Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lateralized Stroop Interference Effect With Chinese Characters-1

Previous studies show Stroop effect is stronger in the right visual field. However, (1) whether the lateralization patterns of two aspects of Stroop effects, facilitation and inhibition, for native Chinese speakers are similar to each other, and (2) whether secondary interference tasks modulate Stroop effect as in the studies about the lateralized Whorf effect, are remaining open questions. We show in the present study visual field asymmetry of Stroop interference was caused mainly by the lateralized facilitation effect, but not by the bilateral inhibition effect. Moreover, contrary to the robustness of verbal interference task in studies on the lateralized Whorf effect, the magnitude of the visual field asymmetry was not modulated by the secondary verbal interference task. This study further consolidates the idea that language information and color naming interact more strongly in the left hemisphere, which sheds light on the debate of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis based on Chinese characters.
Shock wave meat tenderization Identification

Primary objective • Shortening of meat maturation time by tissue disintegration and weakening of mechanical stability of biological materials e.g. in meat processing a tenderization • Grinding or fractionation of biological or inorganic material • Fragmentation of nephroliths and sediments Working principle Shockwave application is based on underwater acoustic energy delivery to food products. For shock generation electric energy is converted into mechanical energy making use of electro-thermal, electro-detonative, electro-magnetic or piezo-electric energy conversion. Due to higher energy propagation water is used as a transmitting media, required a packaging of products in most cases [1, 2]. At present, mainly electro-thermal systems, based on an underwater discharge of electrical energy between two electrodes, are used. For electro-detonative shock generation an exploding wire is applied, which is melted and vaporized by electric energy. As a result of thermal expansion and release of the chemical energy, a shock wave is generated. As an alternative to electro-thermal and electro-detonative shock generation in particular, an electromagnetic energy conversion could allow high energy efficiency as well as an improvement of equipment stability. By a high current pulse through a coil an instantaneous displacement of a metal plate placed under water (actuator) can be
Dual-Sense Circular Polarization Antenna Based on Reconfigurable Orthogonal Network

A novel circular polarization (CP) reconfigurable microstrip antenna is presented. The CP reconfigurable antenna is divided into three layers, composed of an annular radiating patch, ring slot, and reconfigurable orthogonal network (RON). The designed antenna is fed by dual vertical branches at the output port of the RON. By adjusting the bias voltage of the PIN switch loaded on the reconfigurable orthogonal network, the output phase can be changed, which means that the polarization direction of CP antenna is switchable. Simulation results show that the proposed feeding network provides constant phase difference and lower insertion loss for both states in the operating frequency band, thereby achieving good match and axial ratio characteristics either LHCP or RHCP state. Measured results show that the proposed antenna exhibits operational bandwidth of 1.2% with axial ratio below 3 dB and return loss above 10 dB in both polarized states. Good agreement between simulated and measured results is obtained.
Bidirectional Imputation of Sensor-based Time Series Data

Although missing data is a frequent phenomenon in collected data, few efforts have focused on imputing a whole block of missing continuous time series data. With the purpose of helping wearable technology overcome data limitations resulting from battery constraints, we propose a time series ensemble model (TEM), which can estimate a sequence of missing time series data based on existing data. When TEM is used, the accuracy of activity recognition yields improved performance compared with random guess of activity. Therefore, we conclude that TEM can potentially improve the benefit of collecting continuous data by imputing the data missing between the collection periods.
Caspase-1 activity is required for neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells: Cross-talk between the caspase and calpain systems

Previously, we have found that caspase-1 activity is increased during myoblast differentiation to myotubes. Here we show that caspase-1 activity is required for PC12 differentiation to neuronal-like cells. Caspase-1 is shown to be activated (by immunoblotting and by assessing activity in cell extracts) in the PC12 cells following the initial stage of differentiation. The inhibition of caspase-1 arrests PC12 cells at an intermediate stage of differentiation and prevents neurite outgrowth in these cells; the inhibition is reversed upon the removal of the inhibitor. Calpastatin (calpain endogenous specific inhibitor, and a known caspase substrate) is diminished at the later stages of PC12 cell differentiation, and diminution is prevented by caspase-1 inhibition. The degradation of fodrin (a known caspase and calpain substrate) is found in the advanced stage of differentiation. Caspase-1 has been implicated in the activation of proinflammatory cytokines, and in cell apoptosis. The involvement of caspase-1 in two distinct differentiation processes (myoblast fusion and neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells) indicates a function for this caspase in differentiation processes, and suggests some common mechanisms underlying caspase roles in such processes. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Patient Experience of Living With Cancer‐Associated Thrombosis in Canada (PELICANADA)

