Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SpRRAM: A Predefined Sparsity Based Memristive Neuromorphic Circuit for Low Power Application

In this paper, we propose an efficient predefined structured sparsity-based ex-situ training framework for a hybrid CMOS-memristive neuromorphic hardware for deep neural network to significantly lower the power consumption and computational complexity and improve scalability. The structure is verified on a wide range of datasets including MNIST handwritten recognition, breast cancer prediction, and mobile health monitoring. The results of this study show that compared to its fully connected version, the proposed structure provides significant power reduction while maintaining high classification accuracy.
FPGA Dynamic and Partial Reconfiguration

Dynamic and partial reconfiguration are key differentiating capabilities of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). While they have been studied extensively in academic literature, they find limited use in deployed systems. We review FPGA reconfiguration, looking at architectures built for the purpose, and the properties of modern commercial architectures. We then investigate design flows and identify the key challenges in making reconfigurable FPGA systems easier to design. Finally, we look at applications where reconfiguration has found use, as well as proposing new areas where this capability places FPGAs in a unique position for adoption.
Assessment of Pyrexia and Associated Sickness Behavior in Patients with Chronic Periodontitis

Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess pyrexia and sickness behavior such as anxiety, depression, lethargy, and weight loss in subjects with chronic periodontitis, and evaluate inflammatory mediators such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the patients with fever. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that consisted of 150 chronic periodontitis and 150 healthy subjects. Sublingual and subgingival temperatures were assessed using a digital temperature probe. Associated sickness behavior was assessed for all the subjects. Pathological tests, i.e., ESR and CRP were done for subjects with fever. Results: Evaluating the presence of fever with the severity of periodontal disease, 66.7% of the subjects with fever were in the group diagnosed with severe periodontitis, 20.4% had with moderate periodontitis, and 5.3% were in the healthy group. Subjects diagnosed with periodontitis comprised 66.2% of the subjects with higher (i.e., > 36.3°C) subgingival temperatures and healthy subjects made up the remaining 33.8% (p < 0.001). A correlation between the sublingual and subgingival temperature with the Pearson ρ correlation coefficient of 0.227 (p < 0.001) was observed. A statistically significant mean value of 37.05 ± 11.24 of ESR and 1.59 ± 1.11 mg/L of CRP was reported amongst the subjects with fever (p < 0.001). The association of sickness behavior with the severity of periodontitis was found to be significant: depression 40.006, anxiety 50.857, reported weight loss 76.463, and lethargy 141.581 (p < 0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: The study demonstrated that there is a significant increase in the sublingual temperature amongst patients with severe chronic periodontitis. The subgingival temperature has a positive correlation with the sublingual temperature. There was a linear trend of an association of sickness behavior with the severity of chronic periodontitis. A significant increase in the circulating inflammatory mediators, CRP and ESR, were noticed in subjects with elevated body temperature.
Molecular identification of avian influenza virus subtypes H5N1 and H9N2 in birds from farms and live bird markets and in respiratory patients

