Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The viability of speech-in-noise audiometric screening using domestic audio equipment

Speech-in-noise audiometry has potential application as a low-cost, self-screening test for sensorineural hearing loss. To realize this potential, the influence of variations in audio equipment and listening environment need assessment. The present study assessed: 1) the frequency response and distortion produced by a wide range of commercially available audio equipment; 2) the effects of such variations upon test results with normally hearing subjects using a simple, open-set, word-identification test; 3) the effect of distortion on the speech reception threshold using digitally applied distortion; and 4) the reliability of the test in listening environments with different levels of reverberation. In addition, preliminary tests were conducted with elderly listeners. The results indicate that variations in equipment have negligible effects on speech-in-noise audiometry. The only factor that substantially elevated normally hearing listeners’ thresholds was high levels of room reverberation when using loudspeaker presentation. Variations in equipment and environment thus present no significant obstacle to the development of a self-administered audiometric screening test based on speech in noise. Sumario La logoaudiometría en ruido tiene una aplicación potencial como prueba de auto-evaluación a bajo costo para pérdidas auditivas sensorineurales. Para desarrollar este potencial se necesita evaluar la influencia de las variaciones en el equipo de audio y en el ambiente de escucha. El presente estudio evaluó: 1) la respuesta frecuencial y la distorsión producida por una amplia gama de equipos de audio disponibles comercialmente; 2) los efectos de tales variaciones sobre los resultados de las evaluaciones con sujetos normo-oyentes usando una prueba de identificación de palabras de contexto abierto; 3) el efecto de distorsión sobre el umbral de recepción del lenguaje utilizando distorsión digitalmente aplicada; 4) la confiabilidad de la prueba en ambientes para escuchar con diferentes niveles de reverberación. Los resultados indican que las variaciones en el equipo generan efectos despreciables en la logoaudiometría en ruido. El único factor que elevó sustancialmente los umbrales en sujetos normo-oyentes fueron los altos niveles de reverberación de la cabina cuando la presentación se hizo a través de altoparlantes. Las variaciones en el equipo o en el ambiente, por lo tanto, no constituyeron un obstáculo significativo en el desarrollo de una prueba auto-administrada de tamizaje auditivo basada en lenguaje en ruido.
Moral Hazard, Ethical Considerations, and the Decision to Implement an Information System

A decision-making study was conducted to examine the effects of moral hazard on information systems (IS) professionals' decisions whether or not to implement a system with quality problems. Moral hazard was defined as an incentive to act in one's self-interest in conflict with the organization's overall goals while being able to hide those actions through privately held information. Highly experienced IS professionals provided responses to a hypothetical decision case that revealed a tendency to implement a project with quality problems in a moral hazard situation. Their decisions, however, were strongly influenced by ethical considerations. These findings suggest that key economic constructs, such as moral hazard, apply to system implementation contexts. They also suggest that organizations can significantly moderate self-interested behavior by fostering an ethical climate.
Health-Related Quality of Life Among German YouthsWith Early-Onset and Long-Duration Type 1 Diabetes

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSdA total of 629 subjects aged 11 to 17 years, with a type 1 diabetes onset occurring from age 0 to 4 years during the years 1993–1999, and their parents, completed questionnaires, including the generic KINDL-R Questionnaire for MeasuringHealth-RelatedQuality of Life in Children and Adolescents, revised version, to assess QoL. The comparison group (n = 6,813) was a representative sample from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) study. Regression analyses were conducted using sociodemographic and health-related covariates.
Concept of a Data Thread Based Parking Space Occupancy Prediction in a Berlin Pilot Region

In the presented research project, a software and hardware infrastructure for parking space focussed inter-modal route planning in a public pilot region in Berlin is developed. One central topic is the development of a prediction system which gives an estimated occupancy for the parking spaces in the pilot region for a given date and time in the future. Occupancy data will be collected online by roadside parking sensors developed within the project. The occupancy prediction will be implemented using “Neural Gas” machine learning in combination with a proposed method which uses data threads to improve the prediction quality. In this paper, a short overview of the whole research project is given. Furthermore, the concept of the software framework and the learning methods are presented and first collected data is shown. The prediction method using data threads is explained in more detail.
HSP70 vaccine in combination with gene therapy with plasmid DNA encoding sPD‐1 overcomes immune resistance and suppresses the progression of pulmonary metastatic melanoma

