Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fast HMM-Filler Approach for Key Word Spotting in Handwritten Documents

The so-called filler or garbage Hidden Markov Models (HMM) are among the most widely used models for lexicon-free, query by string key word spotting in the fields of speech recognition and (lately) handwritten text recognition. An important drawback of this approach is the large computational cost of the keyword-specific HMM Viterbi decoding process needed to obtain the confidence scores of each word to be spotted. This paper presents a novel way to compute such confidence scores, directly from character lattices produced during a single Viterbi decoding process using only the "filler" model (i.e. no explicit keyword-specific decoding is needed). Experiments show that, as compared with the classical HMM-filler approach, the proposed method obtains essentially the same spotting results, while requiring between one and two orders of magnitude less query computing time.
Self-Drawing as a Gauge of Perceptual-Motor Skill

The purpose of this study were to examine alternative systems for scoring children's self-drawings and to explore the relationship between children's self-drawings and to explore the relationship between children's perceptual motor% performance abilities and their figure drawing skills. Thirty-two preschoolers were administered two perceptual-motor tests, a general gauge of verbal intelligence, and a self-drawing test. Self-drawings were scored using three different systems: the Goodenough-Harris (G-H) Draw-a-Man or Draw-a-Women, a 37-item scoring, and a 3-item scoring procedure. The three sets of self-drawing scores, which significantly correlated with one another, did not correlate with Verbal intelligence but did significantly correlate with the Test of Visual Motor Skill. Only scores obtained with the longer G-H procedure correlated with the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration. Results suggest that self-drawings may be more accurately used as a screening of perceptual-motor functions than a.
T1 Glottic Carcinoma: Do Comorbidities, Facility Characteristics, and Sociodemographics Explain Survival Differences across Treatment Types?

Objective Recent large-scale studies have observed differences in survival following treatment for early laryngeal carcinoma depending on treatment type but were not able to take sociodemographic, comorbidity, and facility data into account. The objective of this study was to determine whether survival differences across treatment types persist when these factors are included in the analysis. Study Design Retrospective cohort analysis. Setting Linked Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)–Medicare data files. Subjects and Methods Medicare beneficiaries who were identified through the SEER registries (1991-2009) as having T1 glottic squamous cell carcinoma (scca) and a known treatment type were included. Results A total of 2338 patients with incident T1 glottic scca were identified. Most were white and male. Treatment type was radiation only in 47%, local surgery and radiation in 39%, and local surgery only in 14%. Black race and increased comorbidities were associated with worse survival. When sociodemographics, comorbidities, and facility characteristics were taken into account, survival differences were observed across treatment types, with those receiving local surgery demonstrating better overall and cancer-specific survival. Conclusion These results suggest that following treatment of T1 glottic scca, there may be survival differences across treatment types beyond those explained by sociodemographic, comorbidity, and facility characteristics.
Jets in Extragalactic Radio Sources

Observations now require that there be a continuous supply of energy to the giant extragalactic radio sources. These observations also suggest that this energy input may be in the form of streams or jets of gas emanating from the centers of galaxies and quasi-stellar objects. Current data indicate that the large-scale jet structures are not moving with relativistic speeds, as previously proposed. Slow-moving jets, which possess turbulent interiors and are dominated by relatively cool gas, can account for the observed jet properties at optical and radio wavelengths. Extremely small-scale jets observed adjacent to the central energy source may or may not be in relativistic motion.
Inter-cell Interference Mitigation through Flexible Resource Reuse in OFDMA based Communication Networks

The inter-cell interference problem is a key issue in OFDMA-based mobile cellular networks. In order to deal with this problem, several flexible radio resource reuse schemes for the downlink are examined in this paper. The goal is to improve the cell edge throughput as well as the average cell throughput, compared to a network with frequency reuse factor 1. The cell capacity under those reuse schemes is estimated and compared. Performance in realistic packet-switched networks is also evaluated and compared by extensive system-level simulations.
Hand Motion Gestural Oscillations Multimodal Discourse

To develop multimodal interfaces, one needs to understand the constraints underlying human communicative gesticulation and the kinds of features one may compute based on these underlying human characteristics.In this paper we address hand motion oscillatory gesture detection in natural speech and conversation. First, the hand motion trajectory signals are extracted from video. Second, a wavelet analysis based approach is presented to process the signals. In this approach, wavelet ridges are extracted from the responses of wavelet analysis for the hand motion trajectory signals, which can be used to characterize frequency properties of the hand motion signals. The hand motion oscillatory gestures can be extracted from these frequency properties. Finally, we relate the hand motion oscillatory gestures to the phases of speech and multimodal discourse analysis. We demonstrate the efficacy of the system on a real discourse dataset in which a subject described her action plan to an interlocutor. We extracted the oscillatory gestures from the x, y and z motion traces of both hands. We further demonstrate the power of gestural oscillation detection as a key to unlock the structure of the underlying discourse.
Motivation in Italian whole blood donors and the role of commitment

