Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Motor abilities and anthropometrics in youth cross‐country skiing

The purposes were to validate whether general motor abilities and anthropometrics are determinants of youth cross‐country (XC) skiing performance; evaluate gender‐specific differences; and to establish noninvasive diagnostics. Fifty‐one youth XC skiers (34 boys; 13.8 ± 0.6 years and 17 girls; 13.4 ± 0.9 years) performed motor skill and laboratory tests, and anthropometric data were collected and correlated with XC skiing performance. Anthropometrics and maturity status were related to boys but not to girls XC skiing performance. Push‐ups and 20‐m sprint were correlated to XC skiing performance in both boys and girls. XC skiing performance of boys was predominantly influenced by upper body and trunk strength capacities (medicine ball throw, push‐ups, and pull‐ups) and jumping power (standing long and triple jump), whereas XC skiing of girls was mainly influenced by aerobic capacities (3000‐m run). Laboratory measures did not reveal greater correlations to XC skiing performance compared with simple test concepts of speed, strength, and endurance. Maturity was a major confounding variable in boys but not girls. Use of noninvasive simple test concepts for determination of upper body strength, speed, and endurance represent practicable support for ski clubs, schools, or skiing federations in the guidance and evaluation of young talent, being aware of the effect of maturity especially in boys.
Automated in vivo segmentation of carotid plaque MRI with Morphology‐Enhanced probability maps

MRI is a promising noninvasive technique for characterizing atherosclerotic plaque composition in vivo, with an end‐goal of assessing plaque vulnerability. Because of limitations arising from acquisition time, achievable resolution, contrast‐to‐noise ratio, patient motion, and the effects of blood flow, automatically identifying plaque composition remains a challenging task in vivo. In this article, a segmentation method using maximum a posteriori probability Bayesian theory is presented that divides axial, multi‐contrast‐weighted images into regions of necrotic core, calcification, loose matrix, and fibrous tissue. Key advantages of the method are that it utilizes morphologic information, such as local wall thickness, and coupled active contours to limit the impact from noise and artifacts associated with in vivo imaging. In experiments involving 142 sets of multi‐contrast images from 26 subjects undergoing carotid endarterectomy, segmented areas of each of these tissues per slice agreed with histologically confirmed areas with correlations (R2) of 0.78, 0.83, 0.41, and 0.82, respectively. In comparison, manually identifying areas blinded to histology yielded correlations of 0.71, 0.76, 0.33, and 0.78, respectively. These results show that in vivo automatic segmentation of carotid MRI is feasible and comparable to or possibly more accurate than manual review for quantifying plaque composition. Magn Reson Med, 2006. Published 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A New Softness Display Interface by Dynamic Fingertip Contact Area Control by Dynamic Fingertip Cont

A new softness display system has been developed which controls the fingertip contact area dynamically according to the detected contact force, based on the human softness recognition mechanism. The relative softness cognitive rate of four levels softness using the developed system was 98 percent while ten volunteers touched the device actively. The absolute softness cognitive rate, the rate of correct answer while the displayed softness was compared to the real objects, was 85 percent. The relative and absolute cognitive rates in “passive touch” were 94 and 75 percent respectively. It was demonstrated experimentally that the softness display is feasible by controlling the relationship between the contact force and the contact area at fingertip.
Acute administration of the organochalcogen 3‐methyl‐1‐phenyl‐2‐(phenylseleno)oct‐2‐en‐1‐one induces biochemical and hematological disorders in male rats

Organochalcogens are extensively produced and employed by industry and agriculture, and the risk of occupational and environmental toxicity to them has been poorly understood. Here, we investigated the acute effect of a new organochalcogen 3‐methyl‐1‐phenyl‐2‐(phenylseleno)oct‐2‐en‐1‐one on biochemical and hematological parameters in male Wistar rats. The animals were treated with a single intraperitoneal injection of the organochalcogen at doses of 125, 250 or 500 µg·kg–1. After 60 min, the animals were sacrificed by decapitation, and the trunk blood was collected for determination of glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, urea, creatinine, C‐reactive protein, red blood cells, hematocrit, hemoglobin and white blood cells (WBC). Our results showed a reduction in cholesterol levels in all treated groups, an increase in ALT activity at doses of 250 and 500 µg·kg–1, a decrease of hemoglobin and an increase in WBC in animals that received 250 and 500 µg·kg–1 of the organoselenium. In addition, we observed an increase in neutrophil counts at 125 µg·kg–1 dose and a decrease at 500 µg·kg–1 dose. We also verified an increase in lymphocyte counts at the dose of 500 µg·kg–1. Thus, the present study shows that the acute treatment with this new organochalcogen causes biochemical changes and hematological disorders in male rats. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimization of symbol timing recovery for QAM data demodulators

