Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exposure to phthalates: Reproductive outcome and children health. A review of epidemiological studies

Phthalates are a family of industrial chemicals that have been used for a variety of purposes. As the potential consequences of human exposure to phthalates have raised concerns in the general population, they have been studied in susceptible subjects such as pregnant women, infants and children. This article aims at evaluating the impact of exposure to phthalates on reproductive outcomes and children health by reviewing most recent published literature. Epidemiological studies focusing on exposure to phthalates and pregnancy outcome, genital development, semen quality, precocious puberty, thyroid function, respiratory symptoms and neurodevelopment in children for the last ten years were identified by a search of the PubMed, Medline, Ebsco, Agricola and Toxnet literature bases. The results from the presented studies suggest that there are strong and rather consistent indications that phthalates increase the risk of allergy and asthma and have an adverse impact on children’s neurodevelopment reflected by quality of alertness among girls, decreased (less masculine) composite score in boys and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Results of few studies demonstrate negative associations between phthalate levels commonly experienced by the public and impaired sperm quality (concentration, morphology, motility). Phthalates negatively impact also on gestational age and head circumference; however, the results of the studies were not consistent. In all the reviewed studies, exposure to phthalates adversely affected the level of reproductive hormones (luteinizing hormone, free testosterone, sex hormone-binding globulin), anogenital distance and thyroid function. The urinary le vels of phthalates were significantly higher in the pubertal gynecomastia group, in serum in girls with premature thelarche and in girls with precocious puberty. Epidemiological studies, in spite of their limitations, suggest that phthalates may affect reproductive outcome and children health. Considering the suggested health effects, more epidemiologic data is urgently needed and, in the meantime, precautionary policies must be implemented.
An Approach on Hardware Design for Computational Photography Applications Based on Light Field Refocusing Algorithm

This paper describes the performance analysis of the light field refocusing algorithm running on different hardware specifications, including the Intel Pentium 4, SSE2(Streaming SIMD Extensions), GPU, and also Cell Broadband Engine. The hardware chosen has unique features, making it interesting to compare their performance on such an application with each other, and how much advantage or disadvantage each one has over others. By doing so, we attempt to clarify the pros and cons of each hardware design in its capability of handling computational intensive image processing applications. The execution time is used as the main metric.
Theoretical study and practice on training model of information technology competency for college students

Information technology competency (ITC) is the important ability for college students pursuing career development, but current course design and training method could not meet needs of obtaining ICT and information technology (IT) learning capability. Based on Learning Theory and TAM Theory, this paper will introduce advanced training model of ITC for college students. By using real life problem-solving strategy of IT such as internet, introduced training model could help students obtain analysis capacity and problem solving ability associated with IT. It also could greatly enhance their interest in IT, IT continuing learning ability and comprehensive capability of applying the knowledge into their career development. Validity of this training model is verified by an E-commerce Contest.
Vertical Eddy Mixing in the Tropical Upper Ocean: Its Influence on Zonal Currents

Abstract In this study, the authors explore how vertical-mixing parameterizations influence the structure of zonal currents in the eastern equatorial Pacific using an isopycnal ocean model that contains an explicit surface mixed layer. The mixing parameterizations considered are the schemes that depend on the Richardson number (Ri). One of the schemes (the Step scheme) consists of high (νc) and low (νb) values of mixing coefficients, depending on whether Ri is less than or greater than a critical value. In simulations using the Step scheme, there is a region of large vertical shear just beneath the mixed layer where Ri is low and the mixing coefficient is νc; this high mixing controls the depth and strength of the westward surface drift. Near the undercurrent core, Ri is high and the mixing coefficient is νb; this low mixing is nevertheless dynamically important in that it affects the strength of the undercurrent. For the Ri-dependent schemes investigated, it is demonstrated that the extrema attained by m.
Fate of oligodendrocytes during retinal axon degeneration and regeneration in the goldfish visual pathway.

