Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A service robot for monitoring elderly people in the context of Ambient Assisted Living

This paper describes a system for remotely monitoring elderly people in the context of ambient assisted living that consists of an inexpensive mobile robot, a commercial computer, a smart device running Android and a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). A software architecture based on distributed components allows to carry out remote surveillance, monitoring and telepresence tasks. Unlike other existing systems, the proposed one uses the mobile robot as key element, instead of using fixed devices such as cameras. This reduces the cost of the hardware, facilitates the installation procedure and allows to better ensure protection against interference with privacy, among other advantages. Furthermore, the robot also carries out telepresence tasks without needing to be teleoperated, since it uses a navigation module that allows it to build and store a topological map of an indoor environment, as well as safely and reactively navigate through it. The robot also allows the remote communication between the elderly person and the carer. Due to the distributed nature of the components, the proposed system can be easily extended with new features. Finally, with the purpose of validating both the hardware and software architectures, a set of experiments are presented together with a comparative study where relevant aspects such as economic cost, installation simplicity and performance are considered.
Pathogenesis of enuresis: Towards a new understanding

Enuresis was historically viewed as a primarily psychiatric disorder, but this understanding has changed dramatically since the end of the last century, when it became clear that somatic factors, such as nocturnal polyuria as a result of vasopressin deficiency, nocturnal detrusor overactivity and high arousal thresholds, all play a crucial role in enuresis pathogenesis. It has also become clear that enuresis is inherited in the majority of cases, although the correlation between genotype and enuretic phenotype is not straightforward. The standard view of enuresis as being the result of either (i) nocturnal polyuria and high arousal thresholds; or (ii) nocturnal detrusor overactivity and high arousal thresholds has become well‐established, but further research now complicates the picture. First, psychological/psychiatric problems are overrepresented in enuresis, and might in a minority of cases have a causal or aggravating role. Second, nocturnal polyuria is not always linked to vasopressin deficiency. Third, nocturnal detrusor overactivity is in itself pathogenetically heterogeneous, and could be linked to constipation. Fourth, the sleep of enuretic children might be “deep,” but possibly also disturbed (by obstructed airways or a distended or contracting bladder). These children might have high arousal thresholds because of the enuresis instead of the other way around. The same might possibly be said about nocturnal polyuria. Taking these new insights into account, a new model of enuresis pathogenesis is presented, which is more complicated but hopefully also more true than the standard consensus.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Frontal Oculomotor Regions during Smooth Pursuit

Both the frontal eye fields (FEFs) and supplementary eye fields (SEFs) are known to be involved in smooth pursuit eye movements. It has been shown recently that stimulation of the smooth-pursuit area of the FEF [frontal pursuit area (FPA)] in monkey increases the pursuit response to unexpected changes in target motion during pursuit. In the current study, we applied transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the FPA and SEF in humans during sinusoidal pursuit to assess its effects on the pursuit response to predictable, rather than unexpected, changes in target motion. For the FPA, we found that TMS applied immediately before the target reversed direction increased eye velocity in the new direction, whereas TMS applied in mid-cycle, immediately before the target began to slow, decreased eye velocity. For the SEF, TMS applied at target reversal increased eye velocity in the new direction but had no effect on eye velocity when applied at mid-cycle. TMS of the control region (leg region of the somatosensory cortex) did not affect eye velocity at either point. Previous stimulation studies of FPA during pursuit have suggested that this region is involved in controlling the gain of the transformation of visual signals into pursuit motor commands. The current results suggest that the gain of the transformation of predictive signals into motor commands is also controlled by the FPA. The effect of stimulation of the SEF is distinct from that of the FPA and suggests that its role in sinusoidal pursuit is primarily at the target direction reversal.
Performance of simple and Smart PHY/MAC mechanisms for Body Area Networks

Measuring the living condition and health status of users using small sensing devices and collecting the data of each user over wireless networks is expected to be a new trend in healthcare. Body Area Network (BAN) is an emerging area of personal data communications that will facilitate the capture of data and its collection. Although the IEEE 802.15. 6 standard for wireless body area networks was created for this purpose, it is very complex and is unsuitable for ultra low power sensors. A new BAN specification, under the Technical Committee (TC) on SmartBAN, is now being considered in the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) targeting ultra low power devices. Some of the technical requirements of the new Smart BAN system includes ultra-low power consumption, coexistence with other wireless systems, a timely access mechanism and optimum control of quality of service (QoS) for emergency signals. A simple and energy efficient MAC/PHY system has been proposed by the authors as part of the ETSI TC Smart BAN specifications. In this paper, we introduce and evaluate our proposed Smart BAN system which is based on two channels, a control channel and a data channel. The control channel is used for announcements from which both nodes and neighboring hubs are able to gather information for use in co-existence algorithms as well as for initial connection setup. Our proposed system uses simple time division multiple access (TDMA) in the data channel so that the power consumption of nodes is kept low. A shared access mechanism has also been proposed to reduce the latency of emergency signals. We evaluate the access delay and power consumption of our system in this paper, and show that the proposed shared access mechanism reduces the latency of emergency signals.
Evaluating the Usefulness and Ease of Use of a Groupware Tool for the Software Architecture Evaluation Process