Previous research from the United Kingdom and Spain has identified several areas of unmet clinical and support need for cancer patients diagnosed with venous thromboembolism. It is not known whether such experiences are restricted to those countries health care systems and culture. We therefore evaluated patients’ experience of cancer‐associated thrombosis (CAT) within a Canadian setting.
Statistician meets practitioner / researcher : a response to

Friend, don’t be a perfectionist. Perfectionism is a curse and a strain. For you tremble lest you miss the bull’s eye. You are perfect if you let be. Friend, don’t be afraid of mistakes. Mistakes are not sins. Mistakes are ways of doing something different, perhaps creatively new. Friend, don’t be sorry for your mistakes. Be proud of them. You had the courage to give something of yourself. (Fritz Perls, 1969)
Co-movement Between ENSO and Agricultural Production in Asia by Lisa

The worst weather anomalies occurred in the latter part of the 20 century. The effects are usually assessed by multidisciplinary teams with conclusions that are often diverse. The effect of El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in Asia is characterized by testing and modeling the co-movement of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and agricultural production. Johansen test for cointegration was used and a GARCH model is fitted among indicators that exhibit cointegration. The test exhibited cointegration between SOI and cereal production/yield in some Asian countries. While there is cointegration, GARCH models did not necessarily exhibit the structural effect of SOI in cereal production/yield. A nonparametric test of causality based on the error correction model and using the bootstrap method is proposed. The method can better assess if indeed, there is causality between the time series if random shocks and similar events caused volatility or structural change in the time series.
USE OF MULTI-ZONE AIR FLOW SIMULATIONS TO EVALUATE A HYBRID VENTILATION SYSTEM

This paper describes how a multi-zone air flow simulation program has been used for the evaluation of the performance of a hybrid ventilation system in a Swedish school. The idea was also to determine whether it is feasible for an HVAC consultant to apply a multi-zone air flow simulation program in a straight forward way. Before the analysis the tool was used to simulate the present state i.e. checked against measured data. First the checked model was used to evaluate the sensitivity of the system to wind fluctuations, then to study air flows as a function of temperature and finally to evaluate the performance of the solar chimney. Multi-zone air flow simulations can be very useful for the design of hybrid ventilation and the chosen program can most likely be used by competent HVAC designers.
Automatically Generating Test Templates from Test Names

Existing specification-based testing techniques require specifications that either do not exist or are too difficult to create. As a result, they often fall short of their goal of helping developers test expected behaviors. In this paper we present a novel, natural language-based approach that exploits the descriptive nature of test names to generate test templates. Similar to how modern IDEs simplify development by providing templates for common constructs such as loops, test templates can save time and lower the cognitive barrier for writing tests. The results of our evaluation show that the approach is feasible: despite the difficulty of the task, when test names contain a sufficient amount of information, the approach’s accuracy is over 80% when parsing the relevant information from the test name and generating the template.
MODELING REQUIREMENTS FOR FUTURE: ISSUES AND IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

In this paper, we discuss some requirements for future CASE (Computer Aided Software/Systems Engineering) environments. These requirements include increased modifiability and flexibility as well as support for task and agent models. We claim that they can only be addressed by developing more powerful representation and modeling techniques. As a possible basis for a modeling technique, we propose the GOPRR (Graph-Object-Property-Relationship-Role) data model, which addresses some of these requirements. In addition, a general information architecture for a future CASE environment is outlined. It includes three kinds of models for methodology specification: meta-datamodels, activity (task) models, and agent models. These models are defined using the GOPRR model with some additional concepts for IS development process and agent participation.
The Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Academic Achievement of Girls with Hearing Impairments in Secondary Schools for the Deaf in Kenya

Several factors had been cited as contributing to the perpetually dismal academic achievement of girls with hearing impairment in Kenya. Personal esteem factors had not been adequately explored. The study used Carl Roger’s client-centered theory and an Expost facto design. Rosenberg self-esteem scale was used to measure self-esteem dimensions. School academic scores were used to measure academic achievement. A sample of fifty-three girls was drawn. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews. The results: girls with hearing impairment possessed positive/high self-esteem but academic achievement was low. It was concluded that girls with hearing impairment placed more value on relational aspects (grooming), music and dance. They lagged behind due to lack of specialized technological devices. The study recommended: teachers to make deliberate use of positive reinforcement; principals to initiate active collaborations with interested partners; the government to make the curriculum more flexible and curriculum developers to reconsider curricula adaptation. Kenya National Examination Council to focus on practical assessment and/or use of sign language interpreters. The government to increase disability fund and provide opportunities for capacity building for assistive-devices-technicians. Further research in the area of teachers’ proficiency in Kenya Sign Language to be conducted.
Online FDR Controlled Anomaly Detection for Streaming Time Series

