Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of shoe heel height on the muscular activity of the thigh during walking

Amputees are often restricted to wearing shoes that have a fixed heel height and, if using shoes with different heel heights, require adjustments to the alignment of the prosthetic device. In order to gain insight into the differences in muscular activity that transtibial amputee patients experience when using shoes with different heel heights, a virtual model, close to the physical characteristics of a transtibial amputee, was obtained by modifying an existing musculoskeletal model. The muscular activity obtained from the muscles attached to the thigh was higher in the case of the residual limb than in the case of the intact leg. A compensatory mechanism, similar to the one described in the literature [10], was obtained by using the amputee musculoskeletal model. Small differences related to the intensity of the muscular activity were obtained when a higher heel was used. The differences were mostly due to the increased use of the muscles needed for balancing the body, and less to the use of muscles needed for body propulsion.
Power-efficient RAM Mapping Algorithms for FPGA Embedded Memory Blocks

— Contemporary FPGA design requires a spectrum of available physical resources. As FPGA logic capacity has grown, locally-accessed FPGA embedded memory blocks have increased in importance. When targeting FPGAs, application designers often specify high-level memory functions which exhibit a range of sizes and control structures. These logical memories must be mapped to FPGA embedded memory resources such that physical design objectives are met. In this work a set of power-efficient logical-to-physical RAM mapping algorithms are described which convert user-defined memory specifications to on-chip FPGA memory block resources. These algorithms minimize RAM dynamic power by evaluating a range of possible embedded memory block mappings and selecting the most power-efficient choice. Our automated approach has been validated with both simulation of power dissipation and measurements of power dissipation on FPGA hardware. A comparison of measured power reductions to values determined via simulation confirms the accuracy of our simulation approach. Our power-aware RAM mapping algorithms have been integrated into a commercial FPGA compiler and tested with 34 large FPGA benchmarks. Through experimentation, we show that, on average, embedded memory dynamic power can be reduced by 26% and overall core dynamic power can be reduced by 6% with a minimal loss (1%) in design performance. Additionally, it is shown that the availability of multiple embedded memory block sizes in an FPGA reduces embedded memory dynamic power by an additional 9.6% by giving more choices to the CAD algorithms.
Autophagic Compartments Gain Access to the MHC Class II Compartments in Thymic Epithelium

The presentation of self-peptides in the context of MHC molecules by thymic epithelial cells (TECs) is essential for T cell repertoire selection in the thymus. However, the underlying mechanisms of this process have not been fully elucidated. To address whether autophagy, a catabolic process involving the degradation of a cell’s components through the lysosomal machinery, intersects the MHC class II-restricted Ag presentation pathway in TECs, we investigated the colocalization of LC3, a peculiar autophagy marker molecule, with MHC class II compartments in in vitro-established TEC lines by immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blotting analyses. We found that in both cortical and medullary TEC lines, LC3 was colocalized with the H2-DM-positive lysosomal compartments, in which MHC class II plus class II-associated invariant chain peptides complexes are formed. Furthermore, our analysis of thymic cryosections from 1-day-old mice revealed that LC3 colocalizes with the H2-DM-positive compartments in TECs. These results strongly suggest that the cytoplasmic self-Ags gain access to the H2-DM-positive compartments via the autophagic process in the thymus.
Cost Efficient Data Collection of Sensory Originated Data using Context-Aware Mobile Devices

Sensory originated data collection and processing has always been a big challenge in wireless sensor networks (WSN). WSN represent a distributed producer of large amount of valuable data required by varied number of applications. In this paper we propose the use of context aware data mules (CADAMULE) as a solution for smart data collection within sensor networks. We present an extension to Context Spaces modelling theory by incorporating context discovery at runtime. This facilitates our system to discover new context attributes by looking into previous situations and events when pre-defined context is not sufficient for the reasoning process. We use this model as a base to provide contextual information to the mobile data mule whose spare capacity for communication and processing can be used to collect and process sensor data. The focus of the paper is to propose and evaluate a cost-efficient data collection technique which uses a cost formula computed from the context information obtained by the system. We validate our system by a simulation in which we try to reason out and identify the best and also the most cost efficient data mule. The context aware data mule negotiates with the sensor node collecting and delivering the data to the sink.
To ingest or rest? Specialized roles of lateral hypothalamic area neurons in coordinating energy balance