Retinal axons in goldfish regenerate after optic nerve lesion, restore synaptic connections, and become myelinated by oligodendrocytes. The fate of oligodendrocytes during these events is not known and may require generation of new oligodendrocytes or dedifferentiation and redifferentiation of the existing ones. To determine the reaction of oligodendrocytes to optic nerve lesion, we used the terminal transferase technique to detect apoptosis, bromodeoxyuridine incorporation to reveal mitosis, antibodies to identify myelin and oligodendrocytes, and Lucifer yellow injections to reveal cell morphology. Along with the reappearance of the myelin molecules 36K protein, galactocerebroside, and myelin basic protein, myelinating oligodendrocytes (identified by Lucifer yellow injections) reappear 21 days postlesion. Prior to this time, the dye-filled cells had few processes oriented along the regenerating axons. They resembled oligodendrocytes seen both in vitro and in vivo which express the L1-related E587 antigen and synthesize the 36K myelin protein in coculture with axons. No signs of oligodendrocyte apoptosis were detected after lesion and only few of the oligodendrocytes present had recently arisen. 36K/E587 double-labeled oligodendrocytes which were most likely dedifferentiating oligodendrocytes were identified in 8-day postlesion nerves among E587-positive elongate cells whose numbers increased until 14 days postlesion. These findings suggest that oligodendrocytes dedifferentiate-like Schwann cells-from cells which express myelin molecules to elongate cells which express the L1/E587 antigen. They redifferentiate to myelinate axons from roughly 3 weeks onward. These findings suggest an adaptive plasticity of goldfish oligodendrocytes beneficial to the repair of the visual pathway.
Strategies for Learning with Extended Logic Programs

We discuss the adoption of a three-valued setting for inductive concept learning. Distinguishing between what is true, what is false and what is unknown can be useful in situations where decisions have to be taken on the basis of scarce information. In a three-valued setting, we learn a definition for both the target concept and its opposite, considering positive and negative examples as instances of two disjoint classes. For this purpose , we adopt extended logic programs under a well-founded semantics as the representation formalism for learning. Explicit negation is used in order to represent the opposite concept, while default negation is used to ensure consistency and to handle exceptions to general rules. Exceptions to a concept are identiied from examples of the opposite training set. Exceptions can be generalized, in their turn, by learning within a hierarchy of defaults. Standard ILP techniques are used to learn the concept and its opposite. Depending on the technique adopted, we can learn the most general or the least general deenition. Thus, four epistemological varieties occur, resulting from the combination of most general and least general solutions for the positive and negative concept. We discuss the factors that should be taken into account when choosing and strategically combining the level of generality.
ITR : Building Practical Compilers Based on Adaptive Search — A Proposal to the National Science Foundation —

A. Project Summary In the past decade, we have seen an explosion in the number of computers in use and in their diversity. Even commodity microprocessors come in low-power versions, embedded versions, and a variety of high-performance versions; the performance parameters of these versions can differ widely. Embedded processors, such as microcontrollers and dsp chips, show even wider variation; different models of the same processor have different numbers and kinds of functional units. At the same time, processor designs have become more complex, with multiple functional units, partitioned register sets, exposed pipelines, and multiple distinct latencies that must be managed. As computers have found new application, developers and users have new priorities for their programs. Traditionally, users wanted programs to run fast. Now, issues such as code size, page faults, and power consumption have become important. Since most computers run compiled programs, a large part of the responsibility for addressing these issues falls to the compiler. While we understand how to build high-quality compilers that produce efficient code for most modern processors, actually building such a compiler is an expensive, labor-intensive effort that requires experts—compiler writers who are in short supply. To address these problems, we have developed a framework for experimenting with adaptive optimizing compilers—compilers that reconfigure themselves to better handle specific programs, objective functions, and target machines. These adaptive compilers use search to discover an appropriate set of optimizations and an order in which to apply them. By explicitly considering the program, the target machine, and the objective function, the adaptive framework finds configurations that produce better results than a traditional, fixed-sequence compiler. Changing its objective function changes its behavior. This gives an end-user the ability to focus optimization on different program properties, such as speed, space, power, or page faults. We have used our prototype to optimize for speed, for space, and for some properties related to power consumption—as well as combinations of these. Our work to date has focused on understanding the potential and the problems with this approach. In this project, we propose a sustained five-year program of experimentation and research to bring these techniques to the point where they can be routinely used to compile real applications. To focus our effort and to demonstrate the credibility of this approach, we will attack a challenge problem: automating the performance tuning of library code. Today, numerical libraries are hand-tuned for a variety of performance environments. Our …
Vector fields in expressing hairstyles

Building hair models and expressing hairstyles are important phases in a simulation system of virtual human. So, to be built a simulation system guarantees quality, proposing an efficient solution is an important problem. The article presents a vector field application in building hair models and expressing hairstyles, using the vector field will allow to express various hairstyles and create them rapidly which guarantees quality, and it doesn't close hair generalisation.
Secure Aggregation and Attack Detection for Smart Grid System

