Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Patterns of cortical thinning in the language variants of frontotemporal lobar degeneration

Background: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a clinically, genetically, and pathologically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder. Two subtypes commonly present with a language disorder: semantic dementia (SemD) and progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA). Methods: Patients meeting consensus criteria for PNFA and SemD who had volumetric MRI of sufficient quality to allow cortical thickness analysis were recruited from a tertiary referral clinic: 44 (11 pathologically confirmed) patients with SemD and 32 (4 pathologically confirmed) patients with PNFA and 29 age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls were recruited. Cortical thickness analysis was performed using the Freesurfer software tools. Results: Patients with SemD had significant cortical thinning in the left temporal lobe, particularly temporal pole, entorhinal cortex, and parahippocampal, fusiform, and inferior temporal gyri. A similar but less extensive pattern of loss was seen in the right temporal lobe and (with increasing severity) also in left orbitofrontal, inferior frontal, insular, and cingulate cortices. Patients with PNFA had involvement particularly of the left superior temporal lobe, inferior frontal lobe, and insula, and (with increasing severity) other areas in the left frontal, lateral temporal, and anterior parietal lobes. Similar patterns were seen in the pathologically confirmed cases. Patterns of cortical thinning differed between groups: SemD had significantly more cortical thinning in the temporal lobes bilaterally while PNFA had significantly more thinning in the frontal and parietal lobes. Conclusions: The language variants of frontotemporal lobar degeneration have distinctive and significantly different patterns of cortical thinning. Increasing disease severity is associated with spread of cortical thinning and the pattern of spread is consistent with progression of clinical deficits.
Collaborative process modeling with tablets and touch tables - A controlled experiment

Collaborative process modeling involves business analysts and subject matter experts in order to properly capture and document process knowledge. In this context, appropriate tool support is required to motivate these user groups to actively participate in collaborative process modeling. This paper presents a collaborative process modeling tool that enables the experts to create, visualize and evolve process models based on multi-touch devices (e.g., tablets and touch tables). In particular, users may edit process models on their tablets and share the created or changed process models with other team members on a common touch table. For this purpose, a sophisticated and intuitive interaction concept is provided. Furthermore, results of a controlled experiment, evaluating the influence the use of tablets has on collaborative process modeling based on touch tables, are presented. Altogether the experimental results emphasize the high potential of multi-touch tools for collaborative process modeling.
Efficacy of pamidronate in children with low bone mineral density during and after chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Background Reduced bone mineral density (BMD) is a significant sequelae in children receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Reduced BMD is associated with an increased risk for fractures. Pamidronate, a second-generation bisphosphonate, has been used to treat osteoporosis in children. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of pamidronate in children with low BMD during and after chemotherapy for ALL and NHL. Methods Between April 2007 and October 2011, 24 children with ALL and NHL were treated with pamidronate. The indication was a decreased BMD Z-score less than -2.0 or bone pain with a BMD Z-score less than 0. Pamidronate was infused at 1 mg/kg/day for 3 days at 1-4 month intervals (pamidronate group, cases). The BMD Z-scores of the cases were compared with those of 10 untreated patients (control group). Lumbar spine BMDs were measured every 6 cycles using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and Z-scores were calculated. Bone turnover parameters (25-hydroxyvitamin D, alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin, and type I collagen c-terminal telopeptide) were analyzed. Results The median cycle of pamidronate treatment was 12. Increases in BMD Z-scores were significantly higher in the pamidronate group than in the control group (P<0.001). BMD (mg/cm2) increased in all pamidronate-treated cases. Twenty patients who complained of bone pain reported pain relief after therapy. The treatment was well tolerated. Conclusion Pamidronate appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of children with low BMD during and after chemotherapy for ALL and NHL.
Frequency-reconfigurable antenna using ellipse-shaped patch with defected ground structure

