Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Functional Electrical Stimulation Control of Standing and Stepping After Spinal Cord Injury: A Review of Technical Characteristics

Objectives. To investigate the different approaches in the field of functional electrical stimulation (FES) control of gait and address fundamental perquisites to enable FES walking systems to become safer, more practical, and therefore clinically efficacious. Design. Systematic review was conducted from electronic data bases up to March 2008. Studies with innovative control strategies were highlighted for analysis, but all relevant literatures were described to deliver a broad viewpoint. Study Selection. FES studies applying 1) open and closed‐loop controllers; 2) control algorithm techniques; or 3) feedback information to the control unit of neuromuscular stimulators via biological signals or artificial sensors. These studies were mostly associated to FES gait. Results. By far, more spinal cord‐injured users have benefited from open‐loop FES walking systems because they have had an easier and faster setup. However, because of their limitations over the control of knee extension, closed‐loop control of gait may be a superior approach. The use of electromyogram to quantify quadriceps fatigue was not considered sufficiently appropriate to predict knee‐buckle events; instead, the use of motion sensors for such purposes is recommended. Finite state controllers based on a set of deterministic rules to process feedback signals seemed more suitable to provide accurate command‐and‐control compared with dynamic or neural network controllers. Conclusions. Progress in the development of closed‐loop FES walking systems has been impeded by their lack of practicality. In the near future, this obstacle could be overcome via implanted systems, especially if using controllers based on deterministic rule sets derived from motion sensor feedback.
Influenza Vaccination Strategies: Comparing Inactivated and Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccines

Influenza is a major respiratory pathogen causing annual outbreaks and occasional pandemics. Influenza vaccination is the major method of prophylaxis. Currently annual influenza vaccination is recommended for groups at high risk of complications from influenza infection such as pregnant women, young children, people with underlying disease and the elderly, along with occupational groups such a healthcare workers and farm workers. There are two main types of vaccines available: the parenteral inactivated influenza vaccine and the intranasal live attenuated influenza vaccine. The inactivated vaccines are licensed from 6 months of age and have been used for more than 50 years with a good safety profile. Inactivated vaccines are standardized according to the presence of the viral major surface glycoprotein hemagglutinin and protection is mediated by the induction of vaccine strain specific antibody responses. In contrast, the live attenuated vaccines are licensed in Europe for children from 2–17 years of age and provide a multifaceted immune response with local and systemic antibody and T cell responses but with no clear correlate of protection. Here we discuss the immunological immune responses elicited by the two vaccines and discuss future work to better define correlates of protection.
UNO: Static Source Code Checking for User-Defined Properties 1

Only a small fraction of the output generated by typical static analysis tools tends to reveal serious software defects. There are two main causes for this phenomenon. The first is that the typical static analyzer casts its nets too broadly, reporting everything reportable, rather than what is likely to be a true bug. The second cause is that most static analyzers can check the code for only a fixed set of flaws. We describe a simple source code analyzer, U NO, that tries to remedy these problems. The default properties searched for by UNO are restricted to the most common types of error in C programs: use of uninitialized variables, nil-pointer dereferencing, and out-of-bound array indexing. The checking capabilities of U NO can be extended by the user with the definition of applicationdependent properties, which are written as ANSI-C functions.
Behavioural Genetics in Criminal Cases: Past, Present and Future

Researchers studying human behavioral genetics have made significant scientific progress in enhancing our understanding of the relative contributions of genetics and the environment in observed variations in human behavior. Quickly outpacing the advances in the science are its applications in the criminal justice system. Already, human behavioral genetics research has been introduced in the U.S. criminal justice system, and its use will only become more prevalent. This essay discusses the recent historical use of behavioral genetics in criminal cases, recent advances in two gene variants of particular interest in the criminal law, MAOA and SLC6A4, the recent expert testimony on behalf of criminal defendants with respect to these two gene variants, and the future direction of behavioral genetics evidence in criminal cases.
Categorization of the Glaciated Terrain of Indian Himalaya Using CP and FP Mode SAR

This paper presents the comparison between the potential of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data in compact polarimetry (CP) versus the fully polarimetric POLSAR mode (FP) for glacier areas. The eigenvalue-based constructed parameters, decompositions and supervised classification schemes were used for this inter-comparison. The comparison is focused on compact polarimetric techniques versus full polarimetric techniques based on both of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the glaciated parameters extraction. Overall performance of CP mode is lower than FP mode for glaciated terrain parameter extraction. Furthermore, it was found over the part of rugged Gangotri glaciated terrain, Indian Himalaya that the reconstruction pseudo polarimetry data is erroneous and highly biased because of data sets do not satisfy the pseudo polarimetric reconstruction conditions in the glaciated terrain.
Artificial Neural Network based Classification of Lungs Nodule using Hybrid Features from Computerized