This paper describes an effective technique for the optimization of the clock recovery circuit in an all-digital modem for linearly modulated signals. Starting from the concept of prefiltering of the data signal (already pursued by these authors in the context of analog data receivers), it is shown how to design an optimum digital prefilter for the minimization of jitter due to both Gaussian and pattern noise in the closed-loop clock recovery scheme by Gardner (1986). The numerical results of the theoretical analysis, obtained after iterative resolution of a constrained-minimum problem via the Lagrange multiplier method, are checked by simulation and can be nicely justified by the consideration of the frequency response of the optimum prefilter. The key outcome of such an approach is the demonstration of a substantial performance improvement in terms of steady-state clock jitter, even with remarkably simple FIR prefilters with a small number of taps.
Plasmas in Tooth Root Canal

Using the plasma generated inside the root canal rather than the afterglow of the plasma will significantly improve the inactivation efficiency. In this paper, images of three kinds of atmospheric-pressure low-temperature plasma devices driven by different power supplies in the tooth root canal are reported. The images of an R-needle device driven by a dc power supply inside the root canal using different gases (He, Ar, and surrounding air) are also presented.
Agent and Link Redundancy for Autonomous Formations

More and more often the multiagent formations found in high-risk military and civilian missions are designed to sustain the loss of some agents or control/communication links. In a military context, the agent loss could be a result of enemy attack and/or mechanical breakdown, while the link loss is usually due to enemy jamming, reduced transmission power, obstacles and/or hardware failure. If the agents are tasked to tightly maintain their inter-agent distances in order to maintain a desirable shape of the formation, loss of certain agents or links could lead to catastrophic consequences. This preliminary work proposes to address this potential problem by enforcing redundancy in the formation design, by addition of extra agents and/or links beyond the minimum necessary. Following an existing graphical model of the formations, we extend the notions and definitions for simple rigidity to ones including the redundancy concept. We remark that this engineered redundancy naturally reflects a level of operational robustness/health of the formation. We differentiate the measure into a deterministic metric and a statistical metric, and provide some general results on redundant rigidity.
The TDR Tuberculosis Strain Bank: a resource for basic science, tool development and diagnostic services.

BACKGROUND The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases recently launched a Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain bank (TDR-TB Strain Bank). OBJECTIVE To describe the TDR-TB Strain Bank, the characterisation of strains, bank management and the procedure for releasing materials. RESULTS The TDR-TB Strain Bank consists of 229 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates (single-colony derived cultures) plus five mycobacterial reference strains for purposes of identification. These are available as freeze-dried, viable strains or as heat-inactivated bacterial suspensions, quality controlled for purity, viability and authenticity. Isolates originated from diverse geographical settings and were selected for their resistance profiles against first- and second-line drugs. Low and high levels of resistance were determined by the minimum inhibitory concentrations of isoniazid, rifampicin, ethambutol, streptomycin, ofloxacin, kanamycin, capreomycin, ethionamide and para-aminosalicylic acid. Sequencing for drug resistance mutations was performed on the relevant sections of the rpoB, katG, inhA, embB, rpsL, rrs, gyrA and gyrB genes. Typing using lineage-defining loci of mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeats indicated that the most important genetic lineages were represented. CONCLUSIONS The TDR-TB Strain Bank is a high quality bioresource for basic science, supporting the development of new diagnostics and drug-resistant detection tools and providing reference materials for laboratory quality management programmes.
Cryptography for Security and Privacy in Cloud Computing

As is common practice in research, many new cryptographic techniques have been developed to tackle either a theoretical question or foreseeing a soon to become reality application. Cloud computing is one of these new areas, where cryptography is expected to unveil its power by bringing striking new features to the cloud. Cloud computing is an evolving paradigm, whose basic attempt is to shift computing and storage capabilities to external service providers. This resource offers an overview of the possibilities of cryptography for protecting data and identity information, much beyond well-known cryptographic primitives such as encryption or digital signatures. This book represents a compilation of various recent cryptographic primitives, providing readers with the features and limitations of each.
Polyamine transport, accumulation, and release in brain

Cycling of polyamines (spermine and spermidine) in the brain was examined by measuring polyamine transport in synaptic vesicles, synaptosomes and glial cells, and the release of spermine from hippocampal slices. It was found that membrane potential‐dependent polyamine transport systems exist in synaptosomes and glial cells, and a proton gradient‐dependent polyamine transport system exists in synaptic vesicles. The glial cell transporter had high affinities for both spermine and spermidine, whereas the transporters in synaptosomes and synaptic vesicles had a much higher affinity for spermine than for spermidine. Polyamine transport by synaptosomes was inhibited by putrescine, agmatine, histidine, and histamine. Transport by glial cells was also inhibited by these four compounds and additionally by norepinephrine. On the other hand, polyamine transport by synaptic vesicles was inhibited only by putrescine and histamine. These results suggest that the polyamine transporters present in glial cells, neurons, and synaptic vesicles each have different properties and are, presumably, different molecular entities. Spermine was found to be accumulated in synaptic vesicles and was released from rat hippocampal slices by depolarization using a high concentration of KCl. Polyamines, in particular spermine, may function as neuromodulators in the brain.
Space-time spreading assisted broadband MC DS-CDMA

