Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Longitudinal predictors of reduced mobility and physical disability in patients with type 2 diabetes: the Fremantle Diabetes Study.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine longitudinal predictors of impaired mobility and physical disability in patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We studied patients with type 2 diabetes who participated in a prospective, community-based study. A wide range of baseline variables were examined to determine whether they predicted future difficulties with 1) mobility and 2) basic activities of daily living (ADLs) in patients free of ADLs difficulty at baseline. To study mobility impairment, subjects with baseline mobility problems were also excluded. RESULTS After an average 4.6 +/- 2.3 and 4.8 +/- 2.3 years of follow-up in 818 and 934 patients, respectively, 28.5% of subjects had developed new mobility impairment and 18.1% had developed new ADL disability. In Cox proportional hazards models, the risk of mobility impairment was significantly increased by older age (6%/year), peripheral neuropathy (40% increase), stroke history (123%), insulin treatment (117%), albuminuria, and arthritis (82%); taking exercise and being married lowered the risk (by 39 and 32%, respectively). The risk of new ADL disability was increased by baseline mobility problems (222% increase), stroke (92%), claudication (67%), and depression (41%) and was also influenced by age, smoking, lack of exercise, non-fluency in English, and indigenous Australian ethnicity. CONCLUSIONS Both mobility impairment and ADL disability in type 2 diabetes have multiple causes that are due to diabetes complications and common comorbidities. The specific causes of each functional problem are largely distinct, and different approaches may be required to prevent their onset or progression.
Constructing community in cyberspace

In this panel, a group of theorists and practitioners, each of whom has constructed tools for communicating and community building in cyberspace, present their own work and critically evaluate each others work. Our perspective explores the relationships between public events in real communities, public events involving art and politics, and the counterparts of these events in virtual communities. Each panelist presents a current project in a visual way, as a series of narrated images or as a demonstration of the project on a web site. The panelists comment on the ways in which the project might have been embedded in traditional community and on the ways in which the project might be embedded in a cyberspace community.
An improved carrier frequency synchronization algorithm with spatial diversity in MIMO-OFDM system

Carrier frequency synchronization is important in MIMO-OFDM systems. Any carrier frequency offset will cause a loss of subcarrier orthogonality which results in ICI and hence performance degrades severely. In this paper, a preamble structure for MIMO-OFDM systems is proposed. Based on the structure, the carrier frequency synchronization algorithm in burst data transmission for MIMO-OFDM systems is improved. The paper investigates the value of the improved algorithm with transmit and receive diversities for carrier synchronization in MIMO-OFDM systems. The simulation results show that the carrier synchronization performance in MIMO-OFDM systems with the improved algorithm exploiting transmit and receive diversity is efficient and robust, especially in low signal-to-noise ratio condition.
A 5-bit 500-MS/s time-domain flash ADC in 0.18-μm CMOS

A 5-bit 500-MS/s time-domain flash ADC is presented. The proposed ADC consists of a reference resistor ladder, two voltage-to-time converter arrays, a time-domain comparator array and a digital encoder without sample-and-hold. In order to achieve low-power consumption with high conversion-speed and to enhance design reusability in terms of a highly digital implementation with more regular mask patterns, the time-domain comparison is devised in the flash ADC. The prototype has been implemented and fabricated in a standard 0.18(im CMOS technology and occupies 0.132mm2 without pads. The measured SNDR and SFDR up to the Nyquist frequency are 26.6 and 35.1 dB, respectively. And the peak DNL and INL are measured as 0.43 LSB and 0.58 LSB, respectively. The prototype consumes 8mW with a 1.8-V supply voltage.
Leaf Pubescence Affects Distribution and Abundance of Generalist Slug Caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae)

Abstract Insect herbivores often respond to leaf texture in making oviposition or feeding choices. This study examined the importance of leaf pubescence for an assemblage of generalist caterpillars (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae) feeding on oaks (Quercus spp.) and a variety of other tree species in eastern North America. Based on 10 yr of larval sampling on canopy and understory black and white oak (Quercus velutina and Q. alba, respectively) in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, larval density of slug caterpillars (14 species as a group and 3 individual species) was higher on glabrous canopy leaves of Q. velutina than on highly pubescent understory leaves of that species. In contrast, there was no effect of stratum on overall density for Q. alba, which has glabrous leaves in both microenvironments. Individually, stratum effects for Q. alba were significant for five species, four of which were more abundant in the understory. Additional censusing of larvae on 20 tree species varying in leaf pubescence found that, as a group, slug caterpillar density was negatively correlated with leaf hair density. Finally, feeding trials confirmed that slug caterpillars prefer canopy over understory leaves of Q. velutina and vice versa for Q. alba leaves. When hairs were experimentally removed from one side of Q. velutina understory leaves, caterpillars preferred the side from which hairs were removed over the intact side. Together, these results indicate that leaf pubescence influences patterns of host plant use by these generalist herbivores, and in so doing, contributes to the structuring of local herbivore communities.
Deriving Paraphrases for Highly Inflected Languages from Comparable Documents

