Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kidney function and cognitive decline in an oldest-old Chinese population

Background Early-stage chronic kidney disease has been suggested to be correlated with cognitive decline, but the association has rarely been explored in the oldest old. Subjects and methods This prospective study included 284 Chinese participants aged 80 years or older with serum creatinine levels <150 µmol/L. The median follow-up time was 3.3 years, and 247 (87.0%) participants provided valid data at their last visit. Kidney function was evaluated by measuring the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at baseline, and cognitive function was evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at both baseline and annual visits. A reliable decrease in the MMSE score over the follow-up period was observed based on a Reliable Change Index of 1.645 (equivalent to a 90% confidence interval [CI]), which was used to define cognitive decline. Poisson regression models were built to analyze the association between baseline kidney function and cognitive decline. Results A total of 18 (7.3%) cases of incident cognitive decline were observed during the follow-up period. After adjusting for potential confounders, the relative risk of developing cognitive decline was 4.03 (95% CI 1.09–13.81) among participants with an eGFR of 30–59 mL/min/1.73 m2 compared to participants with an eGFR of ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Conclusion Early-stage chronic kidney disease was correlated with cognitive decline in an oldest-old Chinese population.
The Problem of Identifying and Diagnosing Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (AADHD): Results and Implications of a South African Study

In this study an attempt is made to design a more South African relevant self-report questionnaire. In attempt to design such an instrument 402 undergraduate Psychology students responded to an online survey in which they completed a number of existing, and widely used self-report questionnaires. An exploratory factor analysis was performed on the data to extract key symptoms that could be included in a self-report questionnaire. A number of items were identified and included in a newly constructed questionnaire. Although there are some similarities to other questionnaires it differs from those in that it includes a wider variety of symptoms, and is also structured in such a way that it covers behavioural, cognitive and emotional aspects of ADHD.
Smart SSL: Application of IoT/CPS design platforms in LED-based street-lighting luminaires

Smart systems - according to a simplistic definition - provide new qualities and new functionalities through the integration of formerly distinct functions, components and networks. Street-lighting (as other lighting applications) recently went already through a drastic change offered by “LEDification”. The easy electronic controllability of LEDs as light sources triggered a new change of paradigm: integration of LED based luminaires into smart systems. Smart integration necessitates among others both adaptability to the environmental conditions and intelligent remote control that require a communications systems based on a multi-layer data transfer protocol. We are reporting about an ongoing project that targets a “future proof” solution which is not restricted to lighting control but allows public lighting installations to play key roles in other smart city functions needed in outdoor public spaces such as communications with vehicles. The result of the development is a new IoT device which can be installed in street-lighting luminaires and allows physical layer (e.g. PLC, WiFi, ZigBee or other RF transmission) independent data transfer. The main functionality of the application layer of the protocol remains of course lighting control which is best implemented on the basis of existing standards (such as DALI), but the system allows the implementation of other communications tasks based on other application layer protocols.
Detection of Overlapped Quadrangles in Plane Geometric Figures

Digital plane geometric figures (PGFs) are important resources of digital education, especially in mathematical pedagogy. The related applications, such as recognition and retrieval system on geometric figure images, have not been fully exploited. Special quadrangles, including rectangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids, are important components of PGFs, and extracting these special quadrangles is a prerequisite task. In this paper, we focus on the detection of overlapped quadrangles in PGFs using the proposed one-pass detection algorithm based on the geometric symmetrical property of involved shapes. We also introduce a method to refine the detected geometric primitives by significance analysis in order to optimize the shape descriptor. Experimental results show that the proposed method for special quadrangle detection is accurate and efficient, and is ready for further use in PGF retrieval systems.
3D City Modeling from Street-Level Data for Augmented Reality Applications

We present a method for automatically creating compact and accurate 3D city models needed for enhanced Augmented Reality applications. The input data are panorama images and LIDAR scans collected at street level and positioned using an IMU and a GPS. Our method corrects for the GPS error and the IMU drift to produce a globally consistent and well registered dataset for the whole city. We use structure from motion and skyline detection to complement the limited range of LIDAR data. Additionally, we propose a novel reconstruction technique that exploits architectural properties of urban environments to create an accurate 3D city model from incomplete data. Our method is able to process an entire city, or several terabytes of data, in a matter of days. We show that our reconstruction achieves higher accuracy than a commercial solution.
Grapheme to phoneme conversion: an Arabic dialect case

