Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptronic couplers — An alternative drive principle

Complex mechatronic systems with a number of independently driven elements generally employ an equal number of drive elements. Commonly, these systems are actuated by electric motors and hence electric energy is transmitted through them. In various systems, however, mechanical energy may be distributed through the system instead of electrical energy and may be used directly to drive output elements. Using electric servo motors and servo drives, highly dynamic torque, velocity, and position control of output elements can be achieved easily. However, there is no machine component that can transmit a variable torque from an input shaft to an output element and enable highly dynamic torque, velocity, and position control of the output element. Adaptronic couplers are novel machine components which can close this gap. This paper introduces the concept of adaptronic couplers and addresses potential applications in mechatronics/robotics. Various experimental results allow a preliminary evaluation of the viability of the approach as well as a discussion of constructional and control issues still to be addressed.
Reducing stunting by improving maternal, infant and young child nutrition in regions such as South Asia: evidence, challenges and opportunities

Abstract Meeting the high nutrient needs of pregnant and lactating women and their young children in regions such as South Asia is challenging because diets are dominated by staple foods with low nutrient density and poor mineral bioavailability. Gaps in nutritional adequacy in such populations probably date back to the agricultural revolution ~10 000 years ago. Options for improving diets during the first 1000 days include dietary diversification and increased intake of nutrient‐rich foods, improved complementary feeding practices, micronutrient supplements and fortified foods or products specifically designed for these target groups. Evidence from intervention trials indicates that several of these strategies, both prenatal and post‐natal, can have a positive impact on child growth, but results are mixed and a growth response is not always observed. Nutrition interventions, by themselves, may not result in the desired impact if the target population suffers from frequent infection, both clinical and subclinical. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying both prenatal and post‐natal growth restriction. In the meantime, implementation and rigorous evaluation of integrated interventions that address the multiple causes of stunting is a high priority. These intervention packages should ideally include improved nutrition during both pregnancy and the post‐natal period, prevention and control of prenatal and post‐natal infection and subclinical conditions that restrict growth, care for women and children and stimulation of early child development. In regions such as South Asia, such strategies hold great promise for reducing stunting and enhancing human capital formation.
Flicker Compensation for archived film using a mixed segmentation/block-based nonlinear model

A new nonlinear method for the compensation of temporal brightness variations (commonly referred to as flicker) in archived film sequences is presented. The proposed method1 is motivated by fundamental principles of photographic image registration and provides a substantial level of adaptation to temporal but also spatial variations of picture brightness. Our approach is driven by segmentation of input frames to regions of homogeneous brightness which are used to provide reliable measurements of flicker parameters. Additionally our scheme provides an efficient mechanism of temporal filtering which makes it suitable for the compensation of long duration film sequences while it addresses problems arising from scene motion using a motion-compensated greylevel tracing approach. We present experimental evidence which suggests that our method offers high levels of performance and compares favourably with competing state-of-the-art techniques.
A High-Speed Method of Identifying Conserved Residues

The conserved residues, which are comparatively sta- ble in the process of biological evolvement, are significant to the study of the structure and function of protein. Therefore, identi- fying conserved residues will greatly stimulate the development of bioinformatics. Based on biochemical, geometric and dynamic features of the amino acids, this paper proposes a high-speed algorithm to rapidly identify conserved residues in protein. The results of experiments indicate that compared with other similar algorithm, this algorithm can identify the conserved residues in protease families more rapidly. tein in protease families through the frequent pattern. This ap- proach, however, runs rather slowly. This paper provides a novel algorithm that can identify conserved amino acid resi- dues in protease families rapidly, which is based on biochemi- cal, geometric and dynamic features of the amino acids. The algorithm appears to be an effective means of identifying con- served amino acids residues, regarding the fact that presently protein data increases exponentially. II. AN OVERVIEW OF THE ALGORITHM An overview of the algorithm is illustrated in figure 1. Firstly a set of proteins which belong to a given protease family is selected as training dataset. Features are extracted from all the amino acids in this dataset. Each amino acid corresponds to one entry, represented by an amino acid type and an index (amino acids index for short). Each index number represents the position of each amino acid in the amino acids sequence. Then the features of each amino acid are extracted, which in- clude the dynamic, biochemical and geometric features. Finally amino acids entries are divided into 20 groups according to the amino acid type. The iterative algorithm is then applied to each group to identify amino acids residues of a protein that corres- pond to different conserved amino acids residues. It is through the iterative search algorithm that all the residues that exhibit conserved features can be identified.
Senior Care for Aging in Place: Balancing Assistance and Independence

