Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Field evaluation of the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. physical activity monitor.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. (CSA) activity monitor to quantify physical activity in free living subjects using an activity diary as the criterion measure. METHODS Subjects also completed a 7-d physical activity recall at the end of the monitoring period. Nine male and 10 female subjects (mean, SD) (25.0, 3.6 yr) wore the CSA monitor for 7 consecutive days. On 3 of those days, subjects completed an activity diary (2 weekdays and 1 weekend day). Total kcal per day (Dkcal(tot)) was calculated from the self-reported diary classifications of the subject's activities. For the 3 days that coincided with the diary, total number of counts accumulated per day (cnt(tot)) was obtained from the monitor. RESULTS The amount of activity per day recorded by the CSA monitor followed the same pattern of change as the activity diary. The cnt(tot) and Dkcal(tot) were significantly (P < or = 0.05) correlated on day 1 (r = 0.65), day 2 (r = 0.49), day 3 (r = 0.55), and for the 3 days pooled (r = 0.51). Subjects were classified as low, moderate, or highly active based on tertiles of kcal from the diary and counts from the CSA monitor. The percentage agreement between the CSA and the activity diary was 68.4% (Kappa = 0.53, P < 0.01). The number of minutes spent in the various activity categories were compared between instruments using an ANOVA model. The results of these analyses suggest that the CSA overestimated light activity and underestimated vigorous activity compared with the diary. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the CSA monitor may be useful in a field situation where total physical activity and patterns of physical activity are the desired outcomes.
How Helpdesk Agents Help Clients

Helpdesks are an important channel for supporting users of technical products and software. This study analyses some phenomena in telephone helpdesk calls, using conversational analysis as a methodological and theoretical framework. Helpdesk calls are characterized by the common goal of the helpdesk agent and the client to understand and solve the client's problem with a particular technical device or with computer software. Both parties cooperate in a complex manner to define and diagnose the problem, and to solve it. The paper identifies the typical structure of a helpdesk call and describes a number of strategies that the participants use to make the call successful.
On Recurrent and Deep Neural Networks

L'apprentissage profond est un domaine de recherche en forte croissance en apprentissage automatique qui est parvenu a des resultats impressionnants dans differentes tâches allant de la classification d'images a la parole, en passant par la modelisation du langage. Les reseaux de neurones recurrents, une sous-classe d'architecture profonde, s'averent particulierement prometteurs. Les reseaux recurrents peuvent capter la structure temporelle dans les donnees. Ils ont potentiellement la capacite d'apprendre des correlations entre des evenements eloignes dans le temps et d'emmagasiner indefiniment des informations dans leur memoire interne. Dans ce travail, nous tentons d'abord de comprendre pourquoi la profondeur est utile. Similairement a d'autres travaux de la litterature, nos resultats demontrent que les modeles profonds peuvent etre plus efficaces pour representer certaines familles de fonctions comparativement aux modeles peu profonds. Contrairement a ces travaux, nous effectuons notre analyse theorique sur des reseaux profonds acycliques munis de fonctions d'activation lineaires par parties, puisque ce type de modele est actuellement l'etat de l'art dans differentes tâches de classification. La deuxieme partie de cette these porte sur le processus d'apprentissage. Nous analysons quelques techniques d'optimisation proposees recemment, telles l'optimisation Hessian free, la descente de gradient naturel et la descente des sous-espaces de Krylov. Nous proposons le cadre theorique des methodes a region de confiance generalisees et nous montrons que plusieurs de ces algorithmes developpes recemment peuvent etre vus dans cette perspective. Nous argumentons que certains membres de cette famille d'approches peuvent etre mieux adaptes que d'autres a l'optimisation non convexe. La derniere partie de ce document se concentre sur les reseaux de neurones recurrents. Nous etudions d'abord le concept de memoire et tentons de repondre aux questions suivantes: Les reseaux recurrents peuvent-ils demontrer une memoire sans limite? Ce comportement peut-il etre appris? Nous montrons que cela est possible si des indices sont fournis durant l'apprentissage. Ensuite, nous explorons deux problemes specifiques a l'entrainement des reseaux recurrents, a savoir la dissipation et l'explosion du gradient. Notre analyse se termine par une solution au probleme d'explosion du gradient qui implique de borner la norme du gradient. Nous proposons egalement un terme de regularisation concu specifiquement pour reduire le probleme de dissipation du gradient. Sur un ensemble de donnees synthetique, nous montrons empiriquement que ces mecanismes peuvent permettre aux reseaux recurrents d'apprendre de facon autonome a memoriser des informations pour une periode de temps indefinie. Finalement, nous explorons la notion de profondeur dans les reseaux de neurones recurrents. Comparativement aux reseaux acycliques, la definition de profondeur dans les reseaux recurrents est souvent ambigue. Nous proposons differentes facons d'ajouter de la profondeur dans les reseaux recurrents et nous evaluons empiriquement ces propositions.
Advances in sperm proteomics: best-practise methodology and clinical potential

