Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arterial Stiffness and Pharmacological Interventions – The TRanscend Arterial stiffNess Substudy (TRANS study)

The degree of arterial stiffness is correlated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases and it is a powerful predictor for morbidity and mortality. Studies have shown that arterial stiffness reduction is associated with an improvement in survival. Reduction of arterial stiffness by pharmacological drugs varies according to the drugs and doses used and duration of treatment. This effect on the arteries differs among the various classes of drugs and among individual drugs in the same class. Quantification of the stiffness and other properties of the arterial wall can be used to monitor the responses to therapy in individuals with hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. These measures can then be used as surrogate markers for the risk of clinical events. Inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is associated with an important decrease in cardiovascular risk. Findings from clinical trials support the hypothesis that the protective effects of RAS inhibition are partly independent from blood pressure reduction and related to several mechanisms including vascular protective effects. The aim of the TRanscend Arterial stiffNess Substudy (TRANS) is to assess the effect of an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), telmisartan, on the arterial stiffness in a subgroup of patients from the Telmisartan Randomized Assessment Study in aCE iNtolerant subjects with cardiovascular Disease (TRANSCEND) trial. The TRANSCEND trial is an international, multicenter, randomized double blind placebo controlled trial of telmisartan that enrolled patients at high risk for cardiovascular events. Some clinical baseline data of the TRANS substudy are reported. When completed, the results of the TRANS substudy will show whether the beneficial effects of treatment with telmisartan on cardiovascular outcome may be related to an improvement in arterial stiffness.
A recurrent neural network for inter-localization of mobile phones

The fact that most mobile phones are equipped with short-range communication devices, such as Bluetooth, etc., and a portion of mobile phones have GPS embedded enables us to envision to roughly localize GPS-free phones recursively and progressively by exploiting the available information. With the position of GPS equipped phones as beacons, and with the Bluetooth connection between neighbor phones as proximity constraints, we formulate the problem as an inequality problem defined on the Bluetooth network. A recurrent neural network is developed to solve the problem distributively in real time. The convergence of the neural network and the solution feasibility to the defined problem are both theoretically proven. Two applications examples are considered and simulated. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
The Effects of Self-Efficacy and Presence on Recommendation Intention in Facebook Learning Service

The results suggest that self-efficacy and teaching presence positively influence learning presence. Self-efficacy, teaching presence, and learning presence positively learner-instructor interaction. Learner-instructor interaction positively influences satisfaction and recommendation intention. Satisfaction positively influences recommendation intention. Thus, the paper provides meaningful knowledge on how universities can facilitate e-learners’ satisfaction through self-efficacy, teaching and learning presence.
Whither Linguistic Interpretation of Acoustic Pronunciation Variation

Recent research suggests that modelling pronunciation variation is more appropriate at the syllable level than at the level of contextdependent phones. Due to the large number of factors affecting syllable pronunciation, the creation of multi-path topologies is nec­ essary. Previous research on multi-path models in connected digit recognition has proved trajectory clustering to be an attractive ap­ proach to deriving multi-path models. In this paper, we extend our research to large-vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR) by deriving trajectory clusters for 94 frequent syllables in a 20-hour corpus of Dutch read speech. With multi-path models based on these trajectory clusters, speech recognition performance improves signif­ icantly. We believe that recognition performance can be improved further by adapting the topologies of the parallel paths. However, the physical properties of the clusters do not provide clues to the most appropriate topology, or the best way of initialising the state observation densities. Therefore, we attempt to interpret the clusters in terms of linguistic and phonetic criteria. The results obtained so far suggest that there is no straightforward relation between physi­ cally defined trajectory clusters and linguistic and phonetic criteria.
Isoperimetric functions of groups and computational complexity of the word problem

We prove that the word problem of a finitely generated group G is in NP (solvable in polynomial time by a nondeterministic Turing machine) if and only if this group is a subgroup of a finitely presented group H with polynomial isoperimetric function. The embedding can be chosen in such a way that G has bounded distortion in H. This completes the work started in [6] and [25].
Structure of Actin-related protein 8 and its contribution to nucleosome binding

Nuclear actin-related proteins (Arps) are subunits of several chromatin remodelers, but their molecular functions within these complexes are unclear. We report the crystal structure of the INO80 complex subunit Arp8 in its ATP-bound form. Human Arp8 has several insertions in the conserved actin fold that explain its inability to polymerize. Most remarkably, one insertion wraps over the active site cleft and appears to rigidify the domain architecture, while active site features shared with actin suggest an allosterically controlled ATPase activity. Quantitative binding studies with nucleosomes and histone complexes reveal that Arp8 and the Arp8–Arp4–actin-HSA sub-complex of INO80 strongly prefer nucleosomes and H3–H4 tetramers over H2A–H2B dimers, suggesting that Arp8 functions as a nucleosome recognition module. In contrast, Arp4 prefers free (H3–H4)2 over nucleosomes and may serve remodelers through binding to (dis)assembly intermediates in the remodeling reaction.
Childhood Experiences Associated with Care for the Natural World: A Theoretical Framework for Empirical Results

