Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrostimulation training effects on the physical performance of ice hockey players.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to examine the influence of a short-term electromyostimulation (EMS) training program on the strength of knee extensors, skating, and vertical jump performance of a group of ice hockey players. METHODS Seventeen ice hockey players participated in this study, with nine in the electrostimulated group (ES) and the remaining height as controls (C). EMS sessions consisted of 30 contractions (4-s duration, 85 Hz) and were carried out 3x wk for 3 wk. Isokinetic strength of the knee extensor muscles was determined with a Biodex dynamometer at different eccentric and concentric angular velocities (angular velocities ranging from -120 to 300 degrees .s). Jumping ability was evaluated during squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), drop jump (DJ), and 15 consecutive CMJ (15J). Sprint times for 10- and 30-m skates in specific conditions were measured using an infrared photoelectric system. RESULTS After 3 wk of EMS training, isokinetic torque increased significantly (P<0.05) for ES group in eccentric (-120 and -60 degrees .s) and concentric conditions (60 and 300 degrees .s), whereas vertical jump height decreased significantly (P<0.05) for SJ (-2.9+/-2.4 cm), CMJ (-2.1+/-2.0 cm), and DJ (-1.3+/-1.1 cm). The 10-m skating performance was significantly improved (from 2.18+/-0.20 to 2.07+/-0.09 s, before and after the 3-wk EMS period, respectively; P<0.05). CONCLUSION It was demonstrated that an EMS program of the knee extensors significantly enhanced isokinetic strength (eccentric and for two concentric velocities) and short skating performance of a group of ice hockey players.
Hard and soft edge spacing distributions for random matrix ensembles with orthogonal and symplectic symmetry

Inter-relations between random matrix ensembles with different symmetry types provide inter-relations between generating functions for the gap probabilities at the spectrum edge. Combining these in the scaled limit with the exact evaluation of the gap probabilities for certain superimposed ensembles with orthogonal symmetry allows for the exact evaluation of the gap probabilities at the hard and soft spectrum edges in the cases of orthogonal and symplectic symmetry. These exact evaluations are given in terms of Painlevé transcendents and in terms of Fredholm determinants.
Empowerment as a Process of Power Enhancement

Empowerment is easy to preach yet difficult to implement. Contemporary Indian organisations are trying to move towards empowerment, as change has made it imperative. The present study analyses sixteen Indian cases of empowerment, using power enhancers as the guiding concept. Case survey method (Mathews, 1988) is employed and the cases are content analysed. The code of the analysis alongwith quantitative results and the indicative content of the cases are presented. The study confirms the presence of power enhancers in Indian organisations and suggests four new power enhancers which should be added to the present list, after factor analysis.
Parsimonious Description of Generalized Gibbs Measures : Decimation of the 2d-Ising Model

In this paper, we detail and complete the existing characterizations of the decimation of the Ising model on $\Z^2$ in the generalized Gibbs context. We first recall a few features of the Dobrushin program of restoration of Gibbsianness and present the construction of global specifications consistent with the extremal decimated measures. We use them to consider these renormalized measures as almost Gibbsian measures and to precise its convex set of DLR measures. We also recall the weakly Gibbsian description and complete it using a potential that admits a quenched correlation decay, i.e. a well-defined configuration-dependent length beyond which this potential decays exponentially. We use these results to incorporate these decimated measures in the new framework of parsimonious random fields that has been recently developed to investigate probability aspects related to neurosciences.
Robust access based on speaker identification for optical communications security

A robust biometric access system for optical communications based on a speaker identification authentication is proposed in this paper. The solution also enables optical access with remote speaker identification. A set of speech features and classifiers were defined to achieve the best recognition rates. The experiments demonstrated the feasibility and importance of using the biometric technology for the optical communications security.
Is the critical Shields stress for incipient sediment motion dependent on channel‐bed slope?

Data from laboratory flumes and natural streams show that the critical Shields stress for initial sediment motion increases with channel slope, which indicates that particles of the same size are more stable on steeper slopes. This observation is contrary to standard models that predict reduced stability with increasing slope due to the added downstream gravitational force. Processes that might explain this discrepancy are explored using a simple force-balance model, including increased drag from channel walls and bed morphology, variable friction angles, grain emergence, flow aeration, and changes to the local flow velocity and turbulent fluctuations. Surprisingly, increased drag due to changes in bed morphology does not appear to be the cause of the slope dependency because both the magnitude and trend of the critical Shields stress are similar for flume experiments and natural streams, and significant variations in bed morphology in flumes is unlikely. Instead, grain emergence and changes in local flow velocity and turbulent fluctuations seem to be responsible for the slope dependency due to the coincident increase in the ratio of bed-roughness scale to flow depth (i.e., relative roughness). A model for the local velocity within the grain-roughness layer is proposed based on a 1-D eddy viscosity with wake mixing. In addition, the magnitude of near-bed turbulent fluctuations is shown to depend on the depth-averaged flow velocity and the relative roughness. Extension of the model to mixed grain sizes indicates that the coarser fraction becomes increasingly difficult to transport on steeper slopes.
Wide-Scale Adoption of Photovoltaic Energy Grid Code Modifications Are Explored in the Distribution Grid

