Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Posture Prediction and Force/Torque Analysis for Human Hands

Human hands are the bridge between humans and the objects to be manipulated or grasped both in the real and virtual world. Hands are used to grasp or manipulate objects and one of the most important functionalities is to position the fingers, i.e., given the position of the fingertip and to determine the joint angles. Last year we presented a 25-degree of freedom (DOF) hand model that has palm arch functionality. In this paper we preset an optimization-based inverse kinematics approach to position this 25 DOF hand locally with respect to the wrist instead of the traditional Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse and experiment methods. The hypothesis is that human performance measures govern the configuration and motion of the hand. We also propose contact force and joint torque prediction. The exposition addresses (1) the determination whether a point is reachable (i.e., is it within the reach envelope), (2) the prediction of a finger posture for a given target point, (3) given the finger contact force analyzing the joint torque, and (4) given joint torque analyzing finger contact force. We illustrate the methodology through examples.
Storage of spatiotemporal input sequences in dendrites of pyramidal neurons

Plastic changes in neurons are widely considered to underpin the formation and maintenance of memory. The mechanisms of induction and expression of plasticity are, therefore, crucial to our understanding of the capacity of information storage that neurons possess. Using two-photon glutamate uncaging and whole-cell electrophysiological recordings, I demonstrate that dendrites of neurons are capable of preferentially storing specific spatiotemporal sequences, and describe the physiological properties of this new form of plasticity. Such plastic changes are dependent on Ca2+ influx through NMDA receptors, which is consistent with previous reports regarding induction of potentiation. Using two-photon Ca2+ imaging, I demonstrate that spatiotemporal plasticity is a result of a distinct homogeneous spatial increase in Ca2+ influx of different spatiotemporal sequences. Using the NEURON simulation environment, I used my experimental findings to perform simulations of synaptic plasticity rules. I found that homogeneous increases in synaptic strength across the dendrite can result in the spatiotemporal plasticity that I empirically observed. Moreover, I employed a genetic optimization algorithm and parallelized simulations to show that such changes are within physiological parameters observed in cortical neurons. My PhD therefore describes a novel form of plasticity, and proposes that dendrites are capable of more extensive information storage than was previously assumed.
Modeling Services Using ISE Framework: Foundations and Extensions

The Internet of services introduces new requirements for service engineering in terms of addressing both business and technical perspectives. The inherent complexity of the new wave of services that is emerging requires new approaches for an effective and efficient service design. In this chapter a novel service engineering framework is introduced: the Integrated Service Engineering (ISE) framework. With its ISE workbench, it can address the emerging requirements of Internet of services. The chapter presents the foundations on how the service engineering process can be conducted by applying the separation of concerns to model different service dimensions within various layers of abstraction. Additionally, three novel extensions are presented to the aforementioned ISE workbench in order to enrich the capabilities of the service modeling process. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-215-4.ch006
Implementing antepartum standards of nursing practice within the family care unit

Background and Purpose: The purpose was to implement standards of nursing practice for antepartum patients admitted to a Family Care Unit, where no such standards were in place. Methods: Four methods were used to achieve the practicum objectives: 1) a literature review was conducted to identify barriers and facilitating factors that may affect the implementation of change within the hospital setting; 2) an antepartum standards of nursing practice policy and procedure (PP 3) consultations were conducted with administrative leaders and nursing staff to gather feedback on the feasibility of the implementation plan and the proposed antepartum standards of nursing practice PP and 4) a draft implementation plan was developed based on the literature review and finalized following the consultations. Results: The P&P was supported by the administrative leaders and nursing staff, and submitted to the organization for approval. They also supported the implementation plan, and provided suggestions for improving it and strengthening education around the P&P. Implementation of the standards of practice is now ready to proceed. Conclusion: This practicum project was used to establish a standard of nursing practice for antepartum patients who are admitted to the Family Care Unit. Its successful implementation should help reduce variations in practice and provide direction for clinical decision-making to improve patient outcomes.
Kitaplar veya Bilgisayarlar: Kırsal Bölgelerden Bir Tutum Karşılaştırma Çalışması

