Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Simulation of Machine-Specific Topographic Indices for Use Across Platforms

Purpose. The objective of this project is to simulate the current published topographic indices used for the detection and evaluation of keratoconus to allow their application to maps acquired from multiple topographic machines. Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed on 21 eyes of 14 previously diagnosed keratoconus patients from a single practice using a Tomey TMS-1, an Alcon EyeMap, and a Keratron Topographer. Maps that could not be processed or that contained processing errors were excluded from analysis. Topographic indices native to each of the three devices were recorded from each map. Software was written in ANSI standard C to simulate the indices based on the published formulas and/or descriptions to extend the functionality of The Ohio State University Corneal Topography Tool (OSUCTT), a software package designed to accept the input from many corneal topographic devices and provide consistent display and analysis. Twenty indices were simulated. Linear regression analysis was performed between each simulated index and the corresponding native index. A cross-platform comparison using regression analysis was also performed. Results. All simulated indices were significantly correlated with the corresponding native indices (p < 0.01), with a mean R2 of 0.84, ranging from 0.42 to 0.99. Cross-platform comparisons were nonsignificant for specific indices and devices. Conclusion. Topographic indices native to three devices were successfully simulated. Cross-platform comparisons may be limited for specific indices.
De Novo Formation of Left–Right Asymmetry by Posterior Tilt of Nodal Cilia

In the developing mouse embryo, leftward fluid flow on the ventral side of the node determines left–right (L-R) asymmetry. However, the mechanism by which the rotational movement of node cilia can generate a unidirectional flow remains hypothetical. Here we have addressed this question by motion and morphological analyses of the node cilia and by fluid dynamic model experiments. We found that the cilia stand, not perpendicular to the node surface, but tilted posteriorly. We further confirmed that such posterior tilt can produce leftward flow in model experiments. These results strongly suggest that L-R asymmetry is not the descendant of pre-existing L-R asymmetry within each cell but is generated de novo by combining three sources of spatial information: antero-posterior and dorso-ventral axes, and the chirality of ciliary movement.
Use of conditional probability networks for environmental monitoring

Causal or conditional probability networks (CPNs) are shown to provide a natural framework for combining a time sequence of classified satellite images with other maps for environmental monitoring. The key features of CPNs are described by way of application to an example involving the monitoring of salinization of farmland over time using satellite images and an ancillary dataset derived from a digital terrain model. It is shown that CPNs can be used to improve mapping accuracies by incorporating knowledge about the spatial and temporal variation of the map classes of interest. The methods provide a practical solution to the challenging problem of mapping and monitoring salt in farmland. The representation and propagation of uncertainty within this framework is discussed, as well as the spatial and temporal prediction of images and maps.
A layerless additive manufacturing process based on CNC accumulation

Purpose – Most current additive manufacturing (AM) processes are layer based. By converting a three‐dimensional model into two‐dimensional layers, the process planning can be dramatically simplified. However, there are also drawbacks associated with such an approach such as inconsistent material properties and difficulty in embedding existing components. The purpose of this paper is to present a novel AM process that is non‐layer based and demonstrate its unique capability.Design/methodology/approach – An AM process named computer numerically controlled (CNC) accumulation has been developed. In such a layerless AM process, a fiber optic‐cable connected with an ultraviolet (UV) LED and related lens is served as an accumulation tool. The cable is then merged inside a tank that is filled with UV‐curable liquid resin. By controlling the on/off state of the UV‐LED and the multi‐axis motion of the cable, a physical model can be built by selectively curing liquid resin into solid.Findings – It is found that the .
SOI MESFET RF power amplifiers at the 45nm node

A high voltage compliance silicon metal-semiconductor-field-effect-transistor (MESFET) fabricated using a 45nm SOI CMOS process has been designed for RF power amplifier applications requiring Pout greater than 1W. The breakdown voltage of the MESFET is more than 15V and allows a large-signal drain voltage swing that greatly exceeds the breakdown of the 45nm CMOS. The DC and AC characteristics of the MESFET have been used to extract an Angelov Spice model of the device for simulation of the RF power amplifier. A Class AB MESFET PA was designed for operation at 900 MHz and demonstrated a peak power added efficiency of 37.6 %, gain of 11.1 dB, OIP3 of 39.3 dBm and 1 dB compression point at an output power of 31.6 dBm. The first measurements of a SOI MESFET 2GHz RF power amplifier are also shown.
Bootstrapping Both Product Features and Opinion Words from Chinese Customer Reviews with Cross-Inducing

We consider the problem of 1 identifying product features and opinion words in a unified process from Chinese customer reviews when only a much small seed set of opinion words is available. In particular, we consider a problem setting motivated by the task of identifying product features with opinion words and learning opinion words through features alternately and iteratively. In customer reviews, opinion words usually have a close relationship with product features, and the association between them is measured by a revised formula of mutual information in this paper. A bootstrapping iterative learning strategy is proposed to alternately both of them. A linguistic rule is adopted to identify lowfrequent features and opinion words. Furthermore, a mapping function from opinion words to features is proposed to identify implicit features in sentence. Empirical results on three kinds of product reviews indicate the effectiveness of our method.
Assessment of salivary hormones.