Recently, there has been an increased demand for single systems that can handle different wireless communication applications simultaneously. Often, it is impractical to allocate multiple antennas to the same system, so multifunctional antennas are a critical necessity. Also, most existing frequency-reconfigurable antennas (FRA) are made from non-transparent materials, but a transparent antenna may be useful in scenarios where the antenna should not impair visibility. Furthermore, wideband-to-narrowband reconfigurability has potential for use in future cognitive radio systems. This thesis focuses on FRAs with wideband-tonarrowband reconfigurability that use transparent and non-transparent materials. The ultra-wideband antenna design uses an ellipse-shaped patch, thereby yielding a 7.77 GHz impedance bandwidth from 2.83 GHz to 10.66 GHz. The first FRA is obtained by introducing a pair of annular ring slots defected ground structure (DGS) resonator with metal switches. Its initial wideband operation mode from 3 GHz to 6 GHz can be reconfigured into six additional bandwidth modes with a dual-band operation centred at 3.7 GHz and 5.8 GHz and five single-band modes resonating at 4.2 GHz, 4.58 GHz, 4.86 GHz, 5.7 GHz and 6 GHz. Meanwhile, a FRA for the Wireless Local-Area Network applications is reconfigured from a pair of rectangular DGS resonators integrated with PIN diodes. The antenna is able to switch between a narrowband operation centred at 5.8 GHz and a wideband operation in the range of 3.5 - 5.97 GHz. Finally, a semi-transparent antenna with a wideband-to-narrowband frequency mode is achieved by integrating an E-shaped DGS resonator and PIN diodes to disrupt the current flow. The antenna exhibits an impedance bandwidth from 3 GHz to 6 GHz in the wideband mode and a resonance at 4.75 GHz when operated in the narrowband mode. All prototypes are fabricated and measured to verify the simulated results. The gain of antenna fabricated using the AgHT-4 transparent material is about 59% lower compared to FR-4 due to the electrical loss of the transparent film.
The Influence of Commonly Used Plasticizing Admixtures on the Plasticizing Effect of Cement Paste

Abstract The article aims to present a research into the impact of dosage and effectiveness of commonly used plasticizing admixtures. More specifically, it focuses on rheological properties of the cement pastes (yield stresses and plastic viscosities) of different testing times (from 0 min to 90 min after mixing). The following materials were used in the study: Portland cement CEM I 42.5 R, plasticizer P (ligno-sulphonates based), superplasticizer SP1 (modified acrylic polymer based), superplasticizer SP2 (polycarboxylate esters based) and water. Experiments were carried out using rotational rheometer Rheotest RN4.1 with coaxial cylinders. It was observed that larger dosage of SP1 (0.6–1.2 %) results in slower increase in plasticizing effects until the 90 min margin. In conclusion, from the start of mixing until the 90 min margin, the best plasticizing effect and its retention are achieved by superplasticizer SP2. Recommended SP2 dosage varies within the range of 0.6 % to 0.8 %.
Carbon Nanotube quantum dots: Transport, mechanical charge detection, and fabrication development

Within this thesis, a diverse set of experiments on carbon nanotube quantum dots is presented and evaluated. Different fabrication methods, and improvement of single steps of established known procedures are used to obtain suspended CNT devices. In particular, an ultraclean carbon nanotube quantum dot is examined regarding low-temperature transport. Furthermore, its outstanding nano-electromechanical properties are used to infer the charge distribution in the Kondo regime. Theoretical calculations from previous work are extended to model the CNT quantum dot as nano-electromechanical system. Applying these results to the measured data, a characteristic shift is attributed to the Kondo effect. The second part of this thesis deals with optimization of molybdenum rhenium alloys for CNT contact materials. This alloy is the third material besides platinum and pristine rhenium at all to withstand carbon nanotube growth conditions. In addition, low-temperature transport measurements of CNTs suspended in between MoRe electrodes are presented and evaluated. In order to circumvent the restriction of suitable contact materials for the overgrowth technique, another fabrication approach was performed. The main objective was to prove that carbon nanotubes can be stamped onto arbitrary target chips. At the end of this work, the stamping approach for carbon nanotube devices delivers first low-temperature transport results of our group.
Clinical Performance and Safety of Closed-Loop Systems: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Automated systems can improve the stability of controlled variables and reduce the workload in clinical practice without increasing the risks to patients. We conducted this review and meta-analysis to assess the clinical performance of closed-loop systems compared with manual control. Our primary outcome was the accuracy of closed-loop systems in comparison with manual control to maintain a given variable in a desired target range. The occurrence of overshoot and undershoot episodes was the secondary outcome. We retrieved randomized controlled trials on accuracy and safety of closed-loop systems versus manual control. Our primary outcome was the percentage of time during which the system was able to maintain a given variable (eg, bispectral index or oxygen saturation) in a desired range or the proportion of the target measurements that was within the required range. Our secondary outcome was the percentage of time or the number of episodes that the controlled variable was above or below the target range. The standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for continuous outcomes, whereas the odds ratio and 95% CI were estimated for dichotomous outcomes. Thirty-six trials were included. Compared with manual control, automated systems allowed better maintenance of the controlled variable in the anesthesia drug delivery setting (95% CI, 11.7%–23.1%; percentage of time, P < 0.0001, number of studies: n = 15), in patients with diabetes mellitus (95% CI, 11.5%–30.9%; percentage of time, P = 0.001, n = 8), and in patients mechanically ventilated (95% CI, 1.5%–23.1%; percentage of time, P = 0.03, n = 8). Heterogeneity among the studies was high (>75%). We observed a significant reduction of episodes of overshooting and undershooting when closed-loop systems were used. The use of automated systems can result in better control of a given target within a selected range. There was a decrease of overshooting or undershooting of a given target with closed-loop systems.
Association of the miR-146a, miR-149, miR-196a2, and miR-499 Polymorphisms With Ischemic Stroke and Silent Brain Infarction Risk