— Current grid standards seem to largely require low power (e.g. several kilowatts) single-phase photovoltaic (PV) systems to operate at unity power factor with maximum power point tracking, and disconnect from the grid under grid faults by means of islanding detection. However, in case of a wide-scale penetration of single-phase PV systems in the distributed grid, the disconnection under grid faults can contribute to: a) voltage flickers, b) power outages, and c) system instability. In this paper, grid code modifications are explored for wide-scale adoption of PV systems in the distribution grid. More recently, Italy and Japan, have undertaken a major review of standards for PV power conversion systems connected to low voltage networks. In view of this, the importance of low voltage ride-through for single-phase PV power systems under grid faults along with reactive power injection is studied in this paper. Three reactive power injection strategies are discussed in detail. Simulations are presented for a PV power system with low voltage ride-through capability and ancillary services. An example of a full-bridge single-phase grid-connected system is tested experimentally to demonstrate the potential benefits. Moreover, a summary of the grid codes for advanced PV systems with the discussed features is presented.
Challenges in evolving Metamodels

Like every other software artifact, metamodels are subject to change even in later phases of the software life cycle. In this problem description paper, we ﬁrst classify metamodel changes. We then elaborate on the challenges of metamodel evolution. The main challenges are the tight coupling of code to metamodels and the pervasiveness of metamodel dependencies. As this is a problem description paper, we will only present a brief overview of possible solutions.
Toward the Development of a Hand-Held Surgical Robot for Laparoscopy

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS), which typically involves endoscopic camera and laparoscopic instruments may seem to be the ideal surgical procedure for its apparent benefits. However, in comparison to open surgeries, the spatial and mechanical tool limitations posed on surgeons are so high that often MIS is foregone for complex cases and even when it is possible, the procedure requires a high dexterity, caliber, and experience from the surgeon. Particularly, suturing procedure through MIS is known to be extremely challenging. We are working toward the development of a robotic hand-held surgical device for laparoscopic interventions that enhances the surgeons' dexterity. The instrument produces two independent DOFs, which is sufficient for enabling MIS suturing procedure in vivo. The end-effector's orientation is controlled by an intuitive and ergonomic controller and its position is controlled directly by the surgeon. Different control modes, handles, and end-effector kinematics are primarily evaluated using a virtual reality simulator before choosing the best combination. A proof-of-concept prototype of the device has been developed.
Associations between Infant Feeding Practices and Length, Weight, and Disease in Developing Countries

The health benefits of exclusive breastfeeding are well-known, but the relative detrimental impacts of other foods on infant health are unknown. Because infants in developing countries are fed a wide range of food, quantifying the burden of these diverse feeding practices on infant health is essential for public health policy. We used data from the Demographic Health Survey from 20 developing countries over multiple years to examine the independent association of six different types of food (exclusive breastfeeding, non-exclusive breastfeeding, infant formula, milk liquids, non-milk liquids, and solid foods) with five measures of infant health (length, weight, diarrhea, fever, and cough). We estimated associations with regression analysis, controlling for confounding factors with infant, mother, and household factors and community-year fixed effects. We used these estimates in a simulation model to quantify the burden of different combinations of food on infant health. We show that for an infant younger than 6 months old, following current guidelines and exclusively breastfeeding instead of giving the infant solid foods may increase length by 0.75 cm and weight by 0.25 kg and decrease diarrhea, fever, and cough prevalence by 8, 12, and 11%, respectively. We found that the burden on infant health of some feeding practices is less than others. Although all other feeding practices are associated with worse health outcomes than exclusive breastfeeding, breastfeeding supplemented with liquids has a lower burden on infant health than solid foods and infant formula has a lower burden than milk or non-milk liquids as measured by four of five health metrics. Providing specific quantified burden estimates of these practices can help inform public health policy related to infant feeding practices.
Markerless motion capture using a single depth sensor