Background Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) have been endemic in Egypt since 2006, and the co-circulation of high-pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 and low-pathogenic avian influenza H9N2 subtypes in poultry has been reported; therefore, Egypt is considered a hotspot for the generation of new subtypes and genotypes. We aimed to characterize AIVs circulating on commercial farms and in live bird markets (LBMs) during the winters of 2015 and 2016 in the study area and to identify H5N1 and H9N2 viruses in respiratory patients. Methods In total, 159 samples were collected from ducks, pigeons and quails on farms (n = 59) and in LBMs (n = 100) and screened by real-time RT-PCR for H5N1 and H9N2 subtypes. Clinical and postmortem examination was carried out on birds from the farms. Positive H5N1 samples were sequenced and analysed for mutations. Tracheal swabs were also collected from 89 respiratory patients admitted to respiratory hospitals in the same study area. Results Overall, H5N1 was identified in 13.6% of birds from farms, while it was detected in 17% of birds in LBMs. Subtype H9N2 was only identified from pigeons on farms (6.5%) and LBMs (11.4%). Sequencing of the haemagglutination gene (HA) in nine representative H5N1 isolates revealed a multi-basic amino acid motif at the cleavage site (321-PQGEKRRKKR/GLF-333), which is characteristic of highly pathogenic AIV, in five of our isolates, while the other four isolates showed an amino acid substitution (Q322K) at this cleavage site to make it (321-P K GEKRRKKR/GLF-333). All the isolates belonged to clade 2.2. 1.2, and a comparison of HA sequences at the amino acid level showed 98.8–100% homology among the nine isolates, while they showed 94.1–96.1% identity with reference strains and the commonly used vaccine strain in Egypt. Out of 89 respiratory patients, 3.4% were positive for H5N1 and no patients were positive for H9N2. Discussion Our results indicated the circulation of the endemic H5N1 and H9N2 viruses among poultry in 2015 and 2016. Birds on farms and in LBMs are reservoirs playing a role in the dissemination of the virus and producing a public health risk. The application of proper hygienic measures in farms and LBMs to control the exposure of birds and humans to the source of infection along with continuous monitoring of the circulating viruses will provide information on understanding the evolution of the viruses for vaccine studies.
Paradoxical Onset of Arrhythmic Waves from Depolarized Areas in Cardiac Tissue Due to Curvature-Dependent Instability

The generation of abnormal excitations in pathological regions of the heart is a main trigger for lethal cardiac arrhythmias. Such abnormal excitations, also called ectopic activity, often arise from areas with local tissue heterogeneity or damage accompanied by localized depolarization. Finding the conditions that lead to ectopy is important to understand the basic biophysical principles underlying arrhythmia initiation and might further refine clinical procedures. In this study, we are the first to address the question of how geometry of the abnormal region affects the onset of ectopy using a combination of experimental, in silico, and theoretical approaches. We paradoxically find that, for any studied geometry of the depolarized region in optogenetically modified monolayers of cardiac cells, primary ectopic excitation originates at areas of maximal curvature of the boundary, where the stimulating electrotonic currents are minimal. It contradicts the standard critical nucleation theory applied to nonlinear waves in reaction-diffusion systems, where a higher stimulus is expected to produce excitation more easily. Our in silico studies reveal that the nonconventional ectopic activity is caused by an oscillatory instability at the boundary of the damaged region, the occurrence of which depends on the curvature of that boundary. The onset of this instability is confirmed using the Schrödinger equation methodology proposed by Rinzel and Keener [SIAM J. Appl. Math. 43, 907 (1983)]. Overall, we show distinctively novel insight into how the geometry of a heterogeneous cardiac region determines ectopic activity, which can be used in the future to predict the conditions that can trigger cardiac arrhythmias.
Exploration on Grounded Word Embedding: Matching Words and Images with Image-Enhanced Skip-Gram Model

Word embedding is designed to represent the semantic meaning of a word with low dimensional vectors. The state-of-the-art methods of learning word embeddings (word2vec and GloVe) only use the word co-occurrence information. The learned embeddings are real number vectors, which are obscure to human. In this paper, we propose an Image-Enhanced Skip-Gram Model to learn grounded word embeddings by representing the word vectors in the same hyper-plane with image vectors. Experiments show that the image vectors and word embeddings learned by our model are highly correlated, which indicates that our model is able to provide a vivid image-based explanation to the word embeddings.
HoloCompanion: An MR Friend for EveryOne

Chat bots are becoming ubiquitous in our day to day life. The advent of the summer of AI has brought us all in close contact with intelligent agents such as Cortana, Siri and Alexa. We envisage a world, where these bots have there physical existence within the realm of Mixed Reality (MR). We present the ﬁrst 3D chit-chat bot called the HoloCompanion. This bot has a personality, can chat with anyone and about any topic and has articulated lip, eye and head movements.
Feasibility of Telecom-Wavelength Photonic Integrated Circuits for Gas Sensors