We have developed a framework for groupware tool support for the software architecture evaluation process in the context of global software development. We have empirically assessed the effectiveness of the groupware-supported software architecture evaluation process in a set of controlled experiments. While we found that groupware-supported distributed meetings can be very effective, we saw the need to investigate users' acceptance of the tool used in these empirical studies. In this paper we report on the "perceived usefulness" and "ease of use" of the groupware tool based on the adapted Davis' technology acceptance model (TAM), a widely used general-purpose instrument for measuring users' attitude towards a particular technology. Main results from analyzing the TAM data are: a majority of the participants found the tool quite useful and easy to use for supporting collaborative tasks like architecture evaluation; a majority of the respondents was also very positive about the regular use of the tool for collaborative tasks in the future. However, there was considerably less support for preferring a distributed tool-based meeting to a face-to-face meeting.
Generic Skills in the Context of Higher Education.

ABSTRACT The Higher Education Council Report Achieving Quality (October 1992) identifies ‘generic skills, attributes and values’ as the ‘central achievements of higher education as a process’. The account which the Report offers of those generic skills and of the graduate ‘attributes and values’ which, it claims, should accompany them is flawed, however, by a pervasive vagueness and inconsistency. Personal qualities, generalized capacities, individual attitudes, value systems, professional competencies, higher order generic skills and lower order technical ones are all lumped together in a general hodge‐podge of desirable graduate attributes. In the present paper the authors offer a more systematic, though still preliminary, analysis of higher order generic skills as they manifest themselves in thinking, research and communication, and of the way in which these skills assume a variety of different forms in their different disciplinary contexts. Definitional work of this kind, the authors argue, is current.
Graphical Representation of Scalable Robust Stability for a Class of Network Interconnected Systems ∗

A classical strategy for stability analysis of interconnected systems is to first define a suitable characterization of each of the individual dynamics and then combine these to form a stability criterion that the interconnection operator must satisfy. One of the major challenges that arises in analysis of large-scale interconnected systems is that the computational complexity for verifying the stability criterion often grows rapidly as the number of the subsystems increases. To overcome this difficulty, research effort has been put to investing how the interconnection topology can be exploited to derive stability criteria with reasonable complexity. It is particularly desirable to find criteria which require conditions only on dynamics of one (or a few) subsystem(s) and the local interactions to ensure system-wide performance. The resulting analysis and design tools will then scale up nicely as the size of the interconnected system grows. Such results are relatively easy to obtain when the dynamics are homogeneous while the heterogeneous case is harder and generally involves a trade-off between the complexity and the conservatism of the analysis. Some recent contributions on this topic includes [5, 6, 2]. In this paper we consider a class of heterogeneous linear time-invariant dynamical systems interconnected over a network interconnection operator with a certain symmetry structure that can be exploited in the analysis. Under the assumption that the interconnection operator can be unitarily diagonalized, a scalable criterion is derived for checking robust stability. The stability condition involves separate individual dynamics, which can be checked with relative low complexity. Moreover, under a further assumption that all subsystems are single-input-single-output, the stability criterion has a graphical interpretation which resembles the classical Nyquist criterion. The results presented in this manuscript generalize our previous works in [4] in the sense that a more general eigenvalue distribution of the interconnection operator is considered. Practical applications where the results may be applied include speed and formation control of multi-vehicle systems, congestion control of the Internet , and analysis of biochemical networks.
What Kind of Voice Do Loyal Employees Use?

This study helps clarify mixed support for Hirschman's exit–voice–loyalty framework by arguing that loyalty, or feelings of attachment to the organization, and voice are not one–dimensional constructs. Based on data gathered from a survey of employees working with a large Canadian utility organization, employees feeling attached through an affective, emotional bond are found less likely to use representative voice but more likely to use direct voice, while those attached for rational, calculated reasons are more likely to use representative voice. Employees feeling attached for either reason are found less likely to exit. Implications for theory, research, and policy are discussed.
Efficacy of intravenous ketamine for treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized clinical trial.

