Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On active lower limb exoskeletons actuators

Carrying a load increases the metabolic costs of movement: exoskeletons are devices developed primarily to minimize the operatorpsilas energetic contribution for the action. The rise of the exoskeletons research can be set in the second half of the past century. The most important contribution given by these early attempts to develop supporting structures for human use, was to identify and focus the researcherpsilas attention on some key aspects, fundamental for a further implementation of these devices. Among them, the importance of efficient and small supply systems, of precision and control, o simple human interface and of the knowledge of locomotion biomechanics. The aim is a technological approach capable to match the artificial system with the human beings with minimum interactions and maximum synergy. This work deal with the state of art of the projects facing with the development of exoskeletons and active orthoses for the lower limbs. It focuses the actuators problem showing advantages and disadvantages of a variety of technological alternatives. The work is the starting point for a new exoskeleton design.
Energy management for islanded microgrid with energy storage systems

Microgrid is a new form of electrical network interconnected with renewable energy resources mainly used for remote areas. A microgrid has two operational modes, grid-connected and isolated modes. In isolated mode operation, the microgrid needs to overcome the intermittent power generated by renewable energy resources (PV or wind turbines) as the amount of generation is largely affected by weather condition. In order to optimise the power dispatch and maintain power-quality for an islanded microgrid, an energy management system for a low-voltage islanded microgrid with an energy storage system (battery in this thesis) is presented. The main objective of this energy management system is to optimise power dispatch and to make effective use of power generated by renewable resources (solar power in this paper) for an islanded microgrid to achieve the purpose of installing an environmental friendly power grid. The proposed energy management system is divided into two parts. Firstly, the system determines the battery charging/discharging state and the backup DG operating time based on the power generated by PV, base DG and load demand in each time step. From the decision-making process, the battery power, battery state of charge and the backup DG operating time is available for the next stage of the energy management system. Secondly, the modified Gauss-Seidel load flow iteration process is run in MATLAB for computing the bus voltage and transmission line power losses in each time step. The Gauss-Seidel load flow analysis is a typical calculation strategy for evaluating the operation of power flow in an electrical network. In order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed energy management system, four case studies are provided in this report under different power profiles and load profiles. The energy management system is used not only for optimizing power dispatch for an isolated microgrid with renewable energy resources and an energy storage system, but also for sizing battery and diesel generators before the installation of the microgrid with reasonable prediction of load demand and renewable power generation.
Behavioural tasks sensitive to acute abstinence and predictive of smoking cessation success: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract Background and aims Performance on cognitive tasks may be sensitive to acute smoking abstinence and may also predict whether quit attempts fail. Our aim was to conduct a systematic review and meta‐analysis to identify cognitive tasks sensitive to acute abstinence and predictive of smoking cessation success. Methods Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and Web of Science were searched up to March 2016. Studies were included if they enrolled adults and assessed smoking using a quantitative measure. Studies were combined in a random effects meta‐analysis. Results We included 42 acute abstinence studies and 13 cessation studies. There was evidence for an effect of abstinence on delay discounting [d = 0.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.07–0.45, P = 0.005], response inhibition (d = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.26–0.70, P < 0.001), mental arithmetic (d = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.06–0.70, P = 0.018), and recognition memory (d = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.23–0.70, P < 0.001). In contrast, performance on the Stroop (d = 0 .17, 95% CI = −0.17–0.51, P = 0.333) and smoking Stroop (d = 0.03, 95% CI = −0.11–0.17, P = 0.675) task was not influenced by abstinence. We found only weak evidence for an effect of acute abstinence on dot probe task performance (d = 0.15, 95% CI = −0.01–0.32, P = 0.072). The design of the cessation studies was too heterogeneous to permit meta‐analysis. Conclusions Compared with satiated smokers, acutely abstinent smokers display higher delay discounting, lower response inhibition, impaired arithmetic and recognition memory performance. However, reaction‐time measures of cognitive bias appear to be unaffected by acute tobacco abstinence. Conclusions about cognitive tasks that predict smoking cessation success were limited by methodological inconsistencies.
The Real Difference between Liberals and Conservatives

According to a song by Gilbert and Sullivan, "Every boy and every gal, That’s born into the world alive, Is either a little Liberal, Or else a little Conservative". The division between liberal and conservative intrudes into many aspects of our lives, triggering arguments between relatives and coworkers, flooding the airwaves and cable news with dueling tirades and polemics, and creating political paralysis when politicians place party loyalty above the interests of the country as a whole. We have probably all had the experience of being infuriated by the idiotic statements of people with different political views and have been bewildered that otherwise sane, rational individuals could hold such obviously false and silly views.
WDM Network and Multicasting Protocol Strategies

