Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-Occupational Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV: 10-Year Retrospective Analysis in Seattle, Washington

Despite treatment guidelines in place since 2005, non-occupational post-exposure HIV prophylaxis (nPEP) remains an underutilized prevention strategy. We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients presenting to a publicly-funded HIV clinic in Seattle, Washington for nPEP between 2000 and 2010 (N = 360). nPEP prescriptions were provided for 324 (90%) patients; 83% of prescription decisions were appropriate according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, but only 31% (N = 111/360) of patients were considered “high risk. ” In order to use limited resources most efficiently, public health agencies should target messaging for this high-cost intervention to individuals with high-risk HIV exposures.
Comparing approaches for studying the effects of climate extremes – a case study of hospital admissions in Sweden during an extremely warm summer

Background: Health effects induced by climate, weather and climatic change may act directly or indirectly on human physiology. The future total burden of global warming is uncertain, but in some areas and for specific outcomes, mortality and morbidity are likely to increase. One likely effect of global warming is an increasing number of extreme weather events, such as floods, storms and heat waves. The excess numbers of specific health outcomes attributable to climate-induced events can be estimated. This paper compares approaches for estimating excess numbers of outcomes associated with climate extremes, exemplified by a case study of hospital admissions during the extremely warm summer of 2006 in southern Sweden. Materials and methods: Daily hospital admission data were obtained from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare for six hospitals in the Skåne region of southern Sweden for the period 1998 to 2006. Daily temperature data for the region were obtained from the meteorological station in the city of Malmö. We used four established approaches for estimating the daily excess numbers associated with extreme heat. Time series of daily event rates were assumed to follow a Poisson distribution. Excess event rates were compared by using several approaches, such as standardised event ratios and generalised additive models to estimate the health risks attributable to the extreme climate event. Results: The four approaches yielded vastly different results. The estimates of excess were considerably biased when not accounting for time trends in previous years’ data. Three of four approaches showed a significant increase in excess hospitalisation rates attributable to the heat episode in Skåne in 2006. However, modelling the effect of temperature failed to describe the risks induced by the extreme heat. Conclusion: Estimates of excess events depend greatly on the approach used. Further research is needed to identify which method yielded the most accurate estimates. However, one of the approaches used generally performed better than the others in estimating the excess rates associated with the heat episode. Further on, estimating relative risks of temperature or other determinants of disease may fail to incorporate the unique characteristics of particular weather events, such as the effect caused by very persistent heat exposure. Unless this can be incorporated into predictive models, such models may be less appropriate to use when predicting the future burden of heat waves on human health.
Use of Nucleic Acid Analogs for the Study of Nucleic Acid Interactions

Unnatural nucleosides have been explored to expand the properties and the applications of oligonucleotides. This paper briefly summarizes nucleic acid analogs in which the base is modified or replaced by an unnatural stacking group for the study of nucleic acid interactions. We also describe the nucleoside analogs of a base pair-mimic structure that we have examined. Although the base pair-mimic nucleosides possess a simplified stacking moiety of a phenyl or naphthyl group, they can be used as a structural analog of Watson-Crick base pairs. Remarkably, they can adopt two different conformations responding to their interaction energies, and one of them is the stacking conformation of the nonpolar aromatic group causing the site-selective flipping of the opposite base in a DNA double helix. The base pair-mimic nucleosides can be used to study the mechanism responsible for the base stacking and the flipping of bases out of a nucleic acid duplex.
Variable Production of English Past Tense Marking by L1 Thai Learners: An Application of the Failed Functional Features Hypothesis (FFFH)

In second language acquisition research, it is well-attested that production of functional morphology, e.g. tense and agreement, by L2 learners is variable. The present study examined whether variability exists in production of English past tense marking by L1 Thai speakers. It was hypothesized that variable use of English past tense marking would be observed and that the phenomenon can be accounted for by the Failed Functional Features Hypothesis (FFFH) (e.g. Franceschina, 2001; Hawkins & Chan, 1997; Hawkins & Liszka, 2003), but not by the Missing Surface Inflection Hypothesis (MSIH) (e.g., Lardiere, 1998; Prevost & White, 2000; White, 2003). Three tests, namely Grammaticality Judgment Test, Cloze Test, and Story-telling, were administered to 40 L1 Thai learners: 20 intermediate and 20 advanced learners. The results showed that L1 Thai speakers exhibited variability in their production of English past tense marking across the three tests. Additionally, an asymmetric rate of suppliance of past tense marking was observed. It was found that regular verbs were past-marked less frequently than irregular verbs by both proficiency groups. The suppliance rate of English past tense marking by the two L1 Thai proficiency groups was also higher when adverbial phrases of time indicating pastness were present. The low suppliances of past morphemes including both the representation and the production tasks, and the asymmetric phenomena confirmed the two hypotheses, hence, supporting the FFFH but confounding the MSIH.
Train tracks and the geometry of the complex of curves