IMPORTANCE Few pharmacotherapies have demonstrated sufficient efficacy in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a chronic and disabling condition. OBJECTIVE To test the efficacy and safety of a single intravenous subanesthetic dose of ketamine for the treatment of PTSD and associated depressive symptoms in patients with chronic PTSD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Proof-of-concept, randomized, double-blind, crossover trial comparing ketamine with an active placebo control, midazolam, conducted at a single site (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York). Forty-one patients with chronic PTSD related to a range of trauma exposures were recruited via advertisements. INTERVENTIONS Intravenous infusion of ketamine hydrochloride (0.5 mg/kg) and midazolam (0.045 mg/kg). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome measure was change in PTSD symptom severity, measured using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. Secondary outcome measures included the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, the Clinical Global Impression-Severity and -Improvement scales, and adverse effect measures, including the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and the Young Mania Rating Scale. RESULTS Ketamine infusion was associated with significant and rapid reduction in PTSD symptom severity, compared with midazolam, when assessed 24 hours after infusion (mean difference in Impact of Event Scale-Revised score, 12.7 [95% CI, 2.5-22.8]; P = .02). Greater reduction of PTSD symptoms following treatment with ketamine was evident in both crossover and first-period analyses, and remained significant after adjusting for baseline and 24-hour depressive symptom severity. Ketamine was also associated with reduction in comorbid depressive symptoms and with improvement in overall clinical presentation. Ketamine was generally well tolerated without clinically significant persistent dissociative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study provides the first evidence for rapid reduction in symptom severity following ketamine infusion in patients with chronic PTSD. If replicated, these findings may lead to novel approaches to the pharmacologic treatment of patients with this disabling condition. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00749203.
Atypical centromeres in plants—what they can tell us

The centromere, visible as the primary constriction of condensed metaphase chromosomes, is a defined chromosomal locus essential for genome stability. It mediates transient assembly of a multi-protein complex, the kinetochore, which enables interaction with spindle fibers and thus faithful segregation of the genetic information during nuclear divisions. Centromeric DNA varies in extent and sequence composition among organisms, but a common feature of almost all active eukaryotic centromeres is the presence of the centromeric histone H3 variant cenH3 (a.k.a. CENP-A). These typical centromere features apply to most studied species. However, a number of species display “atypical” centromeres, such as holocentromeres (centromere extension along almost the entire chromatid length) or neocentromeres (ectopic centromere activity). In this review, we provide an overview of different atypical centromere types found in plants including holocentromeres, de novo formed centromeres and terminal neocentromeres as well as di-, tri- and metapolycentromeres (more than one centromere per chromosomes). We discuss their specific and common features and compare them to centromere types found in other eukaryotic species. We also highlight new insights into centromere biology gained in plants with atypical centromeres such as distinct mechanisms to define a holocentromere, specific adaptations in species with holocentromeres during meiosis or various scenarios leading to neocentromere formation.
Reliability challenges of FinFET and other multi-gate MOSFETs

In this paper by showing the results of an analytical model for the different variations of Multi-Gate MOSFETs including the FinFET. , All-Around Gate MOSFET. , Double-Gate MOSFET. , we present a complete and detailed investigation of all the performance aspects of these novel device structures. By having the values of all the performance metrics of the transistors such as drain current. , subthreshold swing. , threshold voltage. , and gate capacitance. , we present detailed discussions on the several advantages of all the Multi-Gate structures including the FinFET.
Differential Gene Expression by RamA in Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Salmonella Typhimurium

Overexpression of ramA has been implicated in resistance to multiple drugs in several enterobacterial pathogens. In the present study, Salmonella Typhimurium strain LTL with constitutive expression of ramA was compared to its ramA-deletion mutant by employing both DNA microarrays and phenotype microarrays (PM). The mutant strain with the disruption of ramA showed differential expression of at least 33 genes involved in 11 functional groups. The study confirmed at the transcriptional level that the constitutive expression of ramA was directly associated with increased expression of multidrug efflux pump AcrAB-TolC and decreased expression of porin protein OmpF, thereby conferring multiple drug resistance phenotype. Compared to the parent strain constitutively expressing ramA, the ramA mutant had increased susceptibility to over 70 antimicrobials and toxic compounds. The PM analysis also uncovered that the ramA mutant was better in utilization of 10 carbon sources and 5 phosphorus sources. This study suggested that the constitutive expression of ramA locus regulate not only multidrug efflux pump and accessory genes but also genes involved in carbon metabolic pathways.
Revealing life‐history traits by contrasting genetic estimations with predictions of effective population size