An automated pulmonary nodule detection system is necessary to help radiologist to identify and detect the nodules at ea rly stage. In this paper, a novel pulmonary nodule detection system is proposed using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) based on hybrid features consist of 2D and 3D Geometric and Intensity based statistical features. The lung volume is segmented using thresholding, 3D connected component labeling, contour correction and morphological operators. The candidate nodules are extracted and pruned based on the rules that are built using characteristics of nodules . The 2D and 3D Geometric features and Intensity Based Statistical features are extracted and used to train a Neural Network. The proposed Computer-Aided Diagnostic (CAD) system is tested and validated using standard dataset of Lung Image Consortium Database (LIDC). The results obtained from proposed CAD system are good as compared to existing CAD systems. The sensitivity of 96.95% is achieved with accuracy of 96.68%.
SoftMoW: a dynamic and scalable software defined architecture for cellular WANs

The current 4G LTE network architecture is organized into very large and rigid regions, each with an access edge consisting of only base stations and an Internet edge comprised of centralized packet gateways (PGWs) that enforce almost all network policies. In this architecture, there is minimal interaction among regions other than interference management at the edge, and all users’ outgoing traffic must traverse a PGW and possibly go through the Internet, even if the other endpoint is served by a close base station in the neighboring regions. The centralized policy enforcement, rigid organization of large regions, and a lack of inter-region interaction make the current cellular network architecture incredibly inflexible and inefficient. First, a recent study [1] shows that the lack of a sufficiently close PGW is a major cause of path inflation, suboptimal routing, and QoS degradation in large carriers. Second, there is no support or simple solutions for IP-based mobility between regions (“inter-PGWs”). Thus, users crossing regions experience service interruption [2]. Third, the sheer amount of traffic and centralized policy enforcement at PGWs, and the inability to directly route traffic between regions take a heavy toll on the scalability and reliability of PGWs and the cellular architecture as a whole. Fourth, with the exponential growth of mobile data and rapidly changing traffic patterns, the current architecture is ill-suited to adapt to the rise of new applications such as machine-to-machine (e.g., connected vehicles, telehealth) and bandwidth-intensive applications. Rather than organizing mobile wide area networks as rigid regions with no direct traffic transit, we argue that the cellular networks should have a fully connected core topology, small logical regions, and more egress points. In addition, operators should leverage software defined networking to manage the entire network with a logically-centralized controller. The controller directs traffic through efficient network paths that might cross region boundaries, supports and optimizes inter-region handoffs, and dynamically adapts to traffic patterns with efficient inter-region traffic engineering. Such an architecture raises unique scalability challenges in comparison with data-center and enterprise networks due to the geographically distributed nature of mobile WANs. Indeed, a logically-centralized controller in one pointof-presence with a flat architecture quickly becomes infeasible, if the mobile WAN spans a large region. This is due to the high latency between the controller and the data plane switches, the amount of signaling load from mobile users, and the very high number cellular handoffs.
Surgical treatment of deeply infiltrating endometriosis with colorectal involvement.

BACKGROUND Treatment of colorectal endometriosis is difficult and challenging. We reviewed the clinical outcome of surgical treatment of deeply infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) with colorectal involvement. METHODS Review was based upon a literature search using following search terms: (1) 'surgery' and 'colorectal endometriosis', (2) 'bowel' and 'endometriosis' and 'surgery'. INCLUSION CRITERIA clear explanation of surgical technique and follow-up data on at least one of the following items: complications, pain, quality of life (QOL), fertility and recurrence. RESULTS Most of the 49 studies included complications (94%) and pain (67%); few studies reported recurrence (41%), fertility (37%) and QOL (10%); only 29% reported (loss of) follow-up. Out of 3894 patients, 71% received bowel resection anastomosis, 10% received full-thickness disc excision and 17% were treated with superficial surgery. Comparison of clinical outcome between different surgical techniques was not possible. Post-operative complications were present in 0-3% of the patients. Although pain improvement was reported in most studies, pain evaluation was patient-based in <50% (Visual Analogue Scale in only 18%). While QOL was improved in most studies, prospective data were only available for 149 patients. Pregnancy rates were 23-57% with a cumulative pregnancy rate of 58-70% within 4 years. The overall endometriosis recurrence rate in studies (>2 years follow-up) was 5-25% with most of the studies reporting 10%. Owing to highly variable study design and data collection, a CONSORT-inspired checklist was developed for future studies. CONCLUSIONS Prospective studies reporting standardized and well-defined clinical outcome after surgical treatment of DIE with colorectal involvement with long-term follow-up are needed.
Real-Time Face Tracking and Recognition on IBM Neuromorphic Chip

