Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal Design for One-Dimensional ALOHA Ad Hoc Networks Based on Stochastic Geometry

The aims of this paper are to analyze the performance of a one-dimensional ALOHA ad hoc network and to investigate the impact of the access probability of the ALOHA protocol on the network performance. As a performance metric we consider the average number of nodes that successfully receive a packet from an arbitrary node. To mathematically model the random locations of nodes and the interference in the ad hoc network, we use stochastic geometry theory. With the help of stochastic geometry theory, we model the ad hoc network, derive an analytic form of the performance metric, and finally obtain the optimal access probability that maximizes the performance metric. Numerical examples are provided to validate our analysis and to investigate the performance behavior.
Ultra wideband radar targets discrimination using frequency domain E-pulse method

A frequency domain approach to the E-pulse radar target discrimination technique is introduced. This approach allows the interpretation of E-pulse convolution via the E-pulse spectrum. The addition of extra zeroes to the E-pulse structure has been suggested and its influence on increasing the discrimination accuracy has been proved. The results of discrimination scheme digital simulation by using the characteristics of the E-pulse parameters for known targets are presented.
Effects of monosodium glutamate on blood neutrophils phagocytic activity and phagocytic response in mice.

Previous researches of our laboratories (1945, 1946, 1947) have shown that direct electrical stimulation of the tubero-mammillary hypothalamic area in dogs enhances the blood neutrophils phagocytic activity and the phagocytosis exhibiting leukocytes percent. After electrolytic damage of the same area, phagocytic activity decreases and phagocytic response is suppressed (1985, 1988). In the present work, we performed in mice extensive chemical lesions of the arcuate nucleus, by means of the neonatal treatment with monosodium glutamate (MSG). The experiment was carried out on 23 new-born mice. 15 mice were injected with MSG (G group), the other 8, serving as control group, received isotonic saline solution (C group). The studied parameters were, in both groups, the weight evolution of the animals, the blood neutrophils and lymphocytes percentual variation and the neutrophils' phagocytic activity, tested in vitro, expressed through the number of bacteria engulfed by 100 neutrophils and through the phagocyting neutrophils percentage. Phagocytic activity was tested in whole heparinised blood, against E. coli. Phagocytic response was elicited by i.p. injecting 0.05 ml bacterial suspension and was tested four hours later. The results show that the arcuate nucleus has little influence upon maintaining basal phagocytic activity--that does not significantly decrease after its chemical damage--, but plays a decisive role in triggering the phagocytic response. The neonatal MSG treatment also determines a decrease of the blood lymphocytes percentage and induces obesity in up to 30 days old mice pups.
A Joint Source-Channel Video Coding Scheme Based on Distributed Source Coding

Recently, several error resilient schemes have been proposed to tackle the error propagation problem in the motion-compensated predictive video coding based on a promising technique - distributed source coding (DSC). However, these schemes mainly apply the distributed source codes for channel error correction, while under-utilizing their capability for data compression. A channel-aware joint source-channel video coding scheme based on DSC is proposed to eliminate the error propagation problem in predictive video coding in a more efficient way. It is known that near Slepian-Wolf bound DSC is achieved using powerful channel codes, assuming the source and its reference (also known as side-information) are connected by a virtual error-prone channel. In the proposed scheme, the virtual and real error-prone channels are fused so that a unified single channel code is applied to encode the current frame thus accomplishing a joint source-channel coding. Our analysis of the rate efficiency in recovering error propagation shows that the joint scheme can achieve a lower rate compared with performing source and channel coding separately. Simulation results show that the number of bits used for recovering from error propagation can be reduced by up to 10% using the proposed scheme compared to Sehgal-Jagmohan-Ahuja's DSC-based error resilient scheme.
EEG electrode sensitivity--an application of reciprocity.

In this paper, the reciprocity theorem is used to determine the sensitivity of EEG leads to the location and orientation of sources in the brain. Quantitative information used in determining the sensitivity is derived from constant potential plots of a three-concentric-sphere mathematical model of the head with current applied through surface leads (the reciprocal problem), and from an electrolytic tank employing a human skull. Advantages of the reciprocal or lead field approach are outlined and the following conclusions are drawn. 1) Leads placed at the end of a diameter through the center of the brain have a range of sensitivity due to source location of only 3 to 1. 2) For the same electrode placement, sensitivity is maximum to sources oriented parallel to the line of the electrodes regardless of source location. 3) Electrodes spaced 5 cm apart are about ten times more sensitive to proximal cortical sources (by virtue of position) than to sources near the center of the brain.
A Fault-Tolerant Routing Scheme for Meshes with Nonconvex Faults