Increasing demands for senior care raise the challenge of how to support independence in older adults while assisting their health management. Most seniors would like to age in place, but concerns about safety lead many to move to a place that can provide basic care support, such as a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). CCRCs provide different care levels for seniors, from independent living to nursing home. In this paper we examine how independent residents of a CCRC manage their health through a series of self-care and collaborative care activities. We interviewed 18 independent residents and five staff members of a CCRC. We have found that their care involves both external monitoring and self-care, and self-tracking is an integral part of self-care. These different forms of care are interconnected and complimentary. However, negative connotations associated with aging limit their effectiveness. Examining how these care practices function could inform the design of technology for a broader population of seniors aging in place.
Prognostic value of human kallikrein 10 expression in epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

PURPOSE Human kallikrein 10 (hK10; also known as the normal epithelial cell-specific 1 gene and protein) is a secreted serine protease, which belongs to the human kallikrein family. It has been reported that hK10 is down-regulated in breast and prostate cancer cell lines and that it may function as a tumor suppressor. Recently, we developed a highly sensitive and specific immunoassay for hK10 and found that this protein is abundantly expressed in ovarian tissue. In this study, we measured quantitatively hK10 levels in ovarian cancer cytosolic extracts and evaluated the prognostic value of this biomarker in ovarian cancer. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Specimens from eight normal ovarian tissues, eight ovarian tissues with benign disease, and 182 ovarian tumors were investigated. RESULTS hK10 concentration in ovarian tumor cytosols ranged from 0 to 84 ng/mg of total protein, with a median of 2.6. This median was highly elevated in comparison with normal and benign ovarian tissues (P < 0.001). A cutoff of 1.35 ng/mg was selected to categorize tumors as hK10 high and hK10 low. With chi(2) test and Fisher's exact test, high concentration hK10 was found to be associated with advanced disease stage, serous histological type, suboptimal debulking, and large residual tumor (>1 cm; all P < 0.05). hK10 status was additionally correlated with clinical outcome, including progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) using the Cox model. In univariate analysis, we found that patients with hK10 high tumors were more likely to die and relapse, in comparison with patients with hK10 low tumors (hazards ratios for PFS and OS were 1.93 and 2.42, respectively; P < 0.05). Although this correlation disappeared after the entire patient population was subjected to multivariate analysis, it remained significant in the subgroup of patients with stage III/IV ovarian cancer (hazards ratios for PFS and OS were 1.98 and 2.12, respectively; P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that hK10 is a new, independent, unfavorable prognostic marker, especially for late-stage ovarian cancer.
Shear flow increases S-nitrosylation of proteins in endothelial cells.

AIMS Endothelial cells (ECs) constantly exposed to shear flow increase nitric oxide production via the activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Nitric oxide-mediated S-nitrosylation has recently been identified as an important post-translational modification that may alter signalling and/or protein function. S-nitrosylation of endothelial proteins after shear flow treatment has not been fully explored. In this study, the CyDye switch method was utilized to examine S-nitrosylated proteins in ECs after exposure to shear flow. METHODS AND RESULTS Human umbilical vein ECs were subjected to shear flow for 30 min, and S-nitrosylated proteins were detected by the CyDye switch method. In principle, free thiols in proteins become blocked by alkylation, the S-nitrosylated bond is reduced by ascorbate, and then CyDye labels proteins. Proteins that separately labelled with Cy3 or Cy5 were mixed and subjected to two-dimensional gel electrophoresis for further analysis. More than 100 S-nitrosoproteins were detected in static and shear-treated ECs. Among these, 12 major proteins of heterogeneous function showed a significant increase in S-nitrosylation following shear flow. The S-nitrosylated residues in tropomyosin and vimentin, which were localized in the hydrophobic motif of each protein, were identified as Cys170 and Cys328, respectively. CONCLUSION Post-translational S-nitrosylation of proteins in ECs can be detected by a reliable CyDye switch method. This flow-induced S-nitrosylation of endothelial proteins may be essential for the adaptation and remodelling of ECs under flow conditions.
Training early visuo-spatial abilities: A controlled classroom-based intervention study

