Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A next location prediction method for smartphones using blockmodels

Context aware systems on smart-phones aim to provide useful information by analysing and recognizing users' situations from built-in sensors logs. Especially, predicting user actions is one of the important functions for the context aware systems on smart-phones because this function enables context aware systems to provide proactive and responsive services. Therefore the next location prediction is also an important function for context aware systems. This paper introduces a next location prediction method based on context recognition. In this method, we define a context as combinations of features which are extracted from a set of relational data generated from a phone's sensor logs. We applied Mixed Membership Stochastic Blockmodels (MMSB) to context extraction. We then collected sensor logs of a single user over a period of three months and conducted an evaluation using this collected dataset. An an evaluation using the dataset was conducted and the result shows that 60% of the test dataset ranked in the top 30% of all candidates of the next locations.
Design and oscillation suppression control for cable-suspended robot

This paper presents a new design for a cable-suspended robot system with oscillation suppression control. The major benefits of the system design are as follows: modular, transportable, reconfigurable, and easy to install. This robotic system consists of the main body, which is a suspended platform and a cable winch that maneuvers the main body by adjusting cable lengths. Furthermore, this study presents a combined control module to serve as an assistant controller to stabilize the system. The assistant controller positions and oscillates the suppression properties by merging feedback control with the shaping commands. The fuzzy controller is rule based and constructed based on assistant controller performance-related knowledge to act as an intelligent controller. Consequently, the proposed control scheme effectively reduces cable oscillation, especially when fuzzy control methodology is introduced. The broad range of problems discussed in this research can be applied to construction, automation, and large-scale manufacturing that requires a cable-suspended system.
Synthesis of Perfectly Oriented MAPb0.93Cr0.07Br3 Perovskite Crystals for Thin-Film Photovoltaic Applications

Wide band gap methylammonium lead halide perovskites (CH3NH3PbX3, X=halogen; CH3NH3: MA) are interesting materials for photovoltaic applications. They have recently gained substantial attention because of their high efficiency, low cost, superior optical properties. The most attractive and representative perovskites are methylammonium lead halides (CH3NH3PbX3,) denoted as MAPbX3, X = Br, Cl, I. usually the optical and structural properties of CH3NH3PbBr3 can be adjusted by introducing other extrinsic ions such as chloride and bromide. In this work, instead of replacing the halogens I or Cl with bromine (Br) as usual, we preferred to act on the post-transition metal (Pb). To this end, we replaced lead with chromium (Cr) which is a transition metal and may have the same oxidation state (+2) as lead. MAPb0.93Cr0. 07Br3 thin films were deposited on ITO substrate by the spin coating process. X-ray diffraction analyses indicated the formation of a cubic perovskite with space group Pm3 m. The structural analysis reveals films with (110) and (220) as main peaks. Deposited films showed a strong absorbance in the UV–vis range. The band gap values were estimated from absorbance measurements. It was found between 1.60 and 1.80 eV. SEM analysis shows a morphology with good coverage and no apparent crystal orientation.
Visibility Estimation Based on Mean Shift

An algorithm is developed to estimate visibility from images captured by video cameras. We propose to smooth the captured image by mean shift and extract the landmark edge by an improved ADM. Then the visibility is estimated in terms of a simplified visibility definition. In comparison with traditional methods, our method not only remove the noise in landmark boundary region, but also make boundary region be more uniform and the extracted edge be more salient. Experimental results illustrate the effectiveness of our approach in visibility estimation.
Architecture of e-learning systems based on LTSA

This paper propose an architecture for e-learning application. High demand of e-learning systems leads to the need of development of e-learning architecture. IEEE has defined the Learning Technology Systems Architecture (LTSA) as a standard for developing architecture of learning techonolgy systems (LTS). However, LTSA is considered too general. Thus, to build e-learning architecture, refinement of LTSA has to be conducted with a comprehensive approach. Several architectural frameworks have been proposed to model software architectures. Using one of these frameworks, a more detailed architecture is expected.
A Novel Asynchronous, Energy Efficient, Low Transmission Delay MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks use battery-operated computing and sensing devices. It is often impractical or even impossible to charge/replace the exhausted batteries of the nodes. Thus, energy consumption is the main concern in a wireless sensor network. Moreover, a critical event detected by the sensor network should be delivered to the user as soon as possible. Thus, for sensor networks, both energy efficiency and transmission latency are important parameters. In this paper, we propose a novel asynchronous, duty cycled, energy efficient, and low transmission delay for wireless sensor networks, which addresses all the sources of energy waste to make the medium access more energy efficient, while keeping transmission delay low.The currently available asynchronous contention-based MAC protocols require that proper strategies for sender and receiver nodes are provided to rendezvous. However, the proposed protocol does not rely on any rendezvous between sender and receiver. For evaluating the novel MAC protocol, we have simulated this protocol and two very efficient and established MAC protocols, RTS/CTS IEEE 802.11 and S-MAC. The simulation results indicate that the proposed protocol has very good performance. In addition, as the results show, the novel protocol provides a very suitable balance between energy efficiency and transmission delay.
Evidence for Stroke Family Caregiver and Dyad Interventions: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association