Survival depends on an organism’s ability to sense nutrient status and accordingly regulate intake and energy expenditure behaviors. Uncoupling of energy sensing and behavior, however, underlies energy balance disorders such as anorexia or obesity. The hypothalamus regulates energy balance, and in particular the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) is poised to coordinate peripheral cues of energy status and behaviors that impact weight, such as drinking, locomotor behavior, arousal/sleep and autonomic output. There are several populations of LHA neurons that are defined by their neuropeptide content and contribute to energy balance. LHA neurons that express the neuropeptides melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) or orexins/hypocretins (OX) are best characterized and these neurons play important roles in regulating ingestion, arousal, locomotor behavior and autonomic function via distinct neuronal circuits. Recently, another population of LHA neurons containing the neuropeptide Neurotensin (Nts) has been implicated in coordinating anorectic stimuli and behavior to regulate hydration and energy balance. Understanding the specific roles of MCH, OX and Nts neurons in harmonizing energy sensing and behavior thus has the potential to inform pharmacological strategies to modify behaviors and treat energy balance disorders.
Meta-Parenting: An Initial Investigation into a New Parental Social Cognition Construct

Objective. This article introduces the construct of meta-parenting, provides preliminary reliability information for a new instrument designed to measure the construct, and presents results from an initial empirical investigation. Design. One hundred and sixteen U.S. mothers participated. Maternal, child, and contextual characteristics were investigated as likely predictors of meta-parenting. In addition, meta-parenting was examined as a predictor of 3 parenting behaviors. Results. Five factors were extracted from the Meta-Parenting Profile Questionnaire with adequate internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Mothers reported that meta-parenting is a frequent occurrence in their daily lives. Mothers of younger children reported more assessing and anticipating and had higher total meta-parenting scores. Mothers of fewer children reported engaging in more problem solving. Mothers of boys anticipated more than mothers of girls. Higher levels of life stress were associated with more reflection. Mothers who engaged in more problem solving reported lower levels of overreactivity and laxness, but mothers who reported higher levels of reflecting were also high on overreactivity. Conclusions. Mothers commonly engage in multiple components of meta-parenting that are influenced by maternal, child, and contextual factors and are related to reported childrearing behaviors.
A Machine with Insight

When an animal solves a novel problem without trial and error, a psychologist tends to call the behaviour insightful. A relatively simple machine resting on new principles, capable of this and learning, has been constructed by the writer in order to demonstrate his tentative explanation of this and other aspects of animal behaviour. The first retains information and utilises it in accordance with the goal set. The second is a trolley which is guided by a pulse which the first part transmits; it also has bumpers which cause it reflexly to steer away from any obstacle and to turn out of corners by reversing one of the motors which drive each of the two main wheels separately; and i t has a light mounted on it which is thrown forward at a wide angle. The third part comprises photocells, which act as receptors and are attached to the walls of the maze which the trolley is required to learn.
Local region detector + CNN based landmarks for practical place recognition in changing environments

Visual place recognition is a mature field in mobile robotics research. Recognizing places in datasets covering traversals of hundreds or thousands of kilometres and accurate localization in small and medium size environments have been successfully demonstrated. However, for real world long term operation, visual place recognition has to face severe environmental appearance changes due to day-night cycles, seasonal or weather changes. Existing approaches for recognizing places in such changing environments provide solutions for matching images from the exact same viewpoint using powerful holistic descriptors, using less sophisticated holistic descriptors in combinations with images sequences, and/or pose strong requirements on training data to learn systematic appearance changes. In this paper, we present a novel, training free, single image matching procedure that builds upon local region detectors for powerful Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based descriptors. It can be used with a broad range of local region detectors including keypoints, segmentation based approaches and object proposals. We propose a novel evaluation criterion for selection of an appropriate local region detector for changing environments and compare several available detectors. The scale space extrema detector known from the SIFT keypoint detector in combination with appropriate magnification factors performs best. We present preliminary results of the proposed image matching procedure with several region detectors on the challenging Nordland dataset on place recognition between different seasons and a dataset including severe viewpoint changes. The proposed method outperforms the best existing holistic method for place recognition in such changing environments and can additionally handle severe viewpoint changes. Additionally, the combination of the best performing detectors with superpixel based spatial image support shows promising results.
“My Mom Says Some Girls Have Penises”: How Mothers of Gender-Diverse Youth Are Pushing Gender Ideology Forward (and How They’re Not)