Abstract:A growing literature shows that active care for the environment in adulthood is frequently associated with positive experiences of nature in childhood or adolescence, along with childhood role models who gave the natural world appreciative attention. This article offers a framework for understanding this finding, drawing on two bodies of theory: the ecological psychology of James Gibson, Eleanor Gibson and Edward Reed, and the attachment theories of John Bowlby and Donald Winnicott. It shows how these two bodies of theory complement each other, as interpersonal theories of attachment add an emotional dimension to the processes of encountering the world described by ecological psychologists. Based on a re-analysis of interviews with environmentalists in Norway and the United States, the article looks closely at remembered childhood interactions with influential role models.
Modeling of a Humanoid and Multi-agent System EE 382 C : Embedded Software Systems Literature Survey

This survey briefly describes the project to implement an infrastructure for multi-agent systems (MAS) using humanoid robots as agents (HMAS). In order to construct a wireless network that facilitates the design of the infrastructure, this paper reviews some current technologies and researches in wireless networks. The research focused on the following layers of the International Standards Organization (ISO) layered model Open Systems Interconnect (OSI). There are different modulation proposals of Ultra-wide Band (UWB) technology at the physical layer (PHY). The media access control (MAC) protocols are discussed in their facilities of low power dissipation, mobility management, and assurance of the Quality of Service (QoS). The survey also studies different network designs and evaluates their applicability in HMAS project. The choices for the network designs include cellular network, ad hoc network, and sensor network.
Bounded Clique-Width of ($S_{1, 2, 2}$, Triangle)-Free Graphs

If a graph has no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H_1$ or $H_2$ then it is said to be ($H_1,H_2$)-free. Dabrowski and Paulusma found 13 open cases for the question whether the clique-width of ($H_1,H_2$)-free graphs is bounded. One of them is the class of ($S_{1,2,2}$,triangle)-free graphs. In this paper we show that these graphs have bounded clique-width. Thus, also ($P_1+2P_2$,triangle)-free graphs have bounded clique-width which solves another open problem of Dabrowski and Paulusma. Meanwhile we were informed by Paulusma that in December 2015, Dabrowski, Dross and Paulusma showed that ($S_{1,2,2}$,triangle)-free graphs (and some other graph classes) have bounded clique-width.
DiVA: Indexing high-dimensional data by “diving” into vector approximations

Contemporary multimedia, scientific and medical applications use indexing structures to access their high-dimensional data. Yet, in sufficiently high-dimensional spaces, conventional tree-based access methods are eventually outperformed by simple serial scans. Vector quantization has been effectively used to index data that are mostly distributed uniformly. However, in real-world applications, clustered data and skewed query distributions are the norm. In this paper, we propose DiVA, an approach that selectively adapts the quantization step to accommodate varying indexing needs. This adaptation mechanism triggers the restructuring and possible expansion of DiVA so as to provide finer indexing granularity and enhanced access performance in certain “hot” areas of the search space. User-supplied policies help both identify such “hot” areas and satisfy versatile application requirements. Experimentation with our detailed prototype shows that in a real-world data set, DiVA yields up-to 64%reduced I/O compared to competing methods such as the VA-file and the A-tree.
General properties of the boundary renormalization group flow for supersymmetric systems in 1+1 dimensions

We consider the general supersymmetric one-dimensional quantum system with boundary, critical in the bulk but not at the boundary. The renormalization group flow on the space of boundary conditions is generated by the boundary beta functions \beta^{a}(\lambda) for the boundary coupling constants \lambda^{a}. We prove a gradient formula \partial\ln z/\partial\lambda^{a} =-g_{ab}^{S}\beta^{b} where z(\lambda) is the boundary partition function at given temperature T=1/\beta, and g_{ab}^{S}(\lambda) is a certain positive-definite metric on the space of supersymmetric boundary conditions. The proof depends on canonical ultraviolet behavior at the boundary. Any system whose short distance behavior is governed by a fixed point satisfies this requirement. The gradient formula implies that the boundary energy, -\partial\ln z/\partial\beta = -T\beta^{a}\partial_{a}\ln z, is nonnegative. Equivalently, the quantity \ln z(\lambda) decreases under the renormalization group flow.
Excitatory and Inhibitory Pathways in the Arm of Octopus

