Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical activity in patients with grown-up congenital heart defects after comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation

Introduction The group of grown-up patients with congenital heart defects (grown-up congenital heart – GUCH) complains of a number of specific medical and non-medical problems. The presented program of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation (CCR-GUCH), dedicated to the above mentioned group, can potentially improve the physical activity of GUCH patients. Aim The aim of the study was to assess the effect of the comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program on the physical activity of GUCH patients. Material and methods The invitation to take part in the CCR-GUCH program was addressed to a group of 57 patients (mean age: 23.7 ± 4.1 years) who had undergone the surgical correction of ventricular septal defects (VSD) or atrial septal defects (ASD) at least 12 months earlier. The patients were divided into two groups: A – patients undergoing rehabilitation, and B – patients who did not participate in the program. The patients were initially examined using functional and stress tests, and the program of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation was started in group A. After 30 days, the patients from both groups underwent further testing using the same methods as during the initial evaluation. Results After one month of rehabilitation, the physical activity parameters of patients participating in the CCR-GUCH program (group A) were significantly better than those observed among non-participants (group B). Conclusions The introduction of the comprehensive rehabilitation program improves the physical activity and, consequently, the quality of life of GUCH patients. The CCR-GUCH program appears to be a justified supplement to holistic care in the late rehabilitation of patients after the surgical correction of congenital heart defects.
Helping users understand and recover from interpretation failures in natural language interfaces

When a person determines what he will say and how he will say it, he relies upon beliefs that he predicts to be shared with his audience. The difficulty of this inference task is amplified when a person speaks to a computer, because it is unclear what the computer knows and how the computer will use its knowledge to interpret the speaker’s utterance. This lack of transparency and predictably are barriers for natural language interfaces. Despite advances in natural language processing, interpretation failures are not going away. In human-human linguistic communication, ambiguity, vagueness and underspecification are frequent; and the listener is expected to be resilient and flexibly shift between different interpretations when needed, or diagnose when a discrepancy between the speaker and listener’s communication goals or beliefs are responsible for the communication failure. This paper takes the position that augmenting a NLI with nonlinguistic modalities may present a mode for recovering from interpretation failures that is richer than relying solely on dialogue. The paper presents a categorization of the levels of information where interpretation failures may occur, and explains the authors’ ongoing research using the framework.
Generalized Swept Mid‐structure for Polygonal Models

We introduce a novel mid‐structure called the generalized swept mid‐structure (GSM) of a closed polygonal shape, and a framework to compute it. The GSM contains both curve and surface elements and has consistent sheet‐by‐sheet topology, versus triangle‐by‐triangle topology produced by other mid‐structure methods. To obtain this structure, a harmonic function, defined on the volume that is enclosed by the surface, is used to decompose the volume into a set of slices. A technique for computing the 1D mid‐structures of these slices is introduced. The mid‐structures of adjacent slices are then iteratively matched through a boundary similarity computation and triangulated to form the GSM. This structure respects the topology of the input surface model is a hybrid mid‐structure representation. The construction and topology of the GSM allows for local and global simplification, used in further applications such as parameterization, volumetric mesh generation and medical applications.
Nuclear Polymer Explains the Stability, Instability, and Nonexistence of Nuclides

Problem. The explanation of nuclear properties from the strong force upwards has been elusive. Approach. Design methods were used to develop conceptual mechanics for the bonding arrangements between nucleons, based on the covert structures for the proton and neutron as defined by the Cordus theory, a type of nonlocal hidden-variable design with discrete fields. Findings. Nuclear bonding arises from the synchronous interaction between the discrete fields of the proton and neutron. This results in not one but multiple types of bond, cis- and transphasic, and assembly of chains and bridges of nucleons into a nuclear polymer. The synchronous interaction constrains the relative orientation of nucleons, and hence the nuclear polymer takes only certain spatial layouts. The stability of nuclides is entirely predicted by morphology of the nuclear polymer and the cis-/transphasic nature of the bonds. The theory successfully explains the qualitative stability characteristics of all hydrogen and helium nuclides. Originality. Novel contributions include the concept of a nuclear polymer and its mechanics; an explanation of the stability, instability, or nonexistence of nuclides starting from the strong/synchronous force; explanation of the role of the neutron. The theory opens a new field of mechanics by which nucleon interactions may be understood.
Can Behenic Acid (C22:0) Levels be a Prognostic Factor in Glial Tumors?