Bilgi ve Iletisim Teknolojileri, insan yasamini derinden degistirmistir. Ote yandan, herkesin gelisen bu teknolojilere erismek ve kullanmak adina yeterince sansli olmadigi da gorulmektedir. Bu anlamda insanlik sadece teknolojik gelismelere degil, ayni zamanda dijital bolunmelere de tanik olmaktadir. Literatur, dijital ucurumun (ya da bolunmenin), cinsiyet, yasanilan yer, sosyo-ekonomik durum veya egitim gecmisi gibi faktorlere bagli olarak cesitlendigini gostermektedir. Bu calisma, lise ogrencilerinin (n = 412) kitap ve bilgisayarlara karsi tutumlarini karsilastirarak kirsal alan baglaminda dijital bolunme konusuna odaklanmaktadir. Teknolojiler isiginda, kirsal alanlardaki dijital bolunmeyle halihazirda dezavantajli duruma gelen ogrencilerin bilgisayarlarla daha iyi ogrenenler olup olmayacagi konusunda onemli tartismalar surmektedir. Calismanin very kaynagi olan olcek uc bolumden olusmaktadir; (i) demografik bilgiler, (ii) bilgisayarlara (21 maddeye) ve kitaplara (21 maddeden), karsi ayri ayri tutum sorulari (toplam 42 maddeden), (iii) kitaplara gore bilgisayarlardaki tercihlere iliskin 17 madde. Erisilebilir ornekleme yontemiyle toplanan veriler analiz edilmis ve ogrenme etkinlikleri icin kitaplara, eglence amacli etkinlikler icin ise bilgisayarlara yonelme oldugu tespit edilmistir. Cinsiyet (erkek - kadin), kayitli okul turu (duz veya meslek), evde kutuphane veya kisisel bilgisayar sahibi olma ve yasadigi yer (koylere karsi ilce merkezi) kirsal alandaki tutumlara yonelik diger degiskenler olarak calismada incelenmistir.
Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa: What should the Priorities be in the Absence of Global Risk Evaluation Tools?

Background The growing burden of type 2 diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and related cardiovascular complications call for vigorous actions into prevention. Comprehensive cardiovascular risk evaluation is important for the success of such actions. Methods We have reviewed 3 currently existing sets of recommendations for cardiovascular prevention in diabetes in SSA. Distribution of major risk factors and patterns of reported cardiovascular outcomes are used to suggest orientations for cardiovascular prevention in diabetes in this region. Papers and reports published over the period 1990 to 2007 were used. Results Existing guidelines share some similarities, but also have areas of inconsistencies. They are generally adaptations of existing guidelines, focused more on individual risk factors, and are not usually backed-up by local evidence. They all have a projection on blood pressure lowering. This focus is supported by the high prevalence of hypertension among people with diabetes in SSA. Blood pressure and tobacco smoking are the modifiable risk factors accessible to evaluation and interventions on a wide scale in SSA. Appropriate blood pressure control will have a major impact on stroke (the commonest cardiovascular disease) through a reduction of the cerebrovascular risk, and to a lesser extent on coronary heart disease and total deaths in diabetes in this region. Conclusions In the absence of global risk evaluation tools, the use of blood pressure lowering as a primary focus of cardiovascular prevention strategies is relevant for SSA. However, there is a need to set-up diabetes and stroke registers to monitor outcomes and generate tools for accurate risk prediction and management in diabetes in this region.
Examining the effect of fatigue on shooting accuracy in young basketball players