Objective—MicroRNAs play a role in atherosclerosis-related diseases, such as cerebrovascular or cardiovascular disease. However, the effect of miR-146a, miR-149, miR-196a2, and miR-499 polymorphisms on stroke and silent brain infarction (SBI) susceptibility has not been reported. Methods and Results—Using polymerase chain reaction-amplified DNA, microRNA polymorphisms were analyzed in 678 patients with ischemic stroke, 373 patients with SBI, and 553 control subjects. The miR-146aC>G polymorphism and miR-146aG/-149T/-196a2C/-499G allele combination was significantly associated with ischemic stroke prevalence. For SBI prevalence, there were no statistically significant genetic markers. However, some allele combinations were associated with increased SBI incidence (C-T-C-G and G-T-T-A of miR-146a/-149/-196a2/-499). In subgroup analyses, miR-146aC>G increased stroke risk in female, normotensive, and nondiabetic groups. There were significant combined effects between microRNA polymorphisms and homocysteine/folate levels on ischemic stroke and SBI prevalence. Conclusion—The miR-146aG allele and miR-146aG/-149T/-196a2C/-499G allele combination were associated with ischemic stroke pathogenesis. The combined effects between microRNA polymorphisms and homocysteine/folate levels may contribute to stroke and SBI prevalence.
Thermoelectric Device: Contact Interface and Interface Materials

: Thermoelectric power generation via Seebeck effect features an unique advantage in converting large amount of distributed and low-grade waste heat into electricity. Thermoelectric materials have become a hot topic of research in the field of new energy materials, guided by the high figure of merit ZT . Although various mid-temperature thermoelectric materials were discovered, the industrial application of these materials, especially in power generation applications, progressed very slowly. The staggering interface technology associated with thermoelectric device re-stricted the advance of thermoelectric conversion technology. In this review, the bottleneck issues of utilizing Bi 2 Te 3 -based devices for power generation were used as an example to illustrate the critical interface technologies. The key issues at designing electrode contact interfaces were summarized, including low contact resistance, high bonding strength, and superior thermal chemical stability at high temperature. The recent progress on the metallization and interfacial barrier layer for typical materials of Bi 2 Te 3 , PbTe and CoSb 3 were also reviewed.
An energy efficient trajectory tracking controller for car-like vehicles using Model Predictive Control

A Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategy for energy efficient motion control of car-like vehicles is presented. First, a nonlinear control law for trajectory tracking is derived and used to design a trajectory tracking MPC controller with convergence guarantees to a desired position trajectory. Then, assuming electric propulsion, a performance index reflecting the energy consumption of the vehicle is derived and combined with the stabilizing stage cost of the MPC controller. The resulting strategy drives the vehicle through energy efficient trajectories around the desired one. The distance between the closed-loop trajectories and the desired one provided by the user is guaranteed to be ultimately bounded. Numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy for the case of a car driven through flat land or mountainous territory.
Multifunctional Optoelectronic Device Based on an Asymmetric Active Layer Structure

A single device with a variety of capabilities is highly attractive for the increasing demands of complex and multifunctional optoelectronics. A hybrid heterojunction formed between CsPbBr3 halide perovskite and chalcogenide quantum dots is demonstrated. The heterojunction served as an asymmetric active layer allows not only charge separation/exciton dissociation in a benign process, but also carrier injection/recombination with the suppression of bulk and interfacial nonradiative recombination. An individual device incorporating such a heterojunction is therefore implemented with an integration of proof‐of‐concept functions, including a voltage controllable multicolor light‐emitting diode, an exceptionally high photovoltage energy‐harvesting device, and an ultrafast photosensitive detector. The figures of merit of the light‐emitting diode remarkably surpass those of the corresponding single‐active‐layer device, particularly in terms of its bright electroluminescence and superior long‐term stability. The asymmetric active layer concept provides a feasible route to design efficient multifunctional and monofunctional devices in the future.
Presence: Where Are We?

