Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recognition of Depression in Aphasic Stroke Patients

Background: Data on post-stroke depression in aphasia are scarce. Methods: Eighty-nine acute stroke patients with aphasia of all types were followed for 6 months to investigate if depression can be reliably diagnosed (DSM-IV criteria) and validly assessed by the verbal Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and a global technique (Clinical Global Impressions Rating Scale for Severity). A standard aphasia test was performed. Results: In 60 patients (67%) at baseline and in 100% at 6 months, comprehension allowed a reliable DSM-IV diagnosis. Among these patients MADRS was feasible in 95% at baseline and in 100% at 6 months. The assistance of relatives and staff increases the feasibility and decreases the validity. Depression was identified in 24% during the 6 months. Conclusion: Depression diagnosis and severity rating can reliably be made in the acute phase in at least two thirds of aphasic patients, and feasibility increases over time.
Packing cuts in undirected graphs

We address the problem of finding the largest collection of edge‐disjoint cuts in an undirected graph, dubbed CUT PACKING, focusing on its complexity, about which very little is known. We show a very close relationship with INDEPENDENT SET, namely, for the same graph G, the size of the largest cut packing of G is at least the independence number of G, and at most twice that number. This implies that any approximation guarantee for INDEPENDENT SET immediately extends to CUT PACKING within a factor of 2. In particular, this yields a 2‐approximation algorithm for CUT PACKING in perfect graphs. We then present polynomial‐time algorithms for several classes of perfect (and related) graphs, including triangulated graphs and their complements, bipartite graphs and their complements, and Seymour graphs. Finally, we discuss various linear programming relaxations for the problem, finding combinatorial dual problems of CUT PACKING and characterizing the cases in which duality is strong. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 44(1), 1–11 2004
Introduction to loop quantum gravity

Loop quantum gravity is an attempt to formulate a quantum theory of general relativity. The quantisation is performed in a mathematically rigorous, non-perturbative and background independent manner and standard matter couplings are considered. This dissertation considers the foundations required to build the theory, general relativity as a Hamiltonian system and quantisation of gravity in the spin network basis. Some applications and results of loop quantum gravity are presented: loop quantum cosmology and the removal of singularities, black hole entropy, and the modern spinfoam formalism. The current status of loop quantum gravity research is discussed.
A Systematic Review of Cognitive Deficits in Homeless Adults: Implications for Service Delivery

Objective: The primary goals of this systematic review were to assess studies of homeless adults and cognitive functioning, and to explore the clinical implications and potential impacts on social functioning of these cognitive deficits. Method: The MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, ERIC, Social Sciences Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index, Social Services Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts databases were searched from 1970 (or their inception) to October 2007. Abstracts from 582 studies were screened and 22 studies were found to meet inclusion criteria (published in the English language, reported results of neuropsychological tests, or screening tests for cognitive dysfunction in homeless people aged 18 years or older). Two investigators independently reviewed each study and rated its quality based on well-defined criteria. Results: Ten studies were of good or fair quality. Studies that administered the Mini Mental State Examination indicate about 4% to 7% of homeless people exhibit global cognitive deficits. Focal deficits in verbal and visual memory, attention, speed of cognitive processing, and executive function were also apparent. No studies of the functional implications of cognitive deficits were found. Conclusions: Cognitive deficits in homeless people likely have a significant mediating impact on the effectiveness of skills training and rehabilitation programs. Clinicians should be cognizant that cognitive deficits probably impair homeless patients' ability to maintain housing stability and follow treatment recommendations. Implications for housing options and health service delivery should also be considered. Research is lacking on interventions to improve cognitive functioning in the homeless.
Hybrid Distributed Power Generation System using PV and Wind Energy

This project deals with a grid connected wind-PV hybrid distributed generation system employing permanent magnet synchronous generator(PMSG) driven by a variable speed wind turbine and PV array connected to a load and the grid. PMSG wind turbine connected to a dc-dc converter via three phase diode rectifier and PV array along with a dc-dc converter connected to the DC link which operates under a centralized three phase inverter. The optimum torque tracking scheme is employed to achieve maximum power extraction in wind power generation system. The incremental conductance algorithm is used to achieve MPPT in PV system. In the proposed system, the wind and PV system alone cannot meet the load demand due to the uncertainty in weather conditions causing a high degree of mismatch between the power generation and consumption. To avoid this problem, wind energy conversion system and PV system are made to operate alternatively to meet the load demand based on its availability.
Multi-Robot SLAM: A Vision-Based Approach