Background: Inhibition of fatty acid synthase leads to apoptosis in cancers, which leads to high levels of fatty acid synthesis. This indicates that cancer cells depend on fatty acid in order to survive. In this study, we investigated whether or not there was a relationship between the glial tumor grade and free fatty acid level of tumor tissue. Methods: Twenty patients who had high grade glial tumors and 20 patients who had low grade glial tumors, were included in the study. Tumors samples were obtained intraoperatively in order to measure the fatty acid levels. The fatty acids were studied in three groups: saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids. They were analyzed with gas chromatography. Results: The oleic acid, linoleic acid, eicosadienoic acid, arachidonic acid, and docosadienoic acid levels were high in the tumor tissue of low grade tumors. The myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, alpha linoleic acid, eicosenoic acid, dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, and ceramide levels were high in the tumor tissue of high grade glial tumors. However, none of these high values were statistically significant. The high values of behenic acid, a saturated fatty acid, in low grade glial tumors were statistically significant. Conclusion: High levels of behenic acid in patients with low grade glial tumor is important as it indicates persistence of the tissue integrity and tissue resistance. behenic acid levels can be a prognostic factor in glial tumors.
A simulation model for distributed real-time database systems

Each transaction in a real-time database system is associated with a timing constraint in the form of a deadline. Efficient transaction scheduling algorithms are required to minimize the number of missed transaction deadlines. In this paper, a performance evaluation model is provided to enable distributed real-time database system designers to analyze transaction scheduling algorithms. The model is developed progressing from a simple mathematical analysis to complicated simulations. The paper also provides an example simulation experiment implemented using the model presented. <<ETX>>
ON SOME STRONG ZWEIER CONVERGENT SEQUENCE SPACES

In this paper we define three classes of new sequence spaces. We give some relations related to these sequence spaces. We also introduce the concept of Sλ Z−statistically convergence and obtain some inclusion relations related to these new sequence spaces. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 40C05, 40J05, 40A45.
Energy Consumption Oriented Network-on-Chip Mapping Method

In this paper, mapping algorithm has been mainly studied. The main work and contribution have been generalized as follows: Through the research of existing on-chip network mapping algorithm and global optimization algorithm, a multi-step mapping algorithm for low-power consumption have been designed, which is combined with the task allocation and the task scheduling. Compared with the traditional mapping algorithm, the algorithm in this paper takes the factors of task scheduling and allocation into account, mapping algorithm has three steps: task scheduling, IP core mapping and data block mapping. The simulation results show that the mapping method in this paper can effectively reduce Network-on-Chip (NoC) power consumption.
A signal processing model for laser print engines

An accurate printer model that is efficient enough to be used by halftoning algorithms is proposed. The signal processing model (SPM) proposed in this paper utilizes a physical model to train adaptive linear combiners (ALCs), after which the average exposure of each subpixel for any input pattern can be calculated using the optimized weight vector. The SPM can be used to model multi-level halftoning and resolution enhancement, as well as traditional halftoning. The SPM is comprised of a single layer of ALC's and is adapted using the LMS algorithm. A relatively small number of training patterns suffices to obtain adequate model accuracy.
DYNAMIC OUTSOURCING WITH WEB SERVICES: A MULTI- FACETED PERSPECTIVE

In a fully dynamic web services implementation, business processes are supported by allocating the underlying information processing tasks to many inter-operating service modules, each of which would be procured over the Internet from an on-line market for web services. In this research we propose to investigate the web services adoption phenomena from three different perspectives viz. business process outsourcing, innovation adoption, and web-based commerce. We use the ‘technology-push and need-pull’ framework and integrate it with dynamic outsourcing and web-based commerce factors to get the richer and deeper insight into the WS adoption phenomenon.
Generation of emotional feature space for facial expression recognition using self-mapping

This paper proposes a method for generating a subject-specific emotional feature space that expresses the correspondence between the changes in facial expression patterns and the degree of emotions. The feature space is generated using self-organizing maps and counter propagation networks. The training data input method and the number of dimensions of the CPN mapping space are investigated. The results clearly show that the input ratio of the training data should be constant for every emotion category and the number of dimensions of the CPN mapping space should be extended to effectively express a level of detailed emotion.
Successful Development of Satiety Enhancing Food Products: Towards a Multidisciplinary Agenda of Research Challenges

In the context of increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in societies worldwide, enhancing the satiating capacity of foods may help people control their energy intake and weight. This requires an integrated approach between various food-related disciplines. By structuring this approach around the new product development process, this paper aims to present the contours of such an integrative approach by going through the current state of the art around satiety enhancing foods. It portrays actual food choice as the end result of a complex interaction between internal satiety signals, other food benefits, and environmental cues. Three interrelated routes to satiating enhancement are to change the food composition to develop stronger physiological satiation and satiety signals, anticipate and build on smart external stimuli at the moment of purchase and consumption, and improve palatability and acceptance of satiety enhanced foods. Key research challenges in achieving these routes in the field of nutrition, food technology, consumer, marketing, and communication are outlined.
A Theory of Specular Surface Geometry 2 Recovery of 2d Surface Prooles 2.1.2 Support Function of a Curve