Many tumor immunotherapy efforts are focused on the generation of strong T‐cell response against tumor antigens. However, strong T‐cell response does not always coincide with tumor rejection, for which upregulated expression of immunoinhibitory molecules may be responsible. In this study, the treatment with heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) vaccine induced an infiltration of T cells into the tumor site as well as the expression of IFN‐γ and IL‐2, and delayed lung metastases of tumor, but the tumor progression nonetheless occur finally. We demonstrated that B7‐H1 expressed by residual tumor cells was responsible for the resistance of tumor to the therapy with HSP70 vaccine. Blockade of B7‐H1 by i.v. injection pPD‐1A, a plasmid encoding the extracellular domain of PD‐1 (sPD‐1), could reverse this resistance and enhance the therapeutic efficacy. To complement these findings, we investigated the gene expression of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) by Real‐time PCR analysis, which revealed that the expression of TH1 cytokines IFN‐γ and IL‐2 by TIL in the mice treated with HSP70 vaccine in combination with sPD‐1 was increased and the expression of negative regulatory molecules IL‐10, TGF‐β and foxp3 was decreased, demonstrating that multifunctional properties afforded by the combination therapy can effectively overcome tumor resistance and promote effective antitumor immunity. The in vivo transfection with pPD‐1A could be performed as infrequently as once a week and still produce a significant antitumor effect. These findings suggest that the treatment with HSP70 vaccine followed by blockade of tumor‐B7‐H1 with sPD‐1 may provide a promising approach for tumor immunotherapy. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Numerical analysis of a Compressive Sensing approach for ground penetrating radar applications

In this paper, a sparsity-driven approach for the detection and characterization of small buried objects has been proposed. In the framework of the well-known Born Approximation, the theory of Compressive Sensing can help in improving reconstruction capabilities by reducing the number of data to be processed or gaining in resolution. The performance of the imaging algorithm also depends on the kind of employed configuration (single-view or multi-view), which has been explored in a preliminary numerical analysis in a simplified 2D geometry.
Growth mechanism and field emission properties of inject-like ZnO nanostructure

We report the fabrication process of injector-like ZnO nanostructures and their excellent field emission properties. Injector-like Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures were synthesized on a Si (001) substrate with ~5 nm thick gold film by direct thermal evaporation of Zinc power under a low temperature of 600 degC and normal pressure. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman and photoluminescence (PL) were applied to study the structural characteristics and optical properties of the product.
Inference on Censored Survival Data Under Competing Risks

Competing risks is commonly encountered in survival data. While fundamental methods have been established to analyze survival data in the presence of competing risks, some of methods still remain undeveloped. The primary goal of this study is to extend existing methods for survival analysis to the competing risks settings. In the first study is to determine the optimal cutpoint in the presence of competing risks. A continuous variable often needs to be dichotomized to quantify the prognostic effect. The "outcome-oriented" cutpoint approach is the useful method without any prior knowledge about that variable, which is to seek an optimal cut point that provides the maximum difference in prognostic effect between the splits. The rescaled sequential method is one of the approaches for estimating the optimal cutpoint and for adjusting its significance after the dichotomization. We adapted the concept of improper random variables from Gray's test and modified log-rank test to apply the rescaled sequential approaches. We present simulation results of the operating characteristics of the proposed method. A real dataset from National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B-14 is exemplified. In the second part, a quantile residual life regression model was developed for competing risks. Residual life analysis provides useful information when the effect of prognostic factors on the distribution of remaining lifetimes is evaluated at several years after the initial diagnosis/therapy. This model allows for meaningful interpretations of covariate effects on not only any quantile residual life but also at a specific time point. Simulation studies are performed to assess the finite sample properties of proposed method in terms of the parameter estimator, type I error and power of the test statistics at different time points. The new regression method is illustrated with a NSABP B-04 dataset. Although competing risks have been an important issue in survival analysis research, it is often neglected by clinical researchers due to its complex nature and lack of available methodology. Development of inference procedures suitable for competing risks data would provide more accurate additional information, which has great significance in a public health perspective leading to improved patient care in clinical settings.
Design and development of eye movement data acquisition kit

There are several researches that have been done to improve the life among tetraplegia. It has become an attractive research field in the rehabilitation engineering because the eye movement have abilities as a communication tool for disabled people. However, the previous research has not much provided an appropriate design for the user among tetraplegia. Motivated from that, a new design of eye movement data acquisition kit has been developed. This paper aims to describe the design of eye movement data acquisition kit for the user among tetraplegia based on the proper electrode positions, the prototype as well as the signal conditioning circuits. Then, this EOG kit was used to acquire the eye signals for eye movement in the left and right direction. The eye movement data was obtained from the kit, which can be used as a significant communication tool among tetraplegia. The results show that the kit equipped with a proper signal conditioning is able to acquire the eye movement signal.
Collision detection system for manipulator based on adaptive impedance control law