Optical technology gains extensive attention and ever increasing improvement because of the huge amount of network traffic caused by the growing number of internet users and their rising demands. However, with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), it is easier to take the advantage of optical networks and optical burst switching (OBS) and to construct WDM networks with low delay rates and better data transparency these technologies are the best choices. Furthermore, multicasting in WDM is an urgent solution for bandwidth-intensive applications. In the paper, a new multicasting protocol with OBS is proposed. The protocol depends on a leaf initiated structure. The network is composed of source, ingress switches, intermediate switches, edge switches, and client nodes. The performance of the protocol is examined with Just Enough Time (JET) and Just In Time (JIT) reservation protocols. Also, the paper involves most of the recent advances about WDM multicasting in optical networks. WDM multicasting in optical networks is given as three common subtitles: Broadcast and-select networks, wavelength-routed networks, and OBS networks. Also, in the paper, multicast routing protocols are briefly summarized and optical burst switched WDM networks are investigated with the proposed multicast schemes.
Causal Reasoning for Events in Continuous Time: A Decision - Theoretic Approach

The dynamics of events occurring in continuous time can be modelled using marked point processes, or multi-state processes. Here, we review and extend the work of R0ysland et al. (2015) on causal reasoning with local independence graphs for marked point processes in the context of survival analysis. We relate the results to the decision-theoretic approach of Dawid & Didelez (2010) using influence diagrams, and present additional identifying conditions.
AUTOMATIC COIL WINDING MACHINE

The invention relates to the technical field of automated mechanical equipment, in particular to an automatic coil winding machine which is used for carrying out coil winding and tying to power lines of various appliances and sockets or extension sockets. The automatic coil winding machine comprises a machine table, a winding device and a discharge port, wherein the winding device and the discharge port are arranged on the machine table. The automatic coil winding machine further comprises a line grabbing device, a binding belt sending device and a binding belt twisting device which are arranged on the machine table. The power lines are well wound through the winding device and are transferred to the binding belt sending device through the line grabbing device, and then the power lines are well tied with binding belts through the binding belt twisting device and are sent to the discharge port. Through arrangement of the devices with various functions, the full automation of winding, binding belt sending and bending belt twisting can be achieved. When the automatic coil winding machine is used, the power lines only need to be placed on a fixed position on the machine, all movements of binding and tying of the power lines can be automatically finished, the degree of automation is high, machining speed is high, and production efficiency is high.
The Role ofPseudomonas aeruginosaRNA Methyltransferases in Antibiotic Resistance

Methyltransferases play a fundamental role in aminoglycoside resistance of Gram-negative bacteria, and some of its mechanisms were described in the past years, especially in Escherichia coli ; however, it remains unsolved for other resistant bacteria such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa . Despite hurdles to determine resistance acquisition, high-throughput approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics) have allowed data mining and analysis in a systemic way. Likewise, bioinformatics modelling of homologous genes or proteins has permitted to eluci-date the emerging resistance in this pathogen. P. aeruginosa is a bacterial resistance treat since practically all known resistance mechanisms can be described using this model, particularly RNA methyltransferases. The RNA methyltransferases perform methylation or demethylation of ribosomal RNA to allow or restrict the antibiotic resistance development. The Kgm and Kam methyltransferases families are found in P. aeruginosa and confer resistance to several aminoglycosides. Loss of native methylations may also confer a resistant phenotype. The P. aeruginosa RsmG has high structural homology with Thermus aquaticus protein. Today, molecular data will promote a new paradigm on antibiotic therapy for treatment against P. aeruginosa . This chapter provides an overview of what role P. aeruginosa’ s methyltransferases play in antibiotic resistance, induced by methylation or demethylation in the ribosome.
Using High-Level Synthesis to Implement On-Line Testability

On-line testing increases system reliability, which is essential in a number of applications. High-level synthesis, on the other hand, offers fast time-to-market and allows quick and painless design space exploration. In this work, we investigate on-line testing in the high-level synthesis context. Further, we propose a new technique (inversion testing) and demonstrate its potential benefits.
Detection of Small Wetlands with Multi Sensor Data in East Africa