Using train tracks on a non-exceptional oriented surface S of finite type in a systematic way we give a proof that the complex of curves C(S) of S is a hyperbolic geodesic metric space. We also discuss the relation between the geometry of the complex of curves and the geometry of Teichmüller space.
CS 168 : The Modern Algorithmic Toolbox Lecture # 19 : Expander Codes

The first half of the lecture explains an affirmative answer to this question. The second half connects the question to the design of error-correcting codes. What exactly do we mean by “sparse” and “highly connected? ” The answers are familiar. One common definition of a sparse graph, as seen in CS161, is that the number m of edges is O(n), where n is the number of vertices. In this lecture we’ll impose a stronger condition, that every vertex has O(1) degree. This implies that there are only O(n) edges (why? ), while the converse is not true (e.g., consider a star graph). Intuitively, we want “highly connected” to translate to “acts like a clique,” since a clique is clearly the most well connected graph. We’d like a definition that differentiates and interpolates between extreme cases like cliques and paths (Figure 1). Back in Week 6, we saw two essentially equivalent definitions of “highly connected,” one combinatorial and one algebraic. To recap, recall that the isoperimetric ratio of a graph G = (V,E) is
Hand pose estimation using multi-viewpoint silhouette images

Proposes a method for hand pose estimation that can be used for 3D free-form input interfaces. The aim of the method is to estimate all joint angles to manipulate objects in the virtual space. In this method, the hand regions are extracted from multiple images obtained by the multi-viewpoint camera system. By integrating multi-viewpoint silhouette images, a hand pose is reconstructed as a "voxel model". Then all joint angles are estimated using three dimensional model fitting between hand model and voxel model. Two experiments were performed: (1) the estimation of joint angles by the silhouette images from the hand-pose simulator, (2) hand pose estimation using real hand images. The experimental results indicate the feasibility of the proposed algorithm for vision-based interfaces, though it requires faster implementation for real-time processing.
Kalman/Map Filtering-Aided Fast Normalized Cross Correlation-Based Wi-Fi Fingerprinting Location Sensing

A Kalman/map filtering (KMF)-aided fast normalized cross correlation (FNCC)-based Wi-Fi fingerprinting location sensing system is proposed in this paper. Compared with conventional neighbor selection algorithms that calculate localization results with received signal strength (RSS) mean samples, the proposed FNCC algorithm makes use of all the on-line RSS samples and reference point RSS variations to achieve higher fingerprinting accuracy. The FNCC computes efficiently while maintaining the same accuracy as the basic normalized cross correlation. Additionally, a KMF is also proposed to process fingerprinting localization results. It employs a new map matching algorithm to nonlinearize the linear location prediction process of Kalman filtering (KF) that takes advantage of spatial proximities of consecutive localization results. With a calibration model integrated into an indoor map, the map matching algorithm corrects unreasonable prediction locations of the KF according to the building interior structure. Thus, more accurate prediction locations are obtained. Using these locations, the KMF considerably improves fingerprinting algorithm performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the FNCC algorithm with reduced computational complexity outperforms other neighbor selection algorithms and the KMF effectively improves location sensing accuracy by using indoor map information and spatial proximities of consecutive localization results.
Trajectory tracking of a 2-DOF helicopter system using neuro-fuzzy system with parameterized conjunctors

In this study, the aim is to track the desired pitch and yaw axis trajectories of a 2-DOF helicopter system. For this purpose, neuro-fuzzy system with parameterized conjunctors is used and its performance is compared with a conventional control approach, namely a PID controller. In neuro-fuzzy methods, in order to obtain an optimal fuzzy model, the most commonly used approach is to tune the parameters of the membership functions at the antecedent part of the fuzzy rules. This adaptation process may lead to loss or distortion of the knowledge that is carried by these membership functions. To alleviate this problem, the parameters of the parameterized conjunctors are tuned instead of the parameters of these membership functions.
CoverageCity: Test Coverage for Clinical Guidelines

In this paper, we introduce various metrics for test coverage of clinical guidelines, modeled in the graphical language DiaFlux. Additionally, an intuitive visualization method supports the process of test creation and communicating the reached coverage levels to medical experts involved in the authoring of the guideline. The goal is to reach a sufficiently high test coverage to assure patient safety under all circumstances.
An Axial-Flux Permanent Magnet ( AFPM ) Generator for Defence Applications-Paradigm Shift in Electrical Machine