We aim to develop a Speech-to-Speech translation system between Modern Standard Arabic and Algiers dialect. Such a system must include a Text-to-Speech module which itself must include a Grapheme-to-Phoneme converter. Algiers dialect is an Arabic dialect concerned by the most problems of Modern Standard Arabic in NLP area. Furthermore, it could be considered as an under-resourced language because it is a vernacular language for which no substantial corpus exists. In this paper we present a grapheme-to-phoneme converter for this language. We used a rule based approach and a statistical approach, we got an accuracy of 92% VS 85% despite the lack of resource for this language.
Modeling Spatial Variation of Brominates Trihalomethane in a Water Distribution System of Ontario, Canada

Conventional approaches to characterize and model the formation of trihalomethanes (THM) species in the distribution system use either residence time or water temperature. A significant deviation of THM levels were observed at the beginning and the end of a selected distribution system in Ontario, which may be because the consumption rate of residual chlorine is not constant in the distribution system. The approach developed in this study incorporates water temperature and proceeds with a trend and decomposition modeling method to incorporate the traveled distance and to explain the seasonal THM variation in the distribution system. The model has been tested and verified using a database from the Bettravia distribution system in Ontario, Canada. The deviations at the extremes of the distribution system were minimized due to the modeling technique used to develop the model and by including more factors that affect THM formation in the distribution system. The agreement between predicted and measured THM values at the beginning and the end of the distribution system is pronounced. The model presented in this paper is a robust tool that may be used by SDWAA to evaluate regulatory options and justify potential regulations regarding THM levels of the drinking water distribution system.
An Improved and Secure Anonymous Biometric-Based User Authentication with Key Agreement Scheme for the Integrated EPR Information System

Nowadays, many hospitals and medical institutes employ an authentication protocol within electronic patient records (EPR) services in order to provide protected electronic transactions in e-medicine systems. In order to establish efficient and robust health care services, numerous studies have been carried out on authentication protocols. Recently, Li et al. proposed a user authenticated key agreement scheme according to EPR information systems, arguing that their scheme is able to resist various types of attacks and preserve diverse security properties. However, this scheme possesses critical vulnerabilities. First, the scheme cannot prevent off-line password guessing attacks and server spoofing attack, and cannot preserve user identity. Second, there is no password verification process with the failure to identify the correct password at the beginning of the login phase. Third, the mechanism of password change is incompetent, in that it induces inefficient communication in communicating with the server to change a user password. Therefore, we suggest an upgraded version of the user authenticated key agreement scheme that provides enhanced security. Our security and performance analysis shows that compared to other related schemes, our scheme not only improves the security level, but also ensures efficiency.
Relativized Worlds without Worst-Case to Average-Case Reductions for NP

We prove that, relative to an oracle, there is no worst-case to average-case reduction for NP. We also handle classes that are somewhat larger than NP, as well as worst-case to errorless-average-case reductions. In fact, we prove that relative to an oracle, there is no worst-case to errorless-average-case reduction from NP to BPP∥NP. We also handle reductions from NP to the polynomial-time hierarchy and beyond, under strong restrictions on the number of queries the reductions can make.
Adaptive program verify scheme for improving NAND flash memory performance and lifespan

Since NAND Hash memory program/erase (PE) cycling gradually degrades the reliability of memory cells, the redundancy of error-correction code (ECC) is determined so as to sufficiently ensure the PE cycling endurance at the end of memory lifetime. Therefore, ECC redundancy is under-utilized when PE cycling number is relatively small at the early lifetime. Considering the variations on program speed and error rate depending on the program step pulse voltage (ΔVpp) in the incremental step pulse programming (ISPP), an adaptive ΔVpp scheme was proposed in order to improve program performance by exploiting the under-utilized ECC. However, the adaptive ΔVpp scheme missed the problem of increased voltage stress on memory cells at a large ΔVpp. The voltage stress will shorten the lifespan of Hash memory devices. This paper proposes an adaptive Vverify scheme, which trades the under-utilized ECC for improving program performance at the early lifetime of Hash memory without decreasing the memory lifetime. The experiments with real NAND Hash chips demonstrate up to 21% of program time improvement and 10% of lifetime improvement over the fixed Vverify scheme.
The phospho–caveolin-1 scaffolding domain dampens force fluctuations in focal adhesions and promotes cancer cell migration

The caveolin scaffolding domain mediates the promigratory activity of Src-phosphorylated (on Y14) caveolin-1 and, specifically, regulation of vinculin tension in focal adhesions. This suggests that pY14Cav1 enhances cancer cell migration by promoting engagement of focal adhesion traction.
Motivational interviewing with adolescents: an advanced practice nursing intervention for psychiatric settings.

