Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the Mobility Performance of a Personal Mobility Vehicle for Steps

There is increasing demand for continued development in personal mobility vehicles, because many people want to use them to improve their life. For example, wheelchair users, including people with disabilities, need powered wheelchairs for their daily activities, and elderly people expect to use mobile platforms for better quality of life. There are two main research targets for these types of vehicles: more intelligence and higher mobility performance. This paper discusses the latter topic. The vehicle proposed in this paper has high mobility performance on rough terrain; notably, it has the capability of traversing steps obliquely, even though conventional vehicles are supposed to move on steps only from the very front of the steps, not obliquely. Its performance for climbing up/down steps is evaluated in this paper, which is an evaluation for climbing up steps that consists of seven patterns of approach angles to the step for one step and two steps. Tests for climbing down steps were also conducted. Through those tests, the ability of our vehicle to traverse steps obliquely was confirmed.
The health of children conceived by assisted reproduction technologies

The provision of assisted reproduction technologies needs to operate within a defined ethical framework that safeguards the welfare of all concerned Assisted reproduction technologies (ART) account for the conception of around 1% of children born in the UK each year (over 10 000 children). 1,2 The primary purpose of ART is the treatment of infertility and the conception and safe delivery of healthy children with the potential to become healthy adults, but some techniques permit embryo selection and testing.3,4 As the range, application and success rates (live births per treatment cycle) of ART have increased, so their consequences for the children produced have become more apparent. Since paediatricians have moral obligations to maximise children’s welfare and to act as their advocates,5 they may have reasonable concerns about the health and welfare of the increasing number of children conceived by ART. Children born alive have full protection in law that imposes enforceable duties, including that of meeting children’s health needs, on those with parental responsibility.6 Although this legal protection does not generally extend to embryos and foetuses, those who provide ART have ethical and legal duties to consider the welfare of children born as a result (the welfare principle). 7 This duty can be interpreted as being limited to considering whether there are any adverse factors which might preclude a particular couple from becoming parents. However, the welfare principle also entails consideration of what adverse health outcomes for children may be associated with use of ART and how they should be ameliorated. Desperation associated with infertility may lead would-be parents to take risks with both their own and their future child’s health,8 but these – and professional discomforts about their motivation to become parents – may be insufficient reasons to deny them ART. However, because …
Document Title: Unpacking the Influence of Neighborhood Context and Antisocial Propensity on Violent Victimization of Children and Adolescents in Chicago

Unpacking the Influence of Neighborhood Context and Antisocial Propensity on Violent Victimization of Children and Adolescents in Chicago Chris L. Gibson, Ph.D. University of Florida This research combines social disorganization and self-control theories to understand violent victimization among children and adolescents. In doing so, several research questions are investigated to explore the independent and interactive influences that neighborhood disadvantage and low self-control have on violent victimization risk. Data from the 9, 12, and 15-year old cohorts of the Longitudinal Cohort Study in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN-LCS) were used in this study. Data analyzed were from self-reports of children, adolescents, and their primary caregivers during waves 1 and 2 of the longitudinal data collection effort. In addition, neighborhood structural characteristics from the U.S. Census were also analyzed. Results from a combination of hierarchical generalized linear models and multivariate logistic regression models with robust standard errors revealed that violent victimization did not significantly vary across neighborhoods, and independent of various behavioral and lifestyle choices made by children and adolescents, low self-control increased the risk for becoming a victim of violence. Additionally, choices made by them also influenced their risk of violent victimization; those who reported engaging in violent offending, spending more time in unstructured activities, and having more delinquent peers had a higher risk of being a victim of violence. Further analysis shows that the association between low self-control and violent victimization risk varies across levels of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage in which youth live; low self-control’s influence in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods dissipated while it was amplified for those living in the least disadvantaged neighborhoods. Unstructured socializing with peers was the only factor that significantly influenced violent victimization risk across low, medium and high disadvantaged neighborhoods. Findings are consistent with a “social push” perspective, which suggests that disadvantaged environments provide social pressures that may override the influence of individual differences on vulnerability to violent victimization. Implications of this study’s findings are discussed as they relate to policy, prevention and theory; while also setting forth a research agenda on neighborhoods, antisocial traits, and violent victimization risk for future research. This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Sexing the X: How the X Became the “Female Chromosome”