1. The nervous system of isolated arms of Octopus vulgaris has been investigated with fine stimulating electrodes and lesions. The reflexes of the intact arm are in accordance with earlier reports. 2. The reflexes are abolished if the nerves from the medulla are cut. These nerves carry both sensory and motor signals, serving discrete areas of muscle and skin. The central mechanisms producing single-sucker reflexes are confined to the ventral ‘axial ganglia’. 3. Stimulation in the ventral medulla influences many suckers simultaneously or progressively, implying both through-pathways and polysynaptic pathways. 4. The nervous supply to the main longitudinal and oblique musculature remains obscure. Motor effects are produced by stimulating the median and central medulla, and require intact peripheral supply. The lateral nerve cords do not affect the main musculature. 5. The dermal musculature is affected by stimulation in the medulla and of its peripheral nerves. Only the subdermal muscle layer is excited by stimulation of the lateral nerve cords. 6. Normal expansion of the chromatophores depends on an intact nervous supply from the medulla, and is not due to autotonus of the chromatophore muscles. The final chromatophore nerves are probably medullar, not cerebral, and each controls only a few patches of skin over short lengths of the arm. 7. Through-pathways, affecting many or all of these chromatophore nerves, run in the dorsal medulla. They include local and general excitatory, general inhibitory and possibly local inhibitory channels. Their significance, and that of excitatory and inhibitory supplies to the sucker reflex mechanisms, is discussed.
Using jWebMiner 2.0 to Improve Music Classification Performance by Combining Different Types of Features Mined from the Web

This paper presents the jWebMiner 2.0 cultural feature extraction software and describes the results of several musical genre classification experiments performed with it. jWebMiner 2.0 is an easy-to-use and open-source tool that allows users to mine the Internet in order to extract features based on both Last.fm social tags and general web search string co-occurrences extracted using the Yahoo! API. The experiments performed found that the features based on social tags were more effective at classifying music into a small (5-genre) genre ontology, but the features based on general web co-occurrences were more effective at classifying a moderate (10-genre) ontology. It was also found that combining the two types of features resulted in improved performance overall.
The Track of Brain Activity during the Observation of TV Commercials with the High-Resolution EEG Technology

We estimate cortical activity in normal subjects during the observation of TV commercials inserted within a movie by using high-resolution EEG techniques. The brain activity was evaluated in both time and frequency domains by solving the associate inverse problem of EEG with the use of realistic head models. In particular, we recover statistically significant information about cortical areas engaged by particular scenes inserted within the TV commercial proposed with respect to the brain activity estimated while watching a documentary. Results obtained in the population investigated suggest that the statistically significant brain activity during the observation of the TV commercial was mainly concentrated in frontoparietal cortical areas, roughly coincident with the Brodmann areas 8, 9, and 7, in the analyzed population.
Extracting interconnect capacitance sensitivity to linewidth variation

VLSI interconnect capacitance is becoming more significant and also increasingly subject to process variation. A simple technique to extract from layout the sensitivity of interconnect parasitic capacitance to linewidth process variations is proposed based on 2.5D capacitance models and implemented in the Magic VLSI layout editor. The derivative of each extracted capacitance with respect to variation in every level is obtained. Coincident edges in layout result in distinct “shrinking” and “bloating” derivatives. The derivatives form a gradient that may be multiplied by a vector of the variations on each level to give the total expected deviation from nominal capacitance. The gradient allows the process sensitivity of each capacitance to be determined by simply inspecting the netlist.
Influence of HF electromagnetic fields on the development and the molecular biology of the moss Physcomittrella patens and the nematode Caernorhabditis elegans

We propose to investigate the effect of electromagnetic fields on the moss Physcomitrella patens, and on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in the range of 900 MHz – 1 GHz. Physcomitrella patens is a plant whose developmental biology and genetics is well known and the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been completely sequenced and this organism has been and is still the most well known chordate as far as genetics, developmental and behavioural biology are concerned.
CapTap: combining capacitive gesture recognition and acoustic touch detection

Capacitive sensing is a common technology for finger-controlled touch screens. The variety of proximity sensors extends the range, thus supporting mid-air gesture interaction and application below any non-conductive materials. However, this comes at the cost of limited resolution for touch detection. In this paper, we present CapTap, which uses capacitive proximity and acoustic sensing to create an interactive surface that combines mid-air and touch gestures, while being invisibly integrated into living room furniture. We introduce capacitive imaging, investigating the use of computer vision methods to track hand and arm positions and present several use cases for CapTap. In a user study we found that the system has average localization errors of 1.5cm at touch distance and 5cm at an elevation of 20cm above the table. The users found the system intuitive and interesting to use.
A cluster randomised controlled trial of a brief couple-focused psychoeducational intervention to prevent common postnatal mental disorders among women: study protocol

