Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Novel Soy Germ Pasta Enriched in Isoflavones Ameliorates Gastroparesis in Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of soy germ pasta enriched in biologically active isoflavone aglycons on gastric emptying in type 2 diabetic patients with gastroparesis. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared soy germ pasta with conventional pasta for effects on gastric emptying. Patients (n = 10) with delayed gastric emptying consumed one serving per day of each pasta for 8 weeks, with a 4-week washout. Gastric emptying time (t1/2) was measured using the [13C]octanoic acid breath test at baseline and after each period, and blood glucose and insulin concentrations were determined after oral glucose load. RESULTS Soy germ pasta significantly accelerated the t1/2 in these patients (161.2 ± 17.5 min at baseline vs. 112.6 ± 11.2 min after treatment, P = 0.009). Such change differed significantly (P = 0.009) from that for conventional pasta (153.6 ± 24.2 vs. 156.2 ± 27.4 min), without affecting glucose or insulin concentrations. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that soy germ pasta may offer a simple dietary approach to managing diabetic gastropathy.
Test entrance's selection for fault diagnosis of a self-propelled fire control system based on TC-SVM

Due to the complexity of the self-propelled fire control system and the difficulty of test entrance's selection, the support vector machine combined with text categorization method (TC-SVM) is applied as the first step of fault diagnosis. The text pretreatment of text representation and feature extraction are introduced first. Then the error-correcting code is used to reduce the multiclass classifier to several binary classifiers which are performed by the support vector machine. Finally, the methods of how to combine the output of binary classifiers as the final diagnosis result is discussed, two improved algorithms are put forward based on the basic decoding method.
Semantic Search in Portals using Ontologies

Portals have become very popular on the internet. They allow users to access many online transactions and customized information. More recently, semantic portals emerged as a natural extension of traditional portals and they have been attracting researchers and enterprise attention as a new way to provide information. Ontologies are the basis of semantic portals, and one of their major functions is to categorize information inside portals. However, there are few practical applications showing effectively how and where ontologies can be used in this environment. This paper covers these issues and shows how ontologies can improve results relevance in one of the most important component of a portal: the search mechanism. It describes a search tool developed in the context of a semantic portal named PASS (Portal with Access to Semantic Search). This tool uses components of domain ontologies stored in the portal to expand terms during the search process. Its evaluation has been done using traditional unities of measure such as precision and recall, and average precision. Their corresponding evaluation graphics showed that searches performed according to our strategy returned more significant results than those generated by a traditional Web search mechanism.
Calculated Tumor Volume Is an Independent Predictor of Biochemical Recurrence in Patients Who Underwent Retropubic Radical Prostatectomy

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the clinicopathological biopsy findings can predict the oncological outcome in patients who undergo radical prostatectomy. Materials and Methods. Between January 1997 and March 2006, 255 patients with clinically localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate (clinical T1-3N0M0) who had undergone retropubic radical prostatectomy were enrolled in this study. None of the patients received neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy. Clinicopathological parameters were assessed to determine a predictive parameter of biochemical recurrence. Results. Of the total 255 patients, 77 showed biochemical recurrence during the follow-up period. The estimated 5-year overall survival, 5-year cause-specific survival, and 5-year biochemical recurrence-free survival rates were 97.7%, 99.5%, and 67.3%, respectively. Multivariate analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model showed that calculated cancer volume was an independent predictor among the preoperative clinicopathological parameters (P < 0.05). SVI and PSM were independent predictors among the postoperative parameters (SVI; P < 0.001, PSM; P = 0.049). Among the significant preoperative and postoperative parameters, calculated cancer volume remained an independent predictive parameter in multivariate analysis (P < 0.01). Conclusions. Tumor volume, as calculated by preoperative parameters, is an independent predictor of biochemical recurrence in patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy.
An Approach to Calculate the Bit Error Rates of Multiple Access Chaotic-Sequence Spread-Spectrum Communication Systems Employing Multi-User Detectors

In a multiple access spread-spectrum communication system, the bit error performance is usually limited by the mutual interference between users. The use of multi-user detection is an effective method to reduce such interference. In this paper, we consider two linear multi-user detectors, namely, decorrelating detector and minimum mean-square-error detector, applied to a multiple access chaotic-sequence spread-spectrum communication system. An approach to calculate the bit error rate (BER) for such systems is presented. The calculated BERs are compared with those obtained using brute-force computer simulations which give the true system performance.
MCSL Network-on-Chip Benchmark Suite User Manual Version 1 . 5 Mobile Computing System