In this article multicarrier direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (MC DS-CDMA) using space-time spreading (STS) is investigated in the context of broadband communications over frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channels. We consider a range of design issues as well as the achievable bit error rate (BER) performance for the down-link, by assuming synchronous transmission of the user signals. The BER performance of STS assisted broadband MC DS-CDMA using binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation is investigated by simulation for a range of parameter values. Our study shows that by appropriately selecting the system parameters, STS assisted broadband MC DS-CDMA is capable of supporting ubiquitous communications in various communication environments including indoor, open rural, suburban and urban areas without BER performance degradation. Furthermore, the STS based transmit diversity schemes can be designed for attaining a certain required diversity gain, while maintaining a near-constant BER in various communication environments, provided that frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channels are encountered.
Self Localization Method for Mobile Sensor in Navigation Applications

This paper presents a novel self localization method using parallel projection model for mobile sensor in navigation applications. The algorithm estimates the coordinate and the orientation of mobile sensor using projected references on visual image. The proposed method considers non-linearity of the lens' view distortion and compensate the distortion using a calibration table. The method determines the coordinates and orientations with iterative process, which is very accurate with low computational demand. We identify various sources of error on the coordinate and orientation estimations, and present both static sensitivity analysis of the algorithm and dynamic behavior of the mobile sensor. The algorithm can be utilized in mobile robot navigation as well as positioning application where accurate self localization is necessary.
Sequence Pattern Mining in Data Streams

Sequential pattern mining in data streams environment is an interesting data mining problem. The problem of finding sequential patterns in static databases had been studied extensively in the past years, however mining sequential patterns in the data streams still an active field for researches. In this research a new greedy sequence pattern mining algorithm for the data streams is introduced, it will be used to find the strongly supported sequences. The proposed algorithm is built based on the sequence tree which is used to find the sequential patterns in static databases. The proposed algorithm divides the streams into patches or windows and each patch will update the sequence tree which built from the previous windows. An example is introduced to explain how this algorithm works. We also show the efficiency and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm on a synthetic dataset and prove how it is suited for data streams environment. We showed experimentally that the proposed algorithm is more efficient than the PrefixSpan algorithm for patterns with any support less than 30% for CPU time and with any support less than 60% for memory usage.
The morphology and genetic characterization of Iheringascaris goai n. sp. (Nematoda: Raphidascarididae) from the intestine of the silver whiting and spotted catfish off the central west coast of India.

In this study a new species of nematode, Iheringascaris goai n. sp. , is reported from two fish hosts, including silver whiting, Sillago sihama, and spotted catfish, Arius maculatus, caught off the Central West Coast of India at Goa. The new species can be differentiated morphologically from I. inquies, the most closely related species collected from cohabiting marine fish. The distinguishing characteristics are distinct cuticular striations, a unilateral excretory system, the presence of dentigerous ridges on the inner margin of the lips and the ratio of oesophagus to body length. In males, the ratio of spicules to body length is higher and the number of pre-anal papillae is less in comparison to those in I. inquies. In addition, the tail curves ventrad in males, while in females, the vulva is post-equatorial. The sequence alignment of 18S rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I with sequences of known species selected from the same superfamily shows a significant difference. The morphological and molecular differences reported here can, therefore, be used to assign the specimen to a new species.
A protocol for space charge measurements in full-size HVDC extruded cables

This position paper, prepared by the IEEE DEIS HVDC Cable Systems Technical Committee, illustrates a protocol recommended for the measurement of space charges in full-size HVDC extruded cables during load cycle qualification tests (either prequalification load cycles or type test load cycles). The protocol accounts for the experimental practices of space charge measurements in the thick insulation of coaxial cables in terms of poling time, depolarization time, heating and cooling of specimens, as well as for the experience gained very recently from such kind of measurements performed in the framework of qualification tests relevant to ongoing HVDC cable system projects. The goal of the protocol is not checking the compliance with any maximum acceptable limit of either space charge or electric field. Rather, this protocol aims at assessing the variation of the electric field profile in the cable insulation wall during poling time at the beginning and at the end of load cycle qualification tests for full-size HVDC extruded cables. Indeed, in the design stage the electric field distributions are determined by the cable geometry and by temperature gradient in the insulation. Thus, the design is based on macroscopic parameters conductivity and permittivity and how they depend upon temperature. Any disturbance of the electric field due to space charge accumulation will only be revealed during space charge measurements either in as-manufactured state or in the aged state after load cycle qualification tests.
The Measurement of Social Behaviour in Psychiatric Patients: An Assessment of the Reliability and Validity of the SBS Schedule

