Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Redescription of Lagenophrys cochinensis Santhakumari & Gopalan, 1980 (Ciliophora, Peritrichia, Lagenophryidae), an Ectosymbiont of Marine Isopods, Including New Information on Morphology, Geographic Distribution, and Intraspecific Variation

ABSTRACT. Lagenophrys cochinensis is a peritrich ciliate originally reported as an ectocommensal of the wood‐boring isopods Sphaeroma terebrans, Sphaeroma triste, and Sphaeroma annandalei and the tanaidacean Apseudes chilkensis in estuaries of southern India. In the present study, it was found to occur also on Sphaeroma quoyanum, Sphaeroma walkeri, and Exosphaeroma planulum. New material was used to make permanent preparations, allowing a comprehensive description of the morphology of L. cochinensis for the first time. The macronucleus of L. cochinensis was found to have an elongate shape that spans the width of the cell body, unlike the compact macronucleus originally described. In addition, the loricae of all samples examined were subcircular or shorter than wide, not longer than wide as originally described. Polykinetid 3 of the infundibular infraciliature consisted of three rows of kinetosomes, only the third species of Lagenophrys found to have more than two rows in polykinetid 3 so far. Samples of L. cochinensis on S. quoyanum from New Zealand and California appeared to represent a population distinct from others. The species has a cosmopolitan distribution, probably owing to the ease with which its hosts are transported from one estuary to another in drifting wood or on hulls of ships.
A Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy-model-based modeling method

In this paper, a novel fuzzy modeling method is developed for a class of nonlinear system. The idea comes from the concepts of the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy modeling technique, and this method is especially suitable for the nonaffine nonlinear system. Firstly, an inverted pendulum mounted on motor-driven cart is illustrated to demonstrate the validity of modeling result. Besides this example, a nonaffine nonlinear system is illustrated to explain the proposed modeling scheme is more suitable to model the nonaffine nonlinear system into a T-S fuzzy system than some conventional fuzzy modeling schemes.
TESTING FOR GENETIC EVIDENCE OF POPULATION EXPANSION AND CONTRACTION: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF MICROSATELLITE DNA VARIATION USING A HIERARCHICAL BAYESIAN MODEL

Abstract The role of past climatic change in shaping the distributions of tropical rain forest vertebrates is central to long-standing hypotheses about the legacy of the Quaternary ice ages. One approach to testing such hypotheses is to use genetic data to infer the demographic history of codistributed species. Population genetic theory that relates the structure of allelic genealogies to historical changes in effective population size can be used to detect a past history of demographic expansion or contraction. The fruit bats Cynopterus sphinx and C. brachyotis (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) exhibit markedly different distribution patterns across the Indomalayan region and therefore represent an exemplary species pair to use for such tests. The purpose of this study was to test alternative hypotheses about historical patterns of demographic expansion and contraction in C. sphinx and C. brachyotis using a coalescent-based analysis of microsatellite variation. Specifically, we used a hierarchical Bayesian model based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the posterior distribution of genealogical and demographic parameters. The results revealed strong evidence for population contraction in both species. Evidence for a population contraction in C. brachyotis was expected on the basis of biogeographic considerations. However, similar evidence for population contraction in C. sphinx does not support the hypothesis that this species underwent a pronounced range expansion during the late Quaternary. Genetic evidence for population decline may reflect the consequences of habitat destruction on a more recent time scale. Corresponding Editor: J. Huelsenbeck
Update in intracranial pressure evaluation methods and translaminar pressure gradient role in glaucoma

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Historically, it has been considered an ocular disease primary caused by pathological intraocular pressure (IOP). Recently, researchers have emphasized intracranial pressure (ICP), as translaminar counter pressure against IOP may play a role in glaucoma development and progression. It remains controversial what is the best way to measure ICP in glaucoma. Currently, the ‘gold standard’ for ICP measurement is invasive measurement of the pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid via lumbar puncture or via implantation of the pressure sensor into the brains ventricle. However, the direct measurements of ICP are not without risk due to its invasiveness and potential risk of intracranial haemorrhage and infection. Therefore, invasive ICP measurements are prohibitive due to safety needs, especially in glaucoma patients. Several approaches have been proposed to estimate ICP non‐invasively, including transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, tympanic membrane displacement, ophthalmodynamometry, measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter and two‐depth transcranial Doppler technology. Special emphasis is put on the two‐depth transcranial Doppler technology, which uses an ophthalmic artery as a natural ICP sensor. It is the only method which accurately and precisely measures absolute ICP values and may provide valuable information in glaucoma.
Data composite supplementation on stereo image processing with Shadow Casting