Stroke is a leading cause of severe, long-term disability. Most stroke survivors are cared for in the home by a family caregiver. Caregiver stress is a leading cause of stroke survivor institutionalization, which results in significant costs to the healthcare system. Stroke family caregiver and dyad intervention studies have reported a variety of outcomes. A critical analysis of 17 caregiver intervention studies and 15 caregiver/stroke survivor dyad intervention studies was conducted to provide evidence-based recommendations for the implementation and future design of stroke family caregiver and dyad interventions.
Vision-Based Task-Level Control of a Flexible-Link Manipulator

This paper discusses a vision-based approach to implement task-level control in flexible-link manipulators. The proposed approach emphasizes the advantage of using vision in the control of flexible manipulators. It is pointed out that taking advantage of the inherent robustness, implementation of an image-based visual servo can be regarded as a synthetic solution to precise task-level control of flexible manipulators. This approach is implemented in a three-dimensional flexible-link manipulator. The implementation makes good use of filters in decoupling task-level control and vibration suppression control. Moreover, we point out that although the robustness of the approach can help to overcome the difficulty in control resulting from the complex measurement of the link's elastic deformation, it lacks in capability of tip trajectory specification. This problem is analyzed in this research and it leads to the proposal for the integration of the image interpolation technique. This technique makes the proposed approach adequate for tasks involved with complex tip trajectories. For flexible-link manipulators, the proposed approach with the remedy is the first vision-based synthetic solution that attempts to make a flexible manipulator usable for a practical task.
A Swarm Intelligence Approach to Counting Stacked Symmetric Objects

In a manufacturing environment it is often necessary to perform a manual inventory of finished goods and raw materials. These raw materials might be wood, plastic or metal and often represent a large investment of capital to procure and store. While the economic value of an accurate inventory is high, the process of obtaining a good count is tedious and fraught with human error. As a precursor to counting an inventory of tubular steel bar stock from digital images, we present a hybrid algorithm inspired by ant colony and particle swarm technology. This algorithm defines an environmental habitat for interacting particles to competitively cluster into segmented colonies. By forming colonies at bar stock end profile locations the algorithm provides potentially countable high-level information.
Insulin resistance and plasma triglyceride level are differently related to cardiac hypertrophyand arterial stiffening in hypertensive subjects

Objective The frequent association between the type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardio-vascular diseases suggests that metabolic factors may contribute to cardio-vascular remodeling. The aim of our study was to examine the relationships between left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and the metabolic abnormalities of insulin resistance syndrome, in hypertensive patients. Methods In 227 consecutive hypertensives, we examined the relationships between LVPWT, PWV, and metabolic factors: plasma glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, triglycerides levels as well as the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA). The Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis (including age, gender, body mass index, and 24-hour systolic blood pressure) were used as statistical tests. Results In univariate analysis, glucose, HDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides levels were related to LVPWT (r = 0.19, p < 0.05; r = −0.26, p < 0.001; r = 0.31, p < 0.001, respectively); all metabolic variables, except HDL-cholesterol, correlated to PWV (plasma glucose r = 0.25, p < 0.001; total cholesterol r = 0.22, p < 0.01; triglycerides r = 0.20, p < 0.01; insulin r = 0.19, p < 0.01; HOMA r = 0.27; p < 0.001). In the multivariate model, plasma triglycerides remained correlated with LVPWT (β = 0.19, p < 0.02) independently of systolic blood pressure, plasma aldosterone, and normetanephrine. Only HOMA and insulin level remained associated with PWV (β = 0.14; β = 0.13 respectively, p < 0.05). Conclusions These data suggest that among typical metabolic abnormalities of insulin resistance syndrome, plasma triglycerides, and insulin as well as degree of insulin resistance may contribute to cardiac hypertrophy and arterial stiffening independently of hemodynamic and hormonal factors.
Emergence of invasive pneumococcal disease caused by nonvaccine serotypes in the era of 7-valent conjugate vaccine.

