Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of Electroencephalography in Presurgical Evaluation of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Surgery remains a therapeutic option for patients with medically refractory epilepsy. Comprehensive presurgical evaluation includes electroencephalography (EEG) and video EEG in identifying patients who are likely to benefit from surgery. Here, we discuss in detail the utility of EEG in presurgical evaluation of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy along with illustrative cases.
Efficient stopping rules for Markov chains

Let lf be the transition matrix, and a the initial state distribution. for a discrete-time finite-state irreducible Markov chain. A stopping rule for M is an algorithm which observes the progress of the chain and then stops it at some random time r; the distribution of the final state is denoted by ar. We give a useful characterization for stopping rules which are optimal for given target distribution r, in the sense that ~' = ~ and the expected stopping time Er is minimal. Four classes of optimal stopping rules are described, including a unique " threshold " rule which also minimizes max(r). The minimum value of E17, which we denote by H(a, r), is easily computable from the hitting times of M, For applications in computing, the most important, case is when u is concentrated on a single starting state s and r is the stationary distribution T. We describe a simple, practical stopping rule which achieves target distribution close to T in expected time of order Z&. = max, Lf(s, m). Finally, we give a stopping rule that runs in time polynomial in the maximum hitting time of Al and achieves the stationary distribution exactly, even though the transition probabilities of the chain are unknown. Some of the work described herein is joint with David Aldous.
Instructional Use of Multimodal Resources in Explanations During a Scientific Café

Introduction The multimodal practice of teaching was studied as a combination either of semiotic modes (e. g. Lund, Becu-Robinault, 2013) or of speech and gesture (Alibali, et al., 2014, Goldin-Meadow, 2004, Valenzeno, Alibali, Klatzky, 2003). Studies focusing on explanatory skills show that this combination get more complex as a child grows (Colletta & Pellenq, 2005), and may vary depending on the interactional setting (Mazur-­Palandre, Colletta, Lund, 2014). A common pedagogical practice consists in asking a tutor student to explain something to younger students. Nevertheless, how these students manage to do so in an authentic setting is still unstudied. This paper explores this issue on the basis of videotaped explanations elaborated by senior students for freshmen.Data and research questionsThe pedagogical setting is an extracurricular activity, held in the USA and France, led by senior students for junior students. It is based on a multiple‐choice questionnaire, and alternates class and group discussion, and ‘knowledge questions’ (KQ), and debate questions. For KQ, the leader student has to explain the correct answer, with the help of an information slide. We here study this specific task, comparing, for two KQ, three American and two French female leader students. Two research questions guide our work: 1) how do these senior students use multimodal resources to manage with the task? ; 2) what are the didactical effects of their strategies? We focus on three multimodal resources: leaders’ speech, their gestures, and the use of the slide. We also consider their body and head orientation to define their attention focus.Methodology: analytical stepsWe first characterize the use of multimodal resources for each explanatory sequence. We investigate three aspects: a) attention focus; b) amount of referential gestures; c) use of gestures serving other aspects of the management of the interaction. We then define a typology of multimodal profiles.Our second step focuses on the didactical effects of the identified multimodal strategies. It consists of an inventory of the information provided in each of the 10 sequences, comparing what is provided on the slide, what is added through leaders’ speech, and what appears in their gestures.First results and significance Most of the leaders alternate their attention focus between the screen and the audience. Attention to the screen is associated with pointing gestures and attention to the audience is associated with representational gestures. Our second analytical step, still in progress, already gives evidence of the large didactical work of the leaders, who provide a lot of information that is not on the slide. By the time of the conference, we will be able to assess the didactical value of their multimodal strategies, which can be useful to improve teachers’ training.
New receiver for joint blind equalization and carrier phase recovery of QAM signals