ABSTRACT Visuo-spatial training is considered a promising approach to provide young children with a sound foundation for later mathematical learning. We developed and implemented a tablet-based visuo-spatial intervention in kindergarten classrooms aiming to foster the development of children’s visuo-spatial and numerical abilities. A sample of N = 125 children participated in the present study, 68 children were part of the intervention group and participated in 20 training sessions of 20 min over a 10-week period, 57 children formed a business as usual control group. Results show that, at this young age, visuo-spatial and early math skills are already strongly interlinked. However, the training effects were domain-specific as they only improved visuo-spatial skills, but did not transfer to early math performance in the present setting.
A bi-criteria AGV-based flexible jobshop manufacturing network having uncertain parameters

We propose an approach for finding an optimal path in a flexible jobshop manufacturing system considering two criteria of time and cost. With rise in demands, advancement in technology, and increase in production capacity, the need for more shops persists. Therefore, a flexible jobshop system has more than one shop with the same duty. The difference among shops with the same duty is in their machines with various specifications. A network is configured in which the nodes are considered to be the shops with arcs representing the paths among the shops. An Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) functions as a material handling device through the manufacturing network. To account for uncertainty, we consider time to be a triangular fuzzy number and apply an expert system to infer cost. The objective is to find a path minimizing both the time and cost criteria, aggregately. Since time and cost have different scales, a normalization procedure is proposed to remove the scales. The model being bi-objective, the AHP weighing method is applied to construct a single objective. Finally, a dynamic programming approach is presented for computing a shortest path in the network. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated by a numerical example.
COST-MINIMIZATION ANALYSIS OF GENETIC TESTING VERSUS CLINICAL SCREENING OF AT-RISK RELATIVES FOR FAMILIAL ADENOMATOUS POLYPOSIS

Objective: Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is a well-known hereditary colorectal cancer-predisposing syndrome. Genetic testing for colorectal cancer risk is now part of standard medical practice, but very little is known about the economic impact of this technology. The aim of this study was to assess, from a healthcare system perspective, the direct costs of two strategies for screening at-risk relatives of FAP patients: clinical screening versus genetic testing for FAP. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was carried out. Additional information was gathered from experts in research and clinical laboratories and in hospital departments. A decision tree was constructed to compare per-person and per-family costs of the two strategies for screening at-risk relatives of FAP patients. Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the stability of the model across the full range of plausible values for all key parameters. Results: According to the decision analysis, with FAP screening starting at puberty, the average screening costs are $3,181 and $2,259 (Canadian dollars), respectively, for the clinical screening and the genetic testing strategies. Genetic screening is cost saving up to a first screening age of 36. Sensitivity analysis shows that the results of the baseline analysis hold across a variety of assumptions concerning the parameter values. Conclusions: The genetic testing strategy is cost saving relative to the clinical screening alternative. Apart from its lower costs, it is associated with many other benefits. Accordingly, under predefined conditions, predictive genetic testing seems to be the optimal screening strategy for FAP.
Agent-Based Computational Economics and Finance: early research and design issues

Modelling economic or social systems in general and financial markets in particular with distributed networks of evolutionary agents is a very active and growing field known as Agent-based Computational Economics (ACE). It aims at explaining global behaviours and structures of social systems in terms of multiple iterative interactions of simple but adaptive localized agents. A concise survey of literature is conducted here that outlines key seminal works. It essentially builds over a broad survey by Tesfatsion [28] and two by LeBaron [17, 18]. It proceeds as follows. After positioning the field in terms of economic theory and early intuitions, it outlines, after Tesfatsion [28], the eight main directions of ACE research. Focusing then on the particular case of financial markets, it follows LeBaron [17] for a review of early and influential experiments. Still with LeBaron [18], one finally enumerates some of the key practical design questions any artificial market designer is going to be confronted to.
Model comparison with composite likelihood information criteria

Comparisons are made for the amount of agreement of the composite likelihood information criteria and their full likelihood counterparts when making decisions among the fits of different models, and some properties of penalty term for composite likelihood information criteria are obtained. Asymptotic theory is given for the case when a simpler model is nested within a bigger model, and the bigger model approaches the simpler model under a sequence of local alternatives. Composite likelihood can more or less frequently choose the bigger model, depending on the direction of local alternatives; in the former case, composite likelihood has more “power” to choose the bigger model. The behaviors of the information criteria are illustrated via theory and simulation examples of the Gaussian linear mixed-effects model.
Protecting the Privacy Based on Reasoning in E-business Using Anonymous