In recent years, planetary rover attracted a lot of interest and, especially. geological observation brings ouy new knowledge about the history of the birth of planets and our solar system. To get the geological information, the sampling and measurement of a rock and sand are required. It means the measurement of 3D surface information of workspace for manipulator is the most important process. Usually, the surface information is brought out by a stereo image processing, and a camera is the strongest candidate of sensors installing on a rover. However a natural object has much complexity and self-similarity which cause for matching error of stereo process. In this paper, to handle those subjects, we apply the projection of shadow by a stick or a manipulator. Shadow makes featured area helping for matching process and its shape is containing the 3D surface information. Therefore, Shadow Casting Stereo Imaging (SCSI) and Shadow Range Finder (SRF) are proposed and applied for 3D surface measurement. SCSI is based on stereo processing which has occlusion problem, and SRF take monocular image. We discuss data composition with SCSI and SRF to eliminate uncertainty and occlusion area of SCSI. Finally, proposed method is evaluated by experimental setup with manipulator.
Training for today's supply chains: an introduction to the distributor game

In this paper we present the distributor game, which is the first of a series of management games developed for today's supply chain challenges such as globalization, increasing importance of the customer role and mass customization. The learning objective for players of the distributor game is centered around globalization and the real-time supply chain. The decision making processes of the distributors in the game are controlled by human players. To confront the human players with a complex and dynamic environment, suppliers and markets are represented by computer-controlled actors. After playing the game for the first time with 32 MBA students, it was evaluated using a detailed questionnaire, the results clearly showed the value of the game. Further research will focus on software services to make game instantiation easier and to enhance the support for development and use of simulation-based supply chain management games.
Extending Axiomatic Design Theory to Human-Machine Cooperative Products

Human-Machine Cooperative Product (HMCP) is ubiquitous in our daily life. The examples of HMCP are cell phones, cars, etc. The basic feature with this kind of product is that human operation is essential. The existing design theory and methodology seems to be mostly for functional products such as engine. There is a rich set of knowledge for ergonomics design but it is mostly about how easy for the human operator to operate directly or monitor the product. For HMCPs, there is not only the issue of how easy to operate or monitor but also the issue of how the human operates. This paper presents a study to extend the existing design theory called Axiomatic Design Theory (ADT) to guide the design of HMCP. The hand control unit for colonoscopy technology was used to assist in the development in this study.
Negative Emotion Does Not Hinder Expression of Implicit Learning in a Contextual Cueing Task

The efficiency of everyday visual search has been shown by previous studies to depend heavily on the context. Repeating contexts in a search task over time allows targets to be found more quickly within a familiar display versus a random display, an effect measured with a contextual cueing task. Research has shown that emotion can have a significant impact on this effect. This study aims to investigate further the effect of negative emotion on contextual cueing learning as well as the expression of learning. A contextual cueing task was administered to participants (N = 39) twice. Session one involved a baseline 1-hour contextual cueing task for all participants, with no emotional images. Two types of displays were used: nonpredictive (randomized) and predictive (repeating). Session two (1-7 days later) involved another contextual cueing task with interspersed presentation of International Affective Picture System photographic stimuli to induce either a neutral (N = 20) or negative (N = 19) mood. Three types of displays were used: nonpredictive, predictive, and old (predictive display that was previously learned in session one). All participants completed the Positive And Negative Affect Schedule, which confirmed that affective state differed significantly between the two groups. Analysis of variance revealed that in session one, RTs for predictive displays and nonpredictive displays differed significantly, demonstrating a contextual cueing effect. Session two showed that the benefit for old displays when compared to nonpredictive displays was the same for both groups, demonstrating that expression of previous learning was not influenced by negative emotion. Unexpectedly, there was no difference in either group between nonpredictive and predictive displays, indicating that interspersing photographic stimuli may impair new learning. Data from this study will be important in future studies, as it raises important questions on emotional interaction with the mechanism of learning versus the expression of learning.
Two Languages Are More Informative Than One