ABSTRACT This research was carried out to examine the effects of fatigue, which result from high-intensity exercises on shooting accuracy in young basketball players. Thirteen male basketball players (15.08±0.64 years) voluntarily participated in the present research (AAHPERD) wherein a basketball shooting test was conducted in order to measure shooting skills of basketball players. The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test-Level 1 (YYIRT-1) was used in order to create fatigue among basketball players. Heart beat rate of the players were recorded with heart beat monitor. There was a significant difference between pre-test (STSpre=12.62±3.02) and post-test (STSpost=10.54±2.96) values of shooting test scores (STS) (p<0.01). Heart rate before the shooting test before physical exertion was found as HRpre=122.31±17.57 bmp, and heart rate average at fatigue level after running test was HRpost =173.77±17.09 bmp. Average HR showed that players conducted shooting test at 87.39± 6.16 percent of the HRmax. Consequently, shooting accuracy skills of young basketball players deteriorate when they are exposed to fatigue level physical exertion.
The speed of musical pitch identification by absolute-pitch possessors.

Three experiments on absolute- pitch identification were performed to examine how quickly and accurately subjects with absolute pitch could respond to different pitch classes. Sixty different pitches in a five-octave range were tested. Subjects with absolute pitch tried to identify the tones as rapidly as possible by pressing corresponding keys on a musical keyboard or a numerical keypad, or by naming vocally. Converging evidence was obtained indicating that the speed and accuracy of responses were directly related. In general, responses to the white-key notes on the musical keyboard were faster and more accurate than those to the black-key notes, C and G being most quickly and accurately identified. This seems to reflect the differential accessibility of pitch classes in the long-term memory of the absolute-pitch possessors, which may be interpreted as a consequence of the acquisition process of absolute pitch in early life.
Non-linear test pattern generators for built-in self-test

Various linear finite state machines have been widely used as pseudo-random test pattern generators for the built-in self-test of integrated circuits. These generators are inexpensive to use as they have the advantage of low hardware overhead. However, the Geffe generator, a classic type of non-linear finite state machine, has not been frequently studied or used in similar applications. It is known that a Geffe generator, when used as a pattern generator for digital system testing gives improved fault detection. Unfortunately, the area overhead involved is sufficiently high, thus, such a generator becomes impractical for built-in self-test. To solve such problems, we introduce two possible new designs of the Geffe generator. These new designs are based on the generator's original architecture, so they preserve the non-linear structure. Our optimal goal is to achieve a very sharp reduction of the area overhead, and maintain a satisfactory fault detection capability. These two new designs are exercised in the fault simulations of benchmark sequential circuits. The experimental results demonstrate both of our designs can lead to fault coverage, which significantly exceeds the fault coverage of linear machines, and is comparable to the original Geffe generator.
Perception of speech signals using self-organization on linear neuron array

A continuous speech recognition system with finite set of Chinese words is devised for selected applications. With proper design of the self-organizing map for the speech signals, the precedence relations among the spectral patterns within a token period can be preserved by the topology preservations and the serious nonlinear time warping can thus be overcome. The 1D hierarchical relations among the sequential spectral patterns can be represented by the topology map developed on the linear array of neurons. We then devise two kinds of perception energies based on the trained map. One of the energies is derived from properly fitting a precedence curve on the sequential excitation patterns of the map during a whole word period. The other energy is obtained from the accumulation of total excitations on the map during a word period. Thresholds for the perception energies are then designed experimentally. A set of 1309 linear array maps are used for representing the total 1309 standard Chinese word pronunciations. Each linear array contains 100 equally spaced and linearly ordered neurons.
Saracens and Race in Roman de la Rose Iconography: The Case of Dangier in MS Douce 195

This essay discusses the racialized portrayal of Dangier in Bodleian Library MS Douce 195. In contrast to the notion that the Middle Ages had no recourse to race as phenotypical difference, it argues that the orientalization of depictions in late medieval manuscripts like Douce 195— mostly studied through costume—is also to be found in portrayals of skin pigmentation.
Interface design for OSP / satellite device

