Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Particle Filter for State and Unknown Input Estimation of Chaotic Systems

Chaotic systems exhibit highly nonlinear, complex and unpredictable behaviors. Thereby, these systems have received much attention in a variety of fields over the past few decades. In this paper we develop a particle filter algorithm to solve the problem of chaotic state and unknown input estimation from arbitrarily nonlinear time series. Thus, even if there exist Gaussian or non-Gaussian noise in chaotic maps, not only the chaotic states can be estimated by the proposed particle filter but also the unknown inputs. A computer simulation is conducted on the famous Holmes map to demonstrate the effectiveness and the high performances of the proposed estimation approach.
Adsorption of Vancomycin on Amberlite XAD-16 in a Packed Bed Column

Vancomycin is a glycopeptide used in the prophylaxis and treatment of bacterial infections. It is obtained with fermentation of bacteria called Amycolatopsis orientalis. After fermentation, it is purified of coloured additions and inorganic salts by adsorption to a polymeric adsorbent Amberlite XAD-16. In this work, equilibrium adsorption studies to determine the adsorption capacity were done first. The experimental data fitted best with Langmuir isotherm. Maximum capacity was q0 = 53.76 kg m –3 resin at pH 7. Next, adsorption was studied in a laboratory packed bed adsorption column. A simple mathematical model taking into account axial dispersion was applied to describe the dynamics of the process with breakthrough curves. Experimental and predicted results were compared, and some parametric sensitivity analysis was made to better understand the process for the purpose of scale up.
The information needs of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

Nurses can play a key role in patient education, including providing patients with useful and appropriate information. Rather than focusing on the process of education or information giving by nurses, this study places emphasis on the content of that information by taking the patients' perspective and asking the patients themselves what particular types of information are perceived as important at a specific point in time. The aim of the study was to explore what particular types of information were important to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer; to enable nurses and other health care professionals to utilize their time as effectively as possible and provide a high-quality service to individuals in their care. Women with breast cancer (a mean of 2.5 weeks from diagnosis) were interviewed and asked to compare items of information. The items of information were presented in pairs and the women stated a preference for one item in that pair. Thirty-six pairs were presented in total. The analysis involved the use of a Thurstone scaling model, which allowed rank orderings, or profiles of information needs, to be developed, reflecting the perceived importance of each item. Information about the likelihood of cure, the spread of the disease and treatment options were perceived as the most important items of information at the time of diagnosis. Other information needs, in order of descending priority, included information about the risk to family, side-effects of treatments, impact on family, self-care, effect on social life and sexual attractiveness. Profiles of information needs were produced to take account of differences in age, level of education and social class. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Bringing together commercial and academic perspectives for the development of intelligent AmI interfaces

The users of Ambient Intelligence systems expect an intelligent behavior from their environment, receiving adapted and easily accessible services and functionality. This can only be possible if the communication between the user and the system is carried out through an interface that is simple (i.e. which does not have a steep learning curve), fluid (i.e. the communication takes place rapidly and effectively), and robust (i.e. the system understands the user correctly). Natural language interfaces such as dialog systems combine the previous three requisites, as they are based on a spoken conversation between the user and the system that resembles human communication. The current industrial development of commercial dialog systems deploys robust interfaces in strictly defined application domains. However, commercial systems have not yet adopted the new perspective proposed in the academic settings, which would allow straightforward adaptation of these interfaces to various application domains. This would be highly beneficial for their use in AmI settings as the same interface could be used in varying environments. In this paper, we propose a new approach to bridge the gap between the academic and industrial perspectives in order to develop dialog systems using an academic paradigm while employing the industrial standards, which makes it possible to obtain new generation interfaces without the need for changing the already existing commercial infrastructures. Our proposal has been evaluated with the successful development of a real dialog system that follows our proposed approach to manage dialog and generates code compliant with the industry-wide standard VoiceXML.
Preparation and Characterization of Octenyl Succinic Anhydride Modified Taro Starch Nanoparticles

The polar surface and hydrophilicity of starch nanoparticles (SNPs) result in their poor dispersibility in nonpolar solvent and poor compatibility with hydrophobic polymers, which limited the application in hydrophobic system. To improve their hydrophobicity, SNPs prepared through self-assembly of short chain amylose debranched from cooked taro starch, were modified by octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA). Size via dynamic light scattering of OSA-SNPs increased compared with SNPs. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy data indicated the OSA-SNPs had a new absorption peak at 1727 cm-1, which was the characteristic peak of carbonyl, indicating the formation of the ester bond. The dispersibility of the modified SNPs in the mixture of water with nonpolar solvent increased with increasing of degree of substitution (DS). OSA-SNPs appear to be a potential agent to stabilize the oil-water systems.
Red, gred, agred congestion control algorithms in heterogeneous traffic types

There are several Active Queue Management algorithms (AQM) exist to deal with the congestion at the router buffer such as RED, DRED, BLUE, AGRED. This paper presents an analysis of RED, GRED and AGRED algorithms with three different Traffic distributions which are Exponential distribution, Geometrical distribution and ON-OFF model using simulation. The performance metric used to show the analysis of these algorithms with mentioned distributions is Packet Loss (Pl). Results of simulation show that each algorithm performed a fair dropping of data packets without considering of their types.
Protein and amino acid turnover during and after exercise.