Introduction Postnatal common mental disorders among women are an important public health problem internationally. Interventions to prevent postnatal depression have had limited success. What Were We Thinking (WWWT) is a structured, gender-informed, psychoeducational group programme for parents and their first infant that addresses two modifiable risks to postnatal mental health. This paper describes the protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial to test the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of WWWT when implemented in usual primary care. Methods and analysis 48 maternal and child health (MCH) centres from six diverse Local Government Areas, in Victoria, Australia are randomly allocated to the intervention group (usual care plus WWWT) or the control group (usual care). The required sample size is 184 women in each group. English-speaking primiparous women receiving postpartum healthcare in participating MCH centres complete two computer-assisted telephone interviews: baseline at 4 weeks and outcome at 6 months postpartum. Women attending intervention MCH centres are invited to attend WWWT in addition to usual care. The primary outcome is meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (DSM-IV) diagnostic criteria for major depressive episode; generalised anxiety disorder; panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, agoraphobia with or without panic, social phobia, adult separation anxiety or adjustment disorder with depressed mood, anxiety or mixed depressed mood and anxiety within the past 30 days at 6 months postpartum. Secondary outcomes are self-rated general and emotional health, infant sleep problems, method of infant feeding, quality of mother–infant relationship and intimate partner relationship, and healthcare costs and outcomes. Ethics and dissemination Approval to conduct the study has been granted. A comprehensive dissemination plan has been devised. Trial registration number Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12613000506796. UTN U1111-1125-8208.
DS/SS CODE ACQUISITION WITH A JOINT DETECTION BASED ON LOCALLY OPTIMUM TEST STATISTICS

In thispaper , usingthelocally optimum(LO) teststatistic, a joint decisionrule of two correctcells is derived for nonselecti ve Rayleighfading channels.Then,we propose a new acquisitionschemebasedon the joint decisionrule. Themeanacquisitiontimeperformanceof theproposedacquisition schemeis analyzedandcomparedwith that of a conventionalacquisitionschemein which only onecorrect cell is usedfor detectionateachstep.Thenumericalresults show that the proposedschemenot only hasbetterperformancebut also is more robust to the residualcodephase offsetvariationthantheconventionalscheme.
Knee Moment-Angle Characteristics and Semitendinosus Muscle Morphology in Children with Spastic Paresis Selected for Medial Hamstring Lengthening

To increase knee range of motion and improve gait in children with spastic paresis (SP), the semitendinosus muscle (ST) amongst other hamstring muscles is frequently lengthened by surgery, but with variable success. Little is known about how the pre-surgical mechanical and morphological characteristics of ST muscle differ between children with SP and typically developing children (TD). The aims of this study were to assess (1) how knee moment-angle characteristics and ST morphology in children with SP selected for medial hamstring lengthening differ from TD children, as well as (2) how knee moment-angle characteristics and ST morphology are related. In nine SP and nine TD children, passive knee moment-angle characteristics and morphology of ST (i.e. fascicle length, muscle belly length, tendon length, physiological cross-sectional area, and volume) were assessed by hand-held dynamometry and freehand 3D ultrasound, respectively. At net knee flexion moments above 0.5 Nm, more flexed knee angles were found for SP compared to TD children. The measured knee angle range between 0 and 4 Nm was 30% smaller in children with SP. Muscle volume, physiological cross-sectional area, and fascicle length normalized to femur length were smaller in SP compared to TD children (62%, 48%, and 18%, respectively). Sixty percent of the variation in knee angles at 4 Nm net knee moment was explained by ST fascicle length. Altered knee moment-angle characteristics indicate an increased ST stiffness in SP children. Morphological observations indicate that in SP children planned for medial hamstring lengthening, the longitudinal and cross-sectional growth of ST muscle fibers is reduced. The reduced fascicle length can partly explain the increased ST stiffness and, hence, a more flexed knee joint in these SP children.
Balanced binary trees in the Tamari lattice

We show that the set of balanced binary trees is closed by interval in the Tamari lattice. We establish that the intervals (T0;T1) where T0 and T1 are balanced trees are isomorphic as posets to a hypercube. We introduce tree patterns and synchronous grammars to get a functional equation of the generating series enumerating balanced tree intervals. R´
Guiding Circuit Level Fault-Tolerance Design with Statistical Methods

In the last decade, the focus of fault-tolerance methods has tended towards circuit level modifications, such as transistor resizing, and away from expensive system level redundancy approaches. We present the results from a screening experiment to identify significant parameters in circuit level soft error simulations to guide such approaches to fault- tolerance. This approach allows us to assess which parameters will have the most significance for reducing soft error rates and the impact that process variation will have on the accuracy of soft error rate estimates. We identify supply voltage and transistor type as being the most significant parameters affecting soft errors in logic cells across several technology scales. Additionally, we provide a ranking of more than a dozen parameters, across four technology scales, based on the significance of their impact on soft error rates.