Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robotic sensor networks for security

The development of intelligent surveillance systems is an active research area. In this context, mobile and multifunctional robots have been recently adopted as successful means to reduce fixed installations and the number of devices needed to cover a given area. On the other hand, modern techniques for data fusion and decision making can significantly increase the information content extracted from sensors both mounted on the robots and on the infrastructure. The use of many heterogeneous sensors, the number and complexity of operational tasks required for monitoring and surveillance with autonomous components like robots makes the overall system design very challenging. In this paper we present some ideas and investigations ongoing in SELEX Sistemi Integrati to assess the capability of such a kind of robots-sensors systems to improve the monitoring of large and densely populated indoor areas. In particular a discussion on some of the problems arising in robot guidance and navigation, oriented to the reduction of missed and false alarms is firstly carried out. Some numerical simulations are reported to support the proposed investigations. Follows the description of a possible decision fusion algorithm to identify and track “risky” targets in a dynamic environment with the aid of robots.
Extraction of Alkaloids for NMR-Based Profiling: Exploratory Analysis of an Archaic Cinchona Bark Collection

Abstract A museum collection of Cinchonae cortex samples (n = 117), from the period 1850–1950, was extracted with a mixture of chloroform-d 1, methanol-d 4, water-d 2, and perchloric acid in the ratios 5 : 5 : 1 : 1. The extracts were directly analyzed using 1H NMR spectroscopy (600 MHz) and the spectra evaluated using principal component analysis (PCA) and total statistical correlation spectroscopy (STOCSY). A new method called STOCSY-CA, where CA stands for component analysis, is described, and an analysis using this method is presented. It was found that the samples had a rather homogenous content of the well-known cinchona alkaloids quinine, cinchonine, and cinchonidine without any apparent clustering. Signals from analogues were detected but not in substantial amounts. The main variation was related to the absolute amounts of extracted alkaloids, which was attributed to the evolution of the Cinchona tree cultivation during the period in which the samples were collected.
Darmstadt University of Technology Market-Based Resource Allocation for Packet-Switched Networks

Market forces are the most effective mechanism to fairly and efficiently allocate resources among competi vice requests. However, for distributed resources, the implementation of a coherent market mechanism can b plex and costly. In this paper, we present the design and prototype implementation of a distributed resource allo system that allows to apply flow-based market mechanisms to a network domain. The system design guar constant execution complexity and an extremely simple layout of internal nodes. All relevant intelligence is loca the edge systems. We explain how the system can be used to realize various types of market mechanisms and potential for efficient implementation by means of lab experiments using the system prototype. This work is ba earlier conceptual proposals and theoretical analysis. It is focused on the system design and implementation a as well as on questions of detail, which are usually ignored by existing theory work.
How Do Different Ways of Measuring Individual Differences in Zero-Acquaintance Personality Judgment Accuracy Correlate With Each Other?

OBJECTIVE This research compares two different approaches that are commonly used to measure accuracy of personality judgment: the trait accuracy approach wherein participants discriminate among targets on a given trait, thus making intertarget comparisons, and the profile accuracy approach wherein participants discriminate between traits for a given target, thus making intratarget comparisons. We examined correlations between these methods as well as correlations among accuracies for judging specific traits. METHOD The present article documents relations among these approaches based on meta-analysis of five studies of zero-acquaintance impressions of the Big Five traits. RESULTS Trait accuracies correlated only weakly with overall and normative profile accuracy. Substantial convergence between the trait and profile accuracy methods was only found when an aggregate of all five trait accuracies was correlated with distinctive profile accuracy. Importantly, however, correlations between the trait and profile accuracy approaches were reduced to negligibility when statistical overlap was corrected by removing the respective trait from the profile correlations. Moreover, correlations of the separate trait accuracies with each other were very weak. CONCLUSIONS Different ways of measuring individual differences in personality judgment accuracy are not conceptually and empirically the same, but rather represent distinct abilities that rely on different judgment processes.
Counterparty Credit Risk evaluation for Accumulator derivatives:the Brownian Local Time approach