In this paper, we propose a collision detection system based on a nonlinear adaptive impedance control law. The collision detection detects collisions of a manipulator with its environment without using external sensors. The adaptive impedance control law is employed to estimate the dynamic parameters of the manipulators, and allows the manipulator to have interaction with its environment. The system detects collisions based on the difference between the actual input torque to the manipulator and the reference input torque, which is calculated based on the estimated parameters of the manipulator dynamics. The manipulator stops when a collision detection system is implemented in an industrial manipulator and experimental results illustrate the validity of the proposed system.
Maximizing Treatment Effectiveness in Clinical Practice: An Outcome-Informed, Collaborative Approach

Clinicians need easy-to-use, practical, systematic methods of evaluating, informing, and reporting the effectiveness of treatment. Practicing clinicians no longer have to rely on the DSM for treating their clients, but by making use of both outcome and process measures they can create a more collaborative and effective therapy with their clients. The findings from over 40 years of psychotherapy outcome research literature emphasize the importance of common factors as the curative elements central to all forms of therapy regardless of theoretical orientation. Methods discussed here offer practitioners the means to identify which clients are responding to treatment and those for which treatment is not working so that adjustments can be made to the therapy. The goal is to decrease dropout rates, increase levels of customer satisfaction, and document and improve the overall effectiveness of treatment.
Validation of the Parama-Tech PS-501 Device for Office Blood Pressure Measurement According to the International Protocol

The PS-501 device (Parama-Tech, Fukuoka, Japan), an automated device for office blood pressure measurement based on the Korotkoff method and designed for professional use in clinical settings, was validated. Consecutive outpatients with hypertension and ≥30 years old at an outpatient hypertension clinic were recruited. According to the European Society of Hypertension protocol, 33 participants were included in the validation study (phase 1, n = 15; phase 2, n = 18). The cuff deflation rate can be selected manually from 2, 3, and 4 mm Hg/beat. The validation was performed with the device deflating at a rate of 2 mm Hg/beat. All blood pressure readings were measured on the left arm. The tested device passed all criteria for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements. The mean (± standard deviation) differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressure between the tested device and the mean of observer readings were −1.9 ± 4.6 and −2.5 ± 2.9 mm Hg, respectively. The PS-501 device for office blood pressure measurement passed all the validation criteria of the European Society of Hypertension and can therefore be recommended for clinical use in an adult population.
A Novel PIM System and its Effective Storage Compression Scheme

The increasingly large amount of personal information poses a critical problem to users. Traditional file organization in hierarchical directories is not suited to the effective management of personal information. In order to overcome the shortcomings of the current hierarchical file system and efficiently organize and maintain personal information, some new tools are expected to be invented. In this paper, we propose a novel scheme called concept space - a network of concepts and their associations – and use topic map as the underlying data model. We present a materialized view scheme to provide users with a flexible view of the file system according to their own cognition. We also reduce the storage requirement to save space usage of this system by borrowing some ideas from XML data management and contriving a novel and efficient data compression scheme. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the above idea, we have implemented a prototype personal information management system called NovaPIM and presented its system architecture. Extensive experiments show that our proposed scheme is both efficient and effective.
Screening for Major Depressive Disorders in Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients with the Mood Modules from the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders and the Patient Health Questionnaire

The mood modules from the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) were administered to 17 (52%) female and 16 (48%) male adolescent (13–17 years old) psychiatric inpatients. The internal consistencies of both were good (KR-20 for PRIME-MD = .80, Cronbach coefficient α for Patient Health Questionnaire = .85). The correlation between the PRIME-MD and Patient Health Questionnaire total scores was . 87 (p < .001) and the point-biserial correlation of both questionnaires' total scores with being diagnosed with a Major Depressive Disorder was . 54 (p < .001). Both mood modules appeared to be equally effective in screening for a Major Depressive Disorder.
QSAR Modeling of a Set of Pyrazinoate Esters as Antituberculosis Prodrugs

Tuberculosis is an infection caused mainly by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A first‐line antimycobacterial drug is pyrazinamide (PZA), which acts partially as a prodrug activated by a pyrazinamidase releasing the active agent, pyrazinoic acid (POA). As pyrazinoic acid presents some difficulty to cross the mycobacterial cell wall, and also the pyrazinamide‐resistant strains do not express the pyrazinamidase, a set of pyrazinoic acid esters have been evaluated as antimycobacterial agents. In this work, a QSAR approach was applied to a set of forty‐three pyrazinoates against M. tuberculosis ATCC 27294, using genetic algorithm function and partial least squares regression (WOLF 5.5 program). The independent variables selected were the Balaban index (J), calculated n‐octanol/water partition coefficient (ClogP), van‐der‐Waals surface area, dipole moment, and stretching‐energy contribution. The final QSAR model (N = 32, r2 = 0.68, q2 = 0.59, LOF = 0.25, and LSE = 0.19) was fully validated employing leave‐N‐out cross‐validation and y‐scrambling techniques. The test set (N = 11) presented an external prediction power of 73%. In conclusion, the QSAR model generated can be used as a valuable tool to optimize the activity of future pyrazinoic acid esters in the designing of new antituberculosis agents.
A novel data-mining approach leveraging social media to monitor and respond to outcomes of diabetes drugs and treatment