This paper discusses the indigenous development of novel, innovative, compact, lightweight and highly efficient Permanent Magnet based Alternator incorporating Axial Flux technology. The above prototype alternator has been successfully developed and realized by the author team @ R&DE (Engrs), Pune. This development has immense potential for various defence applications where space is always at premium. The AFPM generator can be easily configured as a highly compact and lightweight power source capable of being accommodated in confined spaces and on different mobile plateforms such as trains, trailers, tracked and wheeled vehicles etc. In this paper the basic principles as well as design, construction, hardware development and performance related aspects of the AFPM machine are presented.
A low insertion loss, high linearity, T/R switch in 65 nm bulk CMOS for WLAN 802.11g applications

A transmit-receiver (T/R) switch is fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS process for WLAN 802.11 g applications. By floating the triple well device, the switch achieves low insertion loss, high power handling capability and good linearity simultaneously. In the transmit mode, the switch features 0.8 dB insertion loss, 29 dBm output P1dB and less than 0.2 dB EVM degradation at 24 dBm output power level. In the receive mode, it exhibits 1.6 dB insertion loss and 28 dB isolation at 2.45 GHz.
Preliminary Materials Mapping in the Park City Region for the Utah USGS-EPA Imaging Spectroscopy Project using both high and low altitude AVIRIS data

This paper presents the preliminary results of AVIRIS-based materials mapping in the region surrounding Park City, Utah. This work was performed as a part of the USGS-EPA Utah Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Imaging Spectroscopy Project, in which spectroscopic imaging and analysis is being employed for watershed evaluation in areas of past and present mining activity. The objective of the project is to map surface mineralogy and vegetation type/vigor in five major mining districts in Utah with the purpose of identifying sources and environmental effects of acid drainage. The Park City district, located approximately 35 km ESE of Salt Lake City, Utah, is of particular interest because Park City will be the site of the winter Olympics in 2002.
A Resource Management and Control Model Supporting Applications in the Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) is an inter-network to which innumerable smart devices are connected, and eventually integrate the objective world with the information world. IoT is able to greatly improve the efficiency of productive process and promote the harmony between man-made and natural environments. Due to the variability and complexity of the future wireless network environment and the scarcity of its resources, satisfying the requirements of IoT applications faces severe challenges. Therefore, a new resource management and control model, Uniform Cooperation and Control Entity (UCCE), is proposed. This layered information base of network state in UCCE helps to fully share resources among different users and even among heterogeneous networks. Furthermore, UCCE innovatively classifies the context information affecting network connections according to their time scale. This effectively provides guarantees of lifetime connection availability.
An on-line neural network-based approach to dynamic path planning and coordination of two robot arms

We present an on-line decentralized approach to collision-free path planning for two robot arms. During the real-time planning, each arm represents a dynamic obstacle for another one, which allows to treat the motion of the latter, as well as the motion of other objects in the workspace in a unified fashion. The motion for each arm is planned independently, and the only information which is "shared" is the intended configuration of each robot. The approach relies therefore exclusively on the dynamic, explorative path generation, which is performed using the dynamic wave expansion neural network. Our simulative experiments for the case of two robot arms with 3-DOFs in 3D reveal that the proposed approach, without any complicated heuristics, any priority assignment, and any global optimization of an objective cost function, is capable of producing feasible paths "on-the-fly". The robustness and efficiency of the method are demonstrated statistically through a number of random tests.
Physiology-based Quality-of-Experience Assessment for Next Generation Multimedia Technologies.

As new multimedia technologies emerge, telecommunication service providers have to provide superior user experience in order to remain competitive. To this end, quality-of-experience (QoE) perception modelling and measurement has become a key priority. QoE models rely on three influence factors: technological, contextual and human. Existing solutions have typically relied on the former two and human influence factors (HIFs) have been mostly neglected due to difficulty in measuring them. In this thesis, we show that measuring HIFs is important for QoE measurement and propose the use of hybrid brain-computer interfaces (hBCIs) for objective measurement of perceived QoE for multimedia technologies, such as affective music videos and text-to-speech systems. For the development of hBCIs, we explore the use of two neuroimaging techniques, namely electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), to better understand neuronal and cerebral haemodynamic changes resultant from multimedia signals of varying quality. Neural correlates of several QoE dimensions were derived and validated on the publicly available DEAP and PhySyQX databases. In general, the parameters derived from EEG and fNIRS indicated correlation between neural activation, in various cortical regions, and signal quality. These individual features derived from EEG and fNIRS were then used to develop classifiers to establish their usability as QoE monitoring modalities. The parameters derived from EEG and fNIRS showed to accurately classify different user states and subjective QoE dimensions. Interestingly, features derived from heart rate, extracted from fNIRS signals, also showed to encode information regarding HIFs. Next, fusion of EEG, fNIRS, and fNIRS-derived heart rate parameters showed to accurately represent several QoE dimensions, including those related to listener affective states. Finally, the subjectively-derived HIFs were incorporated into the QoE model, leading to gains of up to 26.3% relative to utilizing only technological factors. When utilizing HIFs derived from individual modalities, on the other hand, gains of up to 14.5%, 10.6% and 4% were observed for EEG, fNIRS and heart rate, respectively. The hybrid model based on features from all three physiological modalities resulted in gains of up to 18.4%. These findings show the importance of using BCIs and hBCIs in QoE measurement and also highlight that further improvement may be warranted once improved HIFs correlates are found from EEGs and/or other neurophysiological modalities. It is hoped that these findings will help researchers build better instrumental QoE models that incorporate technological, contextual, and human influence factors.
Histograms for Texture based Image