TOPIC The article focuses on the use of motivational interviewing (MI) as an intervention with adolescent patients in mental health treatment settings. PURPOSE The aim of the study is to review MI theory and principles, and inform advanced practice nurses about the suitability of this intervention for adolescents in psychiatric care settings. For this population, MI may be effective in encouraging behavioral change consistent with a harm reduction approach. SOURCES USED Published literature on the topic, including randomized controlled trials, was used in this study. CONCLUSIONS Nurse practitioners in psychiatry are especially well suited to engage their adolescent patients in MI based on their role as patient advocates and the developmental framework within which they practice. Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of this approach with the adolescent psychiatric population.
Examination of laboratory-generated coated soot particles: An overview of the LACIS Experiment in November (LExNo) campaign

In the suite of laboratory measurements described here and in companion articles we deal with the hygroscopic growth and activation behavior of coated soot particles synthesized to mimic those of an atmospheric aerosol originating from biomass combustion. The investigations were performed during the measurement campaign LACIS Experiment in November (LExNo) which took place at the Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator (LACIS). The specific goals of this campaign were (1) to perform a critical supersaturation measurement intercomparison using data sets from three different cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) instruments (two static thermal gradient type, one stream-wise thermal gradient type) and LACIS, (2) to examine particle hygroscopic growth (hydrated particle size as function of relative humidity) for particle characteristics such as aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) measured soluble mass and particle morphology, and (3) to relate critical supersaturations derived from both measurements of soluble mass and high humidity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HH-TDMA) determined growth factors to critical supersaturations measured by means of the CCN instruments. This paper provides information on the particle synthesis techniques used during LExNo, an overview concerning the particle characterization measurements performed, and, by proving relations between measured composition, hygroscopic growth, and activation data, lay the foundations for the detailed investigations described in the companion studies. In the context of the present paper, excellent agreement of the critical supersaturations measured with three different CCN instruments and LACIS was observed. Furthermore, clear relations between coating masses determined with AMS and both hygroscopic growth factors at 98% RH and measured critical supersaturations could be seen. Also, a strong correlation between measured hygroscopic growth (growth factors at 98%) and measured critical supersaturation for all of the differently coated soot particles (coating substances being levoglucosan and/or ammonium (hydrogen) sulfate) was found. This is clearly indicative of the possibility of predicting the critical supersaturation of coated soot particles based on hygroscopic growth measurements using Kohler theory. (Less)
Partner Assignment Algorithm for Cooperative Diversity in Mobile Communication Systems

Most work on cooperative diversity has assumed that the cooperating group (source and partners) and the associated average channel conditions between terminals (source, partners, and destination) are predetermined. In practical situations, however, it is important to develop the efficient algorithms for assigning the terminals with good inter-user channels for cooperating groups. In this paper, we propose the partner assignment algorithm for cooperative diversity in mobile communication systems. The proposed partner assignment algorithm is investigated by using the path loss model for mobile communication systems. Numerical results show that the proposed partner assignment algorithm provides the comparable probability of cooperative transmission to the partner assignment algorithm using exhaustive search. The probability of cooperative transmission increases with the number of users, which gives potential benefits of practical implementation to user cooperation in mobile communication systems. The proposed partner assignment algorithm also provides the tradeoff between probability of cooperative transmission, cooperative diversity gain, and the amount of average SNR information of inter-user channels
Terrain-Toolkit: A Multi-Functional Tool for Terrain Data

Terrain data is becoming increasingly popular both in industry and in academia. Many tools have been developed for visualizing terrain data. However, we find that (1) they usually accept very few data formats of terrain data only; (2) they do not support terrain simplification well which, as will be shown, is used heavily for query processing in spatial databases; and (3) they do not provide the surface distance operator which is fundamental for many applications based on terrain data. Motivated by this, we developed a tool called Terrain-Toolkit for terrain data which accepts a comprehensive set of data formats, supports terrain simplification and provides the surface distance operator.
Message-Passing Algorithms for Non-Linear Nodes and Data Compression

