Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hybrid WLAN-RFID Indoor Localization Solution Utilizing Textile Tag

This letter presents a novel hybrid configuration for indoor positioning, utilizing the passive radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless local area network (WLAN). Our architecture is based on a mobile device with a WLAN receiver, a textile RFID tag, and one or several RFID readers communicating with the mobile. The proposed passive textile RFID tag provides a very cost effective, power efficient, and easily implemented solution for human positioning and tracking applications. In addition, the joint utilization of two technologies increases the accuracy of the indoor positioning service. Our main contribution comes from the innovative RFID-WLAN hybrid architecture based on received signal strengths and able to improve the localization accuracy compared to pure RFID and pure WLAN location solutions. The proposed algorithm is tested with real-field measurements.
Rapid Synthesis of Yellow Graphite Oxide - One-Step Electrochemical Oxidation of Graphite in Organic Solvents

Graphite oxide is the intermediate in the synthesis of the so-called "miracle material" of the 21st century, graphene. The synthesis of highly oxidized, yellow graphite oxide is hitherto only possible via partially toxic and explosive wet-chemical processes. Therefore, the implementation of the topic graphene in school and university lessons was not possible. Due to the existing risks and the long synthesis time, the currently prevalent synthesis methods of graphite oxide are a major problem not only for teaching but also for scientific research. The authors present a novel electrochemical synthesis process of highly oxidized, yellow graphite oxide, which completely avoids the use of corrosive or toxic substances. The synthesis time is only a few minutes and the preparation of the material can be easily carried out. Therefore, Graphene can now be easily synthesized and taught in school and university.
Cooperative uplink cellular systems with multi-antenna relays and heterogeneous users

This paper considers a multi-access cooperative system uplink where multiple users access a base station (BS) through a multi-antenna relay. For a fixed relay beamformer, the optimal user beamformers are determined. Then when user beamformers are fixed, the optimal relay beamformer is derived. An iterative algorithm that jointly optimizes the user and relay beamformers is then proposed and proven to converge to a fixed point. Numerical results reveal that (i) convergence typically requires about three iterations, and (ii) performance of the iterative algorithm is very close to that of the user-relay MIMO-MAC channel and relay-BS MIMO upper bounds. An extension is proposed where multiple relays, serving as access points, co-exist with directly accessing users. While not guaranteeing a globally optimum solution to this non-convex problem, numerical results show that the performance of this extended iterative algorithm is very close to the MIMO MAC upper bound.
The Role of Emotion Regulation Difficulties in the Relation Between PTSD Symptoms and the Learned Association Between Trauma-Related and Cocaine Cues

ABSTRACT Background: PTSD and cocaine dependence frequently co-occur. However, few studies have specifically examined the functional relation between trauma-related distress and cocaine use and none have examined the extent to which PTSD is associated with a learned association between trauma cues and cocaine or the underlying role of emotion regulation difficulties in this relation. Objectives: Thus, this study used a novel version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to examine the relation of PTSD symptoms to the strength of the trauma-cocaine cue association and the role of specific emotion regulation difficulties in this relation. Methods: A sample of 42 cocaine-dependent inpatients with a history of interpersonal traumatic exposure were recruited. Participants completed a series of questionnaires assessing PTSD symptom severity and emotion regulation difficulties. Participants then completed the IAT. Results: Results revealed a significant indirect relation of PTSD symptom severity to the strength of the trauma-cocaine cue association through the specific emotion regulation dimension of difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors when distressed. Conclusion/Importance: Results build upon extant research suggesting that factors related to emotional responding and regulation may underlie the relation between trauma-cue exposure and responses to cocaine cues among cocaine dependent patients with PTSD. The finding that PTSD symptom severity is associated with the strength of the trauma-cocaine cue association through one particular dimension of emotion regulation difficulties, difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors when distressed, highlight the potential utility of interventions focused on improving emotion regulation and impulse control abilities among trauma-exposed cocaine dependent patients.
Fusion of SNR-dependent PLDA models for noise robust speaker verification

