Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative empirical usability assessment of two HRI input devices for a mobile robot

It is now possible to control an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) with a free smartphone app such as ROS Control. Smartphones offer such low cost and easily available human-robot interface (HRI) controlling robots with tilt gestures. However, tilt gestures are not used in the more commonly available UGV control devices, such as joystick and button based gamepads. Tilt gestures have not been studied in terms of their effectiveness for controlling UGVs. If they are effective, then the low cost and high availability of smartphones running apps such as ROS Control can make a huge change in the world of HRI and control devices for UGV for the developing world. They can be ruggedized and are low cost, and more familiar to the general populace — which are factors that can help the adoption of robotics in India. This research explores the ease of use and effectiveness in controlling a UGV by benchmarking a tilt-based HRI (on the ROS Control app) with the more established joystick and button based HRI on a gamepad. A 40-person usability study using both devices in Gazebo, a robotic simulated environment, was conducted. Performance metrics (time on task and lane deviations) were measured, to indicate effectiveness. However, the statistical analysis conducted using Wilcoxon Signed Rank test shows a significant difference in the use of both the input devices in controlling a UGV favoring the gamepad. However, most of the participants report the tilt based app as more controllable and highly usable.
Cognitive rehabilitation in the elderly: Effects on memory

This study reports the effects of a 12-week multimodular cognitive rehabilitation training program on memory performance in two groups of older adults. In the Memory Training module, participants were instructed on the nature of memory and how to improve memory performance; internal and external strategies were described and practiced over the training sessions. Memory performance was assessed by four tests: Alpha Span, Brown-Peterson, Hopkins Verbal Learning Test − Revised (HVLT-R), and Logical Stories. One group received training on entry into the study (Early Training Group, ETG), the other after a 3-month delay (Late Training Group, LTG). The results showed no training-related improvement in working memory (Alpha Span), primary memory (Brown-Peterson, HVLT-R), or recognition memory (HVLT-R). While the most direct analyses of a training effect (analyses of covariance) rarely demonstrated significant effects, exploratory analyses provided some evidence for a training benefit in several measures of secondary memory (Logical Stories; HVLT-R) and strategic processing (Brown-Peterson; Logical Stories; HVLT-R). Positive results were largely restricted to the ETG, possibly because the LTG lost motivation as a consequence of their delayed training. The results need to be treated with caution, but are promising for the rehabilitation of memory functioning in older adults (JINS, 2007, 13, 132–142.)
Effective Diffusion Length and Bulk Saturation Current Density Imaging in Solar Cells by Spectrally Filtered Luminescence Imaging

Most methods for interpreting electroluminescence (EL) or photoluminescence (PL) images of solar cells evaluate the local diode voltages but not the local luminescence intensity itself. One exception is the Fuyuki approximation, which assumes that the local value of the luminescence signal is proportional to the local effective diffusion length. This dependence has been derived for infinitely thick solar cells and neglects self-absorption of the luminescence photons. However, for real solar cells and imaging conditions, with increasing diffusion length, the luminescence signal approaches a limiting value; hence, the Fuyuki approximation no longer holds. In this paper, we compare EL and PL images of multicrystalline solar cells using different kinds of light filtering and find that gentle shortpass filtering is useful for avoiding optical artifacts. Based on earlier calculations, a physically founded formula for the dependence of the gently shortpass-filtered luminescence signal on the bulk diffusion length, for a given rear surface recombination velocity, is presented. Since this formula only barely allows us to calculate the diffusion length from the luminescence signal, a simplified approximate formula is proposed, and its accuracy is checked. This method is tested on EL and Voc PL images of solar cells. We find that for a typical industrial multicrystalline Albackside solar cell, the obtained effective diffusion length images correlate well with such images obtained by spectral LBIC image evaluation. In addition, the saturation current density images correlate well with such images obtained by dark lock-in thermography, which show a much lower spatial resolution. The main limitation of the proposed method is that it is basically approximate and needs some fitting parameters.
Impacting Care and Treatment of the Burn Patient Conversion to Electronic Documentation