This essay examines how the X became the “female chromosome” and how the association of the X with femaleness influences research questions, models, and descriptive language in human sex chromosome research. I trace how the X is gendered female in scientific and popular discourse; document the contingent technical, material, and ideological factors that led to the feminization of the X during the first decades of sex chromosome research; and track the introduction of the “female chromosome” into human genetics at midcentury. In the second part of the essay, I document the continuing influence of the feminization of the X on genetic research, exemplified by “X chromosome mosaicism” theories of female biology and behavior.
Connectivity and performance tradeoffs in the cascade correlation learning architecture

The cascade correlation is a very flexible, efficient and fast algorithm for supervised learning. It incrementally builds the network by adding hidden units one at a time, until the desired input/output mapping is achieved. It connects all the previously installed units to the new unit being added. Consequently, each new unit in effect adds a new layer and the fan-in of the hidden and output units keeps on increasing as more units get added. The resulting structure could be hard to implement in VLSI, because the connections are irregular and the fan-in is unbounded. Moreover, the depth or the propagation delay through the resulting network is directly proportional to the number of units and can be excessive. We have modified the algorithm to generate networks with restricted fan-in and small depth (propagation delay) by controlling the connectivity. Our results reveal that there is a tradeoff between connectivity and other performance attributes like depth, total number of independent parameters, and learning time.
Temporal Variations of Global Fallout-Derived Plutonium and 137Cs in River Water in Japan

Temporal variations of global fallout-derived plutonium and 137Cs concentrations in river water in Japan were examined using a composite dataset for 1966–1987 (1966-1987 for 239,240Pu, 1978-1987 for 137Cs). Plutonium and 137Cs concentrations in Japanese river water exhibited exponential decreases during the sampling periods, with the exception of 137Cs concentrations immediately after the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986. The apparent half-decrease time of dissolved 137Cs (1.9 ± 0.3 years), which means a time that radionuclide concentrations in river water decrease to a half, was similar to that for dissolved 239,240Pu for the same period, whereas the apparent half-decrease time of particulate 239,240Pu (4.5 ± 2.2years) was longer. Temporal changes in dissolved 239,240Pu and 137Cs in river water can be explained by direct contribution of radionuclides from rainwater and leaching of radionuclides from surface-layer soil particles on land.
Identity, Exclusion, and Critique

In this article I reply to four critics. Responding to Linda Alcoff, I contend that my original two-dimensional framework discloses the entwinement of economic and cultural strands of subordination, while also illuminating the dangers of identity politics. Responding to James Bohman, I maintain that, with the addition of the third dimension of representation, my approach illuminates the structural exclusion of the global poor, the relation between justice and democracy, and the status of comprehensive theorizing. Responding to Nikolas Kompridis, I defend a view of recognition that prioritizes the critique of institutionalized injustice. Responding to Rainer Forst, I argue that such a critique is better formulated in participation-theoretic than justification-theoretic terms.
Initial assessment and outcome of head injured patients transferred to a regional neurosurgical service: what do we miss?

OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of missed extracranial injuries in patients transferred to a regional neurosurgical service for ongoing head injury management. METHODS: A three year prospective study conducted under the auspices of the Scottish Trauma Audit Group. All patients were followed during their hospital stay by independent audit staff, their injuries being recorded and scored using established criteria. RESULTS: 115 head trauma patients were transferred during the study period. 15 patients died (13% mortality). Eight of a total of 87 separate, scorable extracranial injuries were missed (error rate 9%), none of which was serious. There were no missed injuries in patients who died. 77% of patients were managed by an accident and emergency doctor of at least registrar grade. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to other published series, this study has shown a low rate of missed extracranial injuries in a group of patients whose initial assessment is notoriously difficult. Early involvement by an experienced accident and emergency doctor may play an important part in the overall management of such patients.
Experimental analysis of mechanical stresses and material properties in multi-layer interconnect systems by fibDAC

The paper presents a new stress measurement method on base of stress relief caused by local material removal with ion milling in FIB equipment. Stress relief deformations extracted from SEM micrographs by means of digital image correlation allow the determination of stresses, as well as to estimate Young's modulus on the position of ion milling. The paper gives an introduction into the method. The feasibility to extract local stresses in multilayer stacks, both in lateral direction and in depth, is discussed in more detail.
Failing to See the Irony in ‘Mind-Reading’