This paper presents the design and construction of communication interfaces EUSART (Enhanced Universal Synchronous Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) using the OSP / Satellite device. The technological product that integrates hardware, software and communications interfaces, was the result of a research project developed by the Colombian School of Engineering JULIO GARAVITO jointly with the company OSP LTDA and funded by COLCIENCIAS. This OSP / Satellite device reused equipment GPRS or also called units Automatic Vehicle Location: AVL, specifically TT8750 + of Skypatrol and SYRUS of DCT, which are used for locating and tracking mobile assets with cellular coverage, and they add a channel satellite backup via modem STX-2 Globalstar®, to ensure continuity in communication at any geographic area in Colombia.
Real-Time Video Quality Assessment Methods Based on No-Reference for Video Conference System

After a deep investigation on the performance measure of the video conference and the video quality assessment methods, the whole plan of video quality assessment (VQA) for video conference system is proposed. Without reference video source, a novel No-Reference (NR) VQA method based on both the coding layer information and the packet layer transmission performance is introduced. The experimental result shows that the proposed method can obtain the dependable score which close to the subjective assessment.
JPEG image transmission over mobile network with an efficient channel coding and interleaving

This article studies improving of coloured JPEG image transmission over mobile wireless personal area network through the Bluetooth networks. This article uses many types of enhanced data rate and asynchronous connectionless packets. It presents a proposed chaotic interleaving technique for improving a transmission of coloured images over burst error environment through merging it with error control scheme. The computational complexity of the used different error control schemes is considered. A comparison study between different scenarios of the image transmission is held in to choose an effective technique. The simulation experiments are carried over the correlated fading channel using the widely accepted Jakes’ model. Our experiments reveal that the proposed chaotic interleaving technique enhances quality of the received coloured image. Our simulation results show that the convolutional codes with longer constraint length are effective if its complexity is ignored. It reveals also that the standard error control scheme of old Bluetooth versions is ineffective in the case of coloured image transmission over mobile Bluetooth network. Finally, the proposed scenarios of the standard error control scheme with the chaotic interleaver perform better than the convolutional codes with reducing the complexity.
Automated detection and resolution of least privilege violations in software architectures

Supporting security principles, like least privilege, in a software architecture is difficult due to the lack of both a sound theory and effective secure software engineering practices. As a result, principles are often neglected by practitioners, resulting in potentially high risk threats to systems. This paper improves the understanding and the support for least privilege in software architectures by (i) defining the foundations to identify potential violations of the principle herein and (ii) providing architectural transformations that can be used to improve the security properties of an architecture, in an automated way. These results have been implemented and validated in a case study. Automated detection and resolution of least privilege violations in software architectures. Koen Buyens Riccardo Scandariato IBBT-Distrinet Celestijnenlaan 200A 3001 Heverlee, Belgium first.last@cs.kuleuven. be Wouter Joosen
Secrecy Analysis of Modify-and-Forward Relaying With Relay Selection

This paper investigates the physical-layer security of the modify-and-forward (MF) protocol in multi-relay and multi-eavesdropper networks. Three relay selection critera are developed according to the channel state information (CSI) acquisition. Criterion I requires the CSI of all main channels for relay selection. Criteria II and III rely only on the CSI of the source-relay and relay-destination channels, respectively. We derive the exact secrecy outage probability (SOP), probability of nonzero secrecy capacity, and the ergodic secrecy rate in the closed forms. The <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\epsilon$</tex-math></inline-formula>-outage secrecy capacity is also evaluated. Asymptotic analysis of the SOP explicitly reveals that the secrecy diversity order of criterion I depends on the total number of relays, whereas those of criteria II and III are 2 and 1, respectively. The probability of nonzero secrecy capacity asymptotically decreases with the SNR of the wiretap channel as the eavesdropper is close to the source and relays. Criterion I is always superior to criteria II and III in terms of the ergodic secrecy rate and <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\epsilon$</tex-math></inline-formula>-outage secrecy capacity. Simulations results also demonstrated that the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\epsilon$</tex-math></inline-formula>-outage secrecy capacity deteriorates as the SNR of the eavesdropper's channel increases.
Intermediate Scope Readings as Embedded Speech Acts

