Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relationships between Bereavement and Cognitive Functioning in Older Adults

Background: Bereavement is often associated with increased levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The question of whether grief is associated with cognitive deficits in older adults remains largely unanswered. Although Xavier and coworkers (see text) found preliminary evidence that grief, in the absence of depression, impacted on memory in a sample of the oldest-old in Brazil, the impact of bereavement on cognitive functioning, independent of the effects of mood, has not been adequately examined. Objective: To replicate and expand on the work of Xavier and colleagues to examine whether there is an association between bereavement due to spousal loss and performance in a range of cognitive functioning domains in older adults, independent of the effects of depression, stress, and anxiety. Methods: Samples of bereaved (n = 25) and non-bereaved (n = 25) participants, who were aged between 65 and 80 years and who were matched for age, gender, education, premorbid intellectual functioning, and general cognitive ability, were compared on a battery of tests designed to assess attention, verbal fluency, memory, and visuospatial ability. Depression, anxiety, and stress were also assessed, as were the presence of complicated grief and the adequacy of social support in the bereaved group. Cognitive tests that differed between the groups and correlated with depression, stress, or anxiety were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. Results: The bereaved groups were more depressed, anxious, and stressed, and performed more poorly on tests assessing attention, information-processing speed, and verbal fluency. With the exception of the attentional switching task, the cognitive measures on which the groups differed were correlated with mood. When mood was controlled statistically, the group differences in these cognitive tests disappeared. Twenty-eight percent of the bereaved group met the criteria for a diagnosis of complicated grief. This subgroup was younger than the other bereaved participants and had higher levels of stress. Conclusion: The evidence suggests that grief associated with death of a spouse has limited associations with cognition beyond those that would be expected to occur as a result of depression, anxiety, and stress.
A Balanced, Unity Power Factor, 3-phase Bridgeless AC/DC Step-up Transformer-less Converter with Magnetic-Coupled Soft-Switched Step-up Rectifiers for Wind Farm with a MVDC Grid

High voltage gain, high-power AC/DC converters are the key components for medium voltage (MV) step-up power conversion in wind systems with a MVDC grid. This paper presents a new, three-phase bridgeless AC/DC soft-switched, step-up resonant converter with magnetically coupled high-gain output rectifier modules for MV step-up conversion. In the proposed circuit, the output high-gain rectifier stage in all phases are coupled together to improve the output current and voltage balancing issues. While each phase (i.e. each module) has its own dedicated controller to regulate the output voltage in each phase, the coupled magnetics is able to ensure that the output current in each phase is balanced. Similarly, the inductor in the input power factor correction stage in all three phases are also coupled together to reduce the overall number of magnetic components. The operating stages of the proposed converter, and the design of the coupled magnetics will be discussed in this paper. Simulation results are first given on a 1.8MW, 690VAC/44kVDC system to highlight the performance of the proposed converter. Hardware experimental results on a laboratory-scale prototype with an output voltage of 1.2kVDC are finally presented to verify with the proposed converter’s performance.
Network Dominating Attack Detection and Mitigation

In this paper, we address the issue of network dominating attack through which a malicious user tries to grab an unfair share of bandwidth. In this attack, malicious senders on receiving the congestion indication, increase their congestion window instead of decreasing. Random Early Detection (RED), which is one of the current Active Queue Management (AQM) schemes, fails to identify such flow that leads to unfair sharing of bandwidth. Therefore, we present a unique solution which works on top of RED to detect and mitigate the anomalous flows by monitoring the packets present in the gateway buffer.
Design and optimization of a wide dynamic range Programmable Power Supply for data center applications