The i-vector representation and probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) have shown state-of-the-art performance in many speaker verification systems. However, in real-world environments, additive and convolutive noise cause mismatches between training and recognition conditions, degrading the performance. In this paper, a fusion system that combines a multi-condition PLDA model and a mixture of SNR-dependent PLDA models is proposed to make the verification system noise robust. The SNR of test utterances is used to determine the best SNR-dependent PLDA model to score against the target-speaker's i-vectors. The performance of the fusion system is demonstrated on NIST 2012 SRE. Results show that the SNR-dependent PLDA models can reduce EER and that the fusion system is more robust than the conventional i-vector/PLDA systems under noisy conditions. It is also found that the SNR-dependent PLDA models are insensitive to Z-norm parameters.
Goldschmidt crater and the Moon's north polar region: Results from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)

[1] Soils within the impact crater Goldschmidt have been identified as spectrally distinct from the local highland material. High spatial and spectral resolution data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) on the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter are used to examine the character of Goldschmidt crater in detail. Spectral parameters applied to a north polar mosaic of M3 data are used to discern large-scale compositional trends at the northern high latitudes, and spectra from three widely separated regions are compared to spectra from Goldschmidt. The results highlight the compositional diversity of the lunar nearside, in particular, where feldspathic soils with a low-Ca pyroxene component are pervasive, but exclusively feldspathic regions and small areas of basaltic composition are also observed. Additionally, we find that the relative strengths of the diagnostic OH/H2O absorption feature near 3000 nm are correlated with the mineralogy of the host material. On both global and local scales, the strongest hydrous absorptions occur on the more feldspathic surfaces. Thus, M3 data suggest that while the feldspathic soils within Goldschmidt crater are enhanced in OH/H2O compared to the relatively mafic nearside polar highlands, their hydration signatures are similar to those observed in the feldspathic highlands on the farside.
Land Cover Classification by an Artificial Neural Network with Ancillary Information

Abstract Remote sensing is an important source of land cover data required by many GIS users. Land cover data are typically derived from remotely–sensed data through the application of a conventional statistical classification. Such classification techniques are not, however, always appropriate, particularly as they may make untenable assumptions about the data and their output is hard, comprising only the code of the most likely class of membership. Whilst some deviation from the assumptions may be tolerated and a fuzzy output may be derived, making more information on class membership properties available, alternative classification procedures are sometimes required. Artificial neural networks are an attractive alternative to the statistical classifiers and here one is used to derive a fuzzy classification output from a remotely–sensed data set that may be post–processed with ancillary data available in a GIS to increase the accuracy with which land cover may be mapped. With the aid ancillary informatio.
Destruction of Peripheral C‐Fibers Does Not Alter Subsequent Vagus Nerve Stimulation‐Induced Seizure Suppression in Rats

Summary: Purpose: Early animal studies of the therapeutic mechanisms of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) suggested that seizure suppression requires maximal activation of small, unmyelinated vagal C fibers. However, effective therapeutic stimulation parameters appear to be subthreshold for these fibers in humans, and there are no clinical reports of the autonomic side effects that would be expected if these fibers were maximally activated. We report here that selective destruction of C fibers with capsaicin does not affect VNS‐induced seizure suppression in rats.
Database Submission - The ISMS Durable Goods Data Sets

This paper describes two new data sets available to academic researchers (at http://www.informs.org/Community/ISMS ). The first is a panel data set containing the transactions of 19,936 households made over the period from December 1998 to November 2004 at a major U.S. consumer electronics retailer. There are a total of 173,262 transactions, including purchases and returns of products as well as extended warranties. There are 16 product categories and 292 subcategories, ranging from big-ticket items such as televisions to small-ticket items such as CDs and batteries. The second data set features a field experiment for a Christmas promotion that took place in December 2003 in the form of a direct mailing sent to a randomly selected group of households at the end of November 2003. We describe the data and the potential research issues that can be studied using these two durable goods data sets.
Breast Cancer Prevention