A theoretical framework is introduced for the perception of specular surface geometry. When an observer moves in three-dimensional space, real scene features, such as surface markings, remain stationary with respect to the surfaces they belong to. In contrast, a virtual feature, which is the specular reeection of a real feature, travels on the surface. Based on the notion of caustics, a novel feature classiication algorithm is developed that distinguishes real and virtual features from their image trajectories that result from observer motion. Next, using support functions of curves, a closed-form relation is derived between the image trajectory of a virtual feature and the geometry of the specular surface it travels on. It is shown that in the 2D case where camera motion and the surface proole are coplanar, the proole is uniquely recovered by tracking just two unknown virtual features. Finally, these results are generalized to the case of arbitrary 3D surface prooles that are traveled by virtual features when camera motion is not connned to a plane. An algorithm is developed that uniquely recovers 3D surface prooles using a single virtual feature tracked from the occluding boundary of the object. All theoretical derivations and proposed algorithms are substantiated by experiments. 1 Specular Surfaces This paper focuses on mirror-like reeection from smooth surfaces like glass, ceramic, polished metal, and plastic. Although the physics and geometry that govern specular reeection are well understood, visual interpretation of specular surfaces remains an open problem. Two major issues are associated with specular reeec-tion. The rst is detection of specularity. How can we determine whether an image feature corresponds to an actual scene point or whether it is the specular reeec-tion of another scene point? This ambiguity poses a problem for all vision techniques that are based on feature detection and matching, such as, binocular stereo and structure from motion. At present, these techniques simply produce incorrect results when confronted with specular surfaces (Blake-1985],Waldon and Dyer-1993]). The second problem, which is even more challenging , is shape recovery of specular surfaces. This problem is hard from an analytical perspective and currently only structured (active) illumination techniques The ambiguity that specular surfaces introduce into image analysis arises from the existence of two distinctly diierent types of image features: real and virtual. A real feature corresponds to a physical scene point such as a surface marking or a surface texture element. On the other hand, a virtual …
A Ubiquitin Independent Degradation Pathway Utilized by a Hepatitis B Virus Envelope Protein to Limit Antigen Presentation

Hepatitis B virus envelope glycoproteins Large (L), Middle (M) and Small (S) are targets of the host cellular immune system. The extent to which the host recognizes viral antigens presented by infected cells is believed to play a decisive role in determining if an infection will be resolved or become chronic. As with other antigens, HBV envelope polypeptides must be degraded, presumably by cellular proteasomes, to be presented by the MHC I pathway. We have used M as a model to study this process and determine how ER quality control monitors these foreign polymeric proteins and disposes of them through the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway. Using both wild type and mutant HBV M protein, we found that unlike most ERAD substrates, which require ubiquitination for retrotranslocation and degradation, the HBV M protein, which only contains two lysine residues, can undergo rapid and complete, ubiquitin independent, proteasome dependent degradation. The utilization of this pathway had a functional consequence, since proteins degraded through it, were poorly presented via MHC I. To test the hypothesis that the level of ubiquitination, independent of protein degradation, controls the level of antigen presentation, we inserted two additional lysines into both the wild type and mutant M protein. Amazingly, while the addition of the lysine residues dramatically increased the level of ubiquitination, it did not alter the rate of degradation. However and remarkably, the increased ubiquitination was associated with a dramatic increase in the level of antigen presentation. In conclusion, using the HBV surface protein as a model, we have identified a novel ubiquitin independent degradation pathway and determined that this pathway can have implications for antigen presentation and potentially viral pathogenesis.
Solid Lipid Nanoparticles: A Modern Formulation Approach in Drug Delivery System

Solid lipid nanoparticles are at the forefront of the rapidly developing field of nanotechnology with several potential applications in drug delivery, clinical medicine and research, as well as in other varied sciences. Due to their unique size-dependent properties, lipid nanoparticles offer the possibility to develop new therapeutics. The ability to incorporate drugs into nanocarriers offers a new prototype in drug delivery that could be used for secondary and tertiary levels of drug targeting. Hence, solid lipid nanoparticles hold great promise for reaching the goal of controlled and site specific drug delivery and hence have attracted wide attention of researchers. This review presents a broad treatment of solid lipid nanoparticles discussing their advantages, limitations and their possible remedies. The different types of nanocarriers which were based on solid lipid like solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, lipid drug conjugates are discussed with their structural differences. Different production methods which are suitable for large scale production and applications of solid lipid nanoparticles are described. Appropriate analytical techniques for characterization of solid lipid nanoparticles like photon correlation spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry are highlighted. Aspects of solid lipid nanoparticles route of administration and their biodistribution are also incorporated. If appropriately investigated, solid lipid nanoparticles may open new vistas in therapy of complex diseases.
Pilot Phase II Trial of Bevacizumab Monotherapy in Nonmetastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer

Introduction/Background. Nonmetastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a challenging disease state. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of bevacizumab in nonmetastatic CRPC patients. Patients. Patients with prostate cancer who developed PSA recurrence after local therapy were included if they had absence of bone or visceral metastases and PSA progression despite androgen deprivation therapy. Methods. Bevacizumab 10 mg/kg intravenously was administered every 14 days until PSA progression, development of metastasis, or unacceptable toxicity. Results. 15 patients were enrolled and treated with bevacizumab for a median duration of 3.1 months. Median baseline PSA was 27 ng/mL, and seven patients had Gleason Score ≥8. Five patients had declined in PSA during the treatment. Median PSA doubling time was prolonged from 4.7 months pretreatment to 6.5 months. Median time to PSA progression and new metastasis were 2.8 and 7.9 months, respectively. There were three grade 3 adverse events (one proteinuria and two hypertension) and one pulmonary embolism. There was no treatment-related mortality. Conclusion. Bevacizumab therapy had minimal impact on the disease course of nonmetastatic CRPC, and investigation of novel strategies is needed.
Analyzing and Comparing Android HTC Aria, Apple iPhone 3G, and Windows Mobile HTC TouchPro 6850

Digital Forensics is a field of computer science that aids in determining what may or may not have occurred during some computer task. The bit-by-bit concept satisfies computer media, but it does not apply to smartphones. One experiment was designed using three devices, Android HTC Aria, Apple iPhone 3G, and Windows Mobile HTC TouchPro 6850. These experiments compare and contrast the device by carrier, manufacturer, file size by category, and file size by test. These types of experiments will create a baseline for change in specific model smartphones depending on the specific user function performed. If such a baseline is determined, one may be able to prove that a set of tasks occurred given the current state of the device.
Bilateral control of teleoperation system with fuzzy singularly perturbed model

For bilateral teleoperation system, the performance of trajectory tracking and force feedback is not ensured due to delay introduced by the communication channel. This paper proposed a novel stabilization control method based on fuzzy singularly perturbed model of bilateral teleoperation. Firstly, system equations are transformed into state space expression of errors dynamic and built the singularly perturbed model of bilateral teleoperation. Then, the stabilization theorem are constructed based on several linearity matrix inequations. Thirdly, fuzzy state feedback controller are designed. Finally, Lyaponov function method is used to prove the stabilization theorem. Experimental results show that our approach is valid and has encouraging stabilization performance.
Policy Gradient Methods for Automated Driving Stanford AA 228 Winter 2015

Automated driving requires designing a system capable of maintaining safety while simultaneously maintaining passenger comfort. Models of highway driving have high dimensionality and stochasticity traditionally specifying the histories for a large, varying number of agents in a continuous state and action space. Traditional value-based reinforcement learning methods require exponential time in the size of the state space and thus often require coarse state and action space discretization to remain tractable. Policy gradient methods instead maintain constant complexity proportional to the complexity of their parameterization and are thus candiates for use in such applications if suitable parameterizations can be found. This project explores several policy gradient methods against the problem of optimal autonomous highway driving framed as a Markov decision process.
Teaching German Modal Verbs through Cognitive Linguistics Insights

This study examined the acquisition patterns of the prototypical and epistemic semantic meanings of German modals. It investigated whether different instructional approaches (cognitive instruction approach based on force dynamics and metaphoric extensions, traditional translation based instruction) have the potential to foster modal verbs acquisition, and which of the two approaches was more effective. Thirty-three, fourth semester learners of German as a foreign language were subjected to one of the experimental conditions. Findings were compared to a control condition, which did not receive any instruction. Learning gains were measured by means of a multiple choice meaning recognition test that assessed students’ gains of receptive knowledge of the prototypical and epistemic senses of German modals. Results revealed that when students received cognitive instruction, they gained greater prototypical and epistemic semantic knowledge when compared to the students who received traditional translation based instruction or were part of the control condition. Most importantly, it was shown that the cognitive instruction approach had greater effect on meaning retention of modal verbs senses. 1 Nikolova: Teaching German Modal Verbs through Cognitive Linguistics Insight Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2018 German Journal Volume 1, 2018