A point-of-load (PoL) voltage regulator module (VRM) with high efficiency, conversion ratio and power density can enable dense integration of CPUs in data centers, and subsequently increase the overall data center energy efficiency. State-of-the-art VRMs are already quite small and achieve high peak efficiencies. However, given the variable nominal load currents of these VRMs in response to changing computational loads of the data centers, a flat high-efficiency response is more desirable. This paper presents a programmable VRM with a flat < 90 % efficiency response over a wide load dynamic range. The proposed programmable VRM is based on multiphase interleaved synchronous buck topology with phase shedding. An extensive exploration of different power switch technologies has been performed in order to obtain the most suitable MOSFET technology for this topology. Our design space exploration also included sweeping the voltage conversion ratio, passive components and switching frequency. The finalized programmable VRM, using discrete Si-MOSFETs, performs a 12–1 V DC-DC conversion with an operating load range of 10 – 200 A and a switching frequency of 200 kHz. Experimental characterization of the VRM demonstrates an efficiency of 92.2 % across the wide load range of 10 – 200 A, confirming design simulations with a maximum relative error of 0.7 %.
Hybrid Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia: a Single-Centre Experience.

Background The long-term results of endocardial and percutaneous epicardial catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) in patients with structural heart disease are disappointing. Arrhythmia recurrence after ablation and VTs with an epicardial substrate remain a clinical challenge. The purpose of this manuscript is to elaborate on feasibility and potential advantages of a surgical hybrid ablation (i.e., combined endocardial and surgical epicardial ablation) based on our initial experience consisting of five cases. Methods Endocardial electro-anatomical voltage and activation maps were created (Carto, Biosense Webster, California, USA), and endocardial radiofrequency (RF) applications were applied at exit sites, low voltage areas and isthmi. Next, after surgical access, epicardial voltage and activation maps were produced in combination with visual assessment of the epicardial substrate. Epicardial low voltage areas, isthmi and exit sites were identified and ablated using RF energy. Results After the procedure, VT was non-inducible in 80% of the cases (4/5, in one case no induction was performed). No peri-procedural complications occurred. After a mean follow-up of 18 months, one patient remained in sinus rhythm without, and 2 with use of antiarrhythmic drugs. One patient needed a redo procedure after 21 months, and in one patient the amiodarone dose was raised because of 2 sustained VTs. After this additional treatment, both kept sinus rhythm. Conclusions Hybrid VT ablation is a safe and effective patient tailored procedure that comprises the major advantage of combining direct anatomical visualization and enhanced catheter stability with high-density 3D mapping. As a consequence, this procedure should be considered as a valid treatment option in complex VT management.
Twitter Sentiment Analysis using Dynamic Vocabulary

Technology has always led to advancements in research works. Today, Twitter is one of the most visited social networking sites by millions of users. A significant way of expressing the opinion for the people is through the Internet. Opinions tend to reflect beliefs as well as feelings. To know the polarity of the opinions a sentiment analysis can be done, this will let us know whether the opinion is negative, neutral or positive. Sentiment Analysis finds its applications in many places like an opinion of the customer on a particular product is to be known by the company, movie review opinion or sentiment analysis of political opinions. This paper introduced a technique of dynamic vocabulary, in which the vocabulary develops as the training is done. The experimental result shows the performance of the proposed technique is satisfactory.
Soft Robotic Fingers with Embedded Ionogel Sensors and Discrete Actuation Modes for Somatosensitive Manipulation

Soft robotic grippers enable gentle, adaptive, and bioinspired manipulation that is simply not possible using traditional rigid robots. However, it has remained challenging to create multi-degree-of-freedom soft actuators with appropriate sensory capabilities for soft manipulators requiring greater dexterity and closed-loop control. In this work, we use embedded 3D printing to produce soft robotic fingers with discrete actuation modes and integrated ionogel soft sensors that provide proprioceptive and tactile sensing corresponding to each degree of freedom. With new readout electronics that streamline the measurement of sensor resistance, we evaluate the fingers' sensory feedback through free and blocked displacement experiments. We integrate three of our sensorized fingers together to create a soft manipulator with different grasping poses. Finally, we showcase the importance of the fingers' discrete actuation modes and integrated sensors via a closed-loop grasping study. Our methods demonstrate an enabling manufacturing platform that can be adapted to create other soft multi-DOF manipulators requiring somatosensory feedback for a variety of closed-loop and machine learning-based control algorithms.
Learning Plans by Acquiring Grounded Linguistic Meanings from Corrections