MICHAEL J. RENNIE,* RICHARD H. T. EDWARDS,* C. T. MERVYN DAVIES,? STEPHEN KRYWAWYCH,* DAVID HALLIDAYJ JOHN C. WATERLOW$ and DAVID J. MILLWARD$ *Department of Human Metabolism, University Colrege London Medical School, London W C l E SJJ, U.K., ? Medical Research Council Environmental Physiology Unit and $Department of Human Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London W C l E 7HT, U.K., and $Division of Human Nutrition, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow HA1 JUJ, U.K.
Family history of dementia in early‐onset versus very late‐onset Alzheimer's disease

The risk for development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is increased among first degree relatives of index cases (Silverman et al., 2005). In a recent study, investigators found a reduced familial risk for AD with later ages of onset of the disease (Silverman et al., 2005). This finding suggests that familial factors, particularly genetic ones, play a larger role in the emergence of AD at a younger age, compared to the elderly. One way to further evaluate this association is to compare the prevalence of familial dementia between AD patients with extreme ages of onset, those less than 65 years vs those 85 years or older. The expectation of this study was that the patients with early-onset AD would have the most first-degree relatives (FDRs) with a history of dementia.
An Overview of the 4th Question Answering Challenge (QAC-4) at NTCIR Workshop 6

In QAC-4, we defined question answering task using any type of question, mainly focused on non-factoid questions. There are 8 participants and 14 runs from these participants. In the evaluation, four kinds of criterion were used for some portion of participants answer set. The evaluation results showed some of the participant systems could focus on the area which correct answer contents exist but have tendency to fail to extract correct answer areas. It is caused by complex question types and difficulty of correct answer scope extraction.
Search Based Face Annotation Using PCA and Unsupervised Label Refinement Algorithms

Face recognition/detection presents a challenging problem in the field of image analysis and computer applications, and it is becoming more popular day by day because of its applications in various fields. Face annotation provide ways for recognizing facial images. Face annotation process is part of face detection, face recognition. Now a day’s research interest is in mining weakly-labeled facial images for resolving research challenges in computer vision. Search based face annotation framework is proposed to tackle the problems related to face image and label quality. This framework proposed Unsupervised Label Refinement algorithm to refine weakly labeled facial images. Clustering based Approximation (CBA) algorithm to improve efficiency and scalability. Experiment results show that the ULR algorithm boost the performance of the proposed search based face annotation framework. Keywords— Face annotation, Search based face annotation, unsupervised label refinement, web facial images, and weak label.
Title : Regulatory barriers to equity in a health system in transition : a qualitative study in Bulgaria Year of publication

Background: Health reforms in Bulgaria have introduced major changes to the financing, delivery and regulation of health care. As in many other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, these included introducing general practice, establishing a health insurance system, reorganizing hospital services, and setting up new payment mechanisms for providers, including patient co-payments. Our study explored perceptions of regulatory barriers to equity in Bulgarian child health services. Methods: 50 qualitative in-depth interviews with users, providers and policy-makers concerned with child health services in Bulgaria, conducted in two villages, one town of 70,000 inhabitants, and the capital Sofia. Results: The participants in our study reported a variety of regulatory barriers which undermined the principles of equity and, as far as the health insurance system is concerned, solidarity. These included non-participation in the compulsory health insurance system, informal payments, and charging user fees to exempted patients. The participants also reported seemingly unnecessary treatments in the growing private sector. These regulatory failures were associated with the fast pace of reforms, lack of consultation, inadequate public financing of the health system, a perceived “commercialization” of medicine, and weak enforcement of legislation. A recurrent theme from the interviews was the need for better information about patient rights and services covered by the health insurance system. Conclusions: Regulatory barriers to equity and compliance in daily practice deserve more attention from policymakers when embarking on health reforms. New financing sources and an increasing role of the private sector need to be accompanied by an appropriate and enforceable regulatory framework to control the behavior of health care providers and ensure equity in access to health services.
SUMO-specific proteases and isopeptidases of the SENP family at a glance