In this paper we explain the variation in availability of (exceptionally wide) intermediate scope readings (ISRs). We argue that ISRs have to be kept apart from functional readings and provide a formal analysis of ISRs. Our approach is based on the assumption that exceptional wide scope readings are the eect of interpreting the involved indenite as aboutness topic, where the introduction of an aboutness topic is analyzed as a distinct speech act, similar to an act of referring. We adopt this view and show that intermediate scope readings only occur in the presence of certain topic-comment embedding operators.
Botanique et horticulture dans les jardins du Québec : guide 2002

Une trentaine de collaborateurs chevron­nes presentent des plantes vedettes, des plantes suggerees, des plantes a decouvrir, les choix des collectionneurs, des trucs du metier, les ravageurs, les plantes a eviter, le jardinage avec les enfants, les collections horticoles, l'histoire des plantes, des visites de jardins, la sociologie et la therapie de l'horticulture, des personnalites de la bota­nique et de l'horticulture, les resultats des plus recentes recherches.
Using the Evidence to Develop Quality Assistive Technology Services

The ramifications of assistive technology for both current and future service provision are wide. In recent years, policy makers have become increasingly aware of the potential of these services to maintain older and disabled people in their own homes. The purpose of this paper is to report on a literature review and provide illustrations of how the evidence can be used to underpin the development of assistive technology services for older and disabled people and disabled children. The aim is to support the development of user‐focused, accessible services.
Analysis of 430 Cases of Medical Disputes Data in a Tertiary Grade A Comprehensive Hospital

Through using retrospective analysis, 430 cases of medical disputes from 2010 to 2013 in a tertiary grade A comprehensive hospital were collected. The department distribution of medical disputes,responsible person distribution,causes and dispute resolution were analyzed. The result showed that the ratio of disputes occurred from2010 to 2013 were 0.78‰,0.67‰,0.64‰and 0.67‰,showing gradually reducing trend. The department distribution of medical disputes gave priority to surgery department. Medical disputes responsibility distribution gave priority to attending physician. The main reasons for the disputes were lack of medical knowledge and unsatisfied with complications and medical effect. The medical disputes dealing gave priority to"no-fault".
Análise dos modelos de avaliação Residual Income Valuation, Abnormal Earnings Growth e Fluxo de Caixa descontado aplicados às ofertas públicas de aquisição de ações no Brasil

A listed company, when it carries out a public tender offer to acquire shares (PTO), retains a specialized firm to conduct an appraisal of the target company, in conformity with applicable regulations. This article examines 97 appraisal reports of PTOs announced in Brazil over the period from 2000 to 2007. The valuation model most often used in these reports was discounted cash flow. Our aim is to examine whether the valuations estimated by models more closely based on accounting numbers, namely residual income valuation (RIV) and abnormal earnings growth (AEG), produce valuations near those estimated by the discounted cash flow method, according to the appraisal reports. We applied the RIV and AEG models to samples of 21 and 39 firms, respectively. The results of the tests performed indicate there are no statistically significant differences between the values estimated by either the RIV or AEG method in relation to those estimated by the discounted cash flow method.
Secrecy Sum Rate Optimization in Nonorthogonal Multiple Access AF Relay Networks

In this paper, nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique is employed to an amplify-and-forward (AF) relay system, which consists of a source, a relay, several users, and an eavesdropper. We aim to maximize the achievable secrecy sum rate by jointly designing power allocation at the source and cooperative beamforming at the relay, under the achievable rate constraints at the weak users and the transmit power constraints at the source and the relay. The formulated optimization problem is nonconvex due to the coupled variables. We proposed to decouple the problem into two subproblems and solve power allocation and relay beamforming in an iterative manner. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed NOMA AF network can achieve a higher achievable secrecy sum rate than the conventional orthogonal multiple access AF relay network.