The literature contains numerous reports on motivation in blood donors, although none of these are specific to blood donation in Italy and almost all of them focus on altruism and the desire to help others. Altruism is important, but a comprehensive analysis of donor motivation should examine all the factors affecting the decision to donate, including commitment to voluntary blood donor organizations. The aims of this paper are to verify if the motivational factors that influence the choice to donate blood in Italy are generally consistent with the findings from other countries reported in the literature and to focus on commitment to donor organizations as an additional factor. A sample of 895 whole blood donors completed a self-report questionnaire containing questions about: reasons for beginning to donate, people who influenced this choice, and level of commitment to voluntary blood donor organizations. The most frequently reported reasons for giving blood for the first time were “to help others” (56%), “influence of family/friends” (22%), and “social/moral obligation” (11.2%); commitment did not vary as a function of the leading motivation reported. Differences emerged between males, who more frequently reported having been influenced by parents and friends, and females, who referred more often to altruistic motives. The opportunity to check one's own state of health also played an important role (6.9%), especially for male donors. Overall, however, the decision to donate was primarily a personal choice (41.3%), although influence was also attributed to relatives (21.8%), friends (22.3%), and voluntary blood donor organizations (21.8%). The reported level of commitment to the donor organization was positively correlated with the number of total and annual donations made and number of new donors recruited.
ryptosporidium ubiquitum n . sp . in animals and humans

A new species, Cryptosporidium ubiquitum, previously identified as the Cryptosporidium cervine genotype and infrequently as the cervid, W4 or genotype 3 genotype, is described. In published studies this genotype was reported in wild and domesticated ruminants, rodents, carnivores and primates including humans. In the present study oocysts were found in feces from a captive prehensile-tailed porcupine and her infant. Oocysts from the porcupine were transmitted to 4 boer goats. Oocysts from the goats were transmitted to a calf (calf 1) and oocysts from calf 1 were transmitted to gerbils and BALB/c mouse pups. Calf 2 housed near calf 1 became contaminated and excreted oocysts of C. ubiquitum. Oocysts collected from calf 2 were transmitted to a calf 3. When calf 2 stopped excreting C. ubiquitum oocysts it was challenged with oocysts of C. parvum and became infected, indicating a lack of cross-species immunity. Oocysts of C. ubiquitum from calf 1 measured 4.71–5.32 m × 4.33–4.98 m (mean = 5.04 m × 4.66 m) with a length/width shape oo animals
Some Statistical Issues in the Analyses of Data From Longitudinal Studies of Elderly Chronic Care Populations

Objective This article discusses broad statistical issues common to much medical research: intent-to-treat analysis vs. completers analysis; clustered hierarchical and repeated-measures data; missing data and dropouts; and assessment of direct, indirect, and total effects. Traditional approaches and statistical techniques are reviewed and contrasted with modern methods for analysis of medical studies. Method The concepts are introduced and discussed in general terms; they are illustrated with an example. The example comes from a study of the effect of residence in special care units (SCUs) for demented elderly on the daily function of nursing homes residents. More than 700 residents from 22 nursing facilities, residing in either an SCU or a non-SCU were assessed three times at approximate 6-month intervals. Results Results from both the application of traditional statistical techniques and modern methods for the analysis of repeated-measures of hierarchical multicenter data are presented, interpreted, and compared. Advantages and shortcomings of these approaches are discussed. Conclusion This article advocates the use of mixed models and proper causal reasoning and terminology in the analysis and publication of results from studies on aging and life course.
Game Theoretic Approach for Controlling Power in Cognitive Radio Networks : A Review

In recent years, game theory has emerged as a promising approach to solving the power control problem in wireless networks. Many of the power control techniques in cognitive radio networks use Game theoretic approach to maintain Quality of Service (QoS) of communication and interference free communication. Earlier non-cooperative game model for controlling power has some lameness as it does not take account of effect of primary user on cognitive user and hence each cognitive user gets penalty based on the same cost factor without considering fairness. Thus, transmit power of cognitive users is too low and hence the QoS of communication for cognitive users decreases significantly. Recent approaches based on fairness pricing while designing cost factor. Such non-cooperative game model fair cost function used the complete information game method in order to adjust cognitive user’s power parameters dynamically based on the power and location parameters of other cognitive users and primary users. Cost function in such algorithm represents the fairness as the interference of the primary users and other cognitive users are evaluated using different cost factors while considering the channel condition and the distance from the current cognitive user to the base station. The algorithm based on fairness pricing factor ensures the system stability and benefit maximization of each cognitive user by making the transmit power to reach a steady state with iteration. Keywords— power control; cognitive radio; game theory; SNR; cost function; fairness pricing.
A simple HPLC method for analysing diaminopimelic acid diastereomers in cell walls of Gram‐positive bacteria

