Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A psychophysical forward masking comparison of longitudinal spread of neural excitation in the Contour™ and straight Nucleus® electrode arrays

The objective of the study was to compare the widths of forward masking profiles in subjects implanted with the Nucleus® 24 Contour™ or straight electrode array. The Contour array is typically positioned closer to the modiolus than the straight array. Subjects were fourteen postlingually hearing-impaired adults with severe-profound hearing loss, seven used the Contour array and seven used the straight array. Forward masking profiles were measured at three positions along the array (apical, mid, and basal) using maskers at the 15% loudness level. It was hypothesized that masking profile widths would be more sensitive to differences in distance from the neural structures using low-level maskers. Masking width was calculated at the 50% point of the masking peak amplitude. There were no significant differences in masking widths between Contour and straight array subject groups. Current levels for hearing thresholds and maximum comfortable listening levels were significantly lower for the Contour array subjects.
Technological issues towards knowledge-powered organizations

Organizations have already realized the significance of capturing, sharing and applying the collective experience and know‐how of their members. The aim is to increase operational efficiency, productivity, quality of services and get innovative products and solutions to their customers. However, it is well known that technological approaches for managing organizational knowledge need further development for their effective deployment in real settings. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of previous work done in information technology solutions to support knowledge management, to specify important features that an advanced knowledge management system must have in order to be successfully deployed in an organization, and identify emerging technological issues that must be researched and be developed in order the technological expectations of the knowledge management community to be fulfilled.
Proposal reviewer recommendation system based on big data for a national research management institute

National research management organizations need to ensure that research proposals are reviewed fairly and efficiently, which requires the selection of suitable reviewers. In particular, reviewing research proposals in a particular area necessitates the selection of a group with the most reasonable standard for recommending an expert in that area. In this study, we develop an automatic matching system that matches a research proposal with a reviewer who can evaluate it most effectively, using keywords with fuzzy weights based on databases in the corresponding field of research. All functions that we developed were based on the MapReduce framework created by Hadoop, which was verified to enhance matching performance and ensure expandability. This enabled us to select suitable researchers from existing research projects, papers and research reviewer databases. Our system can influence the operation of the national research management system and contribute to academic development.
Class Aware Duty Cycle (CADC) to improve QoS of IEEE 802.15.4 networks

IEEE 802.15. 4 standard defines the specification of the physical layer and the MAC sub-layer for low rate wireless personal area networks (LR-WPAN). The standard specifies CSMA/CA as the access method to use during Contention Access Period (CAP). Such method gives almost the same probability for all devices to access the medium. In case the traffic generated by the devices has the same priority level, this method seems to be quite fair. However, if traffic differentiation is considered, this method should be adjusted to overcome the shortcoming. In fact, as the number of applications keeps growing, it is completely sane to classify the generated traffic according to its priority level. In this paper, we propose an enhancement of IEEE 802.15. 4 Beacon-enabled mode in which we adapt the probability of a device to access the medium according to its priority level. BO and SO are two parameters in IEEE 802.15. 4 standard that determine the duration of Beacon Interval and Superframe Duration respectively. Our scheme proposes to allocate a different BO to each type of traffic so that the highest priority level type of traffic has the lowest BO and vice versa. Simulation results show an improvement in synchronization time, a reduction in the number of sent packets during the association phase, and a decrease in energy consumption during the synchronization of the entire network.
Cycle to cycle control in FES-assisted elliptical stepping exercise

The development of FES-assisted exercise system is a challenging task due to the dynamic behavior of the muscular skeletal system. This paper presents the design of the cycle to cycle control technique based on the fuzzy logic control (FLC) algorithm for FES-assisted elliptical stepping exercise. The control aims to produce an appropriate FES stimulation signal for quadriceps muscle that actuates the knee joint movement during the exercise. The design is done through a computer simulation that involves the modeling of the exercise system and development of the controller. The performance of the FLC based cycle to cycle control technique is evaluated based on the response in terms of the exercise movement. The produced FES stimulation signal for activating the quadriceps muscle is also recorded and analyzed. Based on the analysis, the cycle to cycle control technique has shown a promising performance in controlling the FES-assisted elliptical stepping exercise.
Micromechanics Modeling of 3D Network Smart Orthotropic Structures

