Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of a lanthanum bromide detector for time-of-flight PET

Recent improvements in the growth and packaging of lanthanum bromide (LaBr/sub 3/), in addition to its superb intrinsic properties of high light output, excellent energy resolution, and fast decay time, make it a viable detection material for a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner based on time-of-flight (TOF). We have utilized theoretical simulations and experimental measurements to investigate the design and performance of pixelated LaBr/sub 3/ Anger-logic detectors suitable for use in a TOF PET scanner. Our results indicate that excellent energy resolution can be obtained from individual as well as multicrystal arrays of LaBr/sub 3/ in a 4 mm/spl times/4 mm /spl times/ 30 mm geometry. Measured energy resolutions (at 511 keV) of 4.1% for a single crystal and an average of 5.1% for an array of 100 crystals have been achieved with our best samples. Both simulations and experimental measurements of an Anger-logic based detector consisting of the LaBr/sub 3/ crystal array coupled to a continuous light guide and seven photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), have resulted in the ability to clearly discriminate 511 keV interactions in each crystal. We have measured coincidence time resolutions for both 0.5% and 5.0% cerium-doped LaBr/sub 3/ and found that the higher level of Ce-doping yielded superior results with little to no degradation in light output or energy resolution. The time resolution for a single 5.0% Ce-doped LaBr/sub 3/ crystal (4 mm /spl times/ 4 mm /spl times/ 30 mm) coupled directly to a PMT was measured to be 275 ps full-width at half-maximum (FWHM). With an array of 100 crystals coupled to a light guide and seven PMT cluster an average time resolution of 290 ps FWHM was obtained by summing the signals from the PMT cluster. Ultimately, two 5.0% Ce-doped LaBr/sub 3/ Anger-logic detectors placed in coincidence yielded a time resolution of 313 ps FWHM.
Selective refinement and selection of near‐native models in protein structure prediction

In recent years in silico protein structure prediction reached a level where fully automated servers can generate large pools of near‐native structures. However, the identification and further refinement of the best structures from the pool of models remain problematic. To address these issues, we have developed (i) a target‐specific selective refinement (SR) protocol; and (ii) molecular dynamics (MD) simulation based ranking (SMDR) method. In SR the all‐atom refinement of structures is accomplished via the Rosetta Relax protocol, subject to specific constraints determined by the size and complexity of the target. The best‐refined models are selected with SMDR by testing their relative stability against gradual heating through all‐atom MD simulations. Through extensive testing we have found that Mufold‐MD, our fully automated protein structure prediction server updated with the SR and SMDR modules consistently outperformed its previous versions. Proteins 2015; 83:1823–1835. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Prevalence of mental disorders among high school students in National Guard Housing, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Adolescents experience rapid biological, psychological, and social transitions that can be associated with mental health problems. During the high school period there are also more academic stressors. Objective: (1) To study the prevalence of mental disorders in high school (grade 12) students. (2) To study some related sociodemographic data. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study, using GHQ-28, that included 354 students randomly selected from grade 12 in four high schools – two male and two female high schools – in the National Guard Housing (Iskan), in Kashmalaan (suburb of Riyadh). Results: The overall prevalence of mental disorders was found to be 48% (41% in males and 51% in females); more than 80% of these cases were mild to moderate. Females showed significantly more severe disorders than males (P = 0.017) and students with excellent performance degrees showed a significantly lower rate of mental disorders than others (P = 0.021). However, our study did not show a significant association between psychiatric disorders and other social variables (family size, birth order, and polygamous family) or smoking. Conclusion: The adolescent age groups in our community had high rates of mental disorders, which required more attention from the family, as well as the educational and health institutes in our country.
Sensitivity evaluation of TMR-hardened circuits to multiple SEUs induced by alpha particles in commercial SRAM-based FPGAs

We present an experimental analysis of the sensitivity of SRAM-based FPGAs to alpha particles. We study how the different resources inside the FPGA (LUTs, MUXs, PIPs, etc. ) are affected by alpha-induced SEUs, assessing the cross section for the configuration memory cells controlling each of them. We then show two case studies, a chain of FIR filters and a series of soft microcontrollers implemented in the FPGA, measuring the rate of functional interruptions during exposure to a constant flux of alpha particles. The designs are then hardened using triplication with a single final voter, with intermediate voters, and finally including also feedback voters. The robustness of each hardening solution is discussed, analyzing the trade-off between area and fault-tolerance as a function of the number of SEUs in the configuration memory. An analytical model to predict the cross section of a given design with and without hardening solutions is finally proposed, starting from the experimental data.
Factors affecting the Gates' measurement of glomerular filtration rate.