Smart grid is a very efficient and intelligent system for managing and monitoring the electricity usage and it can be applied in many useful areas. It supports energy producers and consumers efficiently by supporting the estimation and provision of the proper amount of electricity in proper time. However, when the information is altered or forged by the attackers, it could cause the system malfunction. In addition to that, some attacks could waste the system resources on purpose and could lead to disastrous results. In this work, we propose a secure data aggregation mechanism providing verification of the aggregated data and detection of the compromised node to prevent the DoS(Denial of Service) attack based on the homomorphic encryption.
The phonetic grounding of phonology

Phonological theory makes claims about the entities of phonological representation (such as features, phonemes, or syllables); about the constraints or rules which describe the well-formed combinations of these entities; and about the way in which constraints or rules interact to determine the space of well-formed abstract representations. Work on the phonetic grounding of phonology has eroded the distinction between entities and constraints. In several current frameworks, entities are viewed as emergent from the kind of articulatory and perceptual factors which also provide grounding for rules and constraints. This paper argues for a deeper penetration of phonetic substance into formal theory by suggesting that phonetic substance shapes constraint interaction. This means that the general form of the phonological grammar reflects the actual nature of speech. The paper first reviews the phonetic properties of vowels and consonants. The ability of vowels to carry tones and prosodic prominence, their organization into a metric space, and their behavior with respect to spreading and assimilation, all reflect their phonetic nature. Such phenomena lie at the heart of framework revolutions over the last decades. The paper then takes up the issue of cumulative versus noncumulative constraint interactions. In a framework with noncumulative interactions, such as Chomsky and Halle (1968) and Optimality Theory, some constraints logically override others. Cumulative effects appear in aspects of phonology involving overall similarity and sequential probability. Noncumulative effects frequently appear in areas of phonology involving serial encoding, where alternative analyses presumably compete in the brain through mutual inhibition. The fact that both cumulative and noncumulative interactions occur suggests an object-oriented approach to phonology, in which the way a constraint interacts depends on what kind of a constraint it is.
Effect of clozapine on rates of risk incidents and functioning in female adolescents with a diagnosis of severe emerging emotionally unstable personality disorder

Abstract Background: Psychotropic medication is widely prescribed for patients with emotionally unstable personality disorder, despite a limited evidence base. In adults, clozapine has been shown to demonstrate a reduction in the incidents of aggression and subsequent restraints. This study seeks to examine the effect of clozapine on the overall functioning and on the rates of incidents of aggression, seclusion and restraint, in female adolescents with severe emotionally unstable personality disorder. Methods: Routinely collected data of functioning and rate of incidents in 15 adolescent females with severe emotionally unstable personality disorder admitted to two secure adolescent mental health hospitals was compared before and after the prescription of clozapine. Results: Following the prescription of clozapine, patients in both hospitals had reduced rates of general incidents, use of restraint and use of seclusion. There was also an improvement in their overall functioning. Conclusions: This is the first case series describing the prescription of clozapine in adolescents with emerging severe emotionally unstable personality disorder, and despite limitations in the study design it provides some evidence for the use of clozapine in this specific patient group.
Analysis and reduction of the distortions induced by time-domain filtering techniques in network analyzers

The removal of isolation errors plays an essential role in the calibration process of radar scattering measurements. One of the most common techniques used for that purpose is time-domain filtering, also known as gating. In spite of the importance of gating techniques, however, little can be found about them in the open literature. This paper analyzes these techniques and provides the concepts required to develop them optimally. In addition, a new filtering method called chirp-z filtering (CZF) and techniques to remove remaining distortions are presented.
Design of CMOS current-feedback op-amps based on 0.25µm technology

This paper presents a new CMOS current-feedback operational amplifier based on the adoption of the MOS tube in order to improve slew-rate. The cascode circuit was used to decrease the influence of power supply. Resistance feedback was used in the output stage to improve its load driving capability. Simulation results of the CFOA using BSM3's 0.25um CMOS process parameters with PSPICE, result in a high slew-rate as well as bandwidth gain-independence. Circuit parameters show a: 92dB open loop gain, 178MHz unity gain bandwidth, 59degree phase margin, 144dB CMRR and power consumption around 0.246mW from 0.75V supply voltage.
Effects of lesions of the oculomotor cerebellar vermis on eye movements in primate: smooth pursuit.