The paper introduces a new receiver for joint blind equalization and carrier phase recovery. The new receiver overcomes several disadvantages of systems in the literature by accomplishing modulus equalization and phase recovery in two independent operations. The proposed structure enables alternative and independent approaches to be taken for the design of the modulus and phase equalizer, respectively, and we propose two new algorithms for the modulus equalizer and the phase shifter. In particular, we propose a new constant modulus (CM) and modulus decision directed (MDD) hybrid algorithm for the equalizer. The CM and MDD both influence the adaptation of equalizer weight taps simultaneously. This enhances both the convergence rate and the steady state performance. The selection of step sizes for the modulus equalizer and the phase shifter is discussed. We compare the performance of our receiver with other previous receivers via computer simulations.
Cellular modelling of electrical remodelling in two different models of human atrial myocytes

Changes in action potentials of atrial myocytes and various ionic channels induced by chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) have been described in the human. The mechanisms underlying the AF-induced action potential duration (APD) shortening have not been clearly identified. In this study we modify two different computational models of electrical activity of human atrial myocytes by incorporating chronic AF induced changes in several of the ionic channels systems found in myocytes. We examine the ionic mechanisms underlying the AF induced APD reduction and the relative roles of different remodeled ionic channels in producing the APD reduction. In both models we have found that AF induced changes in the ionic channel conductances and kinetics are able to reproduce the APD reduction seen experimentally. AF-induced down regulation of L-type Ca current is insufficient to account for the observed APD reduction, but up regulation of I/sub Kl/ has a much greater influence.
Deep galaxy counts, extragalactic background light and the stellar baryon budget

We assess the constraints imposed by the observed extragalactic background light (EBL) on the cosmic history of star formation and the stellar-mass density today. The logarithmic slope of the galaxy number–magnitude relation from the Southern Hubble Deep Field imaging survey is flatter than 0.4 in all seven UBVIJHK optical bandpasses, i.e. the light from resolved galaxies has converged from the UV to the near-IR. We find a lower limit to the surface brightness of the optical extragalactic sky of about 15 nW m−2 sr−1, comparable to the intensity of the far-IR background from COBE data. Assuming a Salpeter initial mass function with a lower cut-off consistent with observations of M subdwarf disc stars, we set a lower limit of Ωg+sh2>0.0013 I50 to the visible (processed gas + stars) mass density required to generate an EBL at a level of 50 I50 nW m−2 sr−1; our ‘best-guess’ value is Ωg+sh2≈0.0031 I50. Motivated by the recent microlensing results of the MACHO collaboration, we consider the possibility that massive dark haloes around spiral galaxies are composed of faint white dwarfs, and show that only a small fraction (≲5 per cent) of the nucleosynthetic baryons can be locked in the remnants of intermediate-mass stars forming at zF≲5, as the bright early phases of such haloes would otherwise overproduce the observed EBL.
Efficient Filtering Algorithms for Location-Aware Publish/Subscribe

Location-based services have been widely adopted in many systems. Existing works employ a pull model or user-initiated model, where a user issues a query to a server which replies with location-aware answers. To provide users with instant replies, a push model or server-initiated model is becoming an inevitable computing model in the next-generation location-based services. In the push model, subscribers register spatio-textual subscriptions to capture their interests, and publishers post spatio-textual messages. This calls for a high-performance location-aware publish/subscribe system to deliver publishers' messages to relevant subscribers. In this paper, we address the research challenges that arise in designing a location-aware publish/subscribe system. We propose an R-tree based index by integrating textual descriptions into R-tree nodes. We devise efficient filtering algorithms and effective pruning techniques to achieve high performance. Our method can support both conjunctive queries and ranking queries. We discuss how to support dynamic updates efficiently. Experimental results show our method achieves high performance which can filter 500 messages in a second for 10 million subscriptions on a commodity computer.
Self-Rated Health and Its Determinants in Female Population in Iran: A Community-Based Study