Effective population size, a central concept in conservation biology, is now routinely estimated from genetic surveys and can also be theoretically predicted from demographic, life‐history, and mating‐system data. By evaluating the consistency of theoretical predictions with empirically estimated effective size, insights can be gained regarding life‐history characteristics and the relative impact of different life‐history traits on genetic drift. These insights can be used to design and inform management strategies aimed at increasing effective population size. We demonstrated this approach by addressing the conservation of a reintroduced population of Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus). We estimated the variance effective size (Nev) from genetic data ( N ev =24.3 ) and formulated predictions for the impacts on Nev of demography, polygyny, female variance in lifetime reproductive success (RS), and heritability of female RS. By contrasting the genetic estimation with theoretical predictions, we found that polygyny was the strongest factor affecting genetic drift because only when accounting for polygyny were predictions consistent with the genetically measured Nev. The comparison of effective‐size estimation and predictions indicated that 10.6% of the males mated per generation when heritability of female RS was unaccounted for (polygyny responsible for 81% decrease in Nev) and 19.5% mated when female RS was accounted for (polygyny responsible for 67% decrease in Nev). Heritability of female RS also affected Nev; hf2=0.91 (heritability responsible for 41% decrease in Nev). The low effective size is of concern, and we suggest that management actions focus on factors identified as strongly affecting Nev , namely, increasing the availability of artificial water sources to increase number of dominant males contributing to the gene pool. This approach, evaluating life‐history hypotheses in light of their impact on effective population size, and contrasting predictions with genetic measurements, is a general, applicable strategy that can be used to inform conservation practice.
The Standardized Communication Assessment of Individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury

Reprir~t requprts: Llr. Groher, The James A. Haley VA 252 Hospital, Tampa, FL 33612. i is to determine if speech and general cornmunicative skills are deviant from expected normative levels. Other goals include delineation of communicative strengths and weaknesses, formulation of a prognosis, determination of underlying causes of manifest disability, and development of appropriate treatment strategies. Meeting these goals is hcilitated with the use of a diagnostic measure that has been standardized on individuals similar in relevant respects to the individual undergoing assessment. Standardization implies that normative data have been collected on a large sample of individuals who serve as a reference against which the determination of abnormalcy car1 be made. 'The use of standardized measures to assess communication deficits secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI) presents the speechllanguage pathologist with unique challenges. These challenges emerge from a group of welldescribed biopsychosocial sequelae that characterize irldividuals whose injury is associated with communicative dysfunction (Groher, 1990). Factors that influence assessment include: (1) individual presentations that require a comprehensive assessment of' those cognitive constructs that subserve and coexist with linguistic competencies, such as memory, attention, executive functions, and visual-integrative skills, together with isolated aphasic or dysarthric disturbances; (2) the potential for wide variability in levels of commurlicative ability; and (3) the behavioral concomitarits of head injury that make it difficult to ob. tain a reliable measure of communicative strengths and weaknesses. Measurement of dysfunction is compromised further by the scarcity of testing instruments whose normative base comes from a head-injured population. For most clinicians, an assessmerit of communication furlction is best achieved with a compilation of assorted subtests taken from standardi ~ e d (usually not on head-injured groups) measures complemented by nonstandardized assessment procedures. While this approach may provide a valid and reliable measure of an individual's knowledge and use of the linguistic code, rarely does it de-
Ubiquitous e-Learning With Multimodal Multimedia Devices

The sharable content object reference model (SCORM) is a set of specifications and guidelines for the representation and operation of asynchronous distance learning. Since it was announced in late 1990s, the reference model has been used by software developers and academics in the development of authoring tools, learning management systems, and repositories for distance learning content. To date, most e-learning systems have been based on multimedia and Web technologies on personal computers. Our project, Hard SCORM, advances the field by implementing an integrated system which allows learners to read SCORM-compliant textbooks using multimodal multimedia devices. Hard SCORM employs a pen-like optical character reader device (called Hyper Pen) as an input mechanism. A computer, a personal digital assistant, or a cellular phone can be used for user behavior supervision using the hard SCORM machine. With an authoring tool, specially designed tags are printed in textbooks and recognized by hyper pen for user navigation control. In this way, users can read hardcopy textbooks in a traditional manner while the process of reading conforms to the SCORM specification. Part of the implemented system (Pocket SCORM on PDA) received the 2005 Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Awards. The system has also been used by an airline company for online security checking and a high school for online mobile learning