A novel data-mining method was developed to gauge the experiences of medical devices and drugs by patients with diabetes mellitus. Self-organizing maps were used to analyze forum posts numerically to better understand user opinion of medical devices and drugs. The end-result is a word list compilation that correlates certain positive and negative word cluster groups with medical drugs and devices. The implication of this novel data-mining method could open new avenues of research into rapid data collection, feedback, and analysis that would enable improved outcomes and solutions for public health.
The quantitative glucose and mineral nutrient requirements of mouse LS (suspension) cells in chemically defined medium.

SUMMARY The influences of glucose, phosphate, magnesium and potassium concentration on growth rate and maximum population density were studied. From the data obtained the growth yields for glucose and phosphorus were found to be 2-4x10* cells (i.e. 0-76 mg dry weight)/mg glucose and 2-2 x io 6 (i.e. 69 /ig dry weight)//ig P. The growth response to magnesium and potassium was complex since there were threshold concentrations of these metals below which no growth occurred. The growth yield for potassium (2-4 x 10' cells (i.e. 75 fig dry weight) /figK) was obtained by measuring potassium uptake during growth. Omission of calcium ions from the medium resulted in poor reproducibility of growth.
Laser-assisted laterally positioned flap operation: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this randomized, controlled clinical trial was to compare the effectiveness of a new treatment approach, which consisted of laterally positioned flap (LPF) procedure combined with an external vestibular releasing incision made by a diode laser (LALPF) to LPF alone for the treatment of isolated gingival recession defects. METHODS Thirty-two healthy patients presenting single Miller class II isolated gingival recessions with minimal loss of interdental papilla were treated with an LPF technique. Sixteen patients were randomly assigned to the test group (laser-assisted laterally positioned flap [LALPF]), and the other 16 patients were assigned to the control group (LPF). In the test group, diode laser was used for vestibular deepening in order to obtain maximum maneuverability of the advanced flap. Clinical and patient-centered parameters (visual analog scale for pain and aesthetics [VAS]) were measured at baseline, 7 days, and 6 months after the surgery. RESULTS Complete root coverage from baseline to 6 months post-surgery was achieved for 46.7% of the control group and 81.2% of the test group (p=0.044). There were no differences in VAS pain measurements between the groups. Patient satisfaction with aesthetics was higher in LALPF group than in the LPF group. CONCLUSIONS Six month results showed that the LALPF approach was effective for the treatment of single Miller class II gingival recessions.
Optic Flow and Autonomous Navigation

Many animals, especially insects, compute and use optic flow to control their motion direction and to avoid obstacles. Recent advances in computer vision have shown that an adequate optic flow can be computed from image sequences. Therefore studying whether artificial systems, such as robots, can use optic flow for similar purposes is of particular interest. Experiments are reviewed that suggest the possible use of optic flow for the navigation of a robot moving in indoor and outdoor environments. The optic flow is used to detect and localise obstacles in indoor scenes, such as corridors, offices, and laboratories. These routines are based on the computation of a reduced optic flow. The robot is usually able to avoid large obstacles such as a chair or a person. The avoidance performances of the proposed algorithm critically depend on the optomotor reaction of the robot. The optic flow can be used to understand the ego-motion in outdoor scenes, that is, to obtain information on the absolute velocity of the moving vehicle and to detect the presence of other moving objects. A critical step is the correction of the optic flow for shocks and vibrations present during image acquisition. The results obtained suggest that optic flow can be successfully used by biological and artifical systems to control their navigation. Moreover, both systems require fast and accurate optomotor reactions and need to compensate for the instability of the viewed world.
Efficient Data Distribution Scheme for Multi-Dimensional Sparse Arrays

Array operations are useful in a large number of important scientific codes, such as molecular dynamics, finite-element methods, climate modeling, etc. It is a challenging problem to provide an efficient data distribution for irregular problems. Multi-dimensional (MD) sparse array operations can be used in atmosphere and ocean sciences, image processing, etc., and have been an extensively investigated problem. In our previous work, a data distribution scheme, Encoding-Decoding (ED), was proposed for twodimensional (2D) sparse arrays. In this paper, ED is extended to be useful for MD sparse arrays first. Then, the performance of ED is compared with that of Send Followed Compress (SFC) and Compress Followed Send (CFS). Both theoretical analysis and experimental tests were conducted and then shown that ED is superior to SFC and CFS for all of evaluated criteria.