In this paper we aim at exploiting the properties of the Brownian Local Time to estimate the Counterparty Credit Risk for a specific class of financial derivatives, i.e. the so called Accumulator derivatives, within a Black and Scholes-type market. The comparison with the results obtained by made use of a standard Monte Carlo approach, clearly shows the superiority of our proposal, which runs in smaller execution times and with better estimation accuracy.
Brief Advice on Smoking Reduction Versus Abrupt Quitting for Smoking Cessation in Chinese Smokers: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Aims To compare the efficacy of brief advice about cut-down-to-quit (CDTQ) with that of brief advice about quit immediately (QI), as delivered by trained volunteers, without the use of pharmacological therapy, to outreach-recruited Chinese smokers in Hong Kong who intend to quit smoking. Methods Smokers (N = 1077) who enrolled in the Quit and Win Contest 2014 and intended to quit or reduce smoking were randomized in participation sessions to CDTQ (n = 559) and QI (n = 518) groups. Subjects in the CDTQ group received brief advice and a card about smoking reduction. Subjects in the QI group received brief advice and a leaflet about quitting smoking. All received a smoking cessation booklet and corresponding CDTQ or QI brief telephone advice at intervals of 1 week, 1 month, or 2 months. The primary outcomes were self-reported 7-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA) at the 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. The secondary outcomes included abstinence rate as validated by biochemical tests, smoking reduction (≥50% reduction from baseline), and quit attempt (QA). The outcome assessors were blinded as to group assignment. Results By intention to treat, the QI and CDTQ groups showed similar results as regards (i) self-reported PPA (10.6% [95% CI 8.1%-13.6%] vs. 9.1% [95% CI 6.9%-11.8%]), (ii) validated abstinence rate (5.6% [3.8%-7.9%] vs. 5.4% [3.6%-7.6%]), and (iii) QA rate (59.2% [53.5%-64.8%] vs. 54.1% [48.7%-59.3%]) at 6-month. However, the CDTQ group showed a significantly higher reduction rate than the QI group (20.9% [CI 17.6%-24.5%] vs. 14.5% [11.6%-17.8%]). The overall intervention adherence was suboptimal (45.4%), particularly in the CDTQ group (42.3%). Self-efficacy as regards quitting of smoking was similar between the groups at 6 months. Conclusions Brief advice on CDTQ and QI had similar short-term PPAs. Longer-term follow-up is needed to understand the latent effect of smoking reduction on abstinence. Implications This is the first randomized controlled trial in ethnic Chinese smokers to evaluate the relative efficacy of brief advice on (a) CDTQ and (b) QI as regards quitting. The two interventions showed similar effects as regards PPA. The findings suggested that brief advice on CDTQ may be as effective as brief advice on QI in smokers recruited in community settings.
The UGT1A1*28 gene variant predicts long-term mortality in patients undergoing coronary angiography

Abstract Background: Uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases 1A1 (UGT1A1) plays an essential role in detoxification and excretion of several endogenous and exogenous compounds. A functional polymorphism in the promoter of the UGT1A1 gene (TA repeat insertion, UGT1A1*28, rs3064744) has been associated with reduced UGT1A1 enzyme activity. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of UGT1A1 genotypes in mortality. Methods: UGT1A1 genotypes as well as baseline plasma bilirubin levels were analyzed in participants of the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health study (n=3316). UGT1A1*28 genotypes were determined on an ABI PRISM 3730 genetic analyzer. Results: As expected, UGT1A1 genotypes were associated with baseline bilirubin levels (*1/*1 genotype: 9.1±4.6 µmol/L; *1/*28 genotype: 10.8±5.3; *28/*28: 16.9±9.2; p<0.001). During a median follow-up of 10.4 years, 995 subjects (30.0%) died. In a multivariate regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, smoking, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and bilirubin levels, the UGT1A1*28 variant predicted lower overall mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.78–0.95; p=0.003). Contrary to expected, higher baseline bilirubin levels predicted increased mortality (HR, 1.014; 95% CI, 1.002–1.025; p=0.019). Conclusions: The UGT1A1*28 gene variant is associated with lower mortality rates. The protective effect of the UGT1A1*28 variant likely includes mechanism other than bilirubin metabolism.
Volunteering and mortality risk: a partner-controlled quasi-experimental design.