In this paper, we propose a fault-tolerant routing scheme for meshes with solid faults. A Rag bit is introduced for guiding misrouted messages. By fully utilizing virtual channels of each class, our algorithm uses only three virtual channels to ensure the property of deadlock freeness. Our scheme is able to handle solid faults whose associated fault rings overlap. In addition, the proposed algorithm can be used to route messages when fault regions touch the boundaries of the mesh.
Cervical cancer screening program of Paraná: Cost‐effective model in a developing country

The purpose of this study is to report the organization of a cost‐effective screening program for cervical cancer in a developing country such as Brazil. The Cervical Cancer Screening Program of Paraná (CCSPP) was launched in October 1997 and was the result of a joint collaboration between the government of Paraná (Secretary of Health of the State of Paraná), scientific societies (pathologists, gynecologists, and nurses), and a nongovernmental organization called the Women's Popular Forum of Paraná. The main goal of the program was to enhance the Papanicolaou (Pap) smear screening to coverage up to 85% of female adult population with a 3‐yr interval between examinations, as well as to reduce the incidence and mortality from cervical cancer in the state of Paraná, a Southern state of Brazil. The cytological findings in all Pap smears recorded in a central computer‐based register during 5 yr of the program (October 1997–October 2002) are discussed. During that period, 2,244,158 Pap smears were performed in women included in the program from the 398 cities of the state of Paraná. The cytological smears were analyzed according to the Bethesda System. The previous year, before the program was launched, a Pap smear was taken from 43% of women of Paraná. At the end of 5 yr, coverage was increased to around 86%. The great majority of examinations had a negative result (98%). Only 2% of examinations had cytological abnormalities (n = 44,621). Low‐grade lesions predominated in women aged 15–30 yr, and the high‐grade lesions were more common in women aged 25–45 yr. Patients older than 40 yr had the greatest incidence of invasive cancer. Although the program is only 5 yr old, a decrease in the mortality from cervical cancer in women from Paraná is clearly apparent: in 1998, 297 women died of cervical cancer, as compared with 188 as of September 2002. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2003;29:49–54. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Knotting task execution based a hand-rope relation

Abstract In this paper, we focus on relationship between the rope and fingers to implement a knot and estimate error occurred during execution of knotting task. In the previous work, the authors have proposed a method for making various knots from synthesis of basic operations called skills that are derived from analyzing the knotting processes. Each individual skill has an operation to handle the rope and conditions for executing and completing the task skill. By combining these skills, we can make the whole knotting process robust. In this paper, the ‘relations’, which describe the positions of the rope relative to the fingers, found from the successful cases, using the teaching data, were defined as the conditions of the task skills. Relation of rope and fingers at a specific state is presented by using propositional variables and logical connectives. Knotting skills were constructed to be executed robustly using the detected conditions. Occurrence of an error is estimated by finding out an abnormal relation. In this case, a corrective action can be inserted to modify the position of contact points, which are relative to the unsatisfied conditions to satisfy the detected conditions; therefore, skill execution is more reliable. We confirm the effectiveness of the methods through experiments. Graphical Abstract
High Frequency Ultrasonic Non Destructive Evaluation of Additively Manufactured Components

Ultrasonic testing of additively manufactured components is useful for non-destructive defect analysis such as porosity, void and delamination detection as well as for analysis of material properties such as density, material strength and Young’s modulus. A high frequency ultrasonic system has been set up on a Fabrisonics Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (Ultrasonic Consolidation) machine to measure the material properties after each layer. The same system is also used to perform offline tests of parts fabricated by SLM. Traditional material analysis carried out using SEM and optical microscopy is used to validate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the non-destructive testing equipment.
Transcranial Doppler assessment of cerebrovascular reactivity in symptomatic and asymptomatic severe carotid stenosis.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Some studies have suggested a link between impaired cerebral hemodynamics and stroke in patients with carotid stenosis. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of severe carotid stenosis on cerebrovascular reactivity and the possible changes after endarterectomy. METHODS Using bilateral transcranial Doppler ultrasound, we studied the changes of flow velocity after hypercapnia in the middle cerebral arteries of 10 control subjects and 24 patients (13 symptomatic and 11 asymptomatic) with unilateral severe carotid stenosis before and after endarterectomy. Cerebrovascular reactivity was evaluated with the breath-holding index (BHI). RESULTS Before endarterectomy, BHI (mean value +/- SD) was significantly lower (P < .001) in the stenotic side of symptomatic patients (0.40 +/- 0.2) than in control subjects (1.12 +/- 0.3), the stenotic side of asymptomatic patients (0.80 +/- 0.4), and the normal side of both symptomatic (0.93 +/- 0.3) and asymptomatic ultrasonics (1.03 +/- 0.2) patients. On the other hand, no significant difference in BHI was detected in control subjects, on the normal side of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, and the stenotic side of asymptomatic patients. After endarterectomy, BHI significantly increased (P < .0001) on the stenotic side of symptomatic patients (1.06 +/- 0.2) while remaining substantially stable on the normal side of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients and on the stenotic side of asymptomatic patients. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that the study of cerebrovascular reactivity to hypercapnia may be relevant in evaluating the functional effects of carotid stenosis. Further investigations are needed to confirm the reliability of the breath-holding method in the selection of patients who might benefit most from carotid endarterectomy.
The promoter, transcriptional unit, and coding sequence of herpes simplex virus 1 family 35 proteins are contained within and in frame with the UL26 open reading frame