To be of commercial interest, gas sensors must optimise, among others, sensitivity, selectivity, longevity, cost and measurement speed. Using the example of ammonia, we establish that integrated optical sensors provide means to maintain the benefits of optical detection set-ups at, in principle, a lower cost and smaller footprint than currently available commercial products. Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) can be used in environmental and agricultural monitoring. The small footprint and great cost scaling of PICs allow for sensor networks with multiple devices. We show, that Indium Phosphide based commercial foundries reached the technological maturity to enable ammonia detection levels at less than 100 ppb. The current unavailability of portable, low cost ammonia sensors with such detection levels prevents emission monitoring, for example, in pig farms. The feasibility of these sensors is investigated by applying the common noise figures of the multiproject wafer platforms operating around 1550 nm to a model for an absorption measurement. The analysis is extended to other relevant gas species with absorption features near telecom-wavelengths.
Attentive Semantic Role Labeling with Boundary Indicator

The goal of semantic role labeling (SRL) is to discover the predicate-argument structure of a sentence, which plays a critical role in deep processing of natural language. This paper introduces simple yet effective auxiliary tags for dependency-based SRL to enhance a syntax-agnostic model with multi-hop self-attention. Our syntax-agnostic model achieves competitive performance with state-of-the-art models on the CoNLL-2009 benchmarks both for English and Chinese.
How Is Family Medicine Engaging Patients at the Practice-Level?: A National Sample of Family Physicians

Introduction: Emerging policy consensus advocates that patient-centered care should include an active, practice-level patient role, but it is unknown how commonly these roles are implemented. We sought to understand current prevalence and predictors of practice-level patient engagement in US primary care settings. Methods: We assessed practice-level patient engagement by using 2016 American Board of Family Medicine Certification Examination registration data, restricted to ambulatory primary care site respondents randomly selected for a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) question module. Multivariate logistic regression models identified predictors of high-intensity patient engagement, defined as a patient advisory council or patient volunteers in quality improvement activities. Results: A total of 6900 examinees reported practicing in primary care sites; 1368 randomly received PCMH questions. Practice-level patient engagement included patient surveys (76.5%; 95% CI, 74.3–78.8%), patient suggestion boxes (52.9%; 95% CI, 50.2–55.5%), patient board of director memberships (18.8%; 95% CI, 16.7–20.9%), patient advisory councils (23.8%; 95% CI, 21.5–26.0%), and patient participation in quality improvement (20.5%; 95% CI, 18.3–22.6%). High-intensity patient engagement was reported by 31.1% (95% CI, 28.7–33.6%); predictors included large practice size (OR, 3.30; 95% CI, 1.96–5.57), serving more vulnerable patient populations, (OR, 1.83; 95% CI, 1.18–2.84) and PCMH certification (OR, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.62–2.97). Conclusions: Nearly one-third of physicians reported working in settings with high-intensity practice-level patient engagement. An implementation science approach should examine why high-intensity activities are more common in some practice settings and whether these activities add value through improved patient experience and health outcomes.
Rotation thromboelastometry (ROTEM) enables improved outcomes in the pediatric trauma population

Objective We evaluated the role of rotation thromboelastometry (ROTEM) in managing acute traumatic coagulopathy in pediatric patients with trauma. Methods A retrospective cohort of pediatric patients with trauma from six institutes was studied during a 10-year period from 2007 to 2017. The associations between ROTEM-guided, goal-directed coagulation therapy and clinical outcomes were determined. Results Three hundred thirty-two pediatric patients (age < 15 years) who were treated with ROTEM-guided, goal-directed coagulation therapy were matched to 332 control pediatric patients with conventional plasmatic coagulation tests. The ROTEM protocol was associated with a significant reduction in the interval for admission to acute traumatic coagulopathy treatment, less plasma transfusions in the first 24 hours of admission, and a favorable coagulopathy recovery. Furthermore, the median number of total hospital days was significantly shorter for patients who had the ROTEM protocol than for control patients. Conclusions There are significant favorable outcomes, including rapid acute traumatic coagulopathy treatment and a lower 24-hour blood product requirement, following ROTEM-guided, goal-directed coagulation therapy among pediatric patients with blunt trauma.
The Rule-Based Sundanese Stemmer