We motivate and describe a novel task which is modelled on interactions between apprentices and expert teachers. In the task the agent must learn to build towers which are constrained by rules. Whenever the agent performs an action which violates a rule the teacher provides verbal corrective feedback (e.g. "No, put red blocks on blue blocks'') and answers the learner's clarification questions. The agent must learn to build rule compliant towers from these corrections and the context in which they were given. The agent starts out unaware of the constraints as well as the domain concepts in which the constraints are expressed. Therefore an agent that takes advantage of the linguistic evidence must learn the denotations of neologisms and adapt its conceptualisation of the planning domain to incorporate those denotations. We show that an agent which does utilise linguistic evidence outperforms a strong baseline which does not.
Blunted stress reactivity is a distinctive feature in clinically depressed patients

Commentary on: Schiweck C, Piette D, Berckmans D et al. Heart rate and high frequency heart rate variability during stress as biomarker for clinical depression. A systematic review. Psychol Med 2018 23:1–12. doi: 10.1017/S0033291718001988. Depression is the leading cause of disability and morbidity worldwide.1 A complex mix of biopsychosocial risk factors is thought to contribute to the development and maintenance of depression.2 One of these factors is chronic mental stress.3 The review by Schiweck et al indicates that despite an increasing volume of research, there remains obscurity around the effects of depression on stress reactivity.4 An increased understanding of this may have important …
Some Considerations about the Kohau Rongorongo Script in the Light of a Statistical Analysis of the ‘Santiago Staff’

Abstract This paper deals with the distributional analysis of a recurring pattern on the Easter Island artifact known as the ‘Santiago Staff’ (‘SS’ from now on). It has been claimed that the pattern known as “XıYZ,” arguably to be found in a repetitive fashion in a “recital of pairings,” conveys a model of procreation in line with the Old Rapanui sacral chants, thus giving a clue to a possible decipherment of the SS's document. According to Steven R. Fischer, the scholar who retrieved the pattern in question, the formula “XıYZ” consists of, “X”: the “copulator” God, “ı”: the superlinear corresponding to the old Rapanui phrase “copulated with,” “Y”: the “copulatee” Goddess and finally, “Z”: the issue of their “copulation. ” Under this assumption, and bearing in mind that Fischer did not offer any sort of count with regard to his claim, the structure “XıYZ” has been tested and replicated to “Atua-Mata-Riri,” viewed by some researchers to be a bilingual for the understanding of the alleged schematized pattern. The evidence encountered so far supports the view that the hypothesis cannot be true for all the KRR text of the ‘SS,’ specifically for sequences other than the “XıYZ” type, leaving many doubts in the minds of epigraphers and suggesting flaws in the method of decipherment. To the most evident degree, the message encrypted in the ‘SS,’ i.e., text I, is still resisting decoding by the scholars.
Design and Prototype of Supernumerary Robotic Finger (SRF) Inspired by Fin Ray® Effect for Patients Suffering from Sensorimotor Hand Impairment