The recent application of mass spectrometry to the study of the sperm cell has led to an unprecedented capacity for identification of sperm proteins in a variety of species. Knowledge of the proteins that make up the sperm cell represents the first step towards understanding its normal function and the molecular anomalies associated with male infertility. The present review starts with an introduction of the sperm cell biology and is followed by the consideration of the methodological key aspects to be aware of during sample sourcing and preparation, including data interpretation. It then overviews the initiatives developed so far towards the completion of the sperm proteome, with a particular focus in human but with the inclusion of some comments on different model species. Finally, all studies performing differential proteomics in infertile patients are reviewed, pointing to future potential applications.
“Grown‐Up” Congenital Heart Disease and Sudden Death in a Medical Examiner’s Population *

Abstract: Despite advances in the management of congenital heart disease (CHD), children with CHD who survive into adulthood are at increased risk of sudden death. Sudden death may also be the initial presentation of undiagnosed CHD in some adults. This retrospective descriptive study outlines the spectrum of CHD presenting as sudden death in adults in a medical examiner’s population. Despite its rarity (0.2% of all cases investigated between 1991 and 2007), CHD remains an important cause of sudden cardiac death to be recognized at adult autopsy. Bicuspid aortic valve and anomalous coronary anomalies were the most common malformations, comprising 36.9% and 26.2% of cases, respectively. However, a wide spectrum of simple to complex malformations can be seen, with or without prior surgery, and over a wide age spectrum. Once solely a pediatric entity, CHD is now “grown‐up” and will likely be diagnosed by forensic pathologists with increased frequency in the future.
Procurement of IT Consulting Services and Firm-Specific Characteristics

Information technology investments and the management consulting industry witnessed unprecedented growth in the last decade. This led to regulators’ (SEC and Congress) allegations that consulting services that are provided by incumbent auditors may be disguised extra payments to auditors for favorable financial reporting. However, there may be alternative valid reasons for procurement of consulting. Under new legislation (proclaimed in the aftermath of spectacular failures like Enron and Worldcom), publicly traded corporations that engage professional services firms to provide both audit services and consulting services must now disclose the extent and nature of these services. Using the data made available by these new mandated disclosures and using
Spinal Cord Repair in Adult Paraplegic Rats: Partial Restoration of Hind Limb Function

Complete spinal cord gaps in adult rats were bridged with multiple intercostal nerve grafts that redirected specific pathways from white to gray matter. The grafted area was stabilized with fibrin glue containing acidic fibroblast growth factor and by compressive wiring of posterior spinal processes. Hind limb function improved progressively during the first 6 months, as assessed by two scoring systems. The corticospinal tract regenerated through the grafted area to the lumbar enlargement, as did several bulbospinal pathways. These data suggest a possible repair strategy for spinal cord injury.
Grid interfaced solar PV powered brushless DC motor driven water pumping system

This paper deals with the development of a solar photovoltaic (PV) based reliable water pumping system. An uninterrupted and full volume of water delivery and hence the reliability is ensured by providing a continuous power grid support to the PV generation unit which is installed for the water pumping. A high efficiency and reduced sensor based brushless DC (BLDC) motor drive is used to run the water pump. The power transfer from the utility grid to the common DC bus is enabled through controlling a power factor corrected (PFC) buck-boost converter. In order to make the control of the converter simple and cost-effective, it is operated in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) which requires a single voltage sensing, and also offers an inherent power quality improvement in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) and unity power factor (UPF). The applicability and reliability of the proposed scheme are demonstrated by the various simulated results using MATLAB/Simulink platform.
Histopathology of incipient intraepidermal squamous cell carcinoma ("actinic keratosis").