Improving patient care through enhanced electronic communication among health care providers is aimed at reducing the number of medication and medical errors. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) was signed into law in 2009, supporting the federal government's commitment to the improvement of health care quality, safety, and efficiency through requirements to implement an electronic health record by October 2015 or hospitals and eligible providers potentially realizing penalties or reduced reimbursement rates. In addition to ARRA, Congress presented another initiative to further advance the delivery of high-quality health care, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), leading to the authorization of $27 billion to encourage health care providers to achieve meaningful use of the electronic health record. However, the conversion of the paper medical records to an electronic version has been challenging, particularly in specialty departments. The burn unit of a tertiary hospital located in the Pittsburgh area experienced such challenges. A project plan, developed in 2009 prior to the electronic medical record going live, involved a multidisciplinary team, consisting of providers, nurses, and information system builders who came together to determine how to capture the totality of the burn unit documentation. The goal of the project was to develop an electronic documentation tool and provide a system to accurately and efficiently evaluate documentation compliance with the staff. The Lund Browder documentation tool, used with the paper medical record, was the selected tool for the electronic conversion. This tool has been regarded by most health care organizations as being the most accurate in measuring the extent and degree of the burn. With the paper documentation tool, the staff was, on average, 74% compliant with the Lund Browder tool. The electronic version and availability of the tool increased compliance to 100% in the fourth quarter of 2015.
[Comparison of the reliability of two ELISA kits for detecting IgM antibody against hepatitis E virus].

OBJECTIVE To study the reliability of two ELISA kits for detecting IgM antibody against hepatitis E virus (HEV). METHODS Serum samples from 92 healthy subjects, 71 cases suspected of hepatitis E, 55 patients with confirmed diagnosis of acute hepatitis E, 50 individuals with rheumatoid factor (RF) positive and 54 persons with anti-HAV IgM positive were detected with three hepatitis E diagnostic kits. MP-IgM (MP, Singapore), Wantai-IgM and anti-HEV IgG (Wantai, China). HEV RNA was analyzed with RT-PCR in 52 of 71 cases suspected of hepatitis E. RESULTS In healthy subjects,cases suspected of hepatitis E and confirmed acute hepatitis E, the concordance between the two anti-HEV IgM reagents was 73.39% (160/218) and the significant differences in the positive rates of two assays were not observed [46.79% (102/218) vs 44.04% (96/218), chi2 = 0.62, P > 0.05]. Of 71 patients suspected of hepatitis E, the sensitivity for diagnosing acute hepatitis E of Wantai-IgM and MP-IgM were 83.08% (54/65) and 78.46% (51/65) (chi2 = 0.16, P > 0.05), respectively. Among those suspected of hepatitis E with HEV RNA positive, the sensitivity of Wantai-IgM was obviously higher than that of MP-IgM [(97.14%, 34/35) vs (74.29%, 26/35), chi2 = 4.9, P < 0.05]. 48 of 55 patients (87.27%) with confirmed diagnosis of hepatitis E were Wantai-IgM positive while 37 (67.27%) was MP-IgM positive (chi2 = 4.0, P < 0.05). The specificity of Wantai-IgM was higher than MP-IgM [100.00% (202/202) vs 89. 11% (180/202), chi2 = 20.05, P < 0.005]. RF and anti-HAV IgM might cause MP-IgM false positive without interference on Wantai-IgM. CONCLUSION Wantai-IgM should be a good ELISA kit for the diagnosis of acute hepatitis E.
3 D face structure extraction using shape matching morphing model

In general, the point correspondence and automatic face structure extraction are challenging problems. This is due to the fact that automatic extraction and matching of a set of significant feature points on different image views on the face, which are needed to recover the individual's 3-D face modal, is a very hard machine task. In this paper, in order to bypass this problem, our method recovers both the pose and the 3-D face coordinates using shape matching morphing model and iterative minimization of a metric based on the structure matching. A radial basis function (RBF) in 3-D is used to morph a generic face into the specific face structure and shape context (SC) is used to descript point shape. Basing on RBF and SC, shape distance is used to measure the similarity of two shapes. Experiment results are shown for images of real faces and promising result are obtained.
Evaluation of an ECG heartbeat classifier designed by generalization-driven feature selection

In this work we studied the classification performance of feature models selected with a floating algorithm, focusing in the generalization capability. The features were extracted from the RR interval series, from all ECG leads and different scales of the wavelet transform. The generalization was studied using Physionet databases. In all databases the AAMI recommendations for class labeling and results presentation were followed. A floating feature selection algorithm was used to obtain the best performing and generalizing models in the training and validation sets for different search configurations. The best model found includes 8 features, was trained in a partition of the MIT-BIH Arrhythmia database, and was evaluated in a completely disjoint partition of the same database. The results obtained were: global accuracy of 93%; for normal beats, sensitivity (S) 95%, positive predictive value (P+) 98%; for supraventricular beats, S 77%, P+ 39%; for ventricular beats S 81%, P+ 87%. This classifier model has less features and performs better than other state of the art methods with results suggesting better generalization capability.
A Technological Innovation Management Based on the Audit

This paper analyzes the status of technological innovation management, made a complete concept of technological innovation audit, and sets up a conceptual model of technical innovation audit using systems engineering method. We puts forward an integrity concept of stakeholders at all levels, established a concept model of technological innovation audit and presents the workflow and common method of implementing technological innovation audit.
Readability Assessment of Internet-Based Patient Education Materials Related to Parathyroid Surgery