ABSTRACT The ubiquitin-related SUMO system controls many cellular signaling networks. In mammalian cells, three SUMO forms (SUMO1, SUMO2 and SUMO3) act as covalent modifiers of up to thousands of cellular proteins. SUMO conjugation affects cell function mainly by regulating the plasticity of protein networks. Importantly, the modification is reversible and highly dynamic. Cysteine proteases of the sentrin-specific protease (SENP) family reverse SUMO conjugation in mammalian cells. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and the accompanying poster, we will summarize how the six members of the mammalian SENP family orchestrate multifaceted deconjugation events to coordinate cell processes, such as gene expression, the DNA damage response and inflammation. Summary: SUMO isopeptidases of the SENP family regulate the SUMO conjugation–deconjugation cycle and, hence, many cellular key functions. Here, we review the current knowledge on function and regulation of SENP proteins.
Quality of life in patients with an idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder in Korea

There have been few quality of life studies in patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder. We compared the quality of life in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder patients to healthy controls, patients with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus without complication and idiopathic restless legs syndrome. Sixty patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (24 female; mean age: 61.43 ± 8.99) were enrolled retrospectively. The diagnosis was established based on sleep history, overnight polysomnography, neurological examination and Mini‐Mental State Examination to exclude secondary rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. All subjects completed questionnaires, including the Short Form 36‐item Health Survey for quality of life. The total quality of life score in idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (70.63 ± 20.83) was lower than in the healthy control group (83.38 ± 7.96) but higher than in the hypertension (60.55 ± 24.82), diabetes mellitus (62.42 ± 19.37) and restless legs syndrome (61.77 ± 19.25) groups. The total score of idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder patients had a negative correlation with the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (r = −0.498, P < 0.001), Insomnia Severity Index (r = −0.645, P < 0.001) and the Beck Depression Inventory‐2 (r = −0.694, P < 0.001). Multiple regression showed a negative correlation between the Short Form 36‐item Health Survey score and the Insomnia Severity Index (β = −1.100, P = 0.001) and Beck Depression Inventory‐2 (β = −1.038, P < 0.001). idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder had a significant negative impact on quality of life, although this effect was less than that of other chronic disorders. This negative effect might be related to a depressive mood associated with the disease.
The comparative morphogenesis of extragenital and gonadal teratoid tumors

R ECENT J ears have seen increaaing intuc i t in the problems of teratogcnesis and the 1 cl'itii c irupoi tancc ok embryonic and trophoI,l:i$tic lac tors in the development of tumoi 5:; (j Most writers10 hate conceded that the gonatlal tcratoid growths originate from a tolipotential germinal element of some sort, Iiut cxti agcnital teratoid tumors, 011 the other liarid, ha\ e almost invariably been considered to rc.sult from aberrations in somatic developrrient.l\ I i t t le evidence has been brought forth 10 date to show that they, too, may be of gcirninal origin. A study ok pineal neoplasrus3 recently carried out at the Arincd Forces Institute of Pathology revealed certain similarities ben the teratoid tuniors of the pineal gland and the testis. These similarities suggested that a coinparison of thc cxtragcnital and gonadal teratoid tumors might be fruitful. It wai hoped that examination of the basic histological patterns of the genital (ovary and tcstis) and extragenital (retroperitoneum, mediastinuin, sacrococcygeal region, and pineal gland) teratoid neoplasms would disclose either a common or a differing fundamental nioi phogenesis.
Pancreatic Steatosis Demonstrated at MR Imaging in the General Population: Clinical Relevance.

PURPOSE To determine the relationship between pancreatic fat content and type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS From the prospective population-based Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP), 1367 volunteers (563 men, 678 women; median age, 50 years) underwent whole-body magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at 1.5 T, which included multiecho chemical shift-encoded acquisition of the abdomen. SHIP was approved by the institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants. The proton density fat fraction (PDFF) was calculated after correction for T1 bias, T2* bias, multipeak spectral complexity of fat, and noise bias. On the basis of oral glucose tolerance test results, participants were grouped into those with normal glucose tolerance (n = 740), those with prediabetes (n = 431), and those with confirmed type 2 diabetes but without medication (n = 70). PDFF was assessed in the pancreatic head, body, and tail. Multivariable regression analysis was conducted to investigate possible relationships of PDFF with demographic factors, behavioral factors, and laboratory data associated with the metabolic syndrome. RESULTS In all subjects, the mean unadjusted pancreatic fat content was 4.4% (head, 4.6%; body, 4.9%; tail, 3.9%; being unequally distributed, P < .001). There was no significant difference in pancreatic PDFF among subjects with normal glucose tolerance, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes (P = .980). Pancreatic PDFF showed a positive association with age and body mass index and a negative association with serum lipase activity (P < .001). CONCLUSION The presence of pancreatic fat is not related to prediabetes or diabetes, which suggests that it has little clinical relevance for an individual's glycemic status.
Monitoring the interference of protein‐protein interactions in vivo by bimolecular fluorescence complementation: the DnaK case