As a large social network platform with more than 100 million daily active users, we have a large number of user engagement metrics stored in Google Cloud in the form of time series, detecting anomalies in such time series data in a robust fashion can give meaningful insights and enable proper subsequent actions. In this paper, we tackle this problem by transforming it into a multiple testing problem in the statistical domain. We first use STL (seasonal trend residual decomposition using Loess) to decompose the timeseries data, then we propose a novel empirical Bayes procedure for online False Discovery Rate (FDR) control at any nominal level on the residual terms. Our main contribution is the novel online FDR control procedure that’s robust and fits nicely with our streaming anomaly detection goal. Furthermore, our online FDR control procedure is a powerful statistical tool for many other anomaly detection algorithms since it can be directly applied on score functions or error terms to determine proper threshold, which are oftentimes empirically determined based on training data in the literature. R code for reproducing the results in the paper is provided in links hidden for double blind review.
A Novel design of low-power, high speed OTA in 50nm-CMOS technology

This paper presents design steps in detail for Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) design with 50nm-CMOS technology. Novel circuits, design choices, design analysis, and calculations are given to show the circuit topology, transistors’ dimensions, and capacitors’ values. Results obtained illustrate our design’s performance that meets all requirements of high speed, ultra low power, and voltage supply variation up to 40%. KeywordsOTA, telescopic, Beta-Multiplier Voltage Reference, high speed, low power, voltage supply variation
Developments in Titanium P/M

Recently there has been renewed interest in titanium powder metallurgy (P/M) as a cost-effective way of fabricating components from this expensive metal. In this paper, titanium P/M is reviewed dividing the technology into the categories of laserforming, powder injection molding, spraying, near net shapes (blended elemental and prealloyed), metal matrix composites, and far from equilibrium processing (rapid solidification, mechanical alloying and vapor deposition). It is proposed that with the availability of cost-affordable powders, and advances in fabrication techniques, the powder injection molding and blended elemental approaches in particular should see significant growth. INTRODUCTION Titanium alloys are amongst the most important of the advanced materials which are key to improved performance in aerospace and terrestrial systems (1,2). This is because of the excellent combinations of specific mechanical properties (properties normalized by density) and outstanding corrosion behavior [3-8] exhibited by titanium alloys. However, negating widespread use is the high cost of titanium alloys compared to competing materials. This has led to numerous investigation of various potentially lower cost processes [3], including powder metallurgy (P/M) techniques [3-7, 9, 10]. The titanium P/M scenario will be reviewed dividing the various technologies into the categories shown in Table I. An indication of where P/M fits into the broad scenario of fabrication techniques is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Diagram showing where powder metallurgy (P/M) in general and powder injection molding (PIM) in particular, fit in with other fabrication processes. (Courtesy of Krebsőge, Radevormwald). Table I. Categories of Titanium P/M Category Features Status Lasforming Powder Injection Molding Spraying
Power Electronic Converters for 12/8 Switched Reluctance Motor Drives: A Comparative Analysis

In this paper, five popular power electronic converters for three-phase 12/8 switched reluctance motor (SRM) drives including asymmetric power electronic converter, N+1 power electroic converter, split AC power electronic converter, split DC power electronic converter, and C-dump power electronic converter are investigated and compared in terms of device ratings, cost, efficiency, torque ripples, average torque, and copper losses. Comparison results show that C-dump converter is a more promising candidate in high-performance SRM drives, while split AC converter is recommended in low-cost applications.
Analysing the Resilience of Road network in Urban Areas Based on the Network Topology and Traffic Characteristics

The ability of the road network to maintain normal traffic functions has a critical role in the traffic operation systems when the road network in city area is damaged locally by some natural disasters such as urban floods. In this paper, we refine the concept of road network resilience and propose the “resilience indicator of the road network” (RIRN). Moreover, we present an integrated method to estimate the resilience of road network considering the network topology and traffic characteristics. First, the characteristics of the topological structure of an urban road network are analysed, and the topological index is structured based on the node degree, the betweenness centrality and the closeness centrality from Complex Network Theory. Second, the traffic index is structured based on the traffic volume and the surplus saturation degree (SSD). Third, a method is proposed to calculate the RIRN according to integrate the topological index and the traffic index. The methodology is demonstrated with a real case study considering different topological and traffic condition. The results showed that the accuracy of the resilience of road network is improved by considering the effect of traffic resilience. The effects of traffic characteristics on road network resilience are highlighted in this work and the results regarding the level of the resilience of road network can provide important information for decision makers in urban road network planning, traffic management and urban flood location control.
Efficient User Scheduling Algorithm for Zero-Forcing Beamforming in MIMO Broadcast Channels