We are puzzled by Szilvia Papp's response to the recent Special Issue of Theory & Psychology devoted to critiques of and alternatives to Theory of Mind. Although Papp is a linguist with a special interest not only in Theory of Mind but also in ‘Relevance Theory’, we can find no reference in her response to the critical issues raised in the Special Issue, nor any defence of the dualist metaphysics behind Theory of Mind. Instead, she presents us with a further demonstration that if one starts from dualistic premises, then one does indeed end up with something along the lines of Theory of Mind with its resort to ‘mind-reading’.
Cardiac autonomic changes in middle‐aged women: identification based on principal component analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the application of the principal component analysis (PCA) technique on power spectral density function (PSD) of consecutive normal RR intervals (iRR) aiming at assessing its ability to discriminate healthy women according to age groups: young group (20–25 year‐old) and middle‐aged group (40–60 year‐old). Thirty healthy and non‐smoking female volunteers were investigated (13 young [mean ± SD (median): 22·8 ± 0·9 years (23·0)] and 17 Middle‐aged [51·7 ± 5·3 years (50·0)]). The iRR sequence was collected during ten minutes, breathing spontaneously, in supine position and in the morning, using a heart rate monitor. After selecting an iRR segment (5 min) with the smallest variance, an auto regressive model was used to estimate the PSD. Five principal component coefficients, extracted from PSD signals, were retained for analysis according to the Mahalanobis distance classifier. A threshold established by logistic regression allowed the separation of the groups with 100% specificity, 83·2% sensitivity and 93·3% total accuracy. The PCA appropriately classified two groups of women in relation to age (young and Middle‐aged) based on PSD analysis of consecutive normal RR intervals.
Tractability of Planning with Loops

We create a unified framework for analyzing and synthesizing plans with loops for solving problems with non-deterministic numeric effects and a limited form of partial observability. Three different action models---with deterministic, qualitative non-deterministic and Boolean non-deterministic semantics---are handled using a single abstract representation. We establish the conditions under which the correctness and termination of solutions, represented as abstract policies, can be verified. We also examine the feasibility of learning abstract policies from examples. We demonstrate our techniques on several planning problems and show that they apply to challenging real-world tasks such as doing the laundry with a PR2 robot. These results resolve a number of open questions about planning with loops and facilitate the development of new algorithms and applications.
ReCycle:: pipeline adaptation to tolerate process variation

Process variation affects processor pipelines by making some stages slower and others faster, therefore exacerbating pipeline unbalance. This reduces the frequency attainable by the pipeline. To improve performance, this paper proposes ReCycle, an architectural framework that comprehensively applies cycle time stealing to the pipeline - transferring the time slack of the faster stages to the slow ones by skewing clock arrival times to latching elements after fabrication. As a result, the pipeline can be clocked with a period equal to the average stage delay rather than the longest one. In addition, ReCycle's frequency gains are enhanced with Donor stages, which are empty stages added to "donate" slack to the slow stages. Finally, ReCycle can also convert slack into power reductions. For a 17FO4 pipeline, ReCycle increases the frequency by 12% and the application performance by 9% on average. Combining ReCycle and donor stages delivers improvements of 36% in frequency and 15% in performance onaverage, completely reclaiming the performance losses due to variation.
Associations Between Self-Control, Practice, and Skill Level in Sport Expertise Development

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the association between self-control (SC) variables and (a) sport-specific practice amounts, (b) engagement in various practice contexts, (c) threats to commitment to one's sport, and (d) skill development using the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) in a diverse sport sample. Method: Two hundred forty-four athletes (47% female; Mage = 21.96 years, SD = 6.98 years; 68.8% individual sports and 31.2% team sports; 13.77 [SD = 8.12] hr/week of sport-specific practice) completed a survey composed of the BSCS and practice-related measures. Three skill groups (basic/intermediate, advanced, expert) were informed by athletes' self-reported highest level of competition. Separate analyses were conducted for juniors (aged 12–17 years) and seniors (aged 18–43 years). Results: A 2-factor model (self-discipline and impulse control) fit the BSCS data. Fewer thoughts of quitting from one's sport were associated with higher self-discipline in juniors and seniors and were also related to higher impulse control in seniors. Greater practice amounts were associated with higher self-discipline; however, only seniors showed such associations in voluntary practice contexts. For juniors and seniors, impulse control was associated with more voluntary practicing. There were, however, no skill-group differences for levels of self-discipline or impulse control. Conclusions: Self-discipline and impulse control may be dispositional characteristics associated with how athletes engage in practice and avert conditions that threaten their sport commitment. SC dispositions may relate to practice amounts differently in juniors and seniors, depending on the requirements for self-regulation in a practice context.
Attitudes, Norms, and Self-Efficacy: A Model of Adolescents' HIV-Related Sexual Risk Behavior