The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) genome specifies an abundant capsid protein which in denaturing gels forms multiple bands designated family 35 proteins (D.K. Braun, B. Roizman, and L. Pereira, J. Virol. 49:142-153, 1984). Nucleotide-sequencing studies have assigned the coding sequences of these proteins to the open reading frame UL26 (D.J. McGeoch, M.A. Dalrymple, A.J. Davidson, A. Dolan, M.C. Frame, D. McNab, L.J. Perry, J.E. Scott, and P. Taylor, J. Gen. Virol. 69:1531-1574, 1988). IN studies reported here, a series of plasmid constructs containing deletions or insertions of an alpha 4 promoter or of a sequence encoding a cytomegalovirus epitope reacting with a mouse monoclonal antibody revealed the following: the open reading frame previously designated UL26 encodes two proteins which share amino acid sequences, and each coding domain is contained in its own transcriptional unit that terminates at a common, unique poly(A) site. On the basis of the transcription initiation site (+1), it was predicted that the UL26 open reading frame encodes a protein of 635 amino acids, and a protein with an apparent molecular weight of approximately 75,000 has been identified. The second transcriptional unit, designated UL26.5, predicted to specify a protein of 329 amino acids, encodes the family 35 proteins; it is transcribed by an mRNA which initiates at approximately nucleotide +1000 of the UL26 transcription initiation site and is translated from the methionine initiation codon located at position +1099 of the UL26 transcriptional unit. The DNA fragment comprising the sequences downstream of the HpaI cleavage site (+832 of UL26) contains both the promoter and the coding sequence of family 35 proteins and is both competent and efficient in expressing the proteins in transfected cells superinfected with HSV-1 or HSV-2.
Identification of Behavioral Features of Bridge Structure Based on Static Image Sequences

This paper aims to further enhance the accuracy and efficiency of large bridge structural health monitoring (SHM) through noncontact remote sensing (NRS). For these purposes, the authors put forward an intelligent NRS method that collects the holographic geometric deformation of the test bridge, using the static image sequences. Specifically, a uniaxial automatic cruise acquisition device was designed to collect the dynamic and static images on bridge facade under different damage conditions. Considering the strong spatiotemporal correlations of the sequence data, the relationships between the time history images in six fixed fields of view were identified through deep learning under spatiotemporal sequences. On this basis, the behavioral features of the bridge structure were obtained under vehicle load. Finally, the global holographic deformation of the test bridge and the envelope spectrum of the global holographic deformation were derived from the deformation data. The research results show that the output data of our NRS method were basically consistent with the finite-element prediction (maximum error: 11.11%) and dial gauge measurement (maximum error: 12.12%); the NRS method is highly sensitive to the actual deformation of the bridge structure under different damage conditions and can capture the deformation in a continuous and accurate manner. Compared with the limited number of measuring points, holographic deformation data also shows higher sensitivity in damage identification.
Detection of squamous cell carcinoma antigen in normal squamous epithelia and in squamous cell carcinomas of the uterine cervix

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) antigen is a subfraction of tumor antigen TA‐4 isolated from a cervical squamous cell carcinoma. The specificity of SCC antigen and the factors influencing its release into serum were evaluated. Antigen concentrations were measured in 157 tissue extracts and in 188 sera of patients with nonmalignant or malignant gynecologic diseases. A commercial radioimmunoassay based on polyclonal antibodies (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago) was used. Cytosol concentrations were significantly higher (P < 0.005) in normal squamous epithelia (x̃ = 6040 ng/mg cell protein [CP]) and in squamous cell carcinomas (x̃ = 2483 ng/mg CP) of the exocervix than those in normal columnar epithelia and in adenocarcinomas of the endocervix, endometrium, ovary, and breast (x̃ = 1–508 ng/mg CP). Despite the high antigen concentrations in normal squamous epithelia, elevated serum levels (>2.5 ng/ml) were almost exclusively found in patients with cervical squamous cell carcinomas. The sensitivity of SCC antigen as a marker for primary carcinomas was 61%, increasing from 29% in Stage I to 89% in Stage IV. The positivity rate was higher in women with well‐differentiated (78%) and moderately differentiated carcinomas (67%) than in those with poorly differentiated tumors (38%). The results show that SCC antigen is not tumor specific. The release into serum is independent of local tissue content, but is apparently influenced by the infiltrative growth, the mass, and the degree of histologic differentiation of the tumor.
A 430nW 64nV/vHz current-reuse telescopic amplifier for neural recording applications