Objectives: Patient education is critical in obtaining informed consent and reducing preoperative anxiety. Written patient education material (PEM) can supplement verbal communication to improve understanding and satisfaction. Published guidelines recommend that health information be presented at or below a sixth-grade reading level to facilitate comprehension. We investigate the grade level of online PEMs regarding parathyroid surgery. Methods: A popular internet search engine was used to identify PEM discussing parathyroid surgery. Four formulas were used to calculate readability scores: Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Gunning Frequency of Gobbledygook (GFOG), and Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Results: Thirty web-based articles discussing parathyroid surgery were identified. The average FRE score was 42.8 (± 1 standard deviation [SD] 16.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 36.6-48.8; range, 6.1-71.3). The average FKGL score was 11.7 (± 1 SD 3.3; 95% CI, 10.5-12.9; range, 6.1-19.0). The SMOG scores averaged 14.2 (± 1 SD 2.6; 95% CI, 13.2-15.2; range, 10.7-21.9), and the GFOG scores averaged 15.0 (± 1 SD 3.5; 95% CI, 13.7-16.3; range, 10.6-24.8). Conclusion: Online PEM on parathyroid surgery is written above the recommended sixth-grade reading level. Improving readability of PEM may promote better health education and compliance.
Short-term intravenous citalopram augmentation in partial/nonresponders with major depression: a randomized placebo-controlled study

Approximately 30–45% of patients with major depressive episode (MDE) do not fully respond to standard recommended treatments and further strategies of intervention, including pharmacological augmentation, have been proposed for these patients. This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of short-term, low-dose (10 mg/day) intravenous (i.v.) citalopram augmentation versus placebo in a sample of patients with MDE and partial or no response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Thirty-six patients with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 4th edition, text revision criteria MDE and partial or no response to oral SSRIs were selected and randomly assigned to citalopram (n=18) or to placebo (n=18) i.v. augmentation. The augmentation regimen lasted 5 consecutive days during which the patients were maintained on their current treatment with oral SSRIs. Analyses of variance with repeated measures on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale total scores, administered daily with blind-raters conditions, were done. With regard to the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale total scores, a significant time effect (F=42.02, P<0.0001) and timextreatment effect (F=21.17, P<0.0001) were found in favor of citalopram. Similar results were obtained from the analysis on Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale total scores: time effect (F=50.07, P<0.0001), timextreatment effect (F=19.91, P<0.0001), and treatment effect (F=4.07, P=0.05). Even though referred to a small sample, the present findings seem to suggest that short-term, low-dose, i.v. citalopram augmentation may be effective in depressed patients with partial or no response to oral SSRIs. Further controlled studies performed with double-blind conditions are warranted to confirm the present results.
Moderating Effect of Gender and Age on the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence with Social and Academic Adjustment among First Year University Students

This study examined whether emotional intelligence is significantly correlated with social adjustment and academic adjustment. It also explored the moderating effects of gender and age factors and their linked between emotional intelligence and social adjustment as well as academic adjustment among first year university students. 289 first year university students (148 males and 141 females) at the Irbid Govern Orate, North of Jordan, participate in the study and were categorized based on two age groups, younger students between the age of 18 – 25 and older students between the range of 26 and above. Two valid and reliable instruments were used to assess student’s emotional intelligence, social adjustment and academic adjustment. Correlation and multi-group analysis using structural equation model were used to analyse these data. The result shows no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and of both social adjustment and academic adjustment. In addition, the moderating effect of gender was not found. However, the moderating effect of age on the relationship between emotional intelligence with social adjustment and academic adjustment were established.
Automatically inferring loop invariants via algorithmic learning†

By combining algorithmic learning, decision procedures, predicate abstraction and simple templates for quantified formulae, we present an automated technique for finding loop invariants. Theoretically, this technique can find arbitrary first-order invariants (modulo a fixed set of atomic propositions and an underlying satisfiability modulo theories solver) in the form of the given template and exploit the flexibility in invariants by a simple randomized mechanism. In our study, the proposed technique was able to find quantified invariants for loops from the Linux source and other realistic programs. Our contribution is a simpler technique than the previous works yet with a reasonable derivation power.
Analyzing mobility patterns from social networks and social, economic and demographic open data