Network-on-chip (NoC) traffic patterns are essential tools f r NoC performance assessment and architecture exploration. The fidelity of NoC traffic patterns has profound influence on NoC studies. Random traffic patterns use probability distributions to randomiz e on-chip communication traffic characteristics, such as packet destination and transmission interval. Confi guring parameters properly for random traffic requires comprehensive knowledge of the corresponding rea listic traffic patterns, and it is in general hard to truly reflect realistic traffic characteristics. On the ot her hand, realistic traffic patterns are based on the behaviors of real applications, and they can provide more ac cur te performance and power consumption results, and more comprehensive information to improve NoC architectures.
Modeling and control of a cable-driven series elastic actuator

Series elastic actuators (SEA) are playing an increasingly important role in the fields of physical human-robot interaction. This paper focuses on the modeling and control of a cable-driven SEA. First, the scheme of the cable-driven SEA has been proposed, and a velocity controlled DC motor has been used as its power source. Based on this, the model of the cable-driven SEA has been built up. Further, a two degrees of freedom (2-DOF) control approach has been employed to control the output torque. Simulation results have shown that the 2-DOF method has achieved better robust performance than the PD method.
The Role of Work-Related Information in the Intention to Continue Using Mobile Telecommunication: Users at the BOP

Mobile phone adoption and usage is increasingly gaining in importance among users at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP). This paper investigates the phenomenon of information obtained through voice services and SMS via mobile phones, among users at the BOP to examine the impact of the two services in the intention to continue using mobile telecommunication. This investigation brings together theories on technology adoption and the information search paradigm to identify factors that affect information obtained through mobile phones. A structured survey conducted among individual telecommunication users as part of the Teleuse@BOP4 project by LIRNEasia (a think tank initiative based in Colombo, Sri Lanka), provides the required data from owners of mobile phones from the BOP population. Findings reveal that perceived cost and perceived benefits significantly affect the information obtained using mobile phones using voice services. However, contrary to expectations, findings reveal that perceived ease of use has a negative relationship with information obtained using SMS services. Findings also reveal that subjective norm impacts information obtained more in the context of SMS services compared to voice services. These insights should prove helpful for policy formulation as well as for business development. The paper ends with a discussion on contributions, and directions for future research.
A Wireless Sensor Network for Vineyard Monitoring That Uses Image Processing

The first step to detect when a vineyard has any type of deficiency, pest or disease is to observe its stems, its grapes and/or its leaves. To place a sensor in each leaf of every vineyard is obviously not feasible in terms of cost and deployment. We should thus look for new methods to detect these symptoms precisely and economically. In this paper, we present a wireless sensor network where each sensor node takes images from the field and internally uses image processing techniques to detect any unusual status in the leaves. This symptom could be caused by a deficiency, pest, disease or other harmful agent. When it is detected, the sensor node sends a message to a sink node through the wireless sensor network in order to notify the problem to the farmer. The wireless sensor uses the IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n standard, which allows connections from large distances in open air. This paper describes the wireless sensor network design, the wireless sensor deployment, how the node processes the images in order to monitor the vineyard, and the sensor network traffic obtained from a test bed performed in a flat vineyard in Spain. Although the system is not able to distinguish between deficiency, pest, disease or other harmful agents, a symptoms image database and a neuronal network could be added in order learn from the experience and provide an accurate problem diagnosis.
Stability analysis of a simple walking model driven by an oscillator with a phase reset using sensory feedback

This paper deals with the analytical examination of the dynamic properties of the walking motion of a biped robot based on a simple model. The robot is driven by rhythmic signals from an oscillator, which receives feedback signals from touch sensors at the tips of the legs. Instantly, the oscillator resets its phase and modifies the walking motion according to the feedback signals. Based on such a simple model, approximate periodic solutions are obtained, and the stability of the walking motion is analytically investigated by using a Poincare/spl acute/ map. The analytical results demonstrate that the modification of the step period and the walking motion due to the sensory feedback signals improves the stability of the walking motion.
Improving on the reinforcement learning of coordination in cooperative multi-agent systems

We report on an investigation of reinforcement learning tec hniques for the learning of coordination in cooperative mul tiagent systems. These techniques are variants of Q-learning (Watkins, 1989) that are applicable to scenarios where mutual observation of actions is not possible. To date, rein forcement learning approaches for such independent agents did not guarantee convergence to the optimal joint action in scenarios with high miscoordination costs. We improve on previous results (Claus and Boutilier, 1998) by demonstrat ing that our extension causes the agents to converge almost always to the optimal joint action even in these difficult cas es.
Integration of an Analysis Tool for Large-Scale Embedded Real-Time Software into a Vehicle Control Platform Development Tool Chain