A simple and sensitive method for separating and detecting the LL, DD and meso diastereomers of the dibasic amino acid diaminopimelic acid (DAP) in the peptidoglycan of Gram‐positive bacteria is described. This method is based on reverse phase HPLC separation of chiral derivatives of DAP followed by fluorescence detection of the o‐phthaldehyde derivatives. Its application to the analyses of cell walls of several Gram‐positive bacteria is described, where 10 mg or less of dry cells is required.
NOD2-associated autoinflammatory disease: a large cohort study.

OBJECTIVE The aims of the study were to characterize the genotype profile of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain containing 2 (NOD2)-associated autoinflammatory disease (NAID) and to report an extended study of the disease. METHODS A total of 143 adult patients presented with clinical phenotypes suspicious for NAID and all were genotyped for NOD2 sequence variants. The genotype frequencies were compared between our cohort and literature reports. These patients were divided into two groups predicated on the presence or absence of NOD2 variants. RESULTS Of the 143 patients, 67 (47%) carry NOD2 variants; the genotype frequency was significantly higher among our cohort than in the historical healthy controls. Fifty-four of the 67 carriers of NOD2 variants had NAID, which has a genotype profile that is somewhat different from Crohn's disease. All NAID patients were non-Jewish whites and 69% were women. The median age at onset was 33.5 years and the median disease duration at diagnosis was 10.7 years. NAID was sporadic in 93% of cases. Patients typically presented with periodic fever, dermatitis and inflammatory arthritis. As compared with the NOD2 variant-negative patients, the skin disease more typically manifested as erythematous patches or plaques on the trunk. Oligopolyarthritis/-arthralgia was common, with characteristic distal lower extremity swelling. Associated NOD2 variants were primarily IVS8(+158) or compound IVS8(+158) and R702W. CONCLUSION This study underscores the NOD2 genotype association with NAID, which is a genetically complex multisystem disorder. It differs phenotypically from Crohn's disease with a distinct genotype profile. This disease may be more common than initially thought.
Russian Unified National Exams (UNE) and academic performance of ICEF HSE students

Starting from 2008, the admission to the BSc program at the ICEF (NRU HSE) is done by the UNE results. 2008 was a transition year: both UNE and internal HSE exams results were counted. Since 2009 the regulations stay stable — only the UNE and Olympiads’ results have been taken into account. In the article the academic success factors for the students admitted in 2009–2011, after 1, 2, and 3 years of study, are analyzed. It has been shown that the students — Olympiads’ winners consistently show better results than other students, other factors equal. The UNE results are still significant for academic performance forecast after 3 years of study. But the final rating of the student after the first year accumulates almost completely the information which the UNE and Olympiads results contain. Region of a student’s school is not significant and gender is marginally significant for future academic performance.
High Performance Lead-free Piezoelectric Material

(MPB (Morphotropic Phase Boundary)) ((K, Na)NbO3-LiTaO3-LiSbO3 TMC (Topochemical Micro-crystal Conversion) NaNbO3 RTGG (Reactive Templated Grain Growth) Lead has recently been expelled from many commercial applications and materials (for example, from solder, glass and pottery glaze) owing to concerns regarding its toxicity. Lead zirconium titanate (PZT) ceramics are highperformance piezoelectric materials, which are widely used in sensors, actuators and other electronic devices; they contain more than 60 weight per cent lead. Although there has been a concerted effort to develop lead-free piezoelectric ceramics, no effective alternative to PZT has yet been found. Here we report a lead-free piezoelectric ceramic with an electric-fieldinduced strain comparable to typical actuatorgrade PZT. We achieved this through the combination of the discovery of a morphotropic phase boundary in an alkaline niobate-based perovskite solid solution, and the development of a processing route leading to highly <001> textured polycrystals. The ceramic exhibits a piezoelectric constant d33 (the induced charge per unit force applied in the same direction) of above 300 picocoulombs per newton (pC N), and texturing the material leads to a peak d33 of 416 pC N. The textured material also exhibits temperature-independent field-induced strain characteristics.
A Novel Approach for Protein Classification Using Fourier Transform