This paper presents a new approach for resolving lexical ambiguities in one language using statistical data on lexical relations in another language. This approach exploits the differences between mappings of words to senses in different languages. We concentrate on the problem of target word selection in machine translation, for which the approach is directly applicable, and employ a statistical model for the selection mechanism. The model was evaluated using two sets of Hebrew and German examples and was found to be very useful for disambiguation.
Investigation of the impact of battery stack monitor accuracy on EKF-based SoC estimation algorithms for electric vehicles

This paper investigates the impact of battery voltage monitor system accuracy on the performance of sophisticated battery control algorithms such as extended-Kalman-filter (EKF) based state-of-charge (SoC) estimation. Extensive research has been done on improving algorithm and cell model accuracy. However, there has been less focus on the effect of cell voltage measurement errors on the estimation performance in real world applications. In battery management systems (BMS), the battery stack monitor is the dedicated voltage monitoring device that monitors the cell voltages. Poor monitor accuracy can significantly impact algorithms and cell models. This paper discusses the important role of the cell voltage measurement accuracy in a quantitative manner and demonstrates that a high precision monitor system is critical to ensure accuracy of sophisticated algorithms and cell models.
Efficacy of the Self-Inflating Bulb in Differentiating Esophageal from Tracheal Intubation in the Parturient Undergoing Cesarean Section

We studied the efficacy of the self-inflating bulb (SIB) in differentiating tracheal from esophageal intubation in 40 parturients undergoing elective cesarean section under general anesthesia. After induction and muscle relaxation, the trachea was intubated under direct vision with cuffed tube. In 20 parturients, the esophagus was also intubated with an identical tube. Before ventilation was initiated, an independent anesthesiologist checked tube positions with the SIB using two techniques. In one technique (T1), the SIB was compressed before connection to the tube; in the other technique (T2), the SIB was first connected to the tube and then compressed. The speed of reinflation was graded as rapid, delayed, and none. Tracheal tube position was reassessed immediately before and after delivery. Before initiation of controlled ventilation, the incidence of false negative results was 47.5% with T1 and 27.5% with T2 but significantly decreased to 17.5% with T1 and 7.5% with T2 when retested before delivery. After delivery, no false negative results occurred. The incidence of false positive results immediately after induction was 30% with T1 and 35% with T2. The mechanism of false negative responses may be attributed to decreased functional residual capacity leading to reduced caliber of intrathoracic airways and terminal airway closure; whereas false positive responses may be related to an incompetent gastroesophageal junction. We conclude that the SIB is unreliable for differentiating tracheal from esophageal intubation in the parturient undergoing cesarean section. (Anesth Analg 1997;84:533-7)
How socioeconomic status, executive functioning and verbal interactions contribute to early academic achievement in Chinese children

Abstract The present study investigated the relative importance of executive functioning, parent–child verbal interactions, phonological awareness and visual skills on reading and mathematics for Chinese children from low-versus middle-socio economic status (SES) backgrounds. A total of 199 kindergarten children were assessed on executive functioning, verbal interactions, phonological awareness, visual skills, mathematics and word reading in Chinese and English. Results revealed that low-SES children exhibited lower levels of cognitive-linguistic skills, verbal interactions, reading and mathematics achievement than their middle-SES counterparts. Path analyses also indicated that executive functioning and verbal interactions made significant and direct contributions to mathematics, and indirect contributions to reading through phonological awareness. These results suggest that executive functioning and verbal interactions provide the foundation for phonological awareness and visual skills, which in turn affect reading and mathematics achievement. Overall, findings underscore the potential importance of SES inequalities, cognitive-linguistic skills and parental verbal input to their children for early reading and mathematics achievement.
Page History Explorer: Visualizing and Comparing Page Histories

Due to the increased preservation efforts, large amounts of past Web data have been stored in Web archives and other archival repositories. Utilizing this data can offer certain benefits to users, for example, it can facilitate page understanding. In this paper, we propose a system for interactive exploration of page histories. We demonstrate an application called Page History Explorer (PHE) for summarizing and visualizing histories of Web pages. PHE portrays the overview of page evolution, characterizes its typical content over time and lets users observe page histories from different viewpoints. In addition, it enables flexible comparison of histories of different pages.
Access to primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in Canada: a geographic analysis