The robot is said to be truly autonomous (Dissanayake et al. (2001)), if it has the ability to start at an unknown location in an unknown environment and then simultaneously build a map of the environment and localize it self in the map. Thus the robot has to solve the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem. The information used are sequences of relative observations captured by the mobile robot. Many approaches has been proposed to solve the SLAM problem. Se et al. (2001) proposed an approach for a robot equipped with a trinocular stereo system (Murray & Little (1998)) and an odometer. The algorithm starts by detecting feature points (Lowe (1999)) in the three images. Then these feature points are matched using the epipolar and disparity constraints thats exist between the three cameras. Assuming known camera intrinsic parameters, the 3D position of each matched feature point is estimated. As the robot moves, the odometry readings are used to provide a rough estimate about the motion. This estimate can be employed in matching feature points among consecutive frames. The 3D position of each newly detected feature point is estimated and the motion of the robot is localized using a least-squares minimization scheme (Lowe (1991)). Finally, a map is built for the 3D positions of the detected feature points and the location graph of the robot is computed. Other SLAMmethods are based on evaluating some probabilistic models of the robot motion and sensed data from the environment. It is assumed that the robot can sense landmarks relative to its local coordinate frame. The landmarks may be naturally occurring in the environment like trees or artificially added like steel poles. Smith & Cheeseman (1986) use extended Kalman filters (EKF) to estimate the posterior distribution over the robot pose. The problem they solved can be stated as follows: Given a measurement of the environment zt = [z1,z2, . ,zt] and a set of control inputs ut = [u1,u2, . ,ut], determine the robot pose s t and the location of all the k landmarks m = [m1,m2, . ,mk]. In probabilistic terms, this can be expressed as the posterior:
Visual Computing and Machine Learning Techniques for Digital Forensics

It is impressive how fast science has improved day by day in so many different fields. In special, technology advances are shocking so many people bringing to their reality facts that previously were beyond their imagination. Inspired by methods earlier presented in scientific fiction shows, the computer science community has created a new research area named Digital Forensics, which aims at developing and deploying methods for fighting against digital crimes such as digital image forgery.This work presents some of the main concepts associated with Digital Forensics and, complementarily, presents some recent and powerful techniques relying on Computer Graphics, Image Processing, Computer Vision and Machine Learning concepts for detecting forgeries in photographs. Some topics addressed in this work include: source attribution, spoofing detection, pornography detection, multimedia phylogeny, and forgery detection. Finally, this work highlights the challenges and open problems in Digital Image Forensics to provide the readers with the myriad opportunities available for research.
Humans and Automation: Use, Misuse, Disuse, Abuse

This paper addresses theoretical, empirical, and analytical studies pertaining to human use, misuse, disuse, and abuse of automation technology. Use refers to the voluntary activation or disengagement of automation by human operators. Trust, mental workload, and risk can influence automation use, but interactions between factors and large individual differences make prediction of automation use difficult. Misuse refers to over reliance on automation, which can result in failures of monitoring or decision biases. Factors affecting the monitoring of automation include workload, automation reliability and consistency, and the saliency of automation state indicators. Disuse, or the neglect or underutilization of automation, is commonly caused by alarms that activate falsely. This often occurs because the base rate of the condition to be detected is not considered in setting the trade-off between false alarms and omissions. Automation abuse, or the automation of functions by designers and implementation by managers without due regard for the consequences for human performance, tends to define the operator's roles as by-products of the automation. Automation abuse can also promote misuse and disuse of automation by human operators. Understanding the factors associated with each of these aspects of human use of automation can lead to improved system design, effective training methods, and judicious policies and procedures involving automation use.
[Prevalence of obesity and trends in cardiovascular risk factors among Spanish school children, 1992-2004: the Cuenca (Spain) study].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The assess the prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children from the province of Cuenca in 2004, and to examine changes in the main cardiovascular risk factors in school children from the city of Cuenca from 1992 through 2004. SUBJECTS AND METHOD Cross sectional survey of 1166 schoolchildren 9-10 years old from 22 public schools of the province of Cuenca. We also analyzed data from 3 earlier, methodologically similar, cross-sectional surveys of school children from the city of Cuenca carried out in 1992, 1996 and 1998. RESULTS In 2004, among children aged 9-10 years from the province of Cuenca, 22.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.53-24.37) were overweight and 8.8% (95% CI, 7.16-10.50) were obese. From 1992 through 2004, among children aged 9-10 years from the city of Cuenca, we registered a 12.2% absolute increase in the prevalence of overweight or obesity among males, which did no reach statistical significance (p > 0.05). Among women, changes in body mass index were of lower magnitude and with no statistical significance. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decreased (p < 0.05) in both sexes, with a greater decline in females. Among the latter, SBP decreased -9.22 mmHg (95% CI, -7.0 to -11.5) and DBP -5.9 mmHg (95% CI, -4.23 to -7.50). Non high density lipoproteins-cholesterol decreased among males (-18.1 mg/dl; 95% CI, -26.0 to -10.1 mg/dl) and among females (-23.7 mg/dl; 95% CI, -30.8 to -16.6 mg/dl). High density lipoproteins-cholesterol increased 6.3 mg/dl (95% CI, 2.6-10.0 mg/dl) in males and 5.1 mg/dl (95% CI, 1.9-8.2 mg/dl) in females. Triglycerides did not show substantial changes over the study period. CONCLUSIONS Prevalence of overweight or obesity in schoolchildren of Cuenca is among the highest in Europe. From 1992 through 2004 in the city of Cuenca, frequency of overweight or obesity might have increased among males, while blood pressure and the lipid profile improved in both sexes.
2 DYNAMICS OF EQUITY MARKET INTEGRATION IN EUROPE : EVIDENCE OF CHANGES WITH EVENTS AND OVER TIME