Recent advances in sensor technologies have made it possible to track information from multiple processes and devices on an unprecedented scale. Once data is collected, analytics can be used to generate fact-based insights and guide decision processes. Although sensors can simply collect an environment property and route the collected data to a database or Cloud service, one can also process the data on a gateway device or the sensor board itself. Edge computing, that is, when data gets processed closer to the collection point, can be employed to save network and storage resources, while also making it possible for a device to react to changing conditions on its environment more quickly. On this paper, we present an application for face recognition using TrueNorth, a neuromorphic chip developed by IBM. On this application, the chip has been programmed to identify people in video streams from cameras installed in business meeting rooms and produce a list of room's occupants along with the time windows when the system has detected them in a particular place.
Extensive observations of CO2 carbon isotope content in and above a high‐elevation subalpine forest

The dynamics of forest‐atmosphere CO2 carbon isotope exchange were examined in a coniferous forest in Colorado, United States. Tunable diode laser absorption spectrometry provided extensive characterization of the carbon isotope content (δ13C) of CO2. Observed patterns in δ13C of forest air were associated with photosynthesis, respiration, and atmospheric boundary layer dynamics. Similar relationships between δ13C and CO2 were observed at all forest heights and confined to a relatively narrow envelope. Substantial variation was observed in the isotope ratio of nocturnal ecosystem respiration (δ13CR, calculated from isotopic mixing lines). A systematic bias was identified when estimating δ13CR from data sets with small range in CO2 in the samples, leading us to restrict analysis of δ13CR to periods with CO2 range >40 μmol mol−1. Values of δ13CR varied from −28.1 to −25.2‰, with variation from one night to the next as large as 1.7‰. A consistent difference was observed between δ13CR calculated near the forest floor (<2 m height) versus the upper canopy (5–11 m) on the same nights. δ13CR was more enriched in the upper canopy than near the ground on 34 of 43 nights, with a mean enrichment of 0.6‰ and a maximum of 2.3‰. A similar pattern was observed comparing δ13CR at night with the analogous quantity calculated during daytime, but only a few daytime periods met the 40 μmol mol−1 criterion. Comparisons between air samples measured (1) 10 m above the forest canopy, (2) 3 km away, and (3) within the convective boundary layer 125 km distant showed CO2 differences between sites as large as 5–6 μmol mol−1 even at midday. These results suggest that attempts to use flask measurements at remote monitoring stations as a proxy for the air directly interacting with a vegetation canopy should be made with caution. However, our results also suggest that substantial information about biosphere‐atmosphere isotopic exchange can be obtained by simultaneous examination of CO2 and δ13C at multiple spatial scales.
Lymphangiogenesis in myocardial remodelling after infarction

Aims: The lymphatic system is involved in fluid homeostasis of the cardiac interstitium, but lymphangiogenesis in myocardial remodelling has not previously been examined histopathologically. The aim was to investigate by D2‐40 immunohistochemistry the sequential changes in lymphatic distribution in the process of myocardial remodelling after myocardial infarction (MI).
Triptan therapy in migraine.

A 23-year-old woman presents with migraine headaches that are unresponsive to analgesics. Triptan therapy is recommended. Triptans are serotonin agonists that were originally thought to provide migraine relief by causing cranial vasoconstriction; other mechanisms are now also proposed. Chest pain is a common side effect, but cardiac ischemia is rare and usually associated with known cardiovascular disease or risk factors.
Classification techniques for the identification of falsified financial statements: a comparative analysis