We describe an automatic paraphrase-inference procedure for a highly inflected language like Arabic. Paraphrases are derived from comparable documents, that is, distinct documents dealing with the same topic. A co-training approach is taken, with two classifiers, one designed to model the contexts surrounding occurrences of paraphrases, and the other trained to identify significant features of the words within paraphrases. In particular, we use morpho-syntactic features calculated for both classifiers, as is to be expected when working with highly inflected languages. We provide some experimental results for Arabic, and for the simpler English, which we find to be encouraging. Our immediate interest is to incorporate such paraphrases within an Arabic-to-English translation system.
Endogenously Generated Plasmin at the Vascular Wall Injury Site Amplifies Lysine Binding Site-Dependent Plasminogen Accumulation in Microthrombi

The fibrinolytic system plays a pivotal role in the regulation of hemostasis; however, it remains unclear how and when the system is triggered to induce thrombolysis. Using intra-vital confocal fluorescence microscopy, we investigated the process of plasminogen binding to laser-induced platelet-rich microthrombi generated in the mesenteric vein of transgenic mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). The accumulation of GFP-expressing platelets as well as exogenously infused Alexa Fluor 568-labeled Glu-plasminogen (Glu-plg) on the injured vessel wall was assessed by measuring the increase in the corresponding fluorescence intensities. Glu-plg accumulated in a time-dependent manner in the center of the microthrombus, where phosphatidylserine is exposed on platelet surfaces and fibrin formation takes place. The rates of binding of Glu-plg in the presence of ε-aminocaproic acid and carboxypeptidase B, as well as the rates of binding of mini-plasminogen lacking kringle domains 1-4 and lysine binding sites, were significantly lower than that of Glu-plg alone, suggesting that the binding was dependent on lysine binding sites. Furthermore, aprotinin significantly suppressed the accumulation of Glu-plg, suggesting that endogenously generated plasmin activity is a prerequisite for the accumulation. In spite of the endogenous generation of plasmin and accumulation of Glu-plg in the center of microthrombi, the microthrombi did not change in size during the 2-hour observation period. When human tissue plasminogen activator was administered intravenously, Glu-plg further accumulated and the microthrombi were lysed. Glu-plg appeared to accumulate in the center of microthrombi in the early phase of microthrombus formation, and plasmin activity and lysine binding sites were required for this accumulation.
ReGrasp, a robotic tool to investigate fine motor control and track therapy-induced neuroplasticity

The neural mechanisms of fine motor control and recovery, e.g. after a stroke, are not fully understood, nor how these are influenced by different types of motor therapies, leaving potential for optimization of current rehabilitation strategies. This paper presents the development and evaluation of a novel robotic tool for fMRI-based neuroscience studies allowing to investigate the neural mechanisms of dynamic precision grip and track therapy-induced neuroplasticity. In this proof of principle study we investigate the feasibility of high-fidelity haptic interaction with human motion using remote sensing and actuation. A cable-spring mechanism transmits force to the thumb and index finger in an unconstrained manner, actuated over a stiff cable transmission. Characterization of the prototype with a transmission length of two meters revealed good dynamic performance including a 16 Hz open loop force bandwidth and a maximal output force of 28 N. Combined with a remote and shielded conventional electromagnetic actuator, this device could be used to investigate the neural correlates of precision grasping as well as the effect of different hand function therapies on the neural correlates of motor recovery after stroke.
LEARNING FROM EXAMPLES IN CRITICAL BANDS OF SPEECH

We propose to mimic auditory strategies for recognizing noisy or distorted speech. Motivated by psychoacoustic data on human performance, we begin by studying how to detect the phonetic feature of voicing. We describe an automatic method for voicing detection starting from a cochlear filterbank. Our method has three stages: first, speech is filtered into critical bands and enhanced by nonlinearities; second, a degree of voicing is computed in each band based on its periodicity and signal-to-noise ratio; third, signals from different bands are combined to make a global decision. These stages are formulated as components of a probabilistic graphical model, represented by a multilayer Bayesian network. We train the model from a corpus of phoneticallytranscribedspeech, then evaluate itsrobustness to noise and corruptinginfluences.Implicationsfor automatic speech recognitionare discussed.
A Cross-Sectional Study of Self-Rated Health among Older Adults: Association with Drinking Profiles and Other Determinants of Health