This paper examines the integration of European equity markets over 1985-2002 using a relatively new set of three dynamic techniques that measure the extent of timevarying equity market integration from complementary perspectives. All three techniques are in agreement that there has been an increased degree of integration among European equity markets especially since the 1997-98 period. This evidence shows that despite several years of demonstrating political willingness by European leaders to integrate their economies, it was not until the establishment of the EMU and the ECB during 1997-98 that the markets deemed that European integration would in fact occur. We also show that despite this increased integration, the European equity markets are still dominated by the US market and are in fact convergent towards this market rather than a common internal measure.
Cost- and time-effective sewing patterns for embroidered passive UHF RFID tags

Embroidery is an efficient method for the fabrication of textile antennas. We studied the effects of reducing the amount of conductive thread to achieve savings in material costs and the effects of the sewing pattern on the wireless performance of embroidered passive UHF RFID tags on two different fabric substrates. The antennas were sewed on cotton and polyamide fabrics, the ICs were attached to the embroidered antennas with a conductive adhesive, and the wireless performance of the ready-made textile RFID tags was evaluated through measurements. The fabric parameters were found to have a major effect on the tag performance. Based on our results, significant amounts of time and conductive yarn can be saved in the embroidery of RFID tag antennas by only partially sewing the tag antenna.
Disclosing clinical performance: the case of cardiac surgery.

PURPOSE In recent years, the clinical performance of named cardiac surgeons in England has been disclosed. This paper aims to explore the nature and impact of disclosure of clinical performance. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH The paper draws on literature from across the social sciences to assess the impact of disclosure, as a form of transparency, in improving clinical performance. Specifically, it employs the "programme theory" of disclosure. FINDINGS The "programme theory" of disclosure involves identification, naming, public sanction and recipient response. Named individual (consultant) surgeons have been identified through disclosure but this masks the contribution of the clinical team, including junior surgeons. Mortality is the prime performance measure but given low mortality rates, there are problems interpreting this measure. The naming of surgeons has been achieved through disclosure on web sites, developed between the health-care regulator and the surgical profession itself. However, participation remains voluntary. The intention of disclosure is that interested parties (especially patients) will shun poorly performing surgeons. However, these parties' willingness and ability to exercise this sanction appears limited. Surgeons' responses are emergent but about a quarter of surgeons are not participating currently. Fears that surgeons would avoid high-risk patients seem to have been unrealised. While disclosure may have a small effect on individual reputations, the surgical profession as a whole has embraced disclosure. ORIGINALITY/VALUE While the aim of disclosure has been to create a transparent medical system and to improve clinical performance, disclosure may have the opposite effect, concealing some performance issues and possibly strengthening professional autonomy. Disclosure therefore represents greater transparency in health-care but it is uncertain whether it will improve performance in the ways that the policy intends.
Development of indel markers from Citrus clementina (Rutaceae) BAC-end sequences and interspecific transferability in Citrus.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Indel markers were developed from BAC-end sequences of Citrus clementina cv. Nules. Transferability and polymorphism were tested in the Citrus genus to estimate the potential of indel markers mined from a single genotype for use in genetic studies. METHODS AND RESULTS Using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and DNA silver staining, 89 indel markers were tested for their transferability and polymorphism. Thirty-eight markers were selected. Heterozygosity in C. clementina cv. Nules was confirmed for 33 of these indel pairs. A preliminary diversity study using a capillary electrophoresis fragment analyzer was conducted with 21 indels using 45 accessions representing Citrus genus diversity. Intraspecific and interspecific polymorphisms were observed. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate the utility of indel markers developed from sequence data of a single genotype of interspecific origin. In Citrus, these markers will be useful for genetic mapping, germplasm characterization, and phylogenetic assignment of DNA fragments.
The cellular mechanisms by which adenosine evokes release of nitric oxide from rat aortic endothelium