In this paper, we present the design and prototype of a wearable supernumerary robotic finger, inspired by Fin $\mathbf{Ray}\bigcirc\! \! \! \! \! \! \mathrm{R}$, an underactuated device inspired by the physiology of fish fins. The application we propose has been designed for patients suffering from sensorimotor hand impairment, to compensate their missing grasping abilities. In this context Fin $\mathbf{Ray}\bigcirc\! \! \! \! \! \! \mathrm{R}$ effect based closed-chain structure, effectively exploiting underactuation and compliance, are an interesting solution to meet the ergonomics and functional requirements, and to get a light but robust wearable device. The finger is actuated through a single linear actuator and it has a complaint structure with stiff crossbeams that buckle and deform in to conform around objects. We performed Finite Element Modeling (FEM) simulations to compare the soft-rigid structure with the Fin $\mathbf{Ray}\bigcirc\! \! \! \! \! \! \mathrm{R}$ effect based closed-chain structure. We performed a set of tests to exploit the device potentialities in grasp compensation tasks through qualitative experiments based on activity daily living (ADL). Results showed that proposed robotic device can improve the autonomy of patients suffering from sensorimotor hand impairment in ADL and allow them to complete tasks which otherwise are impossible to perform.
FPGA Resource Optimization Method for Hardware in the Loop Real-time Simulation of Power Converters

For the Hardware-In-The-Loop (HIL) real-time simulation of power converters, it is contradictory between the model precision and FPGA resources when the power converter model is implemented in FPGA. To optimize FPGA resources, the quantitative relation of the time step, word-length, and model precision have been studied. Based on the Signal-Noise Ratio (SNR) theory, this paper proposes a quantitative algorithm to choose optimal time step and word-length that meet the model precision to minimize the FPGA resources in HIL real-time simulation. Taking the three-phase inverter with LC filter as the example, the algorithm has been proven by the offline simulation results. The comparative analysis results show that the word-length for 21 bits, time step for 100ns are the optimal choice to minimize the FPGA resources. Finally, this method is verified by comparing the HIL real-time simulation results with the real experimental results.
Trusted AI and the Contribution of Trust Modeling in Multiagent Systems

Researchers in the field of artificial intelligence today are increasingly concerned with whether the systems which they build will be "trusted AI", in other words, whether they will be accepted by their human users. The claim of this paper is that these researchers should be aware of the rich set of solutions being developed in the multiagent systems subfield of trust modeling. We propose a specific perspective on how to leverage trust modeling solutions towards assurances for trusted artificial intelligence. We conclude by advocating for greater dialogue between these AI communities.
Optimal Maneuver Trajectory for Hypersonic Missiles in Dive Phase Using Inverted Flight

To determine the optimal trajectory for the dive phase of a hypersonic missile, a maneuver strategy using inverted flight is presented. The combat scene that the hypersonic missile attacks the fixed target on the ground is considered in this paper. Particularly, a maneuvering form named inverted flight is first applied to the hypersonic missiles. Afterward, an optimal trajectory is designed by minimizing the attack time with a preset terminal flight path angle, where the constraints of the angle of attack, dynamic pressure, heating transfer rate, and normal overload are taken into account. In order to solve the designed trajectory optimization problem, an improved hp-adaptive pseudospectral method with mesh size reduction is presented. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly reduce the mesh scale with satisfactory accuracy and the trajectory obtained by the proposed algorithm is in accordance with the actual flight law. Furthermore, contrast simulation demonstrates that the inverted flight has better trajectory performance than normal flight.
Peer-to-Peer Negotiation for Optimising Journeys of Electric Vehicles on a Tour of Europe

Real-world transportation networks provide rich and complex environments, well-suited to the deployment of multi-agent systems. In this demonstration, we simulate a population of electric vehicles making a journey between two cities. The challenge for the vehicles lies in making decisions of how best to recharge their batteries using the small number of charging stations that are available on their route. We investigate several scenarios that use a combination of conventional planning techniques alongside automated negotiation, and evaluate their effects on the efficiency of the system.
Optimal Power Allocation and Relay Location for DF Energy Harvesting Relaying Sensor Networks

This paper considers a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) based decode-and-forward (DF) relaying sensor network, where the “save-and-forward” strategy is utilized at the relay sensor node. We investigate a joint power splitting (PS) and relay location (RL) optimization scheme for delay-sensitive transmission mode using the instantaneous channel state information (CSI). In particular, two optimization problems are formulated to minimize the outage probability and maximize the average capacity, respectively. For the two optimization problems, the optimal solutions to the PS ratio and RL are obtained based on the instantaneous CSI. On the basis of optimal solutions, the analytical expressions for outage probability and average capacity are derived, and the corresponding achievable throughputs are obtained. Numerical results verify the correctness of theoretical derivations and validate the advantages of our proposed scheme.
A Low Profile Stacked Transformer for High-Efficiency High-Output-Current 380 V/12 V LLC Resonant Converters