It is estimated that in the year 2000, more than 175,000 women will have been diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States and more than 43,000 of these women will die. Approximately 65–70% of breast cancers occur in women age 50 years and older. One in 2,525 women will have breast cancer by age 30, and by the time the woman reaches age 40, this number will have increased to 1 in 217. Only half of current breast cancer cases can be explained by known risk factors. A large number of women with no risk factors will have breast cancer. The Gail model was developed to calculate an individual woman’s risk for breast cancer. This model takes into account factors including race, current age, age at menarche, age at first live birth, number of breast biopsies the woman has undergone, and the number of firstdegree relatives with breast cancer. The Gail model has many drawbacks, including that it does not assess second-degree relatives or take into account premenopausal breast cancers. Cases of ovarian cancer in the family are not included in the risk assessment, nor does it take into account either bilateral breast cancers or male breast cancers, all of which would increase a woman’s personal risk for breast cancer during her lifetime. Women have a significant degree of anxiety about their risk for breast cancer. Studies of women’s estimates of their annual risk show overestimation ranging from 20to 60-fold. Some women known to be at increased risk experience emotional stress as severe as that of women with invasive breast cancer. Clearly, strategies to prevent this devastating disease need to be developed. Currently, three directions are being investigated to prevent breast cancer. These include lifestyle changes, the impact of genetic mutations, and chemoprevention. Lifestyle changes include limiting exposure to ostensible carcinogens and dietary and activity modification.
Racial Differences in the Predictors for Academic Achievement of Student-Athletes in Division I Revenue Producing Sports

Concern over academic integrity in recent years has led the NCAA to establish eligibility standards for incoming student-athletes. This has stirred controversy because of the differential effects of the use of standardized test scores on black versus white student-athletes. The present study examines race differences in the predictors of college grade point average (GPA) for student-athletes participating in revenue producing sports. The findings suggest there are different predictors of college academic achievement for black versus white student-athletes. High school GPA and mother’s occupation are the only significant predictors of college GPA for black student-athletes. On the other hand, high school GPA, socioeconomic status, and SAT/ACT scores were significant predictors for white student-athletes. The results are discussed in light of the need for future investigations into the predictors of academic performance of student-athletes as well as current and future NCAA policy
Prediction Models in Women with Postmenopausal Bleeding: A Systematic Review

Postmenopausal bleeding is associated with an elevated risk of having endometrial cancer. The aim of this review is to give an overview of existing prediction models on endometrial cancer in women with postmenopausal bleeding. In a systematic search of the literature, we identified nine prognostic studies, of which we assessed the quality, the different phases of development and their performance. From these data, we identified the most important predictor variables. None of the detected models completed external validation or impact analysis. Models including power Doppler showed best performance in internal validation, but Doppler in general gynecological practice is not easily accessible. We can conclude that we have indications that the first step in the approach of women with postmenopausal bleeding should be to distinguish between women with low risk versus high risk of having endometrial carcinoma and the next step would be to refer patients for further (invasive) testing.
Learning to make definitions

ABSTRACT The ability to define words by means of other words, which forms a part of many standardized tests, must be learned by a child. The nature of the ‘definitional task’ and the development of language responses (from children 4; 5 to 7; 5) are discussed in terms of a linguistic analysis of the definitional form and its semantic relations. Progress in definitional strategies by children moves along two continua: conceptually from the individually experiential to the socially shared; and syntactically from actual predicates through hypothetical predicates to adult definitional sentence frames. Implications include novel elicitation techniques, psycholinguistically informed evaluation of direction and scoring measures of some common standardized verbal tests, and better understanding of the range of normal development on one specific language task.
What is good?: a comparison between the quality criteria used in design and science

The human-computer interaction community is an umbrella for many disciplines. Conflicts occur from time to time, in particular between scientists and designers. This article compares the quality criteria used in design with those used in science, in order to gain insight into what design can contribute to the development of science. From the scientific perspective, the weakest point of design knowledge is its limited generalizability.
Pupil dilation signals uncertainty and surprise in a learning gambling task