We present a robust framework for tracking skeleton joints in real-time by using a single time-of-flight depth sensor. The framework is able to remove the background noise inherent in time-of-flight cameras, detect multiple people, and track up to 30 joints of free motion for each person. The approach has several advantages over traditional motion capture, as it is a cheap alternative to magnetic and optical systems, and requires no markers whatsoever. Unlike markerless systems based on RGB cameras [Duetscher et al. 2000; Kehl and Van Gool 2006], our framework yields dependable results at an interactive rate using a single camera.
Space-variant image sampling for foveation

In active vision applications, there can be a conflicting need for both high acuity and a wide field of view. One possible trade-off in such cases is to provide high acuity in a small central area, and to use lower resolution information in a wider field of view to control where that central area is placed. This arrangement is akin to the foveated retina of the human eye. For binocular vision under these circumstances, it is important that both cameras center the same object. In humans, this is achieved by vergence eye movements. One simple, fast method for implementing vergence is to use correlation of a log-polar sampling of the images from the cameras. I will examine a vergence algorithm based on log-polar sampling, and present an analysis and implementation of a modified version of this algorithm.
Mining MOOC Clickstreams: On the Relationship Between Learner Behavior and Performance

We study student behavior and performance in two Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). In doing so, we present two frameworks by which video-watching clickstreams can be represented: one based on the sequence of events created, and another on the sequence of positions visited. With the event-based framework, we extract recurring subsequences of student behavior, which contain fundamental characteris- tics such as reflecting (i.e., repeatedly playing and pausing) and revising (i.e., plays and skip backs). We find that some of these behaviors are significantly associated with whether a user will be Correct on First Attempt (CFA) or not in answering quiz questions. With the position-based framework, we then devise models for performance. In evaluating these through CFA prediction, we find that three of them can substantially improve prediction quality in terms of accuracy and F1, which underlines the ability to relate behavior to performance. Since our prediction considers videos individually, these benefits also suggest that our models are useful in situations where there is limited training data, e.g., for early detection or in short courses.
Life After Ashby: Ultrastability and the Autopoietic Foundations of Biological Autonomy

The concept of autopoiesis was conceived by Maturana and Varela as providing the necessary and sufficient conditions for distinguishing the living from the non-living (and, by extension, the cognitive from the non-cognitive). More recently however, there has been a growing consensus that their original conception of autopoiesis is necessary but insufficient for this task as it fails to meet a number of constructive, interactive, normative, and historical requirements. We argue that it also fails to satisfy crucial phenomenological requirements that are motivated by the ongoing appropriation of autopoiesis as a key concept in enactive cognitive science. The root of these problems can be traced to the abstract general systems framework in which the ideas were first formulated, as epitomized by Ashby’s cybernetics. While this abstract generality has helped the concept’s popularity in some circles, we insist that a restriction of autopoiesis to a radical embodiment in chemical self-production under far-from-equilibrium conditions is necessary if the concept is to live up to its original intentions.
Visibility of temporal blur on a gaze-contingent display

The spatio-temporal characteristics of the human visual system vary widely across the visual field. Many studies that have investigated these characteristics were limited to the use of artificial stimuli, such as flickering sinusoidal gratings, etc. Here, we present a gaze-contingent system that is capable of modulating the spatio-temporal content of a high-resolution image sequence in real-time. In a first experiment, we measure - as a function of eccentricity - how much the temporal resolution of a natural video can be reduced before this manipulation becomes visible.
The Effects of Canola or Mustard Biodiesel Press Cake on Nutrient Digestibility and Performance of Broiler Chickens

This study compared the nutritional value of canola (B. napa) and mustard (B. hirta) press cakes obtained from the biodiesel industry as ingredients for use in diets fed to broiler chickens. A total of 210, one-day old, male broiler chicks were randomly assigned to one of seven dietary treatments. The control diet was based on wheat and soybean meal and contained 15% canola meal. For the experimental diets, 5, 10 or 15% of the canola meal was replaced with an equal amount of either canola or mustard biodiesel press cake. Dry matter and neutral detergent fiber digestibility were significantly higher for birds fed diets containing either canola or mustard biodiesel press cake compared with canola meal. Dry matter and neutral detergent fiber digestibility of the canola biodiesel press cakes was higher than the mustard biodiesel press cakes. Ether extract digestibility and nitrogen retention were significantly higher for birds fed canola biodiesel press cake compared with canola meal and mustard biodiesel press cake. Body weight gain and feed intake did not differ between birds fed canola or mustard biodiesel press cake and canola meal. In addition, there was no significant difference in body weight gain or feed intake between birds fed diets containing canola or mustard biodiesel press cake. Feed conversion was significantly improved for birds fed either canola or mustard biodiesel press cake compared with canola meal. Mortality was unaffected by treatment. Since the performance of broilers fed canola biodiesel press cakes was essentially the same as that of broilers fed canola meal, it is difficult to justify a premium to be paid for canola biodiesel press cake over that paid for canola meal. In addition, there was no difference in the performance of broilers fed biodiesel press cake obtained from canola or mustard seed. As mustard seeds are generally available at a lower price than canola seed, there may be some incentive to use mustard rather than canola seed for producing biodiesel press cake for use in poultry production.
N + 1 Decision Trees For Attack Graph