In this study, I develop 10 alternative classifi cation models using logit analysis, discriminant analysis, support vector machines, artifi cial neural networks, probabilistic neural networks, nearest neighbours, UTADIS and MHDIS for the detection of falsifi ed fi nancial statements. The models are developed using fi nancial and nonfi nancial data. The sample includes 398 fi nancial statements, half of which were assigned a qualifi ed audit opinion. I compare these alternatives methods using out-of-time and out-of-sample tests. The results are used to derive conclusions on the performance of the methods and to investigate the potential of developing models that will assist auditors in identifying fraudulent fi nancial statements. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A new laboratory-based algorithm to predict development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with hepatitis C and cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Serum levels of α-fetoprotein (AFP) are influenced not only by the presence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but also by the underlying severity and activity of liver disease, which is reflected by liver function tests. We constructed an AFP-based algorithm that included these factors to identify patients at risk for HCC, and tested its predictive ability in a large set of patients with cirrhosis. METHODS We used the national Department of Veterans Affairs Hepatitis C Virus Clinical Case Registry to identify patients with cirrhosis, results from at least 1 AFP test, and 6 months of follow-up. Our algorithm included data on age; levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin, albumin, creatinine, and hemoglobin; prothrombin time; and numbers of platelets and white cells. We examined the operating characteristics (calibration, discrimination, predictive values) of several different algorithms for identification of patients who would develop HCC within 6 months of the AFP test. We assessed our final model in the development and validation subsets. RESULTS We identified 11,721 patients with hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis in whom 35,494 AFP tests were performed, and 987 patients developed HCC. A predictive model that included data on levels of AFP, ALT, and platelets, along with age at time of AFP test (and interaction terms between AFP and ALT, and AFP and platelets), best discriminated between patients who did and did not develop HCC. Using this AFP-adjusted model, the predictive accuracy increased at different AFP cutoffs compared with AFP alone. At any given AFP value, low numbers of platelets and ALT and older age were associated with increased risk of HCC, and high levels of ALT and normal/high numbers of platelets were associated with low risk for HCC. For example, the probabilities of HCC, based only on 20 ng/mL and 120 ng/mL AFP, were 3.5% and 11.4%, respectively. However, patients with the same AFP values (20 ng/mL and 120 ng/mL) who were 70 years old, with ALT levels of 40 IU/mL and platelet counts of 100,000, had probabilities of developing HCC of 8.1% and 29.0%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS We developed and validated an algorithm based on levels of AFP, platelets, and ALT, along with age, which increased the predictive value for identifying patients with hepatitis C virus-associated cirrhosis likely to develop HCC within 6 months. If validated in other patient groups, this model would have immediate clinical applicability.
12Gbps SerDes Jitter Tolerance BIST in production loopback testing with enhanced spread spectrum clock generation circuit

We designed and tested an on-chip BIST test for high speed SerDes devices. Jitter Tolerance testing is a critical way to stress the SerDes receivers. A jitter free loopback test hardly represents the real application environment. We implemented a jitter injection technique to precisely injecting the amount of in-band and out-of-band jitter to effectively testing receiver clock and data recovery circuits (CDR). Because out-of-band jitter is more effective in stressing the CDR, it is critical to generate jitter frequency that is higher than the receiver CDR loop bandwidth. Both the jitter frequency and amplitude can be programmed digitally in this BIST implementation. And more importantly, it does NOT require any external instrument for calibration. As a result, overall production test coverage is enhanced without additional test cost and tester instrument calibration hardware.
ADAM9 Inhibition Increases Membrane Activity of ADAM10 and Controls α-Secretase Processing of Amyloid Precursor Protein*

Background: Raising ADAM10 α-secretase activity has been considered as an attractive therapeutic option in Alzheimer disease. Results: Administration of the prodomain of ADAM9 (proA9) prevents ADAM10 shedding and increases membrane α-secretase activity in a neuronal cell line. Conclusion: Use of proA9 is a means to modulate cellular ADAM10 activity. Significance: proA9 can be used in vivo to increase ADAM10 α-secretase activity. Prodomains of A disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) metallopeptidases can act as highly specific intra- and intermolecular inhibitors of ADAM catalytic activity. The mouse ADAM9 prodomain (proA9; amino acids 24–204), expressed and characterized from Escherichia coli, is a competitive inhibitor of human ADAM9 catalytic/disintegrin domain with an overall inhibition constant of 280 ± 34 nm and high specificity toward ADAM9. In SY5Y neuroblastoma cells overexpressing amyloid precursor protein, proA9 treatment reduces the amount of endogenous ADAM10 enzyme in the medium while increasing membrane-bound ADAM10, as shown both by Western and activity assays with selective fluorescent peptide substrates using proteolytic activity matrix analysis. An increase in membrane-bound ADAM10 generates higher levels of soluble amyloid precursor protein α in the medium, whereas soluble amyloid precursor protein β levels are decreased, demonstrating that inhibition of ADAM9 increases α-secretase activity on the cell membrane. Quantification of physiological ADAM10 substrates by a proteomic approach revealed that substrates, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), HER2, osteoactivin, and CD40-ligand, are increased in the medium of BT474 breast tumor cells that were incubated with proA9, demonstrating that the regulation of ADAM10 by ADAM9 applies for many ADAM10 substrates. Taken together, our results demonstrate that ADAM10 activity is regulated by inhibition of ADAM9, and this regulation may be used to control shedding of amyloid precursor protein by enhancing α-secretase activity, a key regulatory step in the etiology of Alzheimer disease.