Background The consensus that volunteering is associated with a lower mortality risk is derived from a body of observational studies and therefore vulnerable to uncontrolled or residual confounding. This potential limitation is likely to be particularly problematic for volunteers who, by definition, are self-selected and known to be significantly different from non-volunteers across a range of factors associated with better survival. Methods This is a census-based record-linkage study of 308 733 married couples aged 25 and over, including 100 571 volunteers, with mortality follow-up for 33 months. We used a standard Cox model to examine whether mortality risk in the partners of volunteers was influenced by partner volunteering status-something expected if the effects of volunteering on mortality risk were due to shared household or behavioural characteristics. Results Volunteers were general more affluent, better educated and more religious than their non-volunteering peers; they also had a lower mortality risk [hazard ratio (HR)adj = 0.78: 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.71, 0.85 for males and HRadj = 0.77: 95% CI = 0.68, 0.88 for females]. However, amongst cohort members who were not volunteers, having a partner who was a volunteer was not associated with a mortality advantage (HRadj = 1.01: 95% CI = 0.92, 1.11 for men and HRadj = 1.00: 95% CI = 0.88, 1.13 women). Conclusions This study provides further evidence that the lower mortality associated with volunteering is unlikely to be due to health selection or to residual confounding arising from unmeasured selection effects within households. It therefore increases the plausibility of a direct causal effect.
A hybrid segmentation approach for brain tumor extraction and detection

Nowadays, medical image processing and particularly MRI images is the one of the most challenging field and emerging to help specialists in their diagnostics. In this context and to detect automatically suspicious regions or tumors, this paper presents a new approach called hybrid segmentation inspired by both mathematical morphology operators and morphological watershed segmentation. Our approach's advantage comes from the complementarity between these two approaches. The morphological operators extract roughly the tumor region and eventually can affect healthy structures while the watershed method provides details of various brain's structures and therefore the fusion of these two approaches improves significantly the segmentation and the extraction of the tumor zone.
Chariot: A High Compatible Architecture to Improve Virtual Machine Reliability

Currently, the virtualization technologies can integrate multiple operating systems into a high-performance server to maximize the utilization of the server's resources. This server can serves more users. However, the driver faults in virtual machine still seriously affect the reliability of the virtual machine, and even affect the reliability of the entire server. This paper presents Chariot, a high compatible architecture to improve virtual machine reliability. If the driver is loaded by the Chariot's isolation loading mechanism, its memory usage will be timely monitored by Chariot, and its access control table will be established. Through setting the corresponding shadow page table of the whole kernel space of the virtual machine, Chariot captures the write operations of the isolated driver. Combing the access control table, Chariot can determine the correctness of these writing operations. Chariot has an effective errors isolation capability, and is easy to develop. Also Chariot has an excellent compatibility and needs not to modify the drivers and the operation system in the virtual machine. Experimental results show that Chariot can effectively isolate the driver faults, and improve the reliability of operation system in the virtual machine environments.
Congestive heart failure information extraction framework for automated treatment performance measures assessment

Objective: This paper describes a new congestive heart failure (CHF) treatment performance measure information extraction system – CHIEF – developed as part of the Automated Data Acquisition for Heart Failure project, a Veterans Health Administration project aiming at improving the detection of patients not receiving recommended care for CHF. Design: CHIEF is based on the Apache Unstructured Information Management Architecture framework, and uses a combination of rules, dictionaries, and machine learning methods to extract left ventricular function mentions and values, CHF medications, and documented reasons for a patient not receiving these medications. Measurements: The training and evaluation of CHIEF were based on subsets of a reference standard of various clinical notes from 1083 Veterans Health Administration patients. Domain experts manually annotated these notes to create our reference standard. Metrics used included recall, precision, and the F1-measure. Results: In general, CHIEF extracted CHF medications with high recall (>0.990) and good precision (0.960–0.978). Mentions of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction were also extracted with high recall (0.978–0.986) and precision (0.986–0.994), and quantitative values of Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction were found with 0.910–0.945 recall and with high precision (0.939–0.976). Reasons for not prescribing CHF medications were more difficult to extract, only reaching fair accuracy with about 0.310–0.400 recall and 0.250–0.320 precision. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that applying natural language processing to unlock the rich and detailed clinical information found in clinical narrative text notes makes fast and scalable quality improvement approaches possible, eventually improving management and outpatient treatment of patients suffering from CHF.
Cross-Talk Between PCSK9 and Damaged mtDNA in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells: Role in Apoptosis.