This study compares the relationship between drinking profiles and self-rated health with and without adjusting for other determinants of health among a sample of older adults from the general population. Respondents were 1,494 men and 2,176 women aged between 55 and 74 from the GENACIS Canadian survey. The dependent variable was self-rated health, an individual's perception of his or her own general health, a measure used as a proxy for health status. The independent variables were drinking profiles (types of drinkers and nondrinkers) as well as other demographic, psychosocial, and health-related variables (control variables). After adjustment for other determinants of health, regression analyses showed that (1) frequent/moderate drinkers were more likely to have a better self-rated health compared with nondrinkers (lifetime abstainers and former drinkers) and (2) self-rated health did not differ significantly between frequent/moderate drinkers and other types of drinkers (frequent/nonmoderate and infrequent drinkers). Our results suggest that drinking is related to a better self-rated health compared with nondrinking regardless of the drinking profile. Drinking and healthy lifestyle guidelines specific to older adults should be studied, discussed, and integrated into public health practices.
Work-Consumption Preferences, Cyclical Driving Forces, and Unemployment Volatility

I develop a model that accounts for the movements of unemployment in the U.S. over the past 60 years. The model pays close attention to evidence about preferences for work and consumption. It attributes bilateral eciency to employment relations, with respect to the formation and continuation of matches and hours of work. It embodies a new equilibrium selection rule in the wage bargain that stabilizes the response of the wage to transitory influences, in comparison to the Nash wage bargain. The response of unemployment to changes in driving forces is much stronger with stabilized wages than with Nash wages. Using the model’s intratemporal first-order condition, I derive a time series for the most important driving force, which combines the eects of productivity changes, taxation, prices of factors other than labor, and market power. I solve the model given this driving force and find realistic fluctuations in predicted unemployment that track actual unemployment well.
ENCoVer: Symbolic Exploration for Information Flow Security

We address the problem of program verification for information flow policies by means of symbolic execution and model checking. Noninterference-like security policies are formalized using epistemic logic. We show how the policies can be accurately verified using a combination of concolic testing and SMT solving. As we demonstrate, many scenarios considered tricky in the literature can be solved precisely using the proposed approach. This is confirmed by experiments performed with ENCOVER, a tool based on Java Path Finder and Z3, which we have developed for epistemic noninterference concolic verification.
Body-Earth Mover’s Distance: A Matching-Based Approach for Sleep Posture Recognition

Sleep posture is a key component in sleep quality assessment and pressure ulcer prevention. Currently, body pressure analysis has been a popular method for sleep posture recognition. In this paper, a matching-based approach, Body-Earth Mover's Distance (BEMD), for sleep posture recognition is proposed. BEMD treats pressure images as weighted 2D shapes, and combines EMD and Euclidean distance for similarity measure. Compared with existing work, sleep posture recognition is achieved with posture similarity rather than multiple features for specific postures. A pilot study is performed with 14 persons for six different postures. The experimental results show that the proposed BEMD can achieve 91.21% accuracy, which outperforms the previous method with an improvement of 8.01%.
Depth Detection of Conducting Marine Mines via Eddy-Current and Current-Channeling Response

A novel scheme for detecting the location of a metallic mine (modeled as a perfectly conducting sphere and spheroid) in marine environment is presented. This technique takes into account Eddy-Current response (ECR) induced on the conducting marine mines as well as Current-Channeling response (CCR) associated with the perturbation of currents induced in the conductive marine environment. It leverages on the unique electromotive force (EMF) induced in a receiving coil through difierent orientations of a transmitting coil with respect to the marine mine. Unlike conventional EM sensing apparatus which is used to carry out the measurement at just one attitude at a flxed angle with respect to buried mine, our proposed scheme consists of angular scanning via the symmetry axes of a concentric sensor over the metallic mine in order to obtain a unique normalized induced voltage determining the mine's depth. Simulated results show that this technique has the potential of extending the depth detection range compared with the current method especially in conductive marine environment up to about 2 meters away from the sensor.
Cloud cooperated heterogeneous cellular networks

This paper introduces a concept of cloud cooperated heterogeneous cellular network (C-HetNet) where small power pico base stations (BSs) overlaid on a macrocell are connected to cloud radio access network (C-RAN) to operate cooperatively with the macro BS. Since the macro BS assists operation of the pico BSs, it is easy to deploy multi-band HetNet where e.g. macro BS is operated at 2GHz band and pico BSs at 3GHz or 60GHz band to expand operation bandwidth. Moreover, cell structure of pico BSs are controlled dynamically to track hotspot users via beam steering and cooperative transmission among pico BSs. In this paper, several numerical simulations show effectiveness of the proposed architecture, where 1,000 times system rate than that of current single band cellular network is achieved by using the proposed architecture.
Welfare, Poverty, and Abused Women: New Research and its Implications