Pupil dilation under constant illumination is a physiological marker where modulation is related to several cognitive functions involved in daily decision making. There is evidence for a role of pupil dilation change during decision-making tasks associated with uncertainty, reward-prediction errors and surprise. However, while some work suggests that pupil dilation is mainly modulated by reward predictions, others point out that this marker is related to uncertainty signaling and surprise. Supporting the latter hypothesis, the neural substrate of this marker is related to noradrenaline (NA) activity which has been also related to uncertainty signaling. In this work we aimed to test whether pupil dilation is a marker for uncertainty and surprise in a learning task. We recorded pupil dilation responses in 10 participants performing the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a decision-making task that requires learning and constant monitoring of outcomes’ feedback, which are important variables within the traditional study of human decision making. Results showed that pupil dilation changes were modulated by learned uncertainty and surprise regardless of feedback magnitudes. Interestingly, greater pupil dilation changes were found during positive feedback (PF) presentation when there was lower uncertainty about a future negative feedback (NF); and by surprise during NF presentation. These results support the hypothesis that pupil dilation is a marker of learned uncertainty, and may be used as a marker of NA activity facing unfamiliar situations in humans.
Culture and Climate 1: Investigating Aspects of Organizational and Care Culture by the Use of Proverbs

The study was part of a larger project concerning the relationships between culture, climate and the experiences of nursing personnel and patients in different care settings. In the first phase of the project, methods and instruments for studying the central variables were developed and tested, and preliminary relationships between variables were investigated. The purpose of this part of the study was to investigate aspects of organizational and care culture by developing and pre-testing an instrument. The instrument, the Proverb Scale, consisted of two parts. The first part was a Likert type scale consisting of 60 proverbs. In the second part the respondents were asked to choose five proverbs that best described their work unit. The study was conducted at an administrative unit at a health care college and at a geriatric hospital. The results showed many similarities between the two samples with respect to the Likert scale part of the instrument. There were more differences between the samples with respect to the five best descriptions. In the sample consisting of administrators there were more differences between the Likert part and the best description part than in sample consisting of geriatric nursing personnel. Many of the proverbs were not understood by the respondents. The conclusions were that the Proverb Scale is worth developing further. However, it has to be condensed, the instructions need further considerations, and it needs further validating in larger samples from different types of contexts.
The Study on Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation Model of Enterprise's Core Competence Based on BSC

The enterprise’s core competence is one of the key factors to decide whether an enterprise succeeds or not. Therefore, it is important to evaluate enterprise’s core competence. First, this paper uses the BSC and competence theories to constructs the evaluation index system of enterprise's core competence. Second, the paper determines the weights of the indexes by AHP. Third, the paper constructs a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model of enterprise's core competence using the fuzzy mathematics theory. Finally, with an example, the paper calculates the core competence of the enterprise by using this model. This study helps the enterprise to strength its core competence.
A content account of creative analogies in biologically inspired design

Abstract The growing movement of biologically inspired design is driven in part by the need for sustainable development and in part by the recognition that nature could be a source of innovation. Biologically inspired design by definition entails cross-domain analogies from biological systems to problems in engineering and other design domains. However, the practice of biologically inspired design at present typically is ad hoc, with little systemization of either biological knowledge for the purposes of engineering design or the processes of transferring knowledge of biological designs to engineering problems. In this paper we present an intricate episode of biologically inspired engineering design that unfolded over an extended period of time. We then analyze our observations in terms of why, what, how, and when questions of analogy. This analysis contributes toward a content theory of creative analogies in the context of biologically inspired design.
The effect of a cognitive–behavioral intervention on diet and exercise among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% to 95% of all diabetic cases with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders particularly at risk. The purpose was to assess the effects of a cognitive–behavioral intervention (CBI) on diet and exercise among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with type 2 diabetes. Using a double-blinded, two-arm randomized clinical trial (n = 207), data on diet and exercise were analyzed before and after a 6-week CBI. Over time, treatment group showed a decrease in kcals and increase in steps compared with control group; however, results were not statistically significant. Treatment group had lower kcals of trans-fat, saturated fat, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, and dietary fiber compared with the control group. Older subjects and females had significantly lower caloric intake (p < .01). Females exercised less and took fewer steps compared with males (p < .05). CBI may be effective in lowering calorie intake and increasing physical activity among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with type 2 diabetes. Significant differences in gender and age point to the need for individualized research and treatment targeting this group.