Many cellular processes depend on protein‐protein interactions. The identification of molecules able to modulate protein contacts is of significant interest for drug discovery and chemical biology. Nevertheless, finding antagonists of protein interactions that work efficiently within the cell is a challenging task. Here, we describe the novel use of bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BIFC) to detect compounds that block the interaction of target proteins in vivo. In the BIFC method, each interaction partner is fused to a complementary fragment of a fluorescent protein and interactions are detected by fluorescence restoration after reporter reassembly. Here, we demonstrate that the inhibition of specific intracellular protein interactions results in a concomitant decrease in fluorescence emission. We also show that integration of BIFC with flow cytometry might provide an effective means to detect interaction modulators by directly reading out changes in the reporter signal. The in vivo application of this approach is illustrated through monitoring the inhibition of the interaction between the Escherichia coli Hsp70 chaperone and a short peptidic substrate by pyrrhocoricin‐derived antibacterial peptides.
A broadband circularly polarized polygon slot antenna design by particle swarm optimization

A broadband circularly polarized antenna with six-edge irregular polygon shaped slot for WLAN applications was proposed in this study. To produce a broadband circular polarization, the slot shape of the proposed antenna is designed and optimized by particle swarm optimization method. Results of the optimized antenna show that wideband characteristics of S11 and AR cover 2.45 GHz (2.4–2.484 GHz) WLAN band. The impedance bandwidth is 17.6 % (2.25–2.68 GHz) while the axial ratio bandwidth is 28.57 % (2.1–2.8 GHz). The antenna performs LHCP waves in the broadside direction and an average gain of about 3.5 dBic across the operating band.
Pathology of the cervical spine in rheumatoid arthritis: A controlled study of 44 spines

Cervical spines (with occiputs) of 44 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were compared with 44 control spines from patients without RA, matched for sex and age. There were six severe and seven slight atlanto-axial dislocations (both horizontal and vertical, two of which had been treated surgically) in the RA group and none in the control group. Ankylosis, synchondrosis, syndesmosis, bone erosions, and redness of synovial tissue in the atlanto-axial, atlanto-occipital and cervical intervertebral joints were more frequent in the RA group than in the control spines. The lesions permitting the best discrimination between the RA and control groups were used to calculate an overall score for the whole cervical spine. Sixteen of the 44 RA patients scored higher than the highest control value; only nine scored lower than the median control score. A higher score than the average value found for the RA spines was obtained by the male patients, the patients with seropositivity or subcutaneous nodules, the patients treated with corticosteroids, the patients who died in the Department of Rheumatology, and those whose death was related to the RA itself or to the treatment given.
Optimization of HILIC method for the analysis of bisoprolol and its impurities considering uncertainties in peak position

This paper presents the robust optimization of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of bisoprolol and its impurities A and C. Chemometric strategy is applied for detailed understanding of system’s behavior and establishing the mathematical relationship between investigated factors (acetonitrile content in the mobile phase, pH of the water phase and buffer concentration in the water phase) and chromatographic responses. Grid point search methodology is then performed with the aim to identify the point with satisfactory separation quality for all analyzed substances and to achieve minimal analysis duration. Oversized chromatograms are made creating an extra band broadening for each chromatographic peak corresponding to the value of standard deviation in order to evaluate the incertitude originating from the model uncertainty. On the other hand, the uncertainty originating from the variation of experimental parameters is assessed by simulated experimental design robustness testing. Finally, the obtained robust optimal conditions were: chromatographic column Kinetex HILIC 100Å (100 mm x 4.5 mm, 2.6 m particle size); mobile phase composed of acetonitrile – water phase (35 mM ammonium acetate, pH 4.9 adjusted with glacial acetic acid) (85:15 v/v); flow rate 1 mL min, column temperature 30 °C and UV detection at 254 nm.
Occlusion Ratio: a new Query Parameter for GPUs

This work suggests improvements that can be added to current GPUs and graphic rendering APIs to increase occlusion culling performance, that is, to raise the frame rate that can be achieved using hardware occlusion queries. The proposal can be easily implemented in current GPU architectures. It extends the concept of object relevance in an image and introduces the occlusion ratio parameter. Numerical tests have been carried out using pre-processed data to demonstrate our proposal. These tests show that 800% mean frame rate improvements could be achieved if occlusion queries to the GPU would return occlusion ratio data. Moreover, in low occlusion density situations -worst cases with 60-80% objects visible, results show that occlusion ratio data provides 60-400% improvements in the frame rate.