The following technical factors affect the Gates' measurement of glomerular filtration rate (GFR): 1) net injected activity, 2) kidney depth, 3) corrected kidney counts. In the syringe measurement prior to injection, self-attenuation causes 16% data loss for a volume of 0.5 ml if the syringe is positioned perpendicular to the collimator face. A +/- 1 cm error in true kidney depth may cause a 16% difference in GFR in an adult. The choice of the background region of interest (ROI), for background subtraction significantly affects the calculation. To minimize errors in the Gates' estimate of GFR we recommend 1) that syringe counting be done with the syringe parallel to the collimator face; 2) that the i.v. set be included in the postsyringe measurement; in cases of extravasation, the injection site should also be counted; 3) that kidney depth, especially for ectopic and transplanted kidneys be estimated by ultrasound or using lateral views; and 4) that a background ROI for each kidney be used.
Renal calcification in preterm infants: follow up at 4–5 years

AIM To determine the consequences of renal calcification in preterm infants. METHODS A cohort of 11 preterm babies was studied at the age of 4 to 5 years. They had had renal calcification as neonates. Seventeen matched controls were also studied. Each child had a renal ultrasound scan, a calcium load test, and a desmopressin test for renal concentrating ability (RCA). The study group also had glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimated, using the height:creatinine ratio, and tubular phosphate reabsorption, without phosphate load, per glomerular filtration rate (Tp/GFR) calculated. RESULTS In the study group the median GFR was 61 ml/min/1.73m2 (range 46-79 ml/min/1.73m2) and the median calculated Tp/GFR SD score was −0.94 (range −2.8– 0.68). Five children out of the study group had ultrasonic evidence of renal calcification. There was no significant difference between the two groups in renal size, calciuria, before or after calcium load, or RCA. Eight children (three patients, five controls) had an abnormal calcium load test. The RCA of the children in the study and control groups combined was below that of published values, with a median calculated SD score −0.71 (95% CI −1.21 to −0.23). CONCLUSIONS There was evidence of renal dysfunction in children who had been born preterm. Renal calcification detected in the neonatal period does not seem to be a major predisposing factor for the abnormalities of renal function subsequently observed in these infants.
Genome Sequence of Bacillus sp. Strain FJAT-14515

ABSTRACT We report the draft genome sequence of Bacillus sp. strain FJAT-14515. The genome is 5.44 Mb in length. It covers 5,263 genes with an average length of 791 bp, has a G+C value of 37.06%, and contains 67 tRNAs, 31 small RNAs, and 5 rRNA loci.
Review on design and control aspects of ankle rehabilitation robots

Abstract Ankle rehabilitation robots can play an important role in improving outcomes of the rehabilitation treatment by assisting therapists and patients in number of ways. Consequently, few robot designs have been proposed by researchers which fall under either of the two categories, namely, wearable robots or platform-based robots. This paper presents a review of both kinds of ankle robots along with a brief analysis of their design, actuation and control approaches. While reviewing these designs it was observed that most of them are undesirably inspired by industrial robot designs. Taking note of the design concerns of current ankle robots, few improvements in the ankle robot designs have also been suggested. Conventional position control or force control approaches, being used in the existing ankle robots, have been reviewed. Apparently, opportunities of improvement also exist in the actuation as well as control of ankle robots. Subsequently, a discussion on most recent research in the development of novel actuators and advanced controllers based on appropriate physical and cognitive human–robot interaction has also been included in this review. Implications for Rehabilitation Ankle joint functions are restricted/impaired as a consequence of stroke or injury during sports or otherwise. Robots can help in reinstating functions faster and can also work as tool for recording rehabilitation data useful for further analysis. Evolution of ankle robots with respect to their design and control aspects has been discussed in the present paper and a novel design with futuristic control approach has been proposed.
Signature schemes and applications to cryptographic protocol design