We present a software tool for high-level design and analysis of large-scale embedded real-time software, which has been integrated into a vehicle control platform development tool chain. The integration framework of the tool chain is based on CORBA services, and the data exchanges among different tools are carried out through an analysis interchange format (AIF) expressed in XML schema. Our tool subscribes the document containing the software design and deployment models via the tool integration framework, performs structural and timing analysis, updates the document with analysis results, and publishes the updated document back via the same integration framework to our analysis result display tool, which is implemented as a plugin to Eclipse. By extracting and analyzing relevant information in the models of automotive embedded control software, our tool can find structural errors, analyze schedulability, and provide design recommendation/automation in the early stages of system design.
Spectral conversion using deep neural networks trained with multi-source speakers

This paper presents a method for voice conversion using deep neural networks (DNNs) trained with multiple source speakers. The proposed DNNs can be used in two ways for different scenarios: 1) in the absence of training data for source speaker, the DNNs can be treated as source-speaker-independent models and perform conversions directly from arbitrary source speakers to certain target speaker; 2) the DNNs can also be used as initial models for further fine-tuning of source-speaker-dependent DNNs when parallel training data for both source and target speakers are available. Experimental results show that, as source-speaker-independent models, the proposed DNNs can achieve comparable performance to conventional source-speaker-dependent models. On the other hand, the proposed method outperforms the conventional initialization method with restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs).
Is Sexual Ornamentation an Honest Signal of Male Quality in the Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi)?

We examined the variation in sexual ornamentation of male Chinese grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) in the Gansu Province, China, seeking to identify factors involved in whether ornament size and brightness are honest signals of male quality. Compared to unmated males, mated males had significantly larger and redder combs and, although they did not have significantly larger territories, they defended them more vigorously. Mated males had significantly higher blood carotenoid and testosterone levels, significantly better body condition, and significantly lower parasite loads than unmated males. Our findings are thus consistent with the hypothesis that comb size and color are honest signals of better male quality in the grouse, mediated through lower parasite loads and/or higher testosterone levels.
The model of personalized intelligent information for budget hotel services

Europe's economic crisis is already affecting not only the U.S. economy but also Asian economy. Budget or economy hotel sector in Thailand 2012 is now experiencing accelerated growth. Therefore, budget hotel sectors will have to reconsider some of their sustainable long-term strategies. Internet technology has changed the way that hotel doing business e.g. providing hotel information, booking process, payment method, customer relation, etc. This research was conducted on applying later technologies through budget hotel chain to create a competitive advantage. The ideas of Personalized Intelligent Information (PII) and e-Service management are proposed as the integrated solution to support the conceptual framework of hotel information chain management (HICM).
Comparison of Two Low Complexity Multiple Access Schemes

This paper studies multiple access channels with additive Gaussian noise in the low signal to noise ratio (SNR) regime. We compare the spectral efficiencies of the optimal superposition channel sharing scheme and two simple alternatives: the time division multiple access (TDMA) scheme and the parallel multiple access scheme with single user decoding (PMAS). We consider the situation when the receiver has multiple receive antennas while each transmitter only has single antenna. We show that, due to TDMA's inefficiency in exploiting the multiuser multiplex gain, the relative spectral efficiency of PMAS over TDMA grows drastically as the number of receive antennas increase. The relative spectral efficiency of PMAS over the optimal scheme is approximately 1/2, irrespective of the number of receive antennas. Since the simplicities of PMAS and TDMA are similar, our results suggest that PMAS is a better alternative to TDMA for multiple access system in the low SNR regime
Identification of clinical markers of specific language impairment in adults.

PURPOSE To investigate the usefulness of 3 tasks known to be effective diagnostic clinical markers of specific language impairment (SLI) in children: (a) nonword repetition, (b) sentence repetition, and (c) grammaticality judgments of finiteness marking. METHOD Two groups of young adults, 13 with SLI and 18 with typical language, completed 3 experimental tasks: (a) nonword repetition, (b) sentence repetition, and (c) grammaticality judgments of sentences that were either correct or contained an omitted finiteness marker, an overt agreement error, or an omitted progressive -ing. Analyses included receiver operating characteristic curve analyses and computation of likelihood ratios associated with the use of each task as a clinical marker for SLI, as well as development of a logistic regression model that used multiple tasks as predictors. RESULTS Each marker task significantly contributed to classification of adults as affected or unaffected by SLI, with moderate positive and negative likelihood ratios. A combination of the 3 marker tasks was the best predictor of affectedness status with moderate to large likelihood ratios. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that SLI persists into adulthood and that effective clinical markers of this disorder are similar to those used to identify SLI in children. Refinement of these tasks to increase their likelihood ratios will improve their usefulness in diagnosing SLI in adults.
"Complicity with evil" : the United Nations in the age of modern genocide