Adenosine and nitric oxide (NO) are important local mediators of vasodilatation. The aim of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms underlying adenosine receptor‐mediated NO release from the endothelium. In studies on freshly excised rat aorta, second‐messenger systems were pharmacologically modulated by appropriate antagonists while a NO‐sensitive electrode was used to measure adenosine‐evoked NO release from the endothelium. We showed that A1‐mediated NO release requires extracellular Ca2+, phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and ATP‐sensitive K+ (KATP) channel activation whereas A2A‐mediated NO release requires extracellular Ca2+ and Ca2+‐activated K+ (KCa) channels. Since our previous study showed that A1‐ and A2A‐receptor‐mediated NO release requires activation of adenylate cyclase (AC), we propose the following novel pathways. The K+ efflux resulting from A1‐receptor‐coupled KATP‐channel activation facilitates Ca2+ influx which may cause some stimulation of endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). However, the increase in [Ca2+]i also stimulates PLA2 to liberate arachidonic acid and stimulate cyclooxygenase to generate prostacyclin (PGI2). PGI2 acts on its endothelial receptors to increase cAMP, so activating protein kinase A (PKA) to phosphorylate and activate eNOS resulting in NO release. By contrast, the K+ efflux resulting from A2A‐coupled KCa channels facilitates Ca2+ influx, thereby activating eNOS and NO release. This process may be facilitated by phosphorylation of eNOS by PKA via the action of A2A‐receptor‐mediated stimulation of AC increasing cAMP. These pathways may be important in mediating vasodilatation during exercise and systemic hypoxia when adenosine acting in an endothelium‐ and NO‐dependent manner has been shown to be important.
Deficits of contralesional awareness: a case study on what paper-and-pencil tests neglect.

OBJECTIVE Attentional orienting and awareness for contralesional hemispace were studied longitudinally in a woman (GB) who suffered a right hemispheric stroke without any motor impairment and who presented normal performance on standard paper-and-pencil tests for neglect but manifested difficulties in everyday life. We aimed to test whether computer-based, dual-task paradigms were sufficiently sensitive to detect the presence of subclinical neglect in GB. METHOD We assessed the spatial awareness of GB by means of cued-detection tasks, paper-and-pencil tests, attentionally demanding dual tasks, and in several ecological settings after her discharge from the hospital. A group of right brain-damaged patients and an age-matched healthy participant were also tested with the dual tasks. RESULTS Dramatic awareness deficits for the left contralesional hemispace emerged in GB only under dual-task conditions, both in computer-based and in ecological settings, as if her degree of contralesional space awareness impairment was closely dependent on the quantity of available attentional resources. Our dual-task paradigm was also effective in quantifying awareness improvements over time. The absence of motor impairments, uncommon for a postacute patient with severe albeit hidden neglect, allowed us to ascribe her everyday life impairments for contralesional hemispace to awareness deficits. The performance of the group of patients confirmed the detrimental effects of the dual tasks, whereas the performance of the healthy control we tested was not affected by dual-task manipulation. CONCLUSIONS Our results confirm the well-known lack of sensitivity of standard neuropsychological tests to detect subclinical forms of neglect, which, nonetheless, may result in negative consequences in everyday life. Computer-based, resource-demanding paradigms seem to be a promising solution to uncover subtle awareness deficits that can affect the everyday life of stroke patients.
New Approach to Surface Oil-Flow Visualization

New approach to surface oil-flow visualization is suggested. This method can be called as Particle Image Surface Flow Visualization. The idea of new method is to mark an oil film applied on the model surface with contrast hard particles and to measure particles displacements. At least two images of particles distribution on the model surface with some time interval are acquired for each investigated regime. The pairs of images are processed with cross-correlation analysis similarly to analysis used in Particle Image Velocimetry method to obtain the parameters of particle movement. Direction of particles shift is coincident with the direction of surface streamline and allows to restore surface streamlines pattern. Magnitude of particles shift is proportional shear stress value and can visualize separation zones, shock waves and boundary layer transitions on investigated surface. Since only small shift of oil film is analyzed the multiple tests with different airflow parameters can be made using one model preparation. The results of method application for airfoil tests at low Reynolds numbers are presented.
A case study of the SMEs' organizational restructuring in Taiwan

Business process reengineering (BPR) has been widely applied in many enterprises. However, most cases have targeted large enterprises. In Taiwan, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for at least 95 per cent of all enterprises, have played an extremely important role in Taiwan’s economic growth. The question of whether those SMEs can successfully implement BPR in order to strengthen their management structure is an important issue. Undertakes a detailed case study of an SME whose profits had fallen dramatically and which successfully implemented organizational restructuring (OR). Discovers that, although the SME in question did not make use of information technology to achieve the goal of organizational restructuring, by adopting use of BPR concepts and methods it achieved its goal of transformation. The model used for the implementation procedure of OR should provide a useful reference for other SMEs in Taiwan seeking to achieve perpetual operation, because most SMEs will eventually encounter similar problems.