Signature schemes are fundamental cryptographic primitives, useful as a stand-alone application, and as a building block in the design of secure protocols and other cryptographic objects. In this thesis, we study both the uses that signature schemes find in protocols, and the design of signature schemes suitable for a broad range of applications. An important application of digital signature schemes is an anonymous credential system. In such a system, one can obtain and prove possession of credentials without revealing any additional information. Such systems are the best means of balancing the need of individuals for privacy with the need of large organizations to verify that the people they interact with have the required credentials. We show how to construct an efficient anonymous credential system using an appropriate signature scheme; we then give an example of such a signature scheme. The resulting system is the first one with satisfactory communication and computation costs. The signature scheme we use to construct an anonymous credential system is of independent interest for use in other protocols. The special property of this signature scheme is that it admits an efficient protocol for a zero-knowledge proof of knowledge of a signature. Further, we consider the question of revocation of signatures. We obtain an efficient revocation scheme. This has immediate consequences for revocation of credentials in our credential system. We explore other uses for signature schemes as building blocks for designing cryptographic objects and secure protocols. We give a unique signature scheme which has implications for verifiable random functions and for non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs. Finally, we consider the use of signatures for implementing a broadcast channel in a point-to-point network. It was previously shown that while broadcast was impossible without computational assumptions in a point-to-point network where one-third or more nodes exhibited adversarial behavior, using an appropriate set-up phase and a signature scheme, the impossibility could be overcome. We show that the situation is more complex than was previously believed. We consider the composition of protocols in this model, and discover severe limitations. We also show how to augment the model to overcome these limitations. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
A New Method for Assessing the Exploratory Field of View (EFOV)

Intact visual functioning is a crucial prerequisite for driving safely. Visual function tests usually include the assessment of the visual acuity and binocular visual field. Based on these results, persons suffering from some types of visual field defects that affect the central 20 degree region are prohibited from driving, although they may have developed patterns of eye and head movements that allow them to compensate for their visual impairment. We propose a new method to assess the exploratory field of view (EFOV), i.e. the field of view of a subject when eye movements are allowed. With EFOV testing we aim at capturing the visual exploration capability of a subject and thus understand the real impact of visual field defects on activities of daily living and potential compensatory strategies.
Bake enhanced erratic behavior in gate stress characteristics in flash memories

Bake enhanced degradation of gate disturbance of flash cells has been studied. It is found that the worst-case situation exists when the cells are baked in the erased state. The number of cells appearing in the tail distribution can be three times as high when the cells are baked in the erased state than those cells baked in the programmed state. This bake state dependent gate stress behavior can be related to process induced mobile ions or to positive centers in the tunnel oxide.
Downlink and uplink splitting user association in two-tier heterogeneous cellular networks

Traditional cellular network standards require users downlink(DL) and uplink(UL) associated to the same BS. However, due to the power gap between BSs and users and different transmission environment(e.g. the path gain) of DL and UL, a serving BS with the strongest downlink would yield to a non-serving BS in the uplink. In this paper we propose the DL/UL splitting user association framework under a two-tier heterogeneous network, in which femtocell base stations are randomly located over a macro base station in a specific area. Downlink and Uplink network ergodic throughput are analysed according to our DL/UL splitting association model. Simulation results show a great throughput promotion compared with the traditional DL/UL coupled association manner. We believe downlink and uplink splitting as a flexible connection mode between users and base stations would be an essential approach to realize the high capacity requirements, which is a evolution of the network connection art.
Designer-critiqued comparison of 2D vector visualization methods: a pilot study

Figure 1. The six visualization methods the designer critiqued. The large image shows a full screen shot. The other six are details from each method (clockwise from top-left: JIT, LIC, LIT, OSTR, GRID, GSTR). The circles represent an advection task used in a previous study [Laidlaw et al. 2001]. Observers were asked to indicate where a particle in the flow, starting at the small concentric circle, would intersect the large concentric circle; the other circle represents the correct intersection point. GSTR JIT LIC LIT OSTR GRID
The Associations among Computer-Mediated Communication, Relationships, and Well-being

Social support provided by interpersonal relationships is one of the most robust correlates of well-being. Self-disclosure serves as a basic building block of these relationships. With the rapid growth of the Internet in recent years, the question remains how self-disclosure, and subsequently relationships and well-being, differ when people communicate over the Internet rather than in person. The purpose of this article is to describe current Internet usage patterns as well as explore the association of Internet usage and well-being. Additionally, it directly compares the perceived benefits of face-to-face communication and computer-mediated communication. A questionnaire was administered to 99 undergraduates to measure Internet usage patterns, communication partners, self-disclosure, extraversion, and subjective well-being. Although Internet communication was found to be common, individuals perceived computer-mediated communication to be less useful than face-to-face communication. In addition, increased Internet usage was associated with decreased well-being. Implications are discussed in terms of a new Internet paradox in which people increasingly use the Internet for communication, although they perceive it to be less beneficial than face-to-face interactions and it is associated with reduced well-being.
Off-Policy Control under Changing Behaviour