BACKGROUND Actinic keratoses (AKs) are proliferations of transformed, neoplastic keratinocytes confined to the epidermis induced by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in sunlight. They are extremely prevalent and are seen in most middle-aged to elderly Caucasian persons with a history of significant sun exposure. These lesions are currently termed AKs while they remain confined to the epidermis, but when they extend more deeply to involve the papillary and/or reticular dermis, they are termed squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The term AK was developed on the basis of clinical appearance and texture of these lesions without regard to histopathology or pathobiology. METHODS This study was based on a current and historical literature review. RESULTS AKs and SCC represent the same disease process at different stages of evolution. Neoplastic transformation occurs in keratinocytes exposed to UV radiation manifest primarily as mutations in the p53 gene. In time, these cells proliferate in the epidermis and eventually extend into the dermis at which point metastatic spread can occur. Cytologic atypia is visible in early stages and is identical to that seen in SCC that is present in the dermis or in metastatic lesions. This sequence of events is directly analogous to that of evolving carcinoma of the uterine cervix that has been termed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. CONCLUSION AKs are malignant neoplasms in evolution and demonstrate histologic and molecular genetic features of malignancy. Because the name currently used to describe these lesions does not reflect the pathobiology of the process, we propose that a new, more appropriate name be given to these lesions. We propose that a classification scheme analogous to that used by gynecologists for evolving carcinoma of the uterine cervix using the terminology "keratinocytic intraepidermal neoplasia" or another term such as "solar keratotic intraepidermal SCC" be used to define these lesions and that the term actinic (solar) keratosis be eliminated.
An interactive human morphing system with self-occlusion enhancement

Planar shape morphing methods offer solutions to blend two shapes with different silhouettes. A naive method to solve the shape morphing problem is to linearly interpolate the coordinates of each corresponding vertex pair between the source and the target polygons. However, simple linear interpolation sometimes creates intermediate polygons that contain self-intersection, resulting in geometrically incorrect transformations.
Stereoselective Synthesis, Docking, and Biological Evaluation of Difluoroindanediol-Based MenE Inhibitors as Antibiotics

A stereoselective synthesis has been developed to provide all four side-chain stereoisomers of difluoroindanediol 2, the mixture of which was previously identified as an inhibitor of the o-succinylbenzoate-CoA synthetase MenE in bacterial menaquinone biosynthesis, having promising in vitro activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Only the (1R,3S)-diastereomer inhibited the biochemical activity of MenE, consistent with computational docking studies, and this diastereomer also exhibited in vitro antibacterial activity comparable to that of the mixture. However, mechanism-of-action studies suggest that this inhibitor and its diastereomers may act via other mechanisms beyond inhibition of menaquinone biosynthesis.
Acute TNF-induced repression of cell identity genes is mediated by NFκB-directed redistribution of cofactors from super-enhancers

The proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) plays a central role in low-grade adipose tissue inflammation and development of insulin resistance during obesity. In this context, nuclear factor κ-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NFκB) is directly involved and required for the acute activation of the inflammatory gene program. Here, we show that the major transactivating subunit of NFκB, v-rel avian reticuloendotheliosis viral oncogene homolog A (RELA), is also required for acute TNF-induced suppression of adipocyte genes. Notably, this repression does not involve RELA binding to the associated enhancers but rather loss of cofactors and enhancer RNA (eRNA) selectively from high-occupancy sites within super-enhancers. Based on these data, we have developed models that, with high accuracy, predict which enhancers and genes are repressed by TNF in adipocytes. We show that these models are applicable to other cell types where TNF represses genes associated with super-enhancers in a highly cell-type–specific manner. Our results propose a novel paradigm for NFκB-mediated repression, whereby NFκB selectively redistributes cofactors from high-occupancy enhancers, thereby specifically repressing super-enhancer-associated cell identity genes.
A Critical Comparison of Two Kinds of Adaptive Classification Networks

Abstract : This report compares the capabilities and equipment requirements of two kinds of adaptive classification networks--the 'Learning Matric,' and the Madaline. The Learning Matrix and the Madaline are structurally quite similar, forming arrays of binary output signals from linear combinations of binary or analog input signals. Both systems can learn (adjust their own parameters) from sets of patterns (with corresponding desired outputs) presented to them, and they can thereafter successfully classify additional patterns as presented. The two systems differ primarily in their training methods and in their output logic. Both the Learning Matrix and the Madaline can be realized either by the use of adaptive hardware or by digital-computer simulation. The comparison indicates that in most cases the Learning Matrix will require fewer adaptation cycles than will the Madaline when applied to a given problem; on the other hand, the Madaline will usually require less equipment than the Learning Matrix. However, in making a choice of techniques for a given situation, the overriding consideration will usually be the question of optimality. (Author)
Fiber optic backscatter spectroscopic sensor to monitor enamel demineralization and remineralization in vitro