Despite a rapid rise in the public visibility of parents who are choosing to support their transgender and gender-diverse children in recent years, little is yet known about how these parents challenge the regulatory forces of hegemonic gender through their parenting. Based on semi-structured in-depth interviews, this article offers a comparative analysis of the ways that two groups of mothers—gender-expansive and gender-subversive—with differing ideological understandings of gender diversity resist the transmission of hegemonic schemas as they work to affirm their child’s sense of self. Drawing on Ridgway’s concept of gender as a primary frame, I identify a range of strategies used by each group and assess the potential for and limitations to advancing progressive gender ideology through trans-affirming mothering. While both groups contribute in powerful ways to trans-positive, gender-inclusive change, they do so through distinct parenting approaches that vary in their potential to undermine dominant gender ideology. While both groups of mothers resist the transmission of hegemonic gender beliefs in their parenting, the tactics and rhetoric used by gender-subversive mothers pose a more direct threat to the gender order than do those of gender-expansive mothers.
Tree-Adjoining Grammars Are Not Closed Under Strong Lexicalization

A lexicalized tree-adjoining grammar is a tree-adjoining grammar where each elementary tree contains some overt lexical item. Such grammars are being used to give lexical accounts of syntactic phenomena, where an elementary tree defines the domain of locality of the syntactic and semantic dependencies of its lexical items. It has been claimed in the literature that for every tree-adjoining grammar, one can construct a strongly equivalent lexicalized version. We show that such a procedure does not exist: Tree-adjoining grammars are not closed under strong lexicalization.
Ethnic and Environmental Influences on Mental Abilities

The extent to which ethnic group differences in intellectual test performance can be attributed to environmental forces remains unresolved. In this study, the relationship between a refined measure of the learning environment of the home and the levels and profiles of a set of mental ability scores of children from five Canadian ethnic groups was examined. After accounting for the "independent" influence of the environment, significant ethnic group differences persisted in the verbal, number, and reasoning ability scores, and in the profiles of the scores. Only for spatial ability were the ethnic group differences absorbed by the environmental differences.
Color Filter Array Synthesis in Digital Image via Dictionary Re-demosaicing

The goal of anti-forensic technique is to hide manipulation traces. We present a scheme of Color Filter Array (CFA) synthesis in digital images via dictionary re-demosaicing. This is an anti-forensic technique to be against a plurality of forensic methods based on CFA structure detection in images. First, through sparse representation on a manipulated image, a dictionary is obtained. Then, arbitrary CFA de-mosaicing schemes are allowed to re-demosaic each dictionary atom. Finally, the manipulated image is reconstructed using the re-demosaiced dictionary. Experimental results demonstrate that both satisfied image quality in terms of PSNR and stronger CFA characteristic are achieved.
D ec 1 99 8 OUNP-98-08 hep-ph / 9811415 Are there anomalous Z fermion couplings ?

The couplings of the fermions to the Z boson are of great importance in establishing the validity of the Standard Model and in looking for physics beyond it. The couplings of the b-quark to the Z boson have been the subject of much experimental study and theoretical interpretation. The apparent excess in the value of R b , the ratio of the partial width of the Z boson to bb̄ to its total hadronic width, above the Standard Model expectation reported a few years ago has now become much less significant. However, the measurements of the pole forward-backward asymmetry A b FB for bquarks at the Z pole and of the polarisation parameter Ab, obtained using a polarised electron beam, have improved considerably in accuracy. The latest data are examined and values of the vector and axial-vector b-quark and c-quark couplings to the Z are extracted. The left and right handed couplings are also extracted. It is found that whereas the c-quark couplings are compatible with the Standard Model, those of the b-quark data are only compatible with the Standard Model at about the 1% level. In addition, the individual lepton couplings are extracted and the hypothesis of lepton universality is examined. The sensitivity of the limits from electroweak fits to the Higgs boson mass to these data is examined.
The Relationships Between Service-Learning, Social Justice, Multicultural Competence, and Civic Engagement

This study qualitatively examined how participants in a long-term service-learning program described their understanding of and commitment to social justice, multicultural competence, and civic engagement. Interviews with members of a university-sponsored AmeriCorps service-learning program explored participants’ perceptions of the effects of their service. Several participants in this study increased their awareness of inequality, but only some adopted a commitment to social justice. Participants also developed several multicultural skills while interacting with their clients, such as empathy, patience, attachment, reciprocity, trust, and respect. All participants expressed a commitment to continued civic engagement.
Carbon reduction, 'the public' and renewable energy: engaging with socio-technical configurations.