We studied the effects on smooth pursuit eye movements of ablation of the dorsal cerebellar vermis (lesions centered on lobules VI and VII) in three monkeys in which the cerebellar nuclei were spared. Following the lesion the latencies to pursuit initiation were unchanged. Monkeys showed a small decrease (up to 15%) in gain during triangular-wave tracking. More striking were changes in the dynamic properties of pursuit as determined in the open-loop period (the 1st 100 ms) of smooth tracking. Changes included a decrease in peak eye acceleration (e.g., in one monkey from approximately 650 degrees /s(2), prelesion to approximately 220-380 degrees /s(2), postlesion) and a decrease in the velocity at the end of the open-loop period [e.g., in another monkey from a gain (eye velocity/target velocity at 100 ms of tracking) of 0.93, prelesion to 0.53, postlesion]. In individual monkeys, the pattern of deficits in the open-loop period of pursuit was usually comparable to that of saccades, especially when comparing the changes in the acceleration of pursuit to the changes in the velocity of saccades. These findings support the hypothesis that saccades and the open-loop period of pursuit are controlled by the cerebellar vermis in an analogous way. Saccades could be generated by eye velocity commands to bring the eyes to a certain position and pursuit by eye acceleration commands to bring the eyes toward a certain velocity. On the other hand, changes in gain during triangular-wave tracking did not correlate with either the saccade or the open-loop pursuit deficits, implying different contributions of the oculomotor vermis to the open loop and to the sustained portions of pursuit tracking. Finally, in a pursuit adaptation paradigm (x0.5 or x2, calling for a halving or doubling of eye velocity, respectively) intact animals could adaptively adjust eye acceleration in the open-loop period. The main pattern of change was a decrease in peak acceleration for x0.5 training and an increase in the duration of peak acceleration for x2 training. Following the lesion in the oculomotor vermis, this adaptive capability was impaired. In conclusion, as for saccades, the oculomotor vermis plays a critical role both in the immediate on-line and in the short-term adaptive control of pursuit.
Building Emotional Agents

The Oz project is developing technology for high quality interactive ction and virtual realities. An important aspect of this research is the development of intelligent, emotional agents to occupy these micro-worlds. We present here some preliminary work on Em, a implemented model of emotion for use in these agents. Em is based on the theoretical, cognition-based emotion model of Ortony, Collins, and Clore and has shown promise of being a exible model of emotion. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the oocial policies, either expressed or implied, of Fujitsu Laboratories or any other parties.
Disk Drive Pivot Nonlinearity Modeling Part I : Frequency Domain

This paper describes studies done at HP Labs on the actuator pivot bearing nonlinearity of a small disk drive. The nonlinear frictional behavior of the pivot bearing varies with actuator position, from drive to drive, and with time and temperature. This nonlinear behavior has made the traditional linear disk drive models inadequate. Part I of the paper shows how the sweptsine/describing function method was used to develop a nonlinear model of the pivot. This model departs from the classical friction models, but does a good job of matching laboratory frequency domain measurements. Part II of this paper presents several additional models and describes time domain comparisons between the laboratory measurements and the model simulations.
INVERTER DEAD-TIME ELIMINATION FOR REDUCING HARMONIC DISTORTION AND IMPROVING POWER QUALITY

Numerous studies have been presented to eliminate dead-time effect. This paper will present a dead-time elimination scheme for a sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) controlled inverter. In comparison to using expensive current sensor, this method precisely determine the load current polarity by detecting the terminal voltage of the antiparallel diode of power devices. The presented scheme includes the freewheeling current polarity detection circuit and the PWM control generator without dead-time. This method significantly reduces the output voltage loss, harmonic distortion and improves quality of power. Simulation results are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the dead-time elimination scheme.
EM exposure study on an inhomogeneous human model considering different hand positions

The main aim and the novelty of the proposed research is to study Mobile phone EM exposure thermal influence for the inhomogeneous woman models in case of different hand (finger) positions, holding the mobile phone, at 900 MHz, 1900 MHz and 3700 MHz frequencies. The motivation of this work is the necessity to consider influence of the hand, its position and position of the handset upon the near field for proper understanding of the exposure nature. Numerical simulations are carried out using finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method to estimate the specific absorption rate (SAR) and temperature rise caused by absorption of EM field energy in the human tissues. The obtained results are presented and analyzed below.
Dynamic channel allocation and power control for OFDMA femtocell networks

This paper studies the issues of channel allocation and power control for OFDMA femtocell networks. We formulate the channel allocation into a market style problem. Each femto base station (FBS) can be considered as a bidder to bid the channels within a sector of the macro base station (MBS). The FBS obtains its own “bidding price” by the potential service capability in the next cycle. To provide higher frequency reuse, we propose an interference constrained allocation scheme. It means we allow the nearby FBSs to have the chance to be allocated the same channel. With the help of pricing on the power setting of conflicting channels, we can calculate the optimal power with limited interference. The Stackelberg model has been used in our analysis on pricing policy. In the end, the simulation shows that we achieve higher system throughput than both the traditional (c, s, n) = (1, 3, 1) and (c, s, n) = (1, 3, 3) reuse policies.