This paper presents a low-power low-noise amplifier for neural recording applications. A single-stage current-reuse telescopic topology is proposed to achieve high DC gain and improve the noise efficiency factor (NEF) while allowing the amplifier to be scaled for high bandwidth sensing applications and/or to achieve lower thermal noise floor. The design is fabricated in a standard 0. 18μm CMOS process and occupies an active area of 0.16mm2. Experimental measurements show a 430nW power consumption from a 1.2V supply, a thermal noise floor of 63.8nV/√Hz and a corresponding NEF of 1.5.
Rigorous surface-plasmon polaritons at a lossy interface

Making use of a rigorous treatment, we demonstrate that the approximate results that are customarily employed for the analysis of a plasmon field at a metal/dielectric boundary are incorrect even in some situations in which they are supposed to hold. We show further that the exact treatment implies the existence of a new type of backward-propagating polariton, analogous to the fields met in negative-index manmade structures. Such polariton is never encountered in the standard approximate analysis.
Psychological Mood State, Psychosocial Aspects of Work, and Musculoskeletal Discomfort in Intensive Video Display Terminal (VDT) Work

The relation between psychological mood state, psychosocial aspects of work, and musculoskeletal discomfort was examined using a questionnaire survey of 505 office employees whose jobs required intensive use of video display terminals. Logistic and linear regression analyses demonstrated significant relations between the psychological mood state of stress and musculoskeletal discomfort. Linear regression analysis showed a significant relation between some psychosocial aspects of work and the psychological mood state of stress. The results suggest that an individual's psychological state and characteristics of jobs have important relations to musculoskeletal health. The cross-sectional study design precluded interpretation regarding the temporal nature of these relations.
Entity Attribute Ranking Using Learning to Rank

Commercial search systems have recently begun using entity cards to support their ranked results lists. In this work, we propose an automated method for entity card building. We model this problem as a learning to rank approach applied to entity attributes. We introduce a new set of features that utilizes semantic information about entities as well as information from top-ranked documents using a generic search engine. The entity label is submitted as a search query to a general search engine and the top ranked documents are used to add context to the ranking process. The ranking model identifies and ranks the most important attributes (facts) of an entity. In order to experiment with our approach, we initially collected a dataset by exploiting Wikipedia infoboxes, whose ordering of attributes reflects the collaborative effort of a large community of Wikipedia users. Moreover, we are currently conducting a crowd-sourcing experiment to build a human labeled ground truth for our dataset. Our preliminary results demonstrate that our approach effectively replicates human ranking.
Web-Based Telemonitoring and Delivery of Caregiver Support for Patients With Parkinson Disease After Deep Brain Stimulation: Protocol

Background The increasing number of patients, the high costs of management, and the chronic progress of the disease that prevents patients from performing even simple daily activities make Parkinson disease (PD) a complex pathology with a high impact on society. In particular, patients implanted with deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes face a highly fragile stabilization period, requiring specific support at home. However, DBS patients are followed usually by untrained personnel (caregivers or family), without specific care pathways and supporting systems. Objective This projects aims to (1) create a reference consensus guideline and a shared requirements set for the homecare and monitoring of DBS patients, (2) define a set of biomarkers that provides alarms to caregivers for continuous home monitoring, and (3) implement an information system architecture allowing communication between health care professionals and caregivers and improving the quality of care for DBS patients. Methods The definitions of the consensus care pathway and of caregiver needs will be obtained by analyzing the current practices for patient follow-up through focus groups and structured interviews involving health care professionals, patients, and caregivers. The results of this analysis will be represented in a formal graphical model of the process of DBS patient care at home. To define the neurophysiological biomarkers to be used to raise alarms during the monitoring process, neurosignals will be acquired from DBS electrodes through a new experimental system that records while DBS is turned ON and transmits signals by radiofrequency. Motor, cognitive, and behavioral protocols will be used to study possible feedback/alarms to be provided by the system. Finally, a set of mobile apps to support the caregiver at home in managing and monitoring the patient will be developed and tested in the community of caregivers that participated in the focus groups. The set of developed apps will be connected to the already existing WebBioBank Web-based platform allowing health care professionals to manage patient electronic health records and neurophysiological signals. New modules in the WebBioBank platform will be implemented to allow integration and data exchange with mobile health apps. Results The results of this project will provide a novel approach to long-term evaluation of patients with chronic, severe conditions in the homecare environment, based on caregiver empowerment and tailored applications developed according to consensus care pathways established by clinicians. Conclusions The creation of a direct communication channel between health care professionals and caregivers can benefit large communities of patients and would represent a scalable experience in integrating data and information coming from a clinical setting to those in home monitoring.