179 IN 1978, THE PHILOSOPHER DANIEL DENNETT presented us with an interesting and entertaining thought experiment entitled “Where am I? ” as the last chapter of his Brainstorms book.1 Dennett recounts the story of a “curious episode” in his life where his brain got surgically separated from his body, with each connection between them restored by placing two “microminiaturized radio transceivers” between each input and output pathway. After the operation he, or rather his body, goes to visit his brain, which was placed, in keeping with the best philosophical traditions, in a lifesupport vat. While looking with his own eyes at his own brain he starts to wonder:
Design of a wireless and batteryless heart rate monitor

This paper presents the design of a wireless and batteryless heart rate monitor. The measurement is done using a single-lead ECG raw signal. The design is based on a commercial ultra low power microcontroller, an optimized full-custom RF Front-End, a ultra low power Threshold Comparator and a Programmable Gain Amplifier implemented in commercial 90 nm CMOS. The communications are compliant with the ISO 11784/11785 HDX standard. The complete design consumes only 15 μW and the heart rate measurement is done in only 3.2 seconds. A comparison with the best literature approach demonstrate that presented design is a 45% more efficient in terms of energy.
Gynecological disorders in bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis patients

Bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis, a chronic inflammatory condition of the bladder, is the source of pain in over 30% of female patients with chronic pelvic pain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the most frequent associations between bladder pain syndrome/interstitial cystitis and gynecological disorders.
Tiling a figure using a height in a tree

We fist give a new presentation of an algorithm from Thurston of tiling with lozenges formed from two cells of the triangular lattice A. Secondly we extend the method to get a lineatalgorithm of tiling with leaning dominoes (parallelograms formed from four cells of A) and triangles (formed from four cells of A). Thirdly, we produce a quadratic algorithm of tiling with leaning dominoes.
Multiuser ML sequence estimator for convolutionally coded asynchronous DS-CDMA systems

The optimal multiuser sequence estimator is formulated for an asynchronous direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) system where each user employs convolutional coding to improve its performance on a nondispersive additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. It is shown that the decoder may be implemented efficiently using a Viterbi algorithm which operates on a time-varying trellis with a number of states which is exponential in the product of the number of users in the system and the constraint length of the codes used (for the rate 1/2 code case). The asymptotic efficiency of this receiver relative to an uncoded coherent binary phase shift keying (BPSK) receiver (termed asymptotic multiuser coding gain, or AMCG) is then upper and lower bounded. The AMCG parameter unifies the asymptotic coding gain parameter and the asymptotic multiuser efficiency parameter which are traditional figure of merit parameters for single-user coded systems and multiuser uncoded systems, respectively. Finally, some simulations are presented to illustrate the performance of the maximum likelihood sequence estimator (MLSE) at moderate and low bit error rates.
Study of the US road network based on social network analysis

The complexity of big data structures and networks demands more research in terms of analysing and representing data for a better comprehension and usage. In this regard, there are several types of model to represent a structure. The aim of this article is to use a social network topology to analyse road network for the following States in the United States (US): California, Pennsylvania and Texas. Our approach mainly focuses on clustering of road network data in order to create “communities”.
Simulating City-Scale Aerial Data Collection Using Unreal Engine

The rendering quality of game engines has significantly improved in realism. Physically-based rendering techniques started to overtake traditional rasterization-based graphics rendering pipelines in interactive rendering applications. We leverage these advancements to replicate our real-world city-scale aerial image data collections in the Unreal Engine. The use of city-scale synthetic data has many benefits in computer vision and remote sensing research. We can generate ground truth data for many applications, such as feature extraction, bundle adjustment, 3D reconstruction, object tracking, shadow detection, and shadow removal. This is crucial since sufficient ground truth data is not always publicly available for these use cases. In this paper, we introduce an easy-to-use Unreal Engine Blueprint pipeline that replicates drone and plane flight data collections in a circular orbit. Then, we highlight the issues arising from the approximate algorithms used by game engines as proxies for real-world data, and offer solutions to these challenges. Finally, we present our use cases, showing how we use the synthetic data generated by this approach in various research applications.
On the optimal solution definition for many-criteria optimization problems

When dealing with many-criteria decision making and many-objectives optimization problems the concepts of Pareto optimality and Pareto dominance are inefficient for modelling and simulating human decision making. Different fuzzy-based definitions of optimality and dominated solution are introduced and tested on analytical test cases in order to show their validity and closeness to human decision making.
Reducing Mistrust in Agent-Human Negotiations

Face-to-face negotiations always benefit if the interacting individuals trust each other. But trust is also important in online interactions, even for humans interacting with a computational agent. In this article, the authors describe a behavioral experiment to determine whether, by volunteering information that it need not disclose, a software agent in a multi-issue negotiation can alleviate mistrust in human counterparts who differ in their propensities to mistrust others. Results indicated that when cynical, mistrusting humans negotiated with an agent that proactively communicated its issue priority and invited reciprocation, there were significantly more agreements and better utilities than when the agent didn't volunteer such information. Furthermore, when the agent volunteered its issue priority, the outcomes for mistrusting individuals were as good as those for trusting individuals, for whom the volunteering of issue priority conferred no advantage. These findings provide insights for designing more effective, socially intelligent agents in online negotiation settings.