This paper describes the standard version of the MRC Social Performance Schedule, which covers 21 behaviour areas such as hygiene, initiating conversations, etc. and was designed to be used with long-stay populations, within a hospital or the community. Data on the schedule's consistency over raters, informants, time, and situation showed that the reliability was reasonable over all four areas. The schedule is recommended as a standard instrument to describe the behavioural difficulties of patients likely to be dependent on psychiatric services for some time. Recent data are provided on the levels of problem behaviours found within both long-stay hospitals and community settings, together with references for more detailed behaviour profiles of such groups.
The effectiveness of a saline mouth rinse regimen and education programme on radiation‐induced oral mucositis and quality of life in oral cavity cancer patients: A randomised controlled trial

Radiation therapy (RT) and concurrent chemotherapy RT (CCRT) generate radiation-induced oral mucositis (OM) and lower quality of life (QOL). This study assessed the impact of a saline mouth rinse regimen and education programme on radiation-induced OM symptoms, and QOL in oral cavity cancer (OCC) patients receiving RT or CCRT. Ninety-one OCC patients were randomly divided into a group that received saline mouth rinses and an education programme and a control group that received standard care. OM symptoms and QOL were assessed with the WHO Oral Toxicity Scale, MSS-moo and UW-QOL. Data were collected at the first postoperative visit to the radiation department (T0) and at 4 weeks and 8 weeks after beginning RT or CCRT. Patients in both groups had significantly higher levels of physical and social-emotional QOL at 8 weeks after beginning RT or CCRT compared to the first visit. Patients in the saline rinse group had significantly better physical and social-emotional QOL as compared to the standard care group at 8 weeks. Radiation-induced OM symptoms and overall QOL were not different between the groups. We thus conclude the saline rinse and education programme promote better physical and social-emotional QOL in OCC patients receiving RT/CCRT.
OsPIN5b modulates rice (Oryza sativa) plant architecture and yield by changing auxin homeostasis, transport and distribution.

Plant architecture attributes such as tillering, plant height and panicle size are important agronomic traits that determine rice (Oryza sativa) productivity. Here, we report that altered auxin content, transport and distribution affect these traits, and hence rice yield. Overexpression of the auxin efflux carrier-like gene OsPIN5b causes pleiotropic effects, mainly reducing plant height, leaf and tiller number, shoot and root biomass, seed-setting rate, panicle length and yield parameters. Conversely, reduced expression of OsPIN5b results in higher tiller number, more vigorous root system, longer panicles and increased yield. We show that OsPIN5b is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) -localized protein that participates in auxin homeostasis, transport and distribution in vivo. This work describes an example of an auxin-related gene where modulating its expression can simultaneously improve plant architecture and yield potential in rice, and reveals an important effect of hormonal signaling on these traits.
L-band single wavelength ring cavity configured Brillouin/Raman fiber laser

A single wavelength Brillouin fiber laser that utilized Raman amplification in a ring cavity is presented. The laser works in the L-band, which is considered as an extension of the currently used C-band optical communication window. At Brillouin pump wavelength of 1580 nm with a corresponding power of 150 mW, the demonstrated laser has a peak power of 22.5 dBm when the Brillouin gain medium, dispersion compensating fiber has a length of 8 km. 1480 nm pumping scheme was employed for the Raman amplification. The Raman gain medium was provided by 10 km long single mode fiber. The laser was found to be tunable over 60 nm (1565 nm-1625nm) wavelength making up the L-band window.
Bidirectional Relations Between Text Reading Prosody and Reading Comprehension in the Upper Primary School Grades: A Longitudinal Perspective

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the directionality of the relationship between text reading prosody and reading comprehension in the upper grades of primary school. We compared 3 theoretical possibilities: Two unidirectional relations from text reading prosody to reading comprehension and from reading comprehension to text reading prosody and a bidirectional relation between text reading prosody and reading comprehension. Further, we controlled for autoregressive effects and included decoding efficiency as a measure of general reading skill. Participants were 99 Dutch children, followed longitudinally, from 4th to 6th grade. Structural equation modeling showed that the bidirectional relation provided the best fitting model. In 5th grade, text reading prosody was related to prior decoding and reading comprehension, whereas in 6th grade, reading comprehension was related to prior text reading prosody. As such, the results suggest that the relation between text reading prosody and reading comprehension is reciprocal but dependent on grade level.