In this study, a Fiber Optic Backscatter Spectroscopic Sensor (FOBSS) is used to monitor demineralization and remineralization induced changes in the enamel. A bifurcated fiber optic backscatter probe connected to a visible light source and a high resolution spectrophotometer was used to acquire the backscatter light spectrum from the tooth surface. The experiments were conducted in two parts. In Part 1, experiments were carried out using fiber optic backscatter spectroscopy on (1) sound enamel and dentine sections and (2) sound tooth specimens subjected to demineralization and remineralization. In Part 2, polarization microscopy was conducted to examine the depth of demineralization in tooth specimens. The enamel and dentine specimens from the Part-1 experiments showed distinct backscatter spectra. The spectrum obtained from the enamel-dentine combination and the spectrum generated from the average of the enamel and dentine spectral values were closely similar and showed characteristics of dentine. The experiments in Part 2 showed that demineralization and remineralization processes induced a linear decrease and linear increase in the backscatter light intensity respectively. A negative correlation between the decrease in the backscatter light intensity during demineralization and the depth of demineralization determined using the polarization microscopy was calculated to be p = -0.994. This in vitro experiment highlights the potential benefit of using FOBSS to detect demineralization and remineralization of enamel.
Autism and attachment

Children with autism are able to show secure attachment behaviours to their parents/caregivers. Most studies on attachment in children with autism used a (modified) Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) to examine attachment security. An advantage of the Attachment Q-Sort (AQS) over the SSP is that it can be attuned to the secure-base behaviour of children from special populations. In this study experts in the field of autism (both clinicians and researchers: N = 59) defined an AQS criterion sort for children with autism and tested its content validity. Separate criterion sorts were defined for the social subtypes aloof and active-but-odd, but the two criterion sorts could be combined into one AQS criterion sort for children with autism. It is concluded that with minor amendments the original Attachment Q-Sort is applicable in observing the attachment behaviour of children with autism.
Feedback Enhancement of Antibody Responses via Complement and Fc Receptors

IgG, IgM and IgE in complex with antigen have the capacity to regulate specific immune responses. In this investigation, the role of Fc receptors for IgG (FcγRI, FcγRII and FcγRIII) and complement receptors 1 and 2 (CR1/2) for antibody-mediated enhancement of antibody responses are investigated.IgM is known to efficiently activate complement and thereby enhance specific antibody responses but it is not known if this involves binding to CR1/2. Using CR1/2 deficient mice, immunized with sheep erythrocytes alone or together with specific IgM, we present evidence that IgM-mediated enhancement is completely dependent on CR1/2 expression, whereas IgG or IgE in complex with bovine serum albumin (BSA) induce strong antibody responses in CR1/2-deficient mice. Enhancement by IgE is mediated via the low affinity receptor for IgE (FceRII, CD23). However, the receptors which are involved in IgG-mediated enhancement are not known. We find that γ-chain-deficient mice (lacking FcγRI and FcγRIII) have impaired antibody responses to IgG/BSA complexes. In contrast, FcγRIII deficient mice have normal responses, suggesting that FcγRI mediates the effect. Furthermore, IgG/BSA complexes induce up to 189-fold stronger antibody responses in FcγRIIB-deficient mice than in wild-type mice. The threshold dose of IgG/BSA required was lower, the response was sustained for longer and initiated earlier in FcγRIIB-deficient than in wild-type animals. The findings suggest that FcγRIIB acts as a "safety-valve" preventing excessive antibody production during an immune response. We show for the first time that IgG3/BSA complexes can mediate enhancement of specific antibody responses. Their effect does not involve known Fcγ receptors.
Embedding multiresolution binary images into wavelet domain multiresolution binary watermark channels for copyright enforcement

Our motivation for this research is twofold. Firstly, we embed the watermark in wavelet domain rather than DCT domain motivated by the fact that the wavelet transform is used in jpeg2000 standardization process. Secondly, high bit rate watermarks tend to get destroyed, even before between 10% to 32% average lossless compression. Hence we intend to get the watermark detection quality decreasing as we increase the compression ratio to improve detection performance. We will do this by introducing the concept of multiresolution watermark channels. We will develop techniques to construct such watermark channels.
Analysis of Influencing Factors of Ground-Source Heat Pump Applications in China Using Partial Least Squares Regression

Energy crisis and environmental pollution have become major challenges in China’s economic development, which has triggered the demand for alternative energy sources and promoted the popularization of ground source heat pump technology. A ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a central heating and/or cooling system that transfers heat to or from the ground. It uses the earth as a heat source (in the winter) or a heat sink (in the summer). This design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost efficiency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems. This paper adopted the STIRPAT model and the influencing factors were analyzed. The major influencing factors were population (P), urbanization level (U), GDP per capita (A), energy consumption per capita (E), industrial structure (IS), R&D (T), central heating area (HA), and policy investment (PI). However, these factors themselves had strong collinearity, which might produce some uncertain impacts on the final results. To avoid the impact of collinearity, the method of partial least squares (PLS) was used. The results showed that P, U, A, E, T, HA, and PI had positive effects on GSHP, while IS had a slight effect on GSHP. This paper found that A is the most dominant factor and the effect of the IS could almost be ignored. Some policy recommendations were given on how to promote the application of GSHP systems and mitigate the growth of CO2 emissions.