From the killing fields of Rwanda and Srebrenica a decade ago to those of Darfur today, the United Nations has repeatedly failed to confront genocide. This is evinced, author and journalist Adam LeBor maintains, in a May 1995 document from Yasushi Akashi, the most senior UN official in the field during the Yugoslav wars, in which he refused to authorize air strikes against the Serbs for fear they would "weaken" Milosevic. More recently, in 2003, urgent reports from UN officials in the Sudan detailing atrocities from Darfur were ignored for a year because they were politically inconvenient. This book is the first to examine in detail the crucial role of the Secretariat, its relationship with the Security Council, and the failure of UN officials themselves to confront genocide. LeBor argues the UN must return to its founding principles, take a moral stand and set the agenda of the Security Council instead of merely following the lead of the great powers. LeBor draws on dozens of firsthand interviews with UN officials, current and former, and such international diplomats as Madeleine Albright, Richard Holbrooke, Douglas Hurd, and David Owen.This book will set the terms for discussion when UN Secretary General Kofi Annan steps down to make room for a new head of the world body, and political observers assess Annan's legacy and look to the future of the world organization.
Adapting dependency parsing to spontaneous speech for open domain spoken language understanding

Parsing human-human conversations consists in automatically enriching text transcription with semantic structure information. We use in this paper a FrameNet-based approach to semantics that, without needing a full semantic parse of a message, goes further than a simple flat translation of a message into basic concepts. FrameNet-based semantic parsing may follow a syntactic parsing step, however spoken conversations in customer service telephone call centers present very specific characteristics such as non-canonical language, noisy messages (disfluencies, repetitions, truncated words or automatic speech transcription errors) and the presence of superfluous information. For syntactic parsing the traditional view based on context-free grammars is not suitable for processing non-canonical text. New approaches to parsing based on dependency structures and discriminative machine learning techniques are more adapted to process spontaneous speech for two main reasons: (a) they need less training data and (b) the annotation with syntactic dependencies of conversation transcripts is simpler than with syntactic constituents. Another advantage is that partial annotation can be performed. This paper presents the adaptation of a syntactic dependency parser to process very spontaneous speech recorded in a callcentre environment. This parser is used in order to produce FrameNet candidates for characterizing conversations between an operator and a caller.
Fluctuating Bond Aggregation: A Model for Chemical Gel Formation.

The Diffusion-Limited Cluster-Cluster Aggregation (DLCA) model is modified by including cluster deformations using the {\it bond fluctuation} algorithm. From 3$d$ computer simulations, it is shown that, below a given threshold value $c_g$ of the volumic fraction $c$, the realization of all intra-aggregate bonding possibilities prevents the formation of a gelling network. For $c>c_g$, the sol-gel transition occurs at a time $t_g$ which, in contrast to DLCA, doesnot diverge with the box size. Several results are reported including small angle scattering curves and possible applications are discussed.
Late gas accretion on to primordial minihaloes: a model for Leo T, dark galaxies and extragalactic high-velocity clouds

In this Letter, we revisit the idea of reionization feedback on dwarf galaxy formation. We show that primordial minihaloes with vcir < 20 km s−1 stop accreting gas after reionization, as it is usually assumed, but in virtue of their increasing concentration and the decreasing temperature of the intergalactic medium as redshift decreases below z= 3, they have a late phase of gas accretion and possibly star formation. We expect that pre-reionization fossils that evolved on the outskirts of the Milky Way or in isolation show a bimodal star formation history with 12- and <10-Gyr old population of stars. Leo T fits with this scenario. Another prediction of the model is the possible existence of a population of gas-rich minihaloes that never formed stars. More work is needed to understand whether a subset of compact high-velocity clouds can be identified as such objects or whether an undiscovered population of dark galaxies exists in the voids between galaxies.
Comparative experiment and dynamic simulation on cervical traction therapy

This study aims to verify the accuracy of a cervical traction therapy simulation model by comparing the intervertebral separations of six normal male adults when traction applied to their cervical spines. The subjects were tested on two mechanical traction devices, representing the inclined and sitting positions. Radiographic images of their cervical spines were taken before, during and after traction. The observed changes of the cervical spine were used as input to adjust parameters of the traction therapy model, which contains a cervical spine built with springs and dampers and two traction devices in inclined and sitting positions. A series of traction forces and traction angles were applied to the model to simulate the actual parameters used in the experiment and the new model was used to evaluate the two traction positions. The result suggests that inclined position not only creates greater intervertebral separations on the posterior sides, it also provides a more accurate and smoother transition when switching between different traction angles.