Background: Self-ratedhealth(SRH),asasingle-itemself-assessmentof health,hasbeenwidelyusedinresearchonhealthinequal-ities in both developed and developing countries. However, limited studies have been conducted on SRH in Iran. The present study aimed to evaluate SRH and its related factors among Iranian women. Methods: In this population-based, cross-sectional study, 1200 women > 18 years old who lived in diﬀerent districts of Sanandaj, western Iran, in 2012 were randomly selected through stratiﬁed cluster sampling. SRH, as the main outcome variable, was catego-rizedaspoororgood. Theresultsof evaluationof theassociatedfactorswithSRHwerepresentedasoddsratios(OR),andbootstrap method was used to obtain 95% conﬁdence interval (95% CI). Results: Theoverallprevalenceof poorSRHamongwomenwas37.68% (95% CI:34.74,40.61). Evenafteradjustmentforotherfactors, themostimportantdeterminantsof poorSRHwereoldage(OR=3.92,95% CI:2.59,5.94),beingmarried(OR=1.38,95% CI:1.04,1.83), quality of health services (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.43, 0.88), and household’s income level (OR = 0.22, CI: 0.14, 0.35). Conclusions: The proportion of poor SRH varied depending on socioeconomic and socio-demographic determinants. As SRH is an important predictor of death, individuals with the related factors, such as advanced age, being married, household’s low-income level, and low quality of health services, should be considered as the priority target population.
Approximate load balancing on dynamic and asynchronous networks

This paper presents a simple local algorithm for load balancing in a distributed network. The algorithm makes no assumption about the structure of the network. It can be executed on a synchronous network with fixed topology, a synchronous network with dynamically changing topology, or an asynchronous network. It works quickly and balances well when the network has an expansion property. In particular, we show that in ann-node network with maximumdegree d whose live edges, at every time step, form a -expander, the algorithm will balance the load to within an additive O(d logn= ) term in O( log(n )= ) time, where is the initial imbalance. The algorithm improves upon previous approaches that yield O(n) time bounds in dynamic and asynchronous networks.
A natural semantics for lazy evaluation

We define an operational semantics for lazy evaluation which provides an accurate model for sharing. The only computational structure we introduce is a set of bindings which corresponds closely to a heap. The semantics is set at a considerably higher level of abstraction than operational semantics for particular abstract machines, so is more suitable for a variety of proofs. Furthermore, because a heap is explicitly modelled, the semantics provides a suitable framework for studies about space behaviour of terms under lazy evaluation.
Oxidative Stress in Obesity: A Critical Component in Human Diseases

Obesity, a social problem worldwide, is characterized by an increase in body weight that results in excessive fat accumulation. Obesity is a major cause of morbidity and mortality and leads to several diseases, including metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular, fatty liver diseases, and cancer. Growing evidence allows us to understand the critical role of adipose tissue in controlling the physic-pathological mechanisms of obesity and related comorbidities. Recently, adipose tissue, especially in the visceral compartment, has been considered not only as a simple energy depository tissue, but also as an active endocrine organ releasing a variety of biologically active molecules known as adipocytokines or adipokines. Based on the complex interplay between adipokines, obesity is also characterized by chronic low grade inflammation with permanently increased oxidative stress (OS). Over-expression of oxidative stress damages cellular structures together with under-production of anti-oxidant mechanisms, leading to the development of obesity-related complications. The aim of this review is to summarize what is known in the relationship between OS in obesity and obesity-related diseases.
Flow and windage due to bolts on a rotating disc

The cooling air in a rotating machine is subject to windage as it passes over the rotor surface, particularly for cases where nonaxisymmetric features such as boltheads are encountered. The ability to accurately predict windage can help reduce the quantity of cooling air required, resulting in increased efficiency. Previous work has shown that the steady computational fluid dynamics solutions can give reasonable predictions for the effects of bolts on disc moment for a rotor–stator cavity with throughflow but flow velocities and disc temperature are not well predicted. Large fluctuations in velocities have been observed experimentally in some cases. Time-dependent computational fluid dynamics simulations reported here bring to light the unsteady nature of the flow. Unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes calculations for 120° and 360° models of the rotor–stator cavity with 9 and 18 bolts were performed in order to better understand the flow physics. Although the rotor–stator cavity with bolts is geometrically steady in the rotating frame of reference, it was found that the bolts generate unsteadiness which creates time-dependent rotating flow features within the cavity. At low throughflow conditions, the unsteady flow significantly increases the average disc temperature.
A new technique for adaptive scalar quantization of image sub-band coefficients