The use of parity-check gates in information theory has proved to be very efficient. In particular, error correcting codes based on parity checks over low-density graphs show excellent performances. Another basic issue of information theory, namely data compression, can be addressed in a similar way by a kind of dual approach. The theoretical performance of such a parity source coder can attain the optimal limit predicted by the general rate-distortion theory. However, in order to turn this approach into an efficient compression code (with fast encoding/decoding algorithms) one must depart from parity checks and use some general random gates. By taking advantage of analytical approaches from the statistical physics of disordered systems and SP-like message passing algorithms, we construct a compressor based on low-density non-linear gates with a very good theoretical and practical performance.
Do external feedback loops improve the design of self-adaptive systems? A controlled experiment

Providing high-quality software in the face of uncertainties, such as dealing with new user needs, changing availability of resources, and faults that are difficult to predict, raises fundamental challenges to software engineers. These challenges have motivated the need for self-adaptive systems. One of the primary claimed benefits of self-adaptation is that a design with external feedback loops provide a more effective engineering solution for self-adaptation compared to a design with internal mechanisms. While many efforts indicate the validity of this claim, to the best of our knowledge, no controlled experiments have been performed that provide scientifically founded evidence for it. Such experiments are crucial for researchers and engineers to underpin their claims and improve research. In this paper, we report the results of a controlled experiment performed with 24 final-year students of a Master in Software Engineering program in which designs based on external feedback loops are compared with designs based on internal mechanisms. The results show that applying external feedback loops can reduce control flow complexity and fault density, and improve productivity. We found no evidence for a reduction of activity complexity.
ACUTE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SELF-MASSAGE VOLUMES ON THE FMS™ OVERHEAD DEEP SQUAT PERFORMANCE.

BACKGROUND The Functional Movement Screen (FMS™) is a battery of tests designed to assess movement competency; the overhead deep squat test, specifically, has been shown to be an accurate predictor of overall FMS™ scores. Self-massage (SM) is a ubiquitous warm-up utilized to increase joint range of motion and, therefore, may be effective for improving performance of the overhead deep squat test. PURPOSE To examine how different doses (30, 60, 90, and 120 seconds) of SM of different areas of the body (plantar fascia, latissimus dorsi, and lateral thigh) affects the score obtained on an overhead deep squat test. METHODS Twenty recreationally active females were recruited to be tested on four occasions: sessions one and two consisted of baseline testing, session three consisted of SM applied to the lateral thigh, and session four consisted of SM applied to the lateral torso and plantar fascia. RESULTS In all SM conditions, at least 90 seconds was required for a change in deep squat score from baseline; therefore, it is concluded that SM the lateral torso, plantar fascia, and lateral thigh for 90 seconds or more are effective interventions for acutely improving overhead deep squat scores. CONCLUSION Self-massage appears to be an effective modality for inducing acute improvements in the performance of the FMS™ overhead deep squat in all conditions tested. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2b.
CAMS: Coordinator Assisted Mobility Support for Seamless and Bandwidth-Efficient Handover in ICN

Mobility support is one of the key use cases of Information-Centric Networking (ICN), and is also widely discussed as a potential advantage of ICN compared to IP. In this paper, we review the state-of- the-art solutions for supporting producer mobility in ICN networks. Through deep analysis of the procedures for handling pending Interests, we observe two issues in the previous mobility solutions, i.e., unnecessary bandwidth consumption and Data triangular routing. To address both issues and achieve a seamless and bandwidth-efficient handover, we propose two new Coordinator Assisted Mobility Support (CAMS) solutions, which are referred to as Coordinator Assisted Pending Interest Table (PIT) Update (CAPU) and Coordinator Assisted Interest Re-issue (CAIR). The feasibility and efficiency of the proposed solutions are validated via a proof-of-concept demonstration, showing the better performance of the proposed solutions compared with the existing solutions.
EEG biometrics for individual recognition in resting state with closed eyes

In this paper EEG signals are employed for the purpose of automatic user recognition. Specifically the resting state with closed eyes acquisition protocol has been here used and deeply investigated by varying the employed electrodes configuration both in number and location for optimizing the recognition performance still guaranteeing sufficient user convenience. A database of 45 healthy subjects has been employed in the analysis. Autoregressive stochastic modeling and polynomial regression based classification has been applied to extracted brain rhythms in order to identify the most distinctive contributions of the different subbands in the recognition process. Our analysis has shown that significantly high recognition rates, up to 98.73%, can be achieved when using proper triplets of electrodes,which cannot be achieved by employing couple of electrodes,whereas sets of five electrodes in the central posterior region of the scalp can guarantee very high recognition performance while limiting user convenience.