With the increased facility in acquiring georeferenced data from social networks, the interest in studying human mobility based on these data has grown, bringing new challenges and opportunities for knowledge discovery in GIScience. Even with this favorable scenario, few studies have attempted to analyze how the information produced from these networks may correlate with other aspects of human life. This paper presents an approach to extracting mobility patterns from Twitter messages and to analyzing their correlation with social, economic and demographic open data. The proposed model was evaluated using a dataset of georeferenced Twitter messages and a set of social indicators, both related to Greater London. The results revealed that social indicators related to employment conditions present higher correlation with the mobility patterns than any other social indicators investigated, suggesting that these social variables may be more relevant for studying mobility patterns.
Strong Solutions, Global Regularity, and Stability of a Hydrodynamic System Modeling Vesicle and Fluid Interactions

In this paper, we study a hydrodynamic system modeling the deformation of vesicle membranes in incompressible viscous fluids. The system consists of the Navier--Stokes equations coupled with a fourth-order phase-field equation. In the three-dimensional case, we prove the existence/uniqueness of local strong solutions for arbitrary initial data as well as global strong solutions under the large viscosity assumption. We also establish some regularity criteria in terms of the velocity for local smooth solutions. Finally, we investigate the stability of the system near local minimizers of the elastic bending energy.
Nurse practitioner-led surgical spine consultation clinic.

AIM This study is a report of a study of patient satisfaction with non-surgical nurse practitioner management of pre-selected spinal referrals. BACKGROUND Nurse practitioners are linked to particular patient populations or specific physicians in a medical setting. In a universal healthcare delivery system, patients are often faced with long and anxiety-provoking waiting times, particularly for sub-specialized consultations such as spinal surgery. METHOD A nurse practitioner-led spine consultation ambulatory clinic was implemented at a Canadian neuroscience centre. A prospective patient satisfaction and clinical accuracy study was performed in 2008. All patients assessed by the nurse practitioner completed a post-consultation validated patient satisfaction questionnaire. All patients were reviewed with the surgeon for confirmation of diagnosis and management. RESULTS A total of 177 pre-selected patients (disc-herniations, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease) were assessed by the nurse practitioner. Mean time from referral to nurse practitioner clinic assessment was 12 weeks (range: 9·8-21 weeks) compared with 10-52 weeks if seen in a conventional clinic. Nurse practitioner clinical diagnosis and management plan were in agreement with those of the surgeon (100% and 95% respectively). Patient satisfaction was 97% with the consultation and 94% and with examination thoroughness. Preference for a longer waiting period for direct consultation with the surgeon was 26%. CONCLUSION Nurse practitioners can play an effective and efficient role in providing care to patients requiring specific disease management in a specialty setting. The nurse practitioner-run clinic offers accurate and earlier assessment, thus facilitating a timelier diagnosis and management plan.
The global distribution of frugivory in birds

Aim To examine patterns of avian frugivory across clades, geography and environments. Location Global, including all six major biogeographical realms (Afrotropics, Australasia, Indo-Malaya, Nearctic, Neotropics and Palaearctic). Methods First, we examine the taxonomic distribution of avian frugivory within orders and families. Second we evaluate, with traditional and spatial regression approaches, the geographical patterns of frugivore species richness and proportion. Third, we test the potential of contemporary climate (water–energy, productivity, seasonality), habitat heterogeneity (topography, habitat diversity) and biogeographical history (captured by realm membership) to explain geographical patterns of avian frugivory. Results Most frugivorous birds (50%) are found within the perching birds (Passeriformes), but the woodpeckers and allies (Piciformes), parrots (Psittaciformes) and pigeons (Columbiformes) also contain a significant number of frugivorous species (9–15%). Frugivore richness is highest in the Neotropics, but peaks in overall bird diversity in the Himalayan foothills, the East African mountains and in some areas of Brazil and Bolivia are not reflected by frugivores. Current climate explains more variance in species richness and proportion of frugivores than of non-frugivores whereas it is the opposite for habitat heterogeneity. Actual evapotranspiration (AET) emerges as the best single climatic predictor variable of avian frugivory. Significant differences in frugivore richness and proportion between select biogeographical regions remain after differences in environment (i.e. AET) are accounted for. Main conclusions We present evidence that both environmental and historical constraints influence global patterns of avian frugivory. Whereas water–energy dynamics possibly constrain frugivore distribution via indirect effects on food plants, regional differences in avian frugivory most likely reflect historical contingencies related to the evolutionary history of fleshy fruited plant taxa, niche conservatism and past climate change. Overall our results support an important role of co-diversification and environmental constraints on regional assembly over macroevolutionary time-scales.
High Efficiency Flyback Converter Technology

Technologies are discussed to realize a DC/DC Flyback converter with high power conversion efficiency. The focus is on efficiency because of its high value in the application to process electricity generated by photovoltaic modules. Experiments with a 200 W active-clamped bidirectional Flyback converter prototype demonstrate power train efficiencies above 90% between 10% and 100% of the rated power and peak value of 96%.