Abstract—Two micromechanical models for 3D smart composite with embedded periodic or nearly periodic network of generally orthotropic reinforcements and actuators are developed and applied to cubic structures with unidirectional orientation of constituents. Analytical formulas for the effective piezothermoelastic coefficients are derived using the Asymptotic Homogenization Method (AHM). Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is subsequently developed and used to examine the aforementioned periodic 3D network reinforced smart structures. The deformation responses from the FE simulations are used to extract effective coefficients. The results from both techniques are compared. This work considers piezoelectric materials that respond linearly to changes in electric field, electric displacement, mechanical stress and strain and thermal effects. This combination of electric fields and thermo-mechanical response in smart composite structures is characterized by piezoelectric and thermal expansion coefficients. The problem is represented by unitcell and the models are developed using the AHM and the FEA to determine the effective piezoelectric and thermal expansion coefficients. Each unit cell contains a number of orthotropic inclusions in the form of structural reinforcements and actuators. Using matrix representation of the coupled response of the unit cell, the effective piezoelectric and thermal expansion coefficients are calculated and compared with results of the asymptotic homogenization method. A very good agreement is shown between these two approaches.
Treatment and Prognosis of Isolated Local Relapse after Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Clinical Stage I Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Importance of Salvage Surgery

Introduction: Many efforts have been made to detect local relapse (LR) in the follow-up after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) although limited data are available on its treatment and prognosis. We aimed to characterize treatment options and clarify long-term outcomes of isolated LR after SBRT for patients with clinical stage I NSCLC. Methods: We reviewed our institutional database in search of patients with isolated LR after SBRT for clinical stage I NSCLC at our institution between 1999 and 2013. Patient characteristics were compared with Mann–Whitney U test, &khgr;2 test, or Fisher’s exact test as appropriate. Survival outcomes were estimated with Kaplan–Meier method. Potential prognostic factors were investigated using Cox proportional hazard model. Results: Of 308 patients undergoing SBRT for clinical stage I NSCLC, 49 patients were identified to have isolated LR. Twelve patients underwent salvage surgery, none underwent radiotherapy, and eight patients received chemotherapy, whereas 29 patients received best supportive care. No patient characteristic except operability was significantly related with patient selection for LR treatments. Five-year overall survival (OS) rate of the whole cohort was 47.9% from SBRT and 25.7% from LR. Salvage surgery was associated with improved OS after LR (p = 0.014), and 5-year OS for patients undergoing salvage surgery was 79.5% from LR. Conclusions: It was confirmed that our patient selection for salvage surgery for isolated LR was associated with favorable survival outcomes. Operability based on multidisciplinary conferences, rather than measurable patient characteristics, is essential for appropriate patient selection for salvage surgery.
Translational Research in Acute Lung Injury and Pulmonary Fibrosis Exposure to mechanical ventilation promotes tolerance to ventilator-induced lung injury by Ccl 3 downregulation

Jorge Blázquez-Prieto, Inés López-Alonso, Laura Amado-Rodríguez, Estefanía Batalla-Solís, Adrián González-López, and Guillermo M. Albaiceta Departamento de Biología Funcional, Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain; Área de Gestión Clínica de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital Valle del Nalón, Langreo, Spain; Department of Anesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care Medicine, Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany; and Servicio de Medicina Intensiva, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain
A Method to Determine the Severity Level of Dispute Policy Based on Safe Configuration Guidance

In this paper, a method to determine the severity level of dispute policy based on safe configuration guidance is present. This severity level of dispute policy will provide the network administrator more specific and guided information and help them to choose the debugged routing policy, eliminate policy disputes and solve the route oscillations efficiently. This method first extends Routing Policy Specification Language so as to enable it to describe the relationship between Autonomous Systems, which arises from the commercial contracts. And then, each of Autonomous System utilizes this extended language to describe the relationships between its own and its direct neighbors. When route oscillations occur, the algorithm to determine the dispute routing policies based on dispute cycle avoidance will identify the dispute policy set inducing route oscillations. Finally, according to the relationship of autonomous system and the safe configuration guidance, the severity level of dispute policy will be determined. In addition, a simulation instance is given in order to explain results of this method.
Semantic Web Based Formalization of Argumentation Mechanism in E-Commerce Negotiation