In the context of challenging targets for renewable energy generation, this paper draws out social implications of moves towards low carbon energy systems. As renewable energy develops as a heterogeneous category, many potential forms of social relation between ‘publics’ and technologies are emerging. Utilising perspectives from science and technology studies, we outline five modes in which renewable energy has been implemented in the UK and how these involve different configurations of technology and social organisation. We argue that a multiplicity of roles for ‘the public’ are implicated across this increasingly complex landscape, cutting across established categories and raising questions of meaning, differentiation, interrelation and access. Policy assumptions and conceptions are questioned, highlighting that dominant characterisations of public roles have been part of a concentration on particular socio-technical pathways to the exclusion of others.
Energy harvesting photovoltaic system to charge a cell phone in indoor environments

Research advances in materials science improved gradually photovoltaic systems efficiency. However, such systems are limited to work in the presence of sun light, and they also depend on the geographic localization and on the period of the year, usually limited to 6 to 8 hours a day. In order to take maximum advantage of solar panels, it is crucial to use them also in cloudy weather or even at night. Therefore, in this paper, we propose to recycle light energy from artificial light sources to enable the use photovoltaic systems along 24 hours a day. We validate our proposal by means of measurements performed using artificial light in indoor environments. As a practical result, we show that 7 hours recharging in an indoor environments implies in 94.08 % of the overall cell phone battery capacity. Furthermore, we also propose a circuit for charging of a battery of a cell phone.
Investigation of fuzzy control based LCL resonant converter in RTOS environment

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of Fuzzy Logic FLC Controller and Open loop Controller for a modified LCL Resonant Converter has been simulated and the performance is analyzed. A three element LCL Resonant converter working under load independent operation is presented in this paper. In this work, the applicability of the ARM Advanced RISC Machine processor LPC 2148 is to be investigated as the controller for resonant converter. The simulation study indicates the superiority of Fuzzy Logic control over the conventional control method. The evaluation version of MATLAB was used to model the LCL topology for varied loads and LCL configurations. A LCL Resonant Inverter is proposed for applications in high frequency distributed AC power systems and Resonant Converter is proposed for applications in many space and radar power supplies. The advantages of the LCL topology are low total harmonic distortion THD high efficiency and the ability to handle varying loads.
Statische Stabilität von Stromnetzen Erfahrungen bei Analyse realer Systeme

Kurzfassung: Einige Methoden zur Analyse der stationären Spannungsbetragsund Winkelstabilität werden präsentiert, und zwar: Lastflussrechnung mit Konvergenzsteuerung, Knoten L-Index-Verfahren, Continuation-Power-Flow, Singulärwertmethode. Nach einer kurzen Einführung in die theoretischen Grundlagen der Verfahren werden Arbeitsweise, Anwendungsprobleme und Resultate anhand der Analyse eines realen 310 Knoten umfassenden HochspannungsÜbertragungsnetzes demonstriert. Den Abschluss bildet eine Gegenüberstellung der Vorund Nachteile der Methoden.
Characterization of the mechanical properties of demineralized bone.

Demineralized bone has had limited use as a medical implant, although, recently Jackson et al. (Am J Sports Med 1996;24(4):405-414) examined using demineralized bone as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) replacement and found that within 1 year the demineralized bone had remodeled from a haversian system (bone-like) into a ligament-like structure. Little research has been done to characterize the mechanical properties of demineralized bone and examine its potential as a ligament replacement. This research examined the mechanical properties of demineralized bone as a function of acid saturation time and methods of processing and sterilization using specimens from various anatomic locations. Bone specimens were manufactured from the tibia, metatarsus, femur, radius, and humerus of bovine bone. Tensile strength, strain, and modulus of elasticity were examined for various acid saturation times and sterilization treatments. Additionally, viscoelastic properties, creep and stress relaxation, and fatigue properties were examined. The findings indicate that completely demineralized bone has mechanical properties similar to the ACL and, therefore, has increased likelihood for success in ACL reconstruction surgery.
Similarity Based on Rating Data

This paper describes an algorithm to measure the similarity of two multimedia objects, such as songs or movies, using users’ preferences. Much of the previous work on query-by-example (QBE) or music similarity uses detailed analysis of the object’s content. This is difficult and it is often impossible to capture how consumers react to the music. We argue that a large collection of user’s preferences is more accurate, at least in comparison to our benchmark system, at finding similar songs. We describe an algorithm based the song’s rating data, and show how this approach works by measuring its performance using an objective metric based on whether the same artist performed both songs. Our similarity results are based on 1.5 million musical judgments by 380,000 users. We test our system by generating playlists using a content-based system, our rating-based system, and a random list of songs. Music listeners greatly preferred the ratings-based playlists over the content-based and random playlists.
Access to Securitate Files: the Trials and Tribulations of a Romanian Law

We had a state. Then we had the Party to try to make the state work. Then we had the State Security to try to make the Party and state work. And still it didn't work. An East German quoted by Timothy Garton Ash, The File The relationship between the communist structures and the Securitate was similar to that between the brain and the hand. The brain was the Communist Party, the hand executing the orders was the Securitate. Senator Ioan Moisiu Romanian, Christian Democrat