Content based image retrieval is the task of searching images from a database, which are visually similar to a given example image. Since there is no general deenition for visual similarity, there are diierent possible ways to query for visual content. In this work we present methods for content based image retrieval based on texture similarity using interest points and Gabor features. Interest point detectors are used in computer vision to detect image points with special properties, which can be geometric (corners) or non-geometric (contrast etc.). Gabor functions and Gabor lters are regarded as excellent tools for texture feature extraction and texture segmentation. We present methods how to combine these methods for content based image retrieval and to generate a histogram based texture description of images. Experimental results of the query system on test image databases are given.
A wideband Ka-band receiver front-end in 90-nm CMOS technology

This paper presents a Ka-band receiver front-end aimed for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) system using 90-nm LP CMOS technology. The front-end chip consists of a single-ended low-noise amplifier (LNA), a double-balanced mixer and a single-ended intermediate-frequency (IF) amplifier. The measured results show the chip achieves a conversion gain better than 29 dB for input frequencies between 30.5 to 40 GHz when driven with a fixed 30 GHz LO signal, a IIP3 around -25.4 dBm at 35 GHz and the LO-RF and LO-IF port isolation better than 65 dB in the 30-40 GHz frequency band under 1.2 V power supply. The chip size is 1.26 mm2.
An axiomatic approach to firewall rule update

A firewall administrator often needs to update a given firewall, to take account of evolving security requirements or to correct a wrongly classified packet. We look at the problem of firewall update, mainly from an axiomatic viewpoint. An axiom for firewall update is a property which any reasonable method of updating should fulfill. We propose a number of such axioms. We also give some simple examples of firewall update algorithms and check them against the axioms.
Fine-Grained Semantic Categorization across the Abstract and Concrete Domains

A consolidated approach to the study of the mental representation of word meanings has consisted in contrasting different domains of knowledge, broadly reflecting the abstract-concrete dichotomy. More fine-grained semantic distinctions have emerged in neuropsychological and cognitive neuroscience work, reflecting semantic category specificity, but almost exclusively within the concrete domain. Theoretical advances, particularly within the area of embodied cognition, have more recently put forward the idea that distributed neural representations tied to the kinds of experience maintained with the concepts' referents might distinguish conceptual meanings with a high degree of specificity, including those within the abstract domain. Here we report the results of two psycholinguistic rating studies incorporating such theoretical advances with two main objectives: first, to provide empirical evidence of fine-grained distinctions within both the abstract and the concrete semantic domains with respect to relevant psycholinguistic dimensions; second, to develop a carefully controlled linguistic stimulus set that may be used for auditory as well as visual neuroimaging studies focusing on the parametrization of the semantic space beyond the abstract-concrete dichotomy. Ninety-six participants rated a set of 210 sentences across pre-selected concrete (mouth, hand, or leg action-related) and abstract (mental state-, emotion-, mathematics-related) categories, with respect either to different semantic domain-related scales (rating study 1), or to concreteness, familiarity, and context availability (rating study 2). Inferential statistics and correspondence analyses highlighted distinguishing semantic and psycholinguistic traits for each of the pre-selected categories, indicating that a simple abstract-concrete dichotomy is not sufficient to account for the entire semantic variability within either domains.
Discovery of Actionable Patterns in Databases: the Action Hierarchy Approach

An approach to defining actionability as a measure of interestingness of patterns is proposed. This approach is based on the concept of an action hierarchy which is defined as a tree of actions with patterns and pattern templates (data mining queries) assigned to its nodes. A method for discovering actionable patterns is presented and various techniques for optimizing the discovery process are proposed.