Discovering new biological knowledge from the high- throughput biological data is a major challenge to bioinformatics today. To address this challenge, we developed a new approach for protein classification. Proteins that are evolutionarily- and thereby functionally- related are said to belong to the same classification. Identifying protein classification is of fundamental importance to document the diversity of the known protein universe. It also provides a means to determine the functional roles of newly discovered protein sequences. Our goal is to predict the functional classification of novel protein sequences based on a set of features extracted from each protein sequence. The proposed technique used datasets extracted from the Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP) database. A set of spectral domain features based on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used. The proposed classifier uses multilayer back propagation (MLBP) neural network for protein classification. The maximum classification accuracy is about 91% when applying the classifier to the full four levels of the SCOP database. However, it reaches a maximum of 96% when limiting the classification to the family level. The classification results reveal that spectral domain contains information that can be used for classification with high accuracy. In addition, the results emphasize that sequence similarity measures are of great importance especially at the family level.
ADAPTIVE OPTICS IMAGING OF THE TEMPORAL RAPHE IN NORMAL AND GLAUCOMATOUS SUBJECTS

Adaptive optics (AO) has greatly improved retinal image resolution. However, even with AO, temporal and spatial variations in image quality still occur due to wavefront fluctuations, intra-frame focus shifts and other factors. As a result, aligning and averaging images can produce a mean image that has lower resolution or contrast than the best images within a sequence. To address this, we propose an image post-processing scheme called “lucky averaging”, analogous to lucky imaging (Fried, 1978) based on computing the best local contrast over time. Results from eye data demonstrate improvements in image quality.
Biocompatibility of Chitosan Carriers with Application in Drug Delivery

Chitosan is one of the most used polysaccharides in the design of drug delivery strategies for administration of either biomacromolecules or low molecular weight drugs. For these purposes, it is frequently used as matrix forming material in both nano and micron-sized particles. In addition to its interesting physicochemical and biopharmaceutical properties, which include high mucoadhesion and a great capacity to produce drug delivery systems, ensuring the biocompatibility of the drug delivery vehicles is a highly relevant issue. Nevertheless, this subject is not addressed as frequently as desired and even though the application of chitosan carriers has been widely explored, the demonstration of systems biocompatibility is still in its infancy. In this review, addressing the biocompatibility of chitosan carriers with application in drug delivery is discussed and the methods used in vitro and in vivo, exploring the effect of different variables, are described. We further provide a discussion on the pros and cons of used methodologies, as well as on the difficulties arising from the absence of standardization of procedures.
Using Effective Network Views to Promote Distributed Application Performance

In this paper, we show that distributed parallel application performance in clusters of workstations benefits from knowledge about network topology in cases where LAN resources can become potential performance bottlenecks. These performance bottlenecks often appear in common networking technologies that employ highly shared resources, such as ethernets and token-rings. A method to discover network configuration as it relates to application performance, called Effective Network Views (ENV), is presented, and experimental results with an example application are given to show the value of including ENV information in the scheduling process when good perfor-
Multimode Memory-Based FFT Processor for Wireless Display FD-OCT Medical Systems

This paper presents a multimode memory-based Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processor for a medical system aimed at Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) capable of supporting wireless displays based on multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM). The proposed FFT processor enables the use of 2-stream 4096/2048/1024-point FFTs and 1- to 4-stream 128/64-point FFTs for FD-OCT and OFDM applications, respectively. Using cost-effective four-bank single-port SRAM operating in four-word data width, the proposed design provides data access for up to sixteen memory paths. In conjunction with a proposed FFT kernel devised using hardware-efficient multiplication and cache units, the proposed system allows high-throughput multimode FFT operations in an energy- and area-efficient configuration. A test chip was designed using TSMC-0.18 μm CMOS technology with a core size of 4.8 mm2. Post-layout simulation performing 4096-point FFT at 80 MHz and the 128-point FFT at 40 MHz achieved throughput of 152 MS/s and 160 MS/s with power consumption of 156.2 mW and 69.9 mW, respectively. Compared to the previous approaches fully or partially supporting the specified OCT/OFDM FFTs, different degrees of area or energy efficiency improvements can be shown by our design depending on the FFT operation mode. In addition, system-level verification for practical OCT imaging was also performed using an FPGA platform.
Lean Learning - Applying Lean Techniques to Improve Software Engineering Education

Building a programme of education that reflects and keeps pace with industrial practice is difficult. We often hear of a skills shortage in the software industry, and the gap between what people are taught in university and the "real world". This paper is a case study showing how we have developed a programme at Imperial College London that bridges this gap, providing students with relevant skills for industrial software engineering careers. We give details of the structure and evolution of the programme, which is centred on the tools, techniques and issues that feature in the everyday life of a professional developer working in a modern team. We also show how aligning our teaching methods with the principles of lean software delivery has enabled us to provide sustained high quality learning experiences. The contributions of this paper take the form of lessons learnt, which may be seen as recommendations for others looking to evolve their own teaching structures and methods.