The argumentation-based negotiation is among the most recent negotiation approaches. It is studied in several research works which mainly propose general models. The modeling of argumentation-based negotiation mechanism for a specific domain such as e-commerce requires taking into account its specificity with regard to the nature of exchanged information, the various situations of the negotiation parts and advantages and disadvantages of possible decisions. The main issue in the use of the argumentation-based negotiation is the formalization of the negotiation mechanism. This study aims to propose a semantic web based formalization of argumentation mechanism in e-commerce negotiation; the proposed approach is inspired from the theoretical model developed by Toulmin, S. and the force field analysis technique of Lewin, K. We argue in this paper that our approach synthesizes and improves the general approaches of argumentation. The semantic web based formalization comprises the representation of the elements of arguments, the forces conducting the taken deci- sions, as well as the protocol of arguments exchange. Semantic web technologies are also employed in the representation of all knowledge which relates to marketplace and its elements (products, buyers and sellers). The electronic marketplace architecture presented in this work is a multi-agent system; the developed agents (Buyer agent and Seller agent) exploit a set of ontologies (MarketOntology, BuyerOntology, SellerOntology, LaptopOntology and ArgumentOntology) and Laptops are chosen as a case of study of sold products.
Monitoring of non-cigarette tobacco use using Google Trends

Background Google Trends is an innovative monitoring system with unique potential to monitor and predict important phenomena that may be occurring at a population level. We sought to validate whether Google Trends can additionally detect regional trends in youth and adult tobacco use. Methods We compared 2011 Google Trends relative search volume data for cigars, cigarillos, little cigars and smokeless tobacco with state prevalence of youth (grades 9–12) and adult (age 18 and older) use of these products using data from the 2011 United States state-level Youth Risk Behaviors Surveillance System and the 2010–2011 United States National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), respectively. We used the Pearson correlation coefficient to measure the associations. Results We found significant positive correlations between state Google Trends cigar relative search volume and prevalence of cigar use among youth (r=0.39, R2 = 0.154, p=0.018) and adults (r=0.49, R2 = 0.243, p<0.001). Similarly, we found that the correlations between state Google Trends smokeless tobacco relative search volume and prevalence of smokeless tobacco use among youth and adults were both positive and significant (r=0.46, R2 = 0.209, p=0.003 and r=0.48, R2 = 0.226, p<0.001, respectively). Conclusions The results of this study validate that Google Trends has the potential to be a valuable monitoring tool for tobacco use. The near real-time monitoring features of Google Trends may complement traditional surveillance methods and lead to faster and more convenient monitoring of emerging trends in tobacco use.
Performance evaluation of gesture-based interaction between different age groups using Fitts' Law

The recent advances made in human-computer interaction have allowed us to manipulate digital contents exploiting recognition-based technologies. However, no work has been reported that evaluates how these interfaces influence the performance of different user groups. With the appearance of multiple sensors and controllers for hand gesture recognition, it becomes important to understand if these groups have similar performance levels concerning gestural interaction, and if some sensors could induce better results than others when dealing with users of different age brackets. In this respect, it could also be important to realize if the device's sensor accuracy in terms of hand / full body recognition influences interaction performance. We compare two gesture-sensing devices (Microsoft Kinect and Leap Motion) using Fitts' law to evaluate target acquisition performances, with relation to users' age differences. In this article, we present the results of an experiment implemented to compare the groups' performance using each of the devices and also realize which one could yield better results. 60 subjects took part in this study and they were asked to select 50 targets on the screen as quickly and accurately as possible using one of the devices. Overall, there was a statistically significant difference in terms of performance between the groups in the selection task. On the other hand, users' performance showed to be rather consistent when comparing both devices side by side in each group of users, which may imply that the device itself does not influence performance but actually the type of group does.
A robust adaptive microphone array with improved spatial selectivity and its evaluation in a real environment

This paper presents a new robust adaptive microphone array (AMA) and its evaluation in an echoic environment. The proposed AMA is a generalized sidelobe canceller equipped with a variable blocking matrix using coefficient-constrained adaptive filters, and a multiple-input canceller using norm-constrained adaptive filters (NCAFs). Because the NCAFs have selective nonlinearity in the relationship between coefficient norm and coefficient error, the proposed AMA has better spatial selectivity than the conventional AMA. Evaluation with real acoustic data captured in a room of 0.3-second reverberation time shows that the noise is suppressed by 19 dB. In subjective evaluation, the proposed AMA obtains 3.8 on a 5-point mean opinion score scale.
NSRL for Chloroethane

The cancer potency of chloroethane was estimated from dose-response data of uterine tumors among female mice exposed by inhalation (NTP, 1989). The cancer potency estimate corresponds to the upper 95 percent confidence bound on the linear term of the multistage model fit to cancer dose-response data in experimental animals. The potency derivation takes into account body size differences between humans and experimental animals. The Proposition 65 “no significant risk level” (NSRL) is defined in regulation as the daily intake level posing a 10 lifetime risk of cancer. The cancer potency estimate and corresponding NSRL are given in Table 1.
Histamine H1 receptor blockade predominantly impairs sensory processes in human sensorimotor performance

