic practice. This group includes Ards Hospital (320 beds) For more than ten years some variant of bala busy general hospital with the usual departments anced anaesthesia has been used in most anaesincluding a 36 bed maternity unit, and Bangor thetic rooms. The aim has been to produce a Hospital, a converted cottage hospital of 40 beds, flaccid narcosis less harmful to the patient than where intermediate and minor surgery, gynaethe toxic depths of chloroform and ether anaescology, otolaryngological surgery and casualty thesia. work are carried out. This Hospital Group is self
Plasticité induite par transformation de phase martensitique dans l’acier 35NCD16

Cette etude porte sur la plasticite des aciers au cours d'une transformation de phase martensitique. Nous nous interessons a la Plasticite Induite par la Transformation (Transformation Induced Plasticity ou TRIP), dans l’acier 35NCD16. Differents types d’essais ont ete realises pour mettre en evidence ce phenomene sous diverses conditions de chargement uniaxial en cours de transformation (constant, lineaire croissant, lineaire decroissant…). En effet, classiquement les essais de TRIP sont realises sous un chargement constant durant toute la transformation ce qui n’est pas forcement representatif des conditions de sollicitations reelles dans les structures industrielles. Les predictions des modeles de Leblond (1989) et de Taleb et Sidoroff (2003) pour ces essais feront l’objet d’une discussion.
Validity of pulse pressure and augmentation index as surrogate measures of arterial stiffness during beta-adrenergic stimulation

Objective Increased arterial stiffness is a determinant of cardiovascular mortality. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a direct measure of arterial stiffness. Aortic augmentation index (AI) and pulse pressure (PP) are surrogate measures of arterial stiffness. Both PWV, AI and PP increase with cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of this study was to test the validity of AI and PP as surrogate measures of arterial stiffness compared with PWV, during beta-adrenergic stimulation with Isoprenaline (Iso). Design and methods A total of 41 healthy volunteers entered a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study. In random order, subjects were given intravenous infusion in equal volume of Iso 8 μg/kg per min (dissolved in glucose 5%) and placebo (glucose 5%). A wash-out period of 25 min was observed between the infusions. Measurements included blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), PWV, and AI. PWV were determined using complior (Complior, Artech-Medical, Paris, France). AI and aortic PP were obtained from pulse wave analysis of radial applanation tonometry, using transfer function (SphygmoCor Windows software). Results Baseline AI increased (P < 0.05) with aging, a lower height and a larger diastolic BP (DBP). Iso increased (P < 0.0001) HR, brachial SBP, brachial and aortic PP as compared with placebo. In contrast, Iso decreased (P < 0.05) AI, brachial DBP, peripheral PWV, but not aortic PWV. Decrease of AI induced by Iso was not related to PWV. In stepwise multiple regression changes in HR, brachial SBP and DBP were independent determinants of AI response to Iso (r = 0.78, P < 0.0001). Conclusions Our findings show that AI and PP fail as surrogate measures of arterial stiffness during beta-adrenergic stimulation.
Efficient Multiway Relaying for Data Sharing in Energy Harvesting Sensor Networks

In a wireless sensor network (WSN), sensors often need to share their measurements for applications like distributed estimation and detection or data aggregation. Here, we suggest using multiway relaying (MWR) for data sharing between energy harvesting sensors that cannot directly communicate with each other. We first start by studying the achievable data rate of amplify-and-forward (AF) MWR for energy harvesting sensors. Then, we show that, by backing off the transmit power at the sensors, not only better energy efficiency and longer lifetime are achieved, but also the data sharing rate increases. Based on this result, we further improve the performance of AF MWR in the assumed WSN by smartly adjusting the transmit power at the sensors. Our power allocation is devised in a way to improve the energy efficiency of MWR and increase the sum rate of data sharing between the sensors over the network lifetime. Simulation results are presented to verify the enhancement achieved by using our proposed power allocation technique.
Implementation of a high frequency PWM signal in FPGA FOR GaN power devices switching

This paper describes a FPGA-based (Field Programmable Gate Array) high-frequency signal generation platform, which aims to drive GaN (Gallium nitride) power semiconductor devices. FPGA is a digital platform that operates at frequency levels up to GHz. Thus, it can be an interesting solution to driving GaN devices that operate on typical frequencies of 1 to 10 MHz. A brief review on the FPGA platform and the description of the implementation of Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) signals at frequencies up to 2 MHz are presented. Experimental results have shown that it is possible to obtain a duty cycle in the range from 1 to 99% with a resolution of 0.67%. Additionally, concerning the PWM period, the phase can be defined in the range from 1 to 360 degrees with a resolution of 2.4 degrees. Finally, some power applications that benefits by using GaN devices at high frequencies are shown.
Time domain simulation of three dimensional elastic wave scattering