The dynamic nature and inaccessibility of wetland ecosystems restricts in situ data collection and promote the use of various remote sensing platforms. This is because of their ability to record large areas in comparatively short time periods and map physically unreachable areas. Sensors in the optical and microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum play a critical role in wetlands detection and delineation, as they complement each other in data collection. This study examined the potential of optical and microwave remote sensing in detecting the diversity of small wetlands ( ha) in the semi-arid and sub humid parts of Laikipia and Pangani plains and the humid parts of Mt. Kenya and Usambara highlands in Kenya and Tanzania, respectively. An intensive field survey was conducted to supplement the remotely sensed data. Decision tree, supervised and unsupervised classification techniques, facilitated the detection of floodplains and inland valley wetlands within the study sites. The results reveal that although optical and microwave data work effectively in the detection of wetlands the latter would be more effective in larger wetlands than those in the scope of this study.
Incentive mechanism in crowdsourcing with moral hazard

With the widely adoption of smart mobile devices, there is a rapidly development of location based services. One key feature in providing the service is the crowdsourcing in which the principal obtains essential data from a large group of users, and inversely sharing the data based service with everyone for free. In this paper, we investigate the problem of how to provide continuous incentives for users to participate in the crowdsourcing activity, which can be referred to the moral hazard problem in the contract theory. First, a performance related incentive mechanism is proposed. Then, the utility maximization problem of the principal is formulated, under the constraint that each user maximizes its own utility by choosing the optimal effort in the crowdsourcing activity. Finally, the numerical results show that by using the proposed incentive mechanism, the users obtains the continuous incentives to participate in the crowdsourcing activity, and the principal successfully maximize the utilities.
Deep inverse regression with modified document probability for text classification

The recently introduced DeepIR model is proven effective for text classification [1]. In this paper, a modified DeepIR model is proposed by introducing a new document probability. This probability employs composite log likelihood method. An experiment using the modified DeepIR model is conducted on five text classification data sets. The proposed model shows considerable improvements in multi-class classification and minor improvements in binary-class classification. We further analyze the result to explain the performance increase.
Hedging large risks reduces the transaction costs

As soon as one accepts to abandon the zero-risk paradigm of Black-Scholes, very interesting issues concerning risk control arise because different definitions of the risk become unequivalent. Optimal hedges then depend on the quantity one wishes to minimize. We show that a definition of the risk more sensitive to the extreme events generically leads to a decrease both of the probability of extreme losses and of the sensitivity of the hedge on the price of the underlying (the `Gamma'). Therefore, the transaction costs and the impact of hedging on the price dynamics of the underlying are reduced.
Defective Processing Speed and Nonclinical Psychotic Experiences in Children: Longitudinal Analyses in a Large Birth Cohort

Objective Psychotic experiences in children are associated with an elevated risk of developing psychosis. The authors investigated whether the pattern of cognitive deficits present in psychosis also exists in children with psychotic experiences within the general population. Method The authors examined the longitudinal relationships between key cognitive domains, selected a priori based on their association with schizophrenia, and onset of psychotic experiences in children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and whether these associations were independent of one another. Results Lower performance in the domains of processing speed at age 8 years (odds ratio=1.24, 95% CI=1.12–1.36) and attention at age 11 (odds ratio=1.14, 95% CI=1.04–1.25) were associated with higher risk of psychotic experiences at age 12. When adjusting for the other cognitive domains, processing speed at age 8 (odds ratio=1.20, 95% CI=1.09–1.33) was the measure most strongly associated with psychotic experiences. Conclusions Defective processing speed is a particularly strong predictor of psychotic experiences in children. Furthermore, the pattern of associations between cognition and psychotic experiences in children within the general population is similar to the one between cognition and schizophrenia. These findings have potentially important implications for understanding the pathogenesis of psychotic disorders and the specific deficits that seem to place children at higher risk of psychopathology.
Online debate summarization using topic directed sentiment analysis

Social networking sites provide users a virtual community interaction platform to share their thoughts, life experiences and opinions. Online debate forum is one such platform where people can take a stance and argue in support or opposition of debate topics. An important feature of such forums is that, they are dynamic and increase rapidly. In such situations, effective opinion summarization approaches are needed so that readers need not go through the entire debate. This paper aims to summarize online debates by extracting highly topic relevant and sentiment rich sentences. The proposed approach takes into account topic relevant, document relevant and sentiment based features to capture topic opinionated sentences. ROUGE scores are used to evaluate our system. Our system significantly outperforms several baseline systems and show 5.2% (ROUGE-1), 7.3% (ROUGE-2) and 5.5% (ROUGE-L) improvement over the state-of-the-art opinion summarization system. The results verify that topic directed sentiment features are most important to generate effective debate summaries.
Managing Uncertain Mediated Schema and Semantic Mappings Automatically in Dataspace Support Platforms