Our research proposed an iterative Sundanese stemmer by removing the derivational affixes prior to the inflexional. This scheme was chosen because, in the Sundanese affixation, a confix (one of derivational affix) is applied in the last phase of a morphological process. Moreover, most of Sundanese affixes are derivational, so removing the derivational affix as the first step is reasonable. To handle ambiguity, the last recognized affix was returned as the result. As the baseline, a Confix-Stripping Approach that applies Porter Stemmer for the Indonesian language was used. This stemmer shares similarities in terms of affix type, but uses a different stemming order. To observe whether the baseline stems the Sundanese affixed word properly, some features that were not covered by the baseline, such as the infix and allomorph removal, were added. The evaluation was done using 4,453 unique affixed words collected from Sundanese online magazines. The experiment shows that, as a whole, our stemmer outperforms the modified baseline in terms of recognized affixed type accuracy and properly stemmed affixed words. Our stemmer recognized 68.87% of the Sundanese affixed types and produced 96.79% of the correctly affixed words; the modified baseline resulted in 21.70% and 71.59%, respectively
The LKPY Package for Recommender Systems Experiments: Next-Generation Tools and Lessons Learned from the LensKit Project

Since 2010, we have built and maintained LensKit, an open-source toolkit for building, researching, and learning about recommender systems. We have successfully used the software in a wide range of recommender systems experiments, to support education in traditional classroom and online settings, and as the algorithmic backend for user-facing recommendation services in movies and books. This experience, along with community feedback, has surfaced a number of challenges with LensKit's design and environmental choices. In response to these challenges, we are developing a new set of tools that leverage the PyData stack to enable the kinds of research experiments and educational experiences that we have been able to deliver with LensKit, along with new experimental structures that the existing code makes difficult. The result is a set of research tools that should significantly increase research velocity and provide much smoother integration with other software such as Keras while maintaining the same level of reproducibility as a LensKit experiment. In this paper, we reflect on the LensKit project, particularly on our experience using it for offline evaluation experiments, and describe the next-generation LKPY tools for enabling new offline evaluations and experiments with flexible, open-ended designs and well-tested evaluation primitives.
PsCor413pm2, a Plasma Membrane-Localized, Cold-Regulated Protein from Phlox subulata, Confers Low Temperature Tolerance in Arabidopsis

Low temperature stress adversely affects plant growth and development. Isolation and characterization of cold response genes from cold-tolerant plants help to understand the mechanism underlying low temperature tolerance. In this study, PsCor413pm2, a cold-regulated (COR) gene isolated from Phlox subulata, was transferred to Arabidopsis plants to investigate its function. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that PsCor413pm2 expression was induced by cold. Subcellular localization revealed that the PsCor413pm2-green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein localized to the plasma membrane in tobacco and Arabidopsis plants. Furthermore, overexpression of PsCor413pm2 in Arabidopsis plants enhanced tolerance to low temperature stress. Transgenic Arabidopsis roots had more influx of Ca2+ after a cold shock than wild-type plants, as shown using non-invasive micro-test technology (NMT). Moreover, the transcription abundance of five COR and two C-repeat (CRT) binding factor (CBF) genes in transgenic Arabidopsis plants was higher than that in the wild-type plants under cold stress. Taken together, our results suggest that overexpression of PsCor413pm2 enhances low temperature tolerance in Arabidopsis plants by affecting Ca2+ flux and the expression of stress-related COR and CBF genes.
Tyrosine phosphorylation signaling regulates Ca2+ entry by affecting intracellular pH during human sperm capacitation