Nowadays, the E-Commerce plays a very important role in peoples’ life; many people like to shop on internet. At the same time, people left so much information in internet, which include the privacy information. Malicious users in internet can get users’ privacy information with directly or indirectly way. Traditional way is to protect the directly privacy. In this paper, we proposed a schema to prevent malicious users reasoning privacy information with the information which considered as security information on internet. In this schema, the single information set and multiple information sets are taken into count, based on the relations of the information, some information will be hidden, which can protect the privacy information. This schema will loss some information, but the privacy will protected.
Effects of a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program on quality of life in patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND Health-related quality of life is an important factor to evaluate effects of different interventions in cardiovascular diseases. Improvement in quality of life (QOL) is an important goal for individuals participating in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of comprehensive CR on QOL in patients with cardiovascular disease (CAD). METHODS In this quasi-experimental before-after study, the files of 100 patients with CAD who were referred to rehabilitation department of Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Institute were studied using a consecutive sampling method. Data collection was performed from the patient's files including their demographics, ejection fraction, functional capacity, and resting heart rate. All patients participated in a comprehensive CR program and completed the validated questionnaire Short-Form 36 Health Status Survey (SF-36), before and after CR program. Data was analyzed based on sex and age groups (≥ 65 and < 65 years) using independent t-test and paired t-test (to compare variables between groups and before and after CR, respectively). RESULTS After CR, scores of all physical domains of the SF-36 including physical function (PF), physical limitation (PL), body pain (BP) and vitality (V) in addition to general health (GH) were significantly improved in all patients (P < 0.05) compared to the baseline. Patients with age < 65 years had greater improvements in mental health (MH) and social function (SF) than patients with age ≥ 65 years (P < 0.05). Women had greater improvement in PF, V and MH compared to men (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION These results indicated that CR can improve QOL in cardiac patients especially in women. Elderly patients get benefit the same as other patients in physical domains.
Mitigating nonlinearities under average power constraint in visible light communication

The advent of data intensive applications on the mobile devices is putting a strain on the available RF spectrum. Recently, visible light wireless communications has become a desirable alternative due to the low cost of light emitting diode (LED) devices which can offer data rates in the Gigabit per second range while providing lighting. In addition, visible light belongs to the unlicensed part of spectrum which is easily reusable due to the fact that light does not penetrate walls. Various modulation techniques have been adopted for optical wireless because negative signals (or complex signals) cannot be used due to the fact that light intensity is a positive quantity. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been successfully modified for optical wireless but it suffers from high peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR). High PAPR causes LED to operate in nonlinear region which leads to performance degradation. We discuss a technique to reduce PAPR while keeping averaging power constraint which is important for the purpose of lighting.
The Impact of a Social Robot's Attributions for Success and Failure in a Teachable Agent Framework

: Teachable agents foster student learning by employing the learning by teaching paradigm. Since social factors influence learning from this paradigm, understanding which social behaviors a teachable agent should embody is an important first step for designing such an agent. Here, we focus on the impact of causal attributions made by a teachable agent. To obtain data on student perceptions of agent attributions, we conducted a study involving students interacting with a social robot that made attributions to ability and effort , and to the student , itself , or both . We analyzed data from semi-structured interviews to understand how different attributions influence student perceptions, and discuss design opportunities for manipulating these attributions to improve student motivation.
Vehicle Dynamics Electric Control Systems for Safe Driving

OVERVIEW: Vehicle dynamics control systems are roughly divided into three categories: brake, steering and suspension. The more sophisticated and specialized each category gets, the fewer manufacturers are capable of developing these systems comprehensively. Automotive Systems Groupcentered Hitachi, Ltd., utilizes vehicle dynamics control actuation technologies, and is working to develop x-by-wire technologies, to improve the fundamental vehicle functions of driving, cornering and braking. Nobuyuki Ueki Jun Kubo Toshio Takayama Issei Kanari Masaaki Uchiyama
Baroclinic Instability and Loss of Balance

Abstract Under the influences of stable density stratification and the earth’s rotation, large-scale flows in the ocean and atmosphere have a mainly balanced dynamics—sometimes called the slow manifold—in the sense that there are diagnostic hydrostatic and gradient-wind momentum balances that constrain the fluid acceleration. The nonlinear balance equations are a widely successful, approximate model for this regime, and mathematically explicit limits of their time integrability have been identified. It is hypothesized that these limits are indicative, at least approximately, of the transition from the larger-scale regime of inverse energy cascades by anisotropic flows to the smaller-scale regime of forward energy cascade to dissipation by more nearly isotropic flows and intermittently breaking inertia–gravity waves. This paper analyzes the particular example of an unbalanced instability of a balanced, horizontally uniform, vertically sheared current, as it occurs within the Boussinesq equations. This ageo.