A new method for adaptive scalar quantization of image sub-band coefficients has been developed. This method is based on a phase dispersion technique originally developed for the design of pulse compression radar signals. For this method, the coefficient magnitudes and signs are coded separately. The magnitudes are scanned into a set of 1-D same orientation, cross-band vectors. Each vector is processed using a non-linear transformation. The result of this operation is a vector whose components are approximately identically distributed. Therefore, only one quantizer and one entropy coder are needed to code each vector. The technique offers the performance of a fully adaptive compression scheme, but with modest overhead and computational requirements. This paper provides an overview of the method as well as experimental results obtained through simulation.
C D ] 1 6 M ay 2 00 2 Nonlinear Interaction of Transversal Modes in a CO 2 Laser

We show the possibility of achieving experimentally a Takens-Bogdanov bifurcation for the nonlinear interaction of two transverse modes (l = ±1) in a CO2 laser. The system has a basic O(2) symmetry which is perturbed by some symmetrybreaking effects that still preserve the Z2 symmetry. The pattern dynamics near this codimension two bifurcation under such symmetries is described. This dynamics changes drastically when the laser properties are modified. PACS number(s):42.65. Pc, 02.20. -a, 42.55. Lt
Distributed Topology Control for Efficient OSPF Routing in Multi-hop Wireless Networks

This paper studies distributed topology control algorithms to support the efficient Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) link state routing in multi-hop wireless networks. It is highly desirable to retain the basic OSPF model of reliable flooding, especially when large quantities of external, rarelychanging routing data must be carried across the radio network. However, it is not easy to implement reliable flooding, and improper implementations may cause excessive message control overheads. An existing patent method proposes an expanding ring algorithm to build adjacency graph for reliable flooding. We first analyze this method and show the message complexity of reliable flooding could be O(n) times of optimum. We then show that a slight modification on this method can generate an adjacency graph, called ER-CDS, which supports reliable flooding with message complexity O(1) of optimum. However, the construction cost based on the patent method is still high and does not adapt to network topology changes well. Finally, we propose a localized splash merging algorithm to construct ER-CDS, and then conducted extensive simulations to evaluate its performance. keyword: Topology control, Connected Dominating Set, Reliable Flooding
Past adult lead exposure is linked to neurodegeneration measured by brain MRI

Objective: To determine whether cumulative lead dose in former organolead workers was associated with MRI measures of white matter lesions (WML) and global and structure-specific brain volumes. Methods: MRIs, tibia lead, and other measures were obtained from 532 former organolead workers with a mean age of 56 years and a mean of 18 years since last occupational exposure to lead. Cumulative lead dose was measured by tibia lead, obtained by X-ray fluorescence, and expressed as μg lead per gram of bone mineral (μg Pb/g). WML were evaluated using the Cardiovascular Health Study grading scale. A total of 21 global and specific brain regions were evaluated. Results: A total of 36% of individuals had WML grade of 1 to 7 (0 to 9 scale). Increasing peak tibia lead was associated with increasing WML grade (p = 0.004). The adjusted OR for a 1 μg Pb/g increase in tibia lead was 1.042 (95% CI = 1.021, 1.063) for a CHS grade of 5+ (≥5 vs <5). In linear regression, the coefficient for tibia lead was negative for associations with all structures. Higher tibia lead was significantly related to smaller total brain volume, frontal and total gray matter volume, and parietal white matter volume. Of nine smaller specific regions of interest, higher tibia lead was associated with smaller volumes for the cingulate gyrus and insula. Conclusions: These data suggest that cumulative lead dose is associated with persistent brain lesions, and may explain previous findings of a progressive decline in cognitive function.
IT Investment Efficiency Analysis of Equipment Manufacturing Industry Based on Two-stage Nonparametric Model