This paper proposes a low profile transformer structure for high-efficiency and high-output-current LLC resonant converters, named stacked transformer. Besides minimization of termination losses by integrating the synchronous rectifiers (SRs) and output filter capacitors into the secondary windings, the vertically stacked structure can shrink the transformer footprint and significantly shorten the secondary current travelling loop at the output terminals. High efficiency and high power density are thus achieved, particularly for high-output-current applications. The close flux coupling and small leakage inductance between the secondary windings limit the voltage stress on the SR MOSFETs. Consistent and low voltage spikes on all of the SRs are ensured by uniform parameters due to the one-core set structure attained by flux cancellation. The proposed transformer and its performance are verified by finite element analysis simulation, experimental results and analysis on a 380 V/12 V 1.2 kW LLC resonant converter that achieves a peak efficiency of 98.2%.
Finite Element Input Shaping Design for Vibration Suppression of Mechatronics Systems

Input shaping is a low cost yet effective method for suppressing motion-induced vibration in point-to-point maneuverers. However, the success of shaper design largely depends on the accuracy of system dynamics, which are traditionally achieved by analytical dynamics. For systems with complex boundary conditions, motion constraints, and structural behaviors, such an approach could not yield effective models with sufficient accuracy. In this work, it is proposed to hire finite element dynamic simulation directly in both trajectory planning and input shaping design. Two flexible motion systems are designed for serving as the test bed to ensure multiple vibration mode excitations during transportation for evaluating the effectiveness in finite element simulation. Experimental results using both unshaped and shaped motions are performed. The associated finite element models are then simulated. The results confirm the effectiveness of using input shaping in vibration suppression and both the experimental and the simulation results agree to each other very well.
Optic Disc Segmentation using Vessel In-painting and Random Walk Algorithm

Optic disc segmentation in fundus images is a fundamental step for the detection of retinal diseases like glaucoma. Glaucoma effects the parts of retina inside and around optic disc leading in manifestation of various structural abnormalities. The work proposed in this paper presents an efficient optic disc segmentation methodology using random walk algorithm. Random walk algorithm divides the image into foreground and background regions based on the initial seeds. The optic disc is segmented by using random walk with weights calculated on the color similarity and dissimilarity among neighborhood pixels. The proposed method is tested on fundus images of publicly available Drishti-GS1 database. The final performance is evaluated with respect to precision, sensitivity, specificity, F-score, jaccard, dice, and mean absolute distance measures and compared with other optic disc segmentation approaches presented in the literature.
Design and Kinematics of 4- DoF Multi-Purpose Wearable Mechanical Arm (MUWA) Support for Enhanced Operation Stability

A low-cost motor-less simple wearable mechanical arm support unit is presented as a viable alternative to todays assistive exoskeleton support units. By limiting the functionality of the device to stabilization rather than actuation, the cost could significantly be reduced while still maintaining a wide range of applications. The basic idea is to let the device follow the wearers actions freely without obscuring the motion in normal mode, while fixating the arm at the desired angle and location when the user expect to receive support; namely in lock mode. The lock-unlock mechanism is simple Bluetooth activated palm gesture of the non-operating arm while the support unit Bluetooth receiver stabilizes the arm at any desired angle or position in response to sensed gesture command. The lock-unlock mechanism is achieved by solely two solenoids, one at each of the joints; shoulder and elbow, with 3 Degree of Freedom (DoF) and 1 DoF respectively, leaving the wrist free to perform the desired hand operation and increasing the precision of the locking mechanism.