Background Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is preferred over fibrinolysis for the treatment of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). In the United States, nearly 80% of people aged 18 years and older have access to a PCI facility within 60 minutes. We conducted this study to evaluate the areas in Canada and the proportion of the population aged 40 years and older with access to a PCI facility within 60, 90 and 120 minutes. Methods We used geographic information systems to estimate travel times by ground transport to PCI facilities across Canada. Time to dispatch, time to patient and time at the scene were considered in the overall access times. Using 2006 Canadian census data, we extracted the number of adults aged 40 years and older who lived in areas with access to a PCI facility within 60, 90 and 120 minutes. We also examined the effect on these estimates of the hypothetical addition of new PCI facilities in underserved areas. Results Only a small proportion of the country’s geographic area was within 60 minutes of a PCI facility. Despite this, 63.9% of Canadians aged 40 and older had such access. This proportion varied widely across provinces, from a low of 15.8% in New Brunswick to a high of 72.6% in Ontario. The hypothetical addition of a single facility to each of 4 selected provinces could increase the proportion by 3.2% to 4.3%, depending on the province. About 470 000 adults would gain access in such a scenario of new facilities. Interpretation We found that nearly two-thirds of Canada’s population aged 40 years and older had timely access to PCI facilities. The proportion varied widely across the country. Such information can inform the development of regionalized STEMI care models.
Investigating the feasibility factors of synthetic sign language visualization methods on mobile phones

The SASL project at the University of the Western Cape is in the process of creating a machine translation system on mobile phones that can automate the translation process between English and South African Sign Language (SASL). This will supplement the use of highly trained interpreters that are expensive and scarce. In order to do this it is necessary to determine whether or not sign language visualization on mobile phones is feasible. This paper describes the research carried out in order to determine the feasibility of four sign language visualization methods on mobile phones. Three factors were considered: the intelligibility; the bandwidth consumption; and the power consumption associated with each method, with the intelligibility being the most important factor. Three of these methods were synthetic sign language visualization methods. It was found that, on average, 65% of signs were recognizable. This figure was affected by sign language dialect variations and increased to 85% with this factor removed. On average, the animations of methods were found to have file sizes of 162 KB and caused a 180% increase in power consumption, compared to the idle operation, on the mobile phone.
The Conjunct Verb in Sheshatshit Montagnais

Abstract This article accounts for the distribution and the formal properties of the conjunct verb in Sheshatshit Montagnais within the theoretical model of the Minimalist Program. A subset of the syntactic environments in which the conjunct verb occurs obligatorily is examined: subordinate clauses, non-past wh-questions, and negated clauses. Wh-phrases and subordinate clauses are associated cross-linguistically with a CP projection. It is shown that the two principal negative morphemes in Sheshatshit Montagnais are also associated with a CP projection, thereby obtaining a common underlying structure for clauses requiring conjunct verbs. Central to this analysis is the claim that conjunct verbs move to the Comp position while independent verbs move to Infl. Associating conjunct and independent verbs with distinct functional categories not only predicts their distribution but also accounts for their most distinctive formal properties.
Autonomous 3D walking system for a humanoid robot based on visual step recognition and 3D foot step planner

This paper describes vision-based 3D walking system of a humanoid robot by combining a precise 3D planar surface detection method and a practical 3D footstep planner method. The walking control system requires vision system with 10[mm] accuracy. Then we developed the precise 3D planar surface recognition system by combining the 3D Hough transformation method and the robust estimation method. We also developed practical 3D foot step planner by considering kinematics and dynamics restriction of robot hardware. Finally, we realized vision based 3D walking experiments that a humanoid robot steps upon an unknown obstacle are shown.
What we can learn from Dialogue Systems that don't work: On Dialogue Systems as Cognitive Models

In the ‘real world’, dialogue systems typically are made to work long days in callcentres of airlines and banks, fielding customer queries (and often inviting customer rage). In academia, a strong line of research is aimed at making such systems better at such tasks (in the hope of reducing customer annoyance). Here, I want to explore potential uses of spoken dialogue systems not as members of the workforce but in the lab, as a tool for the cognitive sciences. I argue that dialogue systems can be employed as situated, implemented computational models of language-capable agents; models whose predictions can be evaluated in real-time in ecologically valid settings, by human conversant. I sketch a methodology for building such models, propose areas where they can best be employed, and discuss the relations between research in this direction and more applied research.