BACKGROUND Little is known about the epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) after the introduction of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in Spain and other European countries. METHODS We performed a 10-year prospective study including all children with culture-proven IPD admitted to Sant Joan de Deu Hospital, a children's center in the southern area of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. PCV7 was introduced in June 2001, and the current estimate of PCV7 coverage is 45%-50%. RESULTS Comparing the prevaccine period (1997-2001) with the vaccine period (2002-2006), among children aged <2 years, the rate of IPD increased from 32.4 episodes per 100,000 population to 51.3 episodes per 100,000 population (an increase of 58%; 95% confidence interval, 2%-145%), and among children aged 2-4 years, the rate increased from 11.3 episodes per 100,000 population to 26.5 episodes per 100,000 population (an increase of 135%; 95% confidence interval, 31%-320%). At clinical presentation, the rate of pneumonia and/or empyema among children aged <5 years increased from 3.6 episodes per 100,000 population to 15.1 episodes per 100,000 population (an increase of 320%; 95% confidence interval, 98%-790%). These increased rates of IPD were caused by non-PCV7 serotypes, which represented 38% and 72% of infecting serotypes in the prevaccine and vaccine periods, respectively (P=.001). Penicillin resistance decreased from 48% in the prevaccine period to 27% in the vaccine period (P=.005). In the vaccine period, there was an emergence of previously established virulent clones of non-PCV7 serotypes 1 and 5. There was also an increase in the prevalence of serotypes 19A and 6A expressed with different clonal types, including Spain(23F)-1 and Spain(6B)-2. CONCLUSIONS Since the introduction of PCV7 for children, there has been an emergence of IPD caused by virulent clones of non-PCV7 serotypes that has been associated with significant clinical changes and a decrease in antibiotic resistance.
RF energy harvester with peak power conversion efficiency tracking

Rectifier circuits or power harvesters are a critical module in a variety of wireless sensors, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and Internet-of-Thing (IoT) devices relying on harvested power from radio waves. The threshold compensation circuit techniques have been proposed in the literature to improve the Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) of CMOS-based rectifiers. However, these circuits are designed to achieve maximum PCE at a specific input power level, and has significantly lower efficiency at other input power levels. In this paper, we propose a novel energy harvester which maximises its PCE over a wide input power range. The proposed design relies on sensing of the rectifier output voltage, management of the output current and reconfiguration of the rectifier. The design, which operates at 915 MHz, is demonstrated through simulations in a 130 nm CMOS process. The simulation results show that the harvester manages to develop a 3 V DC with −25 dBm input power sensitivity and its PCE remains above 60% for 23 dB input power range.
Combined Salvianolic Acid B and Ginsenoside Rg1 Exerts Cardioprotection against Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Lack of pharmacological strategies in clinics restricts the patient prognosis with myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cardioprotection of combined salvianolic acid B (SalB) and ginsenoside Rg1 (Rg1) against myocardial I/R injury and further investigate the underlying mechanism. I/R injury was induced by coronary artery ligation for Wistar male rats and hypoxia/reoxygenation injury was induced on H9c2 cells. Firstly, the best ratio between SalB and Rg1was set as 2:5 based on their effects on heart function detected by hemodynamic measurement. Then SalB-Rg1 (2:5) was found to maintain mitochondrial membrane potential and resist apoptosis and necrosis in H9c2 cell with hypoxia/reoxygenation injury. Companying with same dose of SalB or Rg1 only, SalB-Rg1 showed more significant effects on down-regulation of myocardial infarct size, maintenance of myocardium structure, improvement on cardiac function, decrease of cytokine secretion including TNF-α, IL-1β, RANTES and sVCAM-1. Finally, the SalB-Rg1 improved the viability of cardiac myocytes other than cardiac fibroblasts in rats with I/R injury using flow cytometry. Our results revealed that SalB-Rg1 was a promising strategy to prevent myocardial I/R injury.
Identification of a novel GPR143 deletion in a Chinese family with X-linked congenital nystagmus

Purpose To map and identify the genetic mutation underlying X-linked congenital nystagmus in a Chinese family. Methods Genomic DNA was prepared from peripheral blood, and linkage analysis was performed using short tandem repeat (STR) polymorphism markers. We used Cyrillic software to manage pedigree and haplotype data and used MLINK to calculate LOD scores. Dye-terminator cycle-sequencing was used to detect the sequence variation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified exons. Results Linkage analysis mapped the disease-causing gene to Xp22.3 with a significant two-point LOD score (Z) at marker DXS7103 (Z=3.16, recombination fraction [θ]=0). Haplotype analysis in this region supported the result. In analyzing the candidate gene in the linked region, we found a 37-bp deletion in exon 1 of GPR143 in all male patients. Conclusions The revealed 37-bp deletion in GPR143 is frameshift and is predicted to result in a truncated protein of 93 residues. These results indicate that this novel GPR143 mutation is associated with the congenital nystagmus observed in this Chinese family.
Patient and health professional preferences for organ allocation and procurement , end-of-life care and organization of care for patients with chronic kidney disease using a discrete choice experiment