To simulate elastic wave propagating in different solid medium, a three dimensional model has been developed Based on Yee's algorithm, the staggered grid of the stressvelocity equations for the model has been set up, and the finite-difference form of it has been derived. The perfectly matched layer (PML) absorbing boundary is discussed, and the finite-difference scheme of the PML boundary conditions is implemented. Active simulation of the interaction of elastic wave with layered medium and cubic object has been finished, respectively. Numerical experiments have proved the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Moving objects detection by Gaussian Mixture Model: A comparative analysis

Robust and real-time moving objects detection is a critical issue in computer vision application. The Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) is the most common method to build a background. In this paper, three GMM algorithms, the classical one, L-window and the algorithm proposed by P. Wayne and Johan, are discussed, and videos of variety scenes are used in the comparison between their performances. Our study results show that 1) The classical algorithm shows satisfactory performance for each scene except fewer holes in detected foreground and does not detect nearly unmoving foreground as the part of background, 2) L-window algorithm is suitable for outdoor highspeed moving object and slowly moving object while the detected foreground is fuzzy with many small blobs, it is unsuitable for illumination changing scene, and 3) The algorithm proposed by P. Wayne and Johan is the best one for indoor sequence within the three algorithms while exhibiting unsatisfactory in case of outdoor scene and slowly moving objects.
Evaporation Phenomenon Inside a Solar Still: From Water Surface to Humid Air

Amimul Ahsan1,5, Zahangir Alam2, Monzur A. Imteaz3, A.B. M. Sharif Hossain4 and Abdul Halim Ghazali1 1University Putra Malaysia, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, 2International Islamic University Malaysia, Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, 3Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Science, 4University of Malaya, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, 5Green Engineering and Sustainable Technology Lab, Institute of Advanced Technology, 1,2,4Malaysia 3Australia
43 Gb/s DQPSK pre-equalization employing 6-bit, 43GS/s DAC integrated LSI for cascaded ROADM filtering

Electronic pre-equalization for 43 Gb/s DQPSK has been demonstrated for the first time. Waveform distortion caused by bandwidth narrowing to 18.1 GHz by cascaded 10 Gb/s ROADMs has been adequately pre-equalized by a SiGe-BiCMOS LSI with 6-bit, 43 GS/s digital-to-analog converters.
Effect of Musca domestic maggot polypeptide extract on HUVEC dysfunction induced by early-activated macrophages

Abstract Context: Musca domestica Linn. maggot is a traditional Chinese medicine. In our previous studies, Musca domestica maggot protein-enriched fraction and polypeptide extract (molecular weight <30 kD) were found to reverse endothelial cell dysfunction in atherosclerotic lesions. Objective: This study determines whether and how M. domestica maggot polypeptide extract affects the dysfunction of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) induced by macrophages (Mϕ). Materials and methods: HUVEC and early-activated THP-1 Mϕ (incubated with LPS of 1 μg/ml for 2 h) were co-cultured in a Transwell system. The effects of Musca domestica maggot polypeptide extract (with increasing concentrations, i.e., 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, and 40.0 µg/ml) on the proliferation and migration HUVEC and their secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were determined by flow cytometry, modified Boyden chamber assay, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) after incubation for 24 h. Results: Musca domestica maggot polypeptide extract decreased the proliferation of HUVEC in a concentration-dependent manner, with a 50% effective concentration (EC50) of 22.16 ± 1.48 µg/ml, and effectively inhibited HUVEC migration (EC50 = 35.15 ± 2.03 µg/ml) and VEGF secretion (EC50 = 28.64 ± 1.29 µg/ml). Discussion and conclusion: Musca domestica maggot polypeptide extract can inhibit the dysfunction of HUVEC induced by early-activated THP-1 Mϕ.
A hybrid automatic scoring system for Arabic essays

Essay writing is widely used for student performance assessment. This paper presents a hybrid automatic essay scoring system AES for Arabic essays. The system attempts at saving the time teachers spend on reading and scoring Arabic essays. It utilizes latent semantic analysis LSA and three linguistic features i.e., word stemming, number of words and number of spelling mistakes. This paper also describes an algorithm to determine the optimal reduced dimensionality used in LSA. To evaluate the performance of this system, an Arabic dataset was developed based on essays collected from college students. The experimental results show the effectiveness of using LSA for scoring Arabic essays, especially when combined with other linguistic features. The system shows that 96.72% of the test data are correctly scored and the correlation between automatic and manual scores is 0.78, which is close to the interhuman correlation of 0.7.
Autophagy in Lysosomal Myopathies

Lysosomal myopathies are hereditary myopathies characterized morphologically by the presence of autophagic vacuoles. In mammals, autophagy plays an important role for the turnover of cellular components, particularly in response to starvation or glucagons. In normal muscle, autolysosomes or autophagosomes are typically inconspicuous. In distinct neuromuscular disorders, however, lysosomes become structurally abnormal and functionally impaired, leading to the accumulation of autophagic vacuoles in myofibers. In some instances, the accumulation of autophagic vacuoles can be a prominent feature, implicating autophagy as a contributor to disease pathomechanism and/or progression. At present, there are two disorders in the muscle that are associated with a primary defect in lysosomal proteins, namely Pompe disease and Danon disease. This review will give a brief discussion on these disorders, highlighting the role of autophagy in disease progression.
Industrielle Kostenrechnung: Eine Einfuhrung