This paper presents a novel user scheduling algorithm that provides a maximum sum-rate based on zero-forcing beamforming (ZFBF) in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The proposed technique determines primary user pairs of which the sum-rate exceeds the predetermined threshold. To determine the threshold, we define the maximum-sum-rate criterion (MSRC) derived from the extreme value theory (EVT). Applying the MSRC in ZFBF-based user scheduling, we found that the performance of the proposed method is comparable to the exhaustive searching scheme which requires greater computational load. Through computer simulations, we show that the proposed method outperforms the very well-known correlation-based method, semi-orthogonal user selection (SUS), yielding a sum rate that is about 0.56 bps/Hz higher when the transmit SNR is 10dB and the number of users and transmit antennas in a cell is 100 and four, respectively.
An Autonomous Vehicle for a RobotDay

This paper describes the autonomous car that is being built for the RobotDay competition, arranged by SICK GmbH. The basic rule is to let an autonomous vehicle drive a track as fast as possible, based on any sensor technology. Fo r this race SICK donated one S300 professional proximity sens or to each team. Our vehicle will use the circle sector expansion (CSE) metho d to avoid obstacles and to find its way along the track. We show initial results where the CSE method was used to guide the vehicle through a test track defined by cones and other object s.
3D MRI head segmentation in newborn infants

Nowadays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become one of the most important medical imaging techniques for studying the human brain. Very often, tissue segmentation is a prerequisite for a further clinical analysis. MRI segmentation of different head structures in newborn infants plays a crucial role in three-dimensional (3D) volume visualization and allows us to measure the growth, to explore developmental changes and to detect early disorders of different anatomical structures for both scientific and clinical investigations. For example, to combine electroencephalography (EEG) and MRI for the epileptic source localization, an anatomic head model is required with segments of scalp, skull, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain tissue, which have significantly different electrical conductivities. However, accurate tissue segmentation is a difficult task and presents a range of challenges (i.e. presence of noise, partial volume effects, bias field and motion artifacts). This is even more complex for developing neonates, mainly due to the fast growth process and different biological tissue properties. To date, many MRI segmentation techniques have been reported for adult brain, but very few for the neonatal brain [1].
Surgical Catheterization of Inferoir Vena Cava for Emergent Hemodialysis

Arteriovenous fistula or central venous catheterization carries vital importance for hemodialysis which is an important treatment option in patients with chronic renal failure. In patients without an arteriovenous fistula providing adequate flow, a central venous catheter is required for emergent hemodialysis. In case of terminal access problems due to arterial or venous occlusions, catheterization of the inferior vena cava or the heart may be performed. Here we present two cases with terminal access problems in whom we performed surgical
A Test of the Channel Models of Flow in Internet Context

In this study we investigate the flow experience in Internet context using channel models. Flow is an optimal state of experience with concentration and control. In order for flow to occur, one important requirement is to have a balance between challenge of the activity and the skill we have to carry out the activity. Based on relative levels of challenge and skill, we fall into one of the four categories, i.e., channels. Only in the channel with high challenge and high skill flow experience would occur. We study the model using data collected during web browsing. Results are not in total consistence with the flow theory and further research is needed to study the particularity of Internet activities.
Action Rules of Lowest Cost and Action Set Correlations

A knowledge discovery system is prone to yielding plenty of patterns, presented in the form of rules. Sifting through to identify useful and interesting patterns is a tedious and time consuming process. An important measure of interestingness is: whether or not the pattern can be used in the decision making process of a business to increase profit. Hence, actionable patterns, such as action rules, are desirable. Action rules may suggest actions to be taken based on the discovered knowledge. In this way contributing to business strategies and scientific research. The large amounts of knowledge in the form of rules presents a challenge of identifying the essence, the most important part, of high usability. We focus on decreasing the space of action rules through generalization. In this work, we present a new method for computing the lowest cost of action rules and their generalizations. We discover action rules of lowest cost by taking into account the correlations between individual atomic action sets.