— Attack Graph is very useful technique for administrator to map the system vulnerabilities, the information mapped are attack's goals and paths. In this paper we introduce a novel way to draw an Attack Graph, by using Decision Tree to preprocessing the vulnerabilities information collecting from government institution using NESSUS tool. Decision Tree is a supervised learning classification technique represent paths and text in the nodes and on the edges for verifying the easy understand vulnerabilities. The tree used is very useful in the way of generating the graphs. The graphs are N+1: N for each attribute and one for full graph. This way simplify the way the administrator to learn the situation by minimize the size of graph and then evaluate the system vulnerabilities.
Traffic-Aware Dynamic Routing to Alleviate Congestion in Wireless Sensor Networks

The congestion problem in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is quite different from that in traditional networks. Most current congestion control algorithms try to alleviate the congestion by reducing the rate at which the source nodes inject packets into the network. However, this traffic control scheme always decreases the throughput so as to violate fidelity level required by the applications. In this paper, we present a solution that sufficiently exerts the idle or underloaded nodes to alleviate congestion and improve the overall throughput in WSNs. To achieve this goal, a traffic-aware dynamic routing (TADR) algorithm is proposed to route packets around the congestion areas and scatter the excessive packets along multiple paths consisting of idle and underloaded nodes. Utilizing the concept of potential in classical physics, our TADR algorithm is designed through constructing a hybrid virtual potential field using depth and normalized queue length to force the packets to steer clear of obstacles created by congestion and eventually move toward the sink. The simulation results show that the proposed solution improves the overall throughput by around 370 percent as compared to MintRoute, which is one of benchmark routing protocols. Furthermore, TADR scheme has low overhead suitable for large-scale, dense sensor networks.
Security Issues and Sybil Attack in Wireless Sensor Networks

Due to broadcast nature of Wireless Sensor Networks and lack of tamper-resistant hardware, security in sensor networks is one of the major issues. Hence research is being done on many security attacks on wireless sensor networks. Sybil attack is a particular harmful attack. When a node illegitimately claims multiple identities or claims fake id, is called Sybil attack. This paper focuses on various security issues, security threats, Sybil attack and various methods to prevent
A genetic algorithm for blind source separation based on independent component analysis

This paper presents the implementation of genetic algorithm (GA) to a simple blind source separation(BSS) problem using independent component analysis(ICA). The process did not include pre-processing of mixture signals such as centering and whitening like most of ICA algorithms. The GA directly guesses the coefficients of the separating matrix given the mixture signals as inputs using maximization of kurtosis and minimization of mutual information as fitness function. Only one fitness function was defined to account the fitness for kurtosis and mutual information. Three set of simulations were performed. The first two simulations used the mixture of two and three synthetic signals, respectively. The third simulation used four audio signals. The results show that the proposed algorithm indeed separates the independent sources consisting of synthetic signals. The simulation consisting of four audio signals separates only three signals. It failed to extract one signal probably because the signal is almost a gaussian signal.
Placing Optimal Number of Sinks in Sensor Networks for Network Lifetime Maximization

In this paper we investigate the benefits of placing optimal number of sinks for a wireless sensor network (WSN) to prolong the network lifetime, provided that the number of hops from each sensor to its nearest sink is no more than h>=1 and the sink location space is given in advance. We first formulate this problem as a joint optimization problem, which consists of finding the optimal number of sinks for placement and devising an energy-efficient routing protocol for data collection. Due to the NP-hardness of the problem, we then propose a novel heuristic by decomposing the problem into two sub-problems and solving them separately. As a result, the proposed optimization framework improves network performance from several aspects, including the network lifetime prolongation, network scalability improvement, and the average data delivery delay reduction. Furthermore, it also enhances the network robustness substantially, since the sensing data generated by all sensors will be collected by multiple deployed sinks regardless of the network connectivity. We finally conduct extensive experiments by simulations to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms another popular heuristic significantly in terms of network lifetime prolongation.