Special thanks to The Ford Foundation for its support of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Building Comprehensive Solutions to Domestic Violence, the initiative under which these materials were produced. We also wish to acknowledge the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for their ongoing funding of the NRC. The ideas expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of The Ford Foundation or other funders of the Natio nal Resource Center on Domestic Violence. These materials may be reprinted or adapted with proper acknowledgment.
Magnetodielectric Substrates in Antenna Miniaturization: Potential and Limitations

We discuss patch antenna miniaturization using magnetodielectric substrates. Recent results found in the literature reveal that with passive substrates advantages over conventional dielectric substrates can only be achieved if natural magnetic inclusions are embedded into the substrate. This observation is revised and the physical background is clarified. We present a detailed discussion concerning magnetic materials available in the microwave regime and containing natural magnetic constituents. The effects of magnetic dispersion and loss are studied: constraints on the microwave permeability are used to estimate the effect of magnetic substrates on the achievable impedance bandwidth. Microwave composites filled with thin ferromagnetic films are considered as a prospective antenna substrate. We calculate the impedance bandwidth of a lambda/2-patch antenna loaded with the proposed substrate, and challenge the results against those obtained with conventional dielectric substrates. The results are verified using full-wave simulations, and it is shown that the radiation quality factor is strongly minimized with the proposed substrate even in the presence of realistic losses. Estimates for the radiation efficiency are given as a function of the magnetic loss factor
Constraints on the inflationary expansion from three-year WMAP, small scale CMB anisotropies and large scale structure data sets

We present the constraints on inflationary parameters in a flat ΛCDM universe obtained from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) three-year data release, plus smaller scale cosmic microwave background (CMB) and two large scale structure (LSS) data sets, 2dF and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) (treated separately). We use a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique combined with an analytic description of the inflationary spectra in terms of the horizon flow functions (HFF). By imposing a consistency condition for the tensor-to-scalar ratio, we study the constraints on both single field standard inflation and on inflation with the violation of the null energy condition, which leads to a blue spectrum for gravitational waves. For standard inflation, the constraint on the tensor-to-scalar ratio we obtain from CMB data and 2dF05 is r0.01<0.26 at 2σ confidence level. Without the consistency condition between the tensor-to-scalar ratio and the tensor slope, the constraint on the tensor amplitude is not significantly changed, but the constraints on the HFFs are significantly relaxed. We then show that when the third HFF ϵ3 is allowed to be non-zero and to be of order unity, a large negative (at 2σ) value for the running of the scalar spectral index in standard inflation is found in any set of data we consider.
Contracting, Ethics, and Policy Adoption: The Case of Florida Municipalities

Local government policy makers continue to pursue governance reforms that introduce business-like practices including the privatization or contracting-out of essential government services. It is unclear how these privatized arrangements may influence the accountability standards of local government employees and elected officials. Using a Cox proportional hazard model, the current study examines how privatization of essential services influences the adoption of ethics policies for Florida cities (N = 409) from 2011–2015. Findings suggest that privatization is associated with a decreased likelihood that cities hold employees and elected officials accountable through codified ethical standards, but that the structure of the local government is associated with an increased likelihood of these policies. City managers are positively associated with the likelihood of explicit ethics policies, further supporting the notion of the manager as forward thinking comprehensive policy maker. Implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed.
Using Interaction Patterns for Making Adaptors among Software Components

Recycling components reduces the development cost and time during the creation of a software system. Nevertheless, combining components is not a simple task. It demands to the candidate components to be adequate and then to be adapted inside the environment where they are going to be integrated. For this, it is necessary to study the existing relationships among the services offered by one selected component and the services required by the system. Sometimes, these relationships need the use of adaptors in order to allow us to establish the correct correspondence among the elements involved. Without these adaptors, the interoperability among these components could be impossible. This paper presents the synthesis of the interaction patterns obtained from UML sequence charts and their codification by means of cycling oriented labeled graphs. This kind of patterns offers some innovations like the inclusion of options like horizontal composition, coregions, gates and fragments. These options will facilitate the tasks of systems verification and systems simulation. The results obtained from these simulations, will be used to facilitate the creation of adaptors among components that have difficulties to interoperate.
Using Congestion Coherence to Enhance TCP over Wireless Links

It is well known that TCP has low performance over wireless links. With the rapid development of wireless and mobile communications, there is a pressing need to enhance TCP performance over wireless links. In the past few years, a number of enhancements have been proposed. In this paper, we review these proposals and analyze the degradation of TCP performance due to errors in the wireless link. We propose an enhancement that meets several desirable requirements and relieves TCP from all degradations caused by wireless errors. Simulation results and analysis show this enhancement works much better than other enhancement proposals for all ranges of wireless error rates.