AIMS The present study was designed to investigate a possible interaction between vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC)-derived proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage. RESULTS Treatment of cultured SMCs with the proinflammatory stimulus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated PCSK9 release and induced mtDNA damage. PCSK9 inhibition by its siRNA reduced, and its enhancement increased, mtDNA damage. Induction of mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen species (mtROS) (by rotenone, thenoyltrifluoroacetone, or antimycin A) enhanced mtDNA damage as well as PCSK9 release, suggesting a role of mtROS in PCSK9-mtDNA damage interplay. Induction of mtDNA damage (with the autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine, or DNase II inhibition) enhanced PCSK9 expression, and inhibition of mtDNA damage (with the autophagy inducer, rapamycin) reduced PCSK9 expression, indicating bidirectional interplay between PCSK9 and mtDNA damage. Other studies showed that p38 MAPK is involved in PCSK9-induced mtDNA damage, and mammalian target of rapamycin activation plays a role in mtDNA damage-induced PCSK9 release. Functional impact of PCSK9-mtDNA damage cross-talk was evident in the form of SMC apoptosis, which was enhanced in cells treated with recombinant human PCSK9, but inhibited in cells treated with PCSK9 siRNA. Last, LPS administration in wild-type mice resulted in simultaneous PCSK9 release and mtDNA damage, but mtDNA damage was minimal in PCSK9-null mice given LPS. INNOVATION Vascular SMC-derived PCSK9 induces mtDNA damage, and damaged mtDNA fragments stimulate PCSK9 release mediated, at least in part, by mtROS. CONCLUSIONS These observations suggest positive feedback interplay between SMC-derived PCSK9 and mtDNA damage in the proinflammatory milieu involving mtROS. This interaction results in cellular injury, characterized by apoptosis-a hallmark of atherosclerosis. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 25, 997-1008.
Effect of Physical Load on Aerobic Exercise Performance during Heat Stress

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the effect of increasing external loads on 5-km treadmill time trial (TT) performance in 20°C and 40°C environmental conditions and to construct an ecologically relevant performance prediction decision aid. Methods Twenty-six male and four female volunteers (age, 23.5 ± 6.9 yr; weight, 76.0 ± 8.9 kg; height, 1.75 ± 0.07 m; V˙O2peak, 50.7 ± 4.5 mL·kg−1·min−1) participated in a counterbalanced, mixed-model design, with each subject assigned to a load group (20%, 30%, or 50% body mass (BM); n = 10 per group). Volunteers performed three, self-paced 5-km familiarization TT (treadmill) without external load. Each volunteer then performed a 5-km TT in each environment with loads of either 20% (n = 10), 30% (n = 10), or 50% (n = 10) of BM. Results 1) Loads of (20%, 30%, and 50% of BM) impaired 5-km TT performance compared with that when unloaded (P < 0.05); 2) the time penalties of the 20% and 30% load were <50% load (P < 0.05); 3) in all trials, the addition of heat exposure reduced 5-km TT performance beyond the penalty of load itself (P < 0.05); and 4) the combination of heat and 50% load resulted in a substantial penalty such that continuous work was not sustainable for all of the volunteers. Conclusions Relative to prediction models using fixed or constant workload exercise trials, an ecologically valid decision aid was developed from self-paced data, in which pace (km·h−1) can be predicted for individual levels of heat, load, or heat + load in combination.
E-Cigarette Marketing and Communication: How E-Cigarette Companies Market E-Cigarettes and the Public Engages with E-cigarette Information.