Using data from a cross-sectional, statewide survey of 1,720 Texas ninth graders in 13 school districts, a model of psychosocial predictors of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related sexual risk behavior was tested. Predictor variables in the model, based on variables from the Theory of Reasoned Action and Social Learning Theory, were attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions. Attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy predicted 36.4% of the variance in the intention to limit the number of sexual partners and the same variables plus intention predicted 24.6% of the variance in number of sexual partners in the past year. Attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy regarding condom use predicted 17.0% of the variance in condom use intentions; these variables plus intentions predicted 19.0% of the variance in condom use frequency. Attitudes, norms, and intentions were directly related to the number of sexual partners, while self-efficacy ad condom use intentions were directly related to frequency of condom use.
On the SEP Analysis of OFDM Index Modulation With Hybrid Low Complexity Greedy Detection and Diversity Reception

In this work, we investigate the performance of multicarrier index keying (MCIK) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) proposing a hybrid low complexity detection and diversity reception. For performance analysis, we derive novel exact closed-form expressions for the average pairwise error probability (PEP) and symbol error probability (SEP) of three detection methods: a greedy detector (GD), and a GD with maximal ratio combining, or selection combining. Approximate and accurate expressions for the average PEP and SEP are also analyzed in closed-form. The derived expressions provide a useful insight into the error performance of MCIK-OFDM with the hybrid detector in low, moderate, and extreme rate of sparse sub-carrier indices activation. The effects of multiple antennas and sparse sub-carriers activation on the SEP are addressed in several extreme cases; decreasing the average SEP exponentially with proper choice of both subcarrier activation rate and number of antennas. In comparison with the benchmark detection, the numerical results and simulations clearly show that the proposed schemes can benefit from diversity gain, at substantially reduced complexity. The derived SEP expressions and analyses will be useful to evaluate various concepts of MCIK OFDM in low-power device applications.
A Review of Different Methods for Booth Multiplier

In this review paper, different type of implementation of Booth multiplier has been studied. Multipliers has great importance in digital signal processor, so designing a high-speed multiplier is the need of the hour. Advantages of using modified booth multiplier algorithm is that the number of partial product is reduced. Different types of addition algorithms are also discussed which are used for addition operation of multiplier. Keyword -booth multiplier, modified booth multiplier, radix-8, fixed-width.
Efficiency and Other Benefits of 208 Volt Over 120 Volt Input for IT Equipment

Decisions made regarding the distribution of 208 V or 120 V power to IT equipment can significantly impact overall efficiency of the data center. This paper explores the voltage connection options of 208 volt (V) and 120 V for servers in North America and considers the efficiency implications of these choices. This same discussion applies to the use of 200 V vs. 100 V in Japan. Executive summary >
Star Formation Knots in IRAS Galaxies

Images of IRAS galaxies with a range of IR properties are examined for bright knots, both within and outside the galaxy. These are found almost exclusively in galaxies with steep IR spectra, but over a wide range of IR luminosity, and usually without strong nuclear activity. In most cases, the knots are likely to be star-formation induced by tidal interactions, and are seen in the early stages of such interactions. Detailed photometry is presented of knots in six representative galaxies. The knots appear to have a wide range of colour and luminosity, but it is argued that many are heavily reddened. Knots formed outside the parent galaxy may be a new generation of what later become globular clusters, but they appear to have a wide range of luminosities.
In Vitro Evaluation of Double and Triple Combinations of Antifungal Drugs against Aspergillus fumigatus and Aspergillus terreus

ABSTRACT Microdilution broth checkerboard techniques based on the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards methodology were used to study double and triple antifungal combinations against clinical isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus and A. terreus. The influences of the end-point definition (partial or complete inhibition) and the mode of reading (visually or spectrophotometrically) were determined. Interactions between antifungal drugs were also evaluated by agar diffusion tests. Combinations of caspofungin with either amphotericin B or voriconazole were additive for all the isolates, and antagonism was not observed. The interaction between caspofungin and flucytosine was synergistic for 62% of the isolates. In contrast, the interaction between voriconazole and flucytosine was never synergistic and antagonism was noted for 93% of the isolates. The triple combination of caspofungin with flucytosine and amphotericin B was synergistic for all the isolates tested. The triple combination of caspofungin with flucytosine and voriconazole was also mostly synergistic; but complex interactions were obtained for some isolates, with synergy or antagonism depending on the concentrations of caspofungin and voriconazole. Analysis of the influence of the reading technique on the results showed that spectrophotometric reading was a good alternative to the recommended visual reading. The results of these in vitro tests suggest that the activity of flucytosine as part of a double combination with caspofungin and as part of a triple combination with caspofungin and amphotericin B against Aspergillus spp. warrants further investigations. Animal studies are needed to evaluate the in vivo efficacies of these combinations.