Reinforcement learning, as a part of machine learning, is the study of how to compute intelligent behaviour strategies that maximize a particular objective. Typically one considers an intelligent agent that interacts with its world and receives feedback in the form of a scalar value, called the reward. The goal is to find a behaviour strategy, called a policy, which maximizes an accumulative function of all rewards received during the agent’s lifetime. Off-policy learning refers to the problem of learning a particular policy while using a different one to interact with the world. Gradient-based off-policy algorithms such as TDC [Sutton et al., 2009a] and GQ(λ) [Maei and Sutton, 2010] are incremental algorithms that are proven to converge even when used with linear function approximation. They have been developed for predicting the performance of a given fixed policy. However, in control problems one needs to search for a good policy by starting with a random policy and improving it over time. For the algorithm to incrementally improve a particular policy it needs to be able to adapt the policy during learning. This thesis presents the first off-policy gradient-based learning algorithm that adapts the behaviour policy and accounts for how this effects the data the algorithm will see in the future. The algorithm, similar to the GQ(0) algorithm, is derived while leveraging ideas from policy gradient methods. Further, empirical evidence showing improved performance over existing approaches is presented.
Conduction losses and common mode EMI analysis on bridgeless power factor correction

In this paper, a review of Bridgeless Boost power factor correction (PFC) converters is presented at first. Performance comparison on conduction losses and common mode electromagnetic interference (EMI) are analyzed between conventional Boost PFC converter and members of Bridgeless PFC family. Experiment results are given to validate the efficiency analysis and EMI model building.
Comparison of biological, biochemical, immunological, and immunochemical techniques for typing herpes simplex virus isolates

In this study, 102 herpes simplex virus isolates were typed by cell culture selection (chicken embryo cells and guinea pig embryo cells [CE/GPE]), (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU) sensitivity, plaque reduction neutralization, and indirect immunofluorescence staining techniques. The percentages of agreement between the typing methods were as follows: BVDU sensitivity versus CE/GPE, 99% (99/102); CE/GPE and BVDU sensitivity versus neutralization, 32% (33/102); CE/GPE and BVDU sensitivity versus indirect immunofluorescence staining 17% (17/102). Results were easy to interpret when the CE/GPE and BVDU sensitivity systems were used. In contrast, when type-specific antisera prepared commercially were used, results were often obscure, even contradictory, because of antibody cross-reactions. Therefore, this study suggests that immunological and immunochemical methods that use presently available commercially prepared antisera cannot reliably differentiate herpes simplex virus type 1 from type 2.
Fiabilité des conduites enterrées

La presente etude a pour but de faire globalement le point sur le probleme du comportement mecanique des conduites enterrees. On s'attache a etablir les liens entre les desordres constates sur les conduites d'assainissement et les facteurs d'environnement, et a determiner, au moyen d'une etude fiabiliste, les parametres de dimensionnement du systeme sol-conduite qui peuvent contribuer le mieux et au moindre cout a l'amelioration de la robustesse de ces ouvrages. Nous procedons d'abord a un examen de la pathologie des conduites d'assainissement. Nous recensons les degradations couramment observees et, grâce a une etude statistique sur un lineaire du reseau d'assainissement nanceien, nous etablissons des relations entre des desordres constates et certains facteurs d'environnement et parametres de dimensionnement. Nous nous interessons ensuite a la modelisation du comportement mecanique des conduites enterrees. Une etude parametrique nous permet de faire ressortir les facteurs d'environnement et les parametres de dimensionnement qui ont l'influence la plus marquee sur le comportement mecanique du systeme sol-conduite. L’influence des parametres de dimensionnement est a nouveau examinee dans la troisieme etape de l'etude. On estime l'indice de fiabilite des conduites enterrees, dans des conditions de pose et de chargement aleatoires. Parmi ces parametres, on recherche ceux qui ont l'influence la plus significative sur cet indice. Ce sont les facteurs de robustesse. On met ainsi notamment en evidence l'importance, du point de vue de la securite, de facteurs comme la profondeur de pose, les dimensions de la conduite ou le degre de flexibilite des joints. Dans la derniere partie, nous proposons les grandes lignes d'une methodologie basee sur la theorie de la decision, et orientee a ameliorer la fiabilite des conduites d'assainissement. Les facteurs de robustesse mis en evidence determinent les actions possibles. Le facteur economique est pris en compte pour definir, avec le facteur technique, la meilleure action a entreprendre