Contrary to existing heterogeneous data integration systems which need to be fully integrated before using, a Dataspace Support Platform is a self-sustained system which automatically provides for the user its best endeavor results regardless of how integrated its sources are. Therefore, a Dataspace Support Platform needs to support uncertainty in mediated schema and in schema mappings. This paper proposes a novel approach to automatically providing reliable mediated schemas and reliable semantic mappings in Dataspace Support Platforms. Our aim is to increase the system's endeavor results by leading it to considering as much as possible information available in any source connected. In fact, we first extract from the source schemas, their corresponding graph representations. Then, we introduce algorithms which automatically extract a set of mediated schemas from the graph representations and a set of semantic mappings between a source and a target mediated schema. Finally, we assign reliability degrees to the mediated schema generated and to the semantic mappings. Indeed, the higher the reliability degree of a given mediated schema or semantic mapping, the more consistent with the source it is. Compared with existing systems, experimental results show that our system is faster and, although completely automatic, it produces reliable mediated schemas and reliable semantic mappings which are as accurate as those produced by semi-automatic systems.
Developmental regulation of voltage-gated K+ channel and GABAA receptor expression in Bergmann glial cells

Bergmann glial cells are closely associated with neurons: during development they provide guiding structures for migrating granule cells and in the adult cerebellum they display intimate interactions with Purkinje cells. In this study, we have addressed the question of whether such changes in neuronal-glial interactions during development are accompanied by variations in the membrane properties of Bergmann glial cells. We used a mouse cerebellum slice preparation to study membrane currents of the Bergmann glial cells at various stages of development in situ using the patch-clamp technique. The distinct morphology of Bergmann glial cells was revealed by Lucifer yellow injections during recording. While Bergmann glial cells in mice of postnatal day 20 (P20) to P30 have thick processes with arborized, irregularly shaped leaf-like appendages, the processes of cells from younger mice (P5-P7) are thinner and smoother. This morphological maturation is accompanied by a variation in voltage-gated currents. In cells from P5 to P7, delayed outward- and inward-rectifying K+ currents were recorded, while older Bergmann glial cells were characterized by, large, voltage- and time-independent K+ currents. In addition, application of GABA induces two effects, a rapid activation of a Cl- conductance and a longer-lasting decrease in the (resting) K+ conductance. Both effects were mediated by benzodiazepine-insensitive GABAA receptors. Responses in cells of P5-P7 mice were large as compared to the small or even undetectable responses in P20-P30 cells. These GABAA receptors were characterized immunohistochemically in mice and rat brain sections with five subunit-specific antibodies. Bergmann glial cells exhibit a distinct but transient immunoreactivity for the GABAA receptor alpha 2-, alpha 3-, and delta-subunits. Staining is maximal between P7 and P10 and decreases gradually thereafter. In contrast, antibodies to the alpha 1- and beta 2,3-subunits fail to decorate Bergmann glial cells, although they yield a prominent staining of both the Purkinje cells and the granule cells. These changes in the Bergmann glial cell membrane properties and GABAA receptor expression suggest a transition between functional states during development of the Bergmann glial cells.
A Coordinated Temporal Interplay of Nucleosome Reorganization Factor, Sister Chromatin Cohesion Factor, and DNA Polymerase α Facilitates DNA Replication

ABSTRACT DNA replication depends critically upon chromatin structure. Little is known about how the replication complex overcomes the nucleosome packages in chromatin during DNA replication. To address this question, we investigate factors that interact in vivo with the principal initiation DNA polymerase, DNA polymerase α (Polα). The catalytic subunit of budding yeast Polα (Pol1p) has been shown to associate in vitro with the Spt16p-Pob3p complex, a component of the nucleosome reorganization system required for both replication and transcription, and with a sister chromatid cohesion factor, Ctf4p. Here, we show that an N-terminal region of Polα (Pol1p) that is evolutionarily conserved among different species interacts with Spt16p-Pob3p and Ctf4p in vivo. A mutation in a glycine residue in this N-terminal region of POL1 compromises the ability of Pol1p to associate with Spt16p and alters the temporal ordered association of Ctf4p with Pol1p. The compromised association between the chromatin-reorganizing factor Spt16p and the initiating DNA polymerase Pol1p delays the Pol1p assembling onto and disassembling from the late-replicating origins and causes a slowdown of S-phase progression. Our results thus suggest that a coordinated temporal and spatial interplay between the conserved N-terminal region of the Polα protein and factors that are involved in reorganization of nucleosomes and promoting establishment of sister chromatin cohesion is required to facilitate S-phase progression.