Background and purpose: Centrally active antihistamines impair cognitive performance, particularly sensorimotor performance. The aim of the present study was to further elucidate the scarcely studied subprocesses involved in sensorimotor performance, which may be affected by H1 receptor blockade. Better knowledge about the cognitive deficits associated with histamine dysfunction can contribute to better treatment of clinical disorders in which histamine hypofunction may be a contributing factor, such as in schizophrenia.
Immunogenicity and evolutionary variability of epitopes within IgA1 protease from serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis

Five murine epitopes were defined and mapped within IgA1 protease produced by Neisseria meningitidis. Epitopes 1 and 2 were present in IgA1 protease from all strains, and from Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Epitopes 3 through to 5 varied between subgroups of serogroup A meningococci. but have remained constant over decades within the subgroups, except for epitope 4, which changed between 1983 and 1987 during the spread of subgroup III meningococci from Asia to Africa. Binding of monoclonal antibodies to epitopes 1, 4 and 5 neutralized enzymatic function. Human sera containing antibodies to lgA1 protease as a result of natural infection inhibited binding of monoclonal antibodies to epitope 4 but not to the other epitopes.
Image-based visual servoing of helical microswimmers for arbitrary planar path following at low reynolds numbers

Magnetically actuated microswimmers have shown great potentials in multiple application scenarios, attracting researchers to investigate their swimming characteristics and controlling methods. However, among those studies, only a small number of closed-loop control schemes have been applied, which is crucial for the accuracy and repeatability in applications. In this paper, we proposed an Image-Based Visual Servoing(IBVS) method for arbitrary planar path following using features directly presented in image space as feedbacks. During experiments we found that IBVS guarantees convergence while not requiring camera calibrations. Furthermore, the proposed path following method is intuitive and flexible, and provides great potentials in various applications.
A novel thermosensitive escape behavior in Drosophila larvae

We describe a novel thermosensitive escape behavior in Drosophila larvae and a simple assay to accurately define the response temperature. When a larva is placed in a droplet of water that is subsequently heated, a stereotypical escape response is robustly elicited at 29°C. Larvae defective for the painless TRP receptor, or blocked in the function of class IV multi-dendritic sensory dendrites respond to this stimulus at reproducibly higher temperature (34°C). The escape response has novel behavioral components and a lower temperature threshold in comparison with the responses to touch with a hot needle. Furthermore the assay minimizes operator bias that is present in current tests of thermosensitive nociception and generates a precise determination of temperature at the point of response. This response is highly reproducible and directly applicable to genetic and neural circuit analysis of a simple escape behavior.
Admission Serum Calcium Levels Improve the GRACE Risk Score Prediction of Hospital Mortality in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome

The Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk score has been extensively validated to predict risk during hospitalization in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Recently, serum calcium has been suggested as an independent predictor for in‐hospital mortality in patients with ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction; however, the relationship between the 2 has not been evaluated.
Designing a new two-dimensional molecular layout by hydrogen bonding.

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Designing a new two-dimensional molecular layout by hydrogen bonding Mathieu Abel, Vincent Oison, Mathieu Koudia, C. Maurel, Claudine Katan, Louis Porte
An Enhanced Segmentation Method by Combining Super Resolution and Level Set

High accuracy in image segmentation is highly demanded in today’s technological world. In this paper combining super resolution image reconstruction with level set image is proposed as a way to improve image segmentation. The term Super resolution, resolution enhancement, is a process to increase the resolution of an image. This improvement quality is due to sub-pixel shift of low resolution (LR) images from each other between images. In fact, each LR image has new information of the image and the main aim of super resolution is to combining these LR images to enhance the image resolution. Following this method, allows users that without any demand for additional hardware, overcoming the limitations of the imaging system. Moreover, the main goal of segmentation is to distinguish an object from background. Segmentation can do that by dividing pixels of an image into prominent image regions. In fact, a specific region is corresponding to individual objects or natural parts of objects. Segmentation can be used in different fields such as image compression and image editing. Vandewalle algorithm and level set segmentation are used in the super resolution and segmentation part respectively. Additionally the regularity of the level set function is conserved via level set regularization term to evade expensive evolving level set function re-initialization. Experiment results for real and magnetic resolution (MR) images indicate the performance of our method. Using level set segmentation technique with super resolution, improves segmentation results in both normal and MR images.