Introduction Given the lack of regulation on marketing of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in the United States and the increasing exchange of e-cigarette-related information online, it is critical to understand how e-cigarette companies market e-cigarettes and how the public engages with e-cigarette information. Methods Results are from a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature on e-cigarettes via a PubMed search through June 1, 2017. Search terms included: "e-cigarette*" or "electronic cigarette" or "electronic cigarettes" or "electronic nicotine delivery" or "vape" or "vaping. " Experimental studies, quasi-experimental studies, observational studies, qualitative studies, and mixed methods studies providing empirical findings on e-cigarette marketing and communication (ie, nonmarketing communication in the public) were included. Results One hundred twenty-four publications on e-cigarette marketing and communication were identified. They covered topics including e-cigarette advertisement claims/promotions and exposure/receptivity, the effect of e-cigarette advertisements on e-cigarette and cigarette use, public engagement with e-cigarette information, and the public's portrayal of e-cigarettes. Studies show increases in e-cigarette marketing expenditures and online engagement through social media over time, that e-cigarettes are often framed as an alternative to combustible cigarettes, and that e-cigarette advertisement exposure may be associated with e-cigarette trial in adolescents and young adults. Discussion Few studies examine the effects of e-cigarette marketing on perceptions and e-cigarette and cigarette use. Evidence suggests that exposure to e-cigarette advertisements affects perceptions and trial of e-cigarettes, but there is no evidence that exposure affects cigarette use. No studies examined how exposure to e-cigarette communication, particularly misleading or inaccurate information, impacts e-cigarette, and tobacco use behaviors. Implications The present article provides a comprehensive review of e-cigarette marketing and how the public engages with e-cigarette information. Studies suggest an association between exposure to e-cigarette marketing and lower harm perceptions of e-cigarettes, intention to use e-cigarettes, and e-cigarette trial, highlighting the need to for advertising regulations that support public health goals. Findings from this review also present the methodological limitations of the existing research (primarily due to cross-sectional and correlational analyses) and underscore the need for timely, rigorous research to provide an accurate understanding of e-cigarette marketing and communication and its impact on e-cigarette and tobacco product use.
Treatment to Enhance Cognition in Bipolar Disorder (TREC-BD): Efficacy of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Remediation Versus Active Control.

OBJECTIVE Cognitive dysfunction is a core symptom dimension in bipolar disorder and a strong predictor of functional outcomes. Cognitive remediation (CR) produces moderate, durable effects on cognition in patients with schizophrenia; however, studies of CR in patients with bipolar disorder are sparse and findings have been mixed. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of CR versus active control in patients with bipolar disorder with psychosis. METHODS Patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of bipolar disorder with psychosis (n = 75) were randomized to a 70-hour computerized CR program or a dose-matched computer control using a parallel design with 1:1 allocation between July 2011 and November 2015. Cognition (primary outcome) and clinical and community functioning (secondary outcomes) were assessed at baseline, at treatment midpoint (after 20-25 hours of training), posttreatment, and at durability (after 6 months of no study contact). Participants and assessment staff were blind to group membership. RESULTS 75 participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group, and 72 participants initiated the active phase of treatment and were included in the primary, intent-to-treat analysis (CR: n = 39; Control: n = 33). Linear mixed effects models examining the effects of CR versus Control at posttreatment showed medium to large effects of CR on processing speed (d = 0.42), visual learning and memory (d = 0.92), and the composite (d = 0.80). Superiority of CR over Control on processing speed (d = 0.65) and composite (d = 0.83) was maintained or increased at durability. CR was not associated with change in community functioning, although cognitive change was associated with functional change across the sample. CONCLUSIONS Cognitive remediation produced significant improvements over an active control in several cognitive domains and the cognitive composite. While both groups improved on several domains relative to baseline, durability of gains was unique to CR. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01470781.