Capacitation is a mandatory process for the acquisition of mammalian sperm fertilization competence and involves the activation of a complex and still not fully understood system of signaling pathways. Under in vitro conditions, there is an increase in both protein tyrosine phosphorylation (pTyr) and intracellular Ca2+ levels in several species. In human sperm, results from our group revealed that pTyr signaling can be blocked by inhibiting proline‐rich tyrosine kinase 2 (PYK2). Based on the role of PYK2 in other cell types, we investigated whether the PYK2‐dependent pTyr cascade serves as a sensor for Ca 2+ signaling during human sperm capacitation. Flow cytometry studies showed that exposure of sperm to the PYK2 inhibitor N‐[2‐[[[2‐[(2,3‐dihydro‐2‐oxo‐1 H‐indol‐5‐yl)amino]‐5‐(trifluoromethyl)‐4‐pyrimidinyl]amino]methyl]phenyl]‐ N‐methyl‐methanesulfonamide hydrate (PF431396) produced a significant and concentration‐dependent reduction in intracellular Ca 2+ levels during capacitation. Further studies revealed that PF431396‐treated sperm exhibited a decrease in the activity of CatSper, a key sperm Ca 2+ channel. In addition, time course studies during capacitation in the presence of PF431396 showed a significant and sustained decrease in both intracellular Ca 2+ and pH levels after 2 hr of incubation, temporarily coincident with the activation of PYK2 during capacitation. Interestingly, decreases in Ca 2+ levels and progressive motility caused by PF431396 were reverted by inducing intracellular alkalinization with NH 4Cl, without affecting the pTyr blockage. Altogether, these observations support pTyr as an intracellular sensor for Ca 2+ entry in human sperm through regulation of cytoplasmic pH. These results contribute to a better understanding of the modulation of the polymodal CatSper and signaling pathways involved in human sperm capacitation.
Evaluation and Analysis of Push-Pull Cable Actuation System Used for Powered Orthoses

Cable-based actuation systems are preferred in rehabilitation robotics due to their adequate force transmission and the possibility of safely locating the motors away from the patient. In such applications, the cable dynamics represents the prescribing component for the system operating loads and control. A good understanding of the actuation, based on cable-conduit transmission, is therefore becoming mandatory. There are several types of cable-conduit configurations used for the actuation. Currently, there is lack of information in literature with regard to the push-pull cable type. Therefore, the main focus of this contribution is to evaluate push-pull cable-based actuation used within wearable robotic devices. This study includes working principle description of push-pull cable actuation with its characteristic advantages and drawbacks. The use of push-pull cables in bidirectional force transfer with remote actuation is investigated being integrated in a test-stand setup of a novel gait rehabilitation device. The experimental results and close analysis of the push-pull cable-based actuation system outline its performance, the overall dynamic behavior and the transmission efficiency of push-pull cables used for powered orthoses.
Therapeutic alliance in forensic mental health: coercion, consent and recovery

Abstract Objective: We examined the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI) and Interpersonal Trust in Physician (ITP) in a forensic psychiatry hospital, where all patients were detained under mental health legislation for psychosis. We hypothesised that working alliance and trust are bilateral and can be measured. Method: We adapted the WAI and ITP minimally so that patients rated both their treating psychiatrist and primary nurse. We also adapted them minimally so that clinicians could rate WAI and ITP with the patient. A total of 81 of 83 patients completed the assessments. The clinicians (seven consultant psychiatrists and 43 nurses) also completed a minimally altered version of the same questionnaires. All three (patient, nurse and psychiatrist) were blind to the ratings of the others. Results: Cronbach's alpha was greater than 0.9 for both patient and clinician versions of the WAI and greater than 0.8 for the ITP. The WAI and ITP correlated with each other (Spearman r > 0.67 for patients, for psychiatrists and for nurses). Patients rated clinicians higher than clinicians rated patients. Ratings were higher in pre-discharge wards than in acute wards. Patients' ratings of WAI for their psychiatrist and nurse correlated r = 0.75, and patients rating of IPT for psychiatrist and nurse correlated 0.67. Psychiatrists correlated with nurses 0.38 for WAI, 0.53 for IPT. Psychiatrists and patients mutual ratings correlated r = 0.35 for WAI, 0.24 for IPT. Nurses and patients correlated r = 0.34 for WAI, 0.25 for IPT. All correlations were statistically significant. Mental state (PANSS) and global function (GAF) correlated with all ratings and confounded most patient-clinician correlations. Conclusion: Working alliance and interpersonal trust can be measured reliably even in forensic settings. The extent to which they measure a mutual quality is unclear.