Background. Clinical practice, policy and research, and the ethical bases upon which they are founded, should be systematically and transparently informed by both patient and professional values. Methods. A discrete choice experiment was utilized to understand and quantify the preferences of 351 Canadian patients and healthcare providers in relation to ethically challenging aspects of the management of chronic kidney disease (CKD): procurement and allocation of organs for transplantation, end-of-life care discussions and decision making and the identities of those providing primary care. Results. Patients and health professionals had clear preferences for detailed prognostic information, early advance care planning, shared end-of-life decision making, coordinated models of care that enhance interaction and communication between primary and tertiary care and a more utilitarian approach of best match over first come, first served for allocating deceased donor kidneys. These data also suggest that the innovative strategies of non-directed anonymous donation and paired kidney exchange that are slowly being implemented internationally will be acceptable to both patients and healthcare providers. Conclusions. Current models of CKD care do not consistently reflect the preferences or priorities of either health professionals or patients.
Optimal Sensor Placement for Damage Detection: Role of Global Search

Optimal sensor placement is one that maximizes the likelihood of identifying future damage models. Based on assumptions from engineers, damage models of a structure are simulated and their predictions are computed. Computational approaches are used to place sensors at locations that maximize the chances of identifying damage. This paper studies the application of global search for optimal sensor placement. The global search methodology uses stochastic sampling to find optimal locations for sensors. In a previous study, Robert-Nicoud et al. proposed a greedy strategy that places sensors sequentially at locations where model predictions have maximum entropy. Performance of the two strategies are compared for the Schwandbach bridge in Switzerland. The results show that global search is better for designing measurement systems on a previously unmonitored structure while the greedy algorithm is better for incremental measurement- interpretation strategies.
A dynamic grouping strategy for implementation of the particle filter on a massively parallel computer

A practical way to implement the particle filter (PF) on a massively parallel computer is discussed. Although the PF is a useful tool for sequential Bayesian estimation, the PF tends to be computationally expensive in applying to high-dimensional problems because a enormous number of particles is required in order to appropriately approximate a PDF. One way to overcome this problem is to use large computing resources of a massively parallel computer. However, in implementing the PF on such a massively parallel computer, it is crucial to reduce the time cost for data transfer between different processing elements (PEs). In addition, in using a parallel computer with a multidimensional torus network topology, it is necessary to avoid data transfers between nodes distant from each other. The present study proposes a strategy in which the PEs in use are divided into small groups and the grouping is changed at each time step. The resampling is carried out within each group in parallel and data transfers between distant nodes never occur. Therefore, the time cost for data transfer would be greatly reduced and the efficiency is remarkably improved in comparison with the normal PF.
Simplified Trellis Min–Max Decoder Architecture for Nonbinary Low-Density Parity-Check Codes

Nonbinary low-density parity-check (NB-LDPC) codes have become an efficient alternative to their binary counterparts in different scenarios, such as moderate codeword lengths, high-order modulations, and burst error correction. Unfortunately, the complexity of NB-LDPC decoders is still too high for practical applications, especially for the check node (CN) processing, which limits the maximum achievable throughput. Although a great effort has been made in the recent literature to overcome this disadvantage, the proposed decoders are still not ready for high-speed implementations for high-order fields. In this paper, a simplified trellis min-max algorithm is proposed, where the CN messages are computed in a parallel way using only the most reliable information. The proposed CN algorithm is implemented using a horizontal layered schedule. The overall decoder architecture has been implemented in a 90-nm CMOS process for a (N = 837 and K = 726) NB-LDPC code over GF(32), achieving a throughput of 660 Mb/s at nine iterations based on postlayout results. This decoder increases hardware efficiency compared with the existing recent solutions for the same code.
Augmented Reality Magnification for Low Vision Users with the Microsoft Hololens and a Finger-Worn Camera

Recent technical advances have enabled new wearable augmented reality (AR) solutions that can aid people with visual impairments (VI) in their everyday lives. Here, we investigate an AR-based magnification solution that combines a small finger-worn camera with a transparent augmented reality display (the Microsoft Hololens). The image from the camera is processed and projected on the Hololens to magnify visible content below the user's finger such as text and images. Our approach offers: (i) a close-up camera view (similar to a CCTV system) with the portability and processing power of a smartphone magnifier app, (ii) access to content through direct touch, and (iii) flexible placement of the magnified image within the wearer's field of view. We present three proof-of-concept interfaces and plans for a user evaluation.