Um mit einfachen Mitteln Kosten nachrechnen zu konnen, dafur stellt dieses Buch die richtige Methodik und geeignete Beispiele vor. In diese Neuauflage wurde das Verfahren Prozesskostenrechnung zusatzlich aufgenommen; viele Aufgaben und Beispiele sind neu. Eine sichere Einfuhrung in die Grundlagen der Industriellen Kostenrechnung, die Verfahren werden klar systematisiert, die anschaulichen Beispiele dienen als Leitfaden fur die Praxis. "
Abstract Reasoning in Collaborative Modeling

This paper reports on a case study of abstract reasoning in a real collaborative modeling setting. The study was conducted according to the behavioral observation principles of human ethology. Our findings indicate a relation between an individual's executive functioning and his ability to do abstract reasoning. Furthermore, we find individual differences in these abilities, and our results suggest that lack of certain skills pushes a session back to its initial phase until a shared conception of what is being modeled is achieved. These findings further our understanding of the process of collaborative modeling, how the qualities and behaviors of an individual modeler influence the interactive modeling process and its final outcomes.
Motion control of mobile robot by using myoelectric signals based on functionally different effective muscle theory

This paper proposes the control interface of robotic wheelchair by combination use of electromyogram (EMG) signals and functionally different effective muscle (FEM) theory. One of the conventional control interfaces of the robotic wheelchair is a joystick. However, there is many people unable to operate a joystick like sufferers from rheumatism. Sufferers from rheumatism can not move his joints but move muscles. Therefore, EMG signals have potential to become the helpful interface for sufferers from rheumatism. FEM theory represents the relation between the direction of output force at the end effector such as a wrist (or an ankle) and the collaborative control by 3 pairs of 6 muscles composed of the mono-articular muscles and the bi-articular muscles of human arm (or leg). An experiment using the mobile independent two wheel driven robot shows the validity of the proposed interface.
Energy loss of heavy ions in dense plasma. I. Linear and nonlinear Vlasov theory for the stopping power.

The plasma physics of heavy-ion stopping in fully ionized matter is developed on the basis of the Vlasov-Poisson equations with particular emphasis on small ion velocities {ital v}{sub {ital p}}, below the electron thermal velocity {ital v}{sub th}, and on solutions nonlinear in the coupling parameter {ital scrZ}={ital Z}{sub eff}/({ital n}{sub 0}{lambda}{sub {ital D}}{sup 3}) between the heavy-ion projectile with effective charge {ital Z}{sub eff} and the plasma with electron density {ital n}{sub 0} and Debye length {lambda}{sub {ital D}}. Concerning the stopping power in the low-velocity regime relevant for the Bragg peak at the end of the ion range, results on the friction term {ital dE}/{ital dx}{proportional to}{ital v}{sub {ital p}} are presented, and an improved {ital dE}/{ital dx} formula for plasma is derived in closed form and readily applicable for stopping-power calculations; it is identical to the standard result for {ital v}{sub {ital p}}{gt}{ital v}{sub th}, but also describes the limit {ital v}{sub {ital p}}{r arrow}0 correctly.
Method of Adjustable Code Based on Resolution Ratio of Spatial Domain in Surveillance Region of Interest

The spatial domain resolution adjustable method is raised, based on the Region of Interest. The original input image is divided into the region of interest and the region of non-interest in accordance with the RIO information. As to the region of interest, perform coding on the resolution of the original image. As for the region of non-interest, first extract samples and then encode these samples. Consequently, the resolution adjustability based on ROI is achieved. It's shown in the result of the experiment that the SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) of the region of interest which adopts the spatial domain resolution adjustable method is 1.9 higher than that of the whole image. Compared with the referenced traditional coding method based on interest, the average coding rate is 40% lower while the average SNR is promoted 0.6
A phase 1 study of cetuximab and lapatinib in patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies

Acquired resistance to antiepidermal growth factor receptor (anti‐EGFR) therapy may be caused by EGFR–v‐erb‐b2 avian erythroblastic leukemia viral oncogene homolog 2 (ErbB2) heterodimerization and pathway reactivation. In preclinical studies, inhibiting ErbB2 blocked this resistance mechanism and resensitized cells to anti‐EGFR therapy. Cetuximab targets EGFR, whereas lapatinib inhibits both EGFR and ErbB2. The objective of this phase 1 trial was to assess the safety, dose‐limiting toxicities (DLTs), and maximum tolerated doses (MTDs) of cetuximab and lapatinib in patients with solid tumors.