This paper presents a DEA-MARS two-stage nonparametric model. It measures the distribution of the efficiency of the Information Technology (IT) investment in the equipment manufacturing industry and identifies the key factors that influence the efficiency of the IT investment. The measurement shows that there is comparatively large difference in the investment efficiency. The empirical research indicates that the Enterprise Scale, IT Strategy, and the interaction between the IT Training and the Application of Information System are the key factors that influence the input efficiency.
Analysis of Flip Ambiguities for Robust Sensor Network Localization

Erroneous local geometric realizations in some parts of a network due to the sensitivity to certain distance-measurement errors with respect to some neighboring sensor locations is a major problem in wireless sensor-network localization, which may, in turn, affect the reliability of the localization of the whole or a major portion of the sensor network. This phenomenon is well described using the notion of ¿flip ambiguity¿ in rigid graph theory. In this paper, we present a formal geometric analysis of flip-ambiguity problems in planar sensor networks via quantification of the likelihood of flip ambiguities in arbitrary sensor neighborhood geometries. Based on this analysis, we establish a robustness criterion to detect flip ambiguities in such neighborhood geometries. In addition to the analysis, the established robustness criterion is embedded in localization algorithms to enhance the reliability of the produced location estimates by eliminating neighborhoods with flip ambiguities from being included in the localization process.
Sentence design for speech synthesis and speech recognition database by phonetic rules

This paper describes the processing of 2465 sentences (or utterences) which are collected by phonetical rules from a big corpus--recent years' newspaper, "People's Daily" and etc., as materials of speech recognition and speech synthesis database. In these sentences, both phonetic phenomena and sentence patterns are included. We first consider the phonetic distribution among syllables: inter-syllabic diphones, inter-syllabic triphones and final-initial structure. The syllabic balance ensures the intra-syllabic phenomena such as phonemes, initial/final and consonant/vowel. There are roughly 17 kinds of sentence patterns which appear in our sentence set. We have also created a set of phonetically balanced 2-4 syllable phrases which includes all of the tone structures.
The dam replacing gene product enhances Neisseria gonorrhoeae FA1090 viability and biofilm formation

Many Neisseriaceae do not exhibit Dam methyltransferase activity and, instead of the dam gene, possess drg (dam replacing gene) inserted in the leuS/dam locus. The drg locus in Neisseria gonorrhoeae FA1090 has a lower GC-pairs content (40.5%) compared to the whole genome of N. gonorrhoeae FA1090 (52%). The gonococcal drg gene encodes a DNA endonuclease Drg, with GmeATC specificity. Disruption of drg or insertion of the dam gene in gonococcal genome changes the level of expression of genes as shown by transcriptome analysis. For the drg-deficient N. gonorrhoeae mutant, a total of 195 (8.94% of the total gene pool) genes exhibited an altered expression compared to the wt strain by at least 1.5 fold. In dam-expressing N. gonorrhoeae mutant, the expression of 240 genes (11% of total genes) was deregulated. Most of these deregulated genes were involved in translation, DNA repair, membrane biogenesis and energy production as shown by cluster of orthologous group analysis. In vivo, the inactivation of drg gene causes the decrease of the number of live neisserial cells and long lag phase of growth. The insertion of dam gene instead of drg locus restores cell viability. We have also shown that presence of the drg gene product is important for N. gonorrhoeae FA1090 in adhesion, including human epithelial cells, and biofilm formation. Biofilm produced by drg-deficient strain is formed by more dispersed cells, compared to this one formed by parental strain as shown by scanning electron and confocal microscopy. Also adherence assays show a significantly smaller biomass of formed biofilm (OD570 = 0.242 ± 0.038) for drg-deficient strain, compared to wild-type strain (OD570 = 0.378 ± 0.057). Dam-expressing gonococcal cells produce slightly weaker biofilm with cells embedded in an extracellular matrix. This strain has also a five times reduced ability for adhesion to human epithelial cells. In this context, the presence of Drg is more advantageous for N. gonorrhoeae biology than Dam presence.