" Hormones " are messenger molecules that are released by specialized neurons in the brain and by glands into the bloodstream, and that carry a signal at the speed of blood to other parts of the body. Which specific responses they trigger in target organs depends on the receptors involved and the functions of the organs. For instance, the peptide hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) regulates water retention in the body when it binds to receptors in the kidneys, but enhances episodic memory when it binds to receptors in the brain (e.g., Beckwith, Petros, Bergloff, & Staebler, 1987). Thus one hormone can drive several different physiological and psychological functions through its effects on several target organs. Generally, two broad classes of hormonal effects on physiology and behavior are differentiated. " Organizational effects " are lasting influences that hormones exert on the organism, thus changing its shape and functional properties in subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways. Orga
Parsing Arguments of Nominalizations in English and Chinese

In this paper, we use a machine learning framework for semantic argument parsing, and apply it to the task of parsing arguments of eventive nominalizations in the FrameNet database. We create a baseline system using a subset of features introduced by Gildea and Jurafsky (2002), which are directly applicable to nominal predicates. We then investigate new features which are designed to capture the novelties in nominal argument structure and show a significant performance improvement using these new features. We also investigate the parsing performance of nominalizations in Chinese and compare the salience of the features for the two languages.
POWER SYSTEM STABILIZATION USING SWARM TUNED FUZZY CONTROLLER

Abstract This paper proposes a swarm optimized fuzzy logic based power system stabilizer (SFLPSS). The fuzzy logic stabilizer membership functions parameters, inputs and outputs gains and fuzzy rules are tuned and optimized using particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique. Optimization parameters were subject to realistic constraint. The optimization is done using a seventh order nonlinear model of a single synchronous machine connected to infinite bus bar. A Guided simulation technique using stability limits check is used to accelerate the PSO algorithm search for optimized parameters. Optimization results in reduction of fuzzy rules. Transient tests of the optimized controller performance showed better performance over conventional controllers.
The Role of the Centre of Projection in the Estimation of Slant from Texture of Planar Surfaces

Displays were presented consisting of a perspective projection of a regular square grid, made up of vertical and horizontal equally spaced white lines, that was slanted in depth. The surface was viewed monocularly, through a circular aperture. A range of slants was shown (0°, 10°, 20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, or 60°) and the observers' task was to match the slant by means of a mouse-driven probe. The viewing distance (50, 75, or 100 cm) as well as the focal distance (25, 50, 75, 100, or 125 cm) were varied. We expected the estimation error to be smallest when the viewing distance and the focal distance coincided. This was not the case. Instead, subjects seemed to use the perspective deformation of the texture elements in the stimulus display to make a slant estimation, regardless of the specific combination of viewing distance and focal distance.
Sonodynamic antitumour effect of chloroaluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate on murine solid tumour

The sonodynamically induced antitumour effect of chloroaluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (AlPcTS) was evaluated on subcutaneously implanted colon 26 carcinoma. A time of 24h after the administration of AlPcTS was chosen for the ultrasonic exposure, based on the analysis of the AlPcTS concentrations in the tumour, plasma, skin and muscle. The pharmacokinetic analysis showed much faster clearance of AlPcTS than photofrin II from the body, which can be an advantage in view of their potential adverse effects. At an AlPcTS dose not less than 2.5 mg kg−1 and at a free‐field ultrasonic intensity not less than 3 W cm−2, the synergistic effect between AlPcTS administration and ultrasonic exposure on the tumour growth inhibition was significant. The ultrasonic intensity showed a relatively sharp threshold for the synergistic antitumour effect, which is typical for an ultrasonic effect mediated by acoustic cavitation. These results suggest that AlPcTS is a potential sonosensitizer for sonodynamic treatment of solid tumours.
Wavelets and time-frequency analysis

We present a selective overview of time-frequency analysis and some of its key problems. In particular we motivate the introduction of wavelet and wavelet packet analysis. Different types of decompositions of an idealized time-frequency plane provide the basis for understanding the performance of the numerical algorithms and their corresponding interpretations within the continuous models. As examples we show how to control the frequency spreading of wavelet packets at high frequencies using nonstationary filtering and study some properties of periodic wavelet packets. Furthermore we derive a formula to compute the time localization of a wavelet packet from its indexes which is exact for linear phase filters, and show how this estimate deteriorates with deviation from linear phase.
Energy-aware utility optimisation for joint multi-path routing and MAC layer retransmission control in TDMA-based wireless sensor networks

This paper formulates a novel energy-aware utility optimisation EUO problem for joint multi-path routing and medium access control MAC layer retransmission control in time division multiple access TDMA-based wireless sensor networks WSNs. As the EUO problem is non-convex and inseparable, we propose a heuristic method called Successive Alternating Convex Approximation SACA to approximately solve the problem. More precisely, we decompose the EUO problem into two alternating convex sub-problems, namely energy-aware multi-path routing and retransmission control. On one hand, given the time slot allocation, the multi-path routing balances the energy consumption within WSNs. On the other hand, provided the traffic distribution, retransmission control enhances the data reliability in the most energy-efficient way. These two sub-problems are solved recursively by means of dual decomposition. The sequence of optimal solutions to these two sub-problems is shown to converge to some steady-state point that approximates a solution to the EUO problem.
Illusory Sound Perception in Macaque Monkeys

In most natural listening environments, noise occludes objects of interest, and it would be beneficial for an organism to correctly identify those objects. When a sound of interest (“foreground” sound) is interrupted by a loud noise, subjects perceive the entire sound, even if the noise was intense enough to completely mask a part of it. This phenomenon can be exploited to create an illusion: when a silent gap is introduced into the foreground and high-intensity noise is superimposed into the gap, subjects report the foreground as continuing through the noise although that portion of the foreground was deleted. This phenomenon, referred to as auditory induction or amodal completion, is conceptually similar to visual induction, fill-in, illusory motion, and illusory contours. Two rhesus macaque monkeys performed a task designed to assess auditory induction. They were trained to discriminate complete stimuli from those containing a silent gap in the presence of two types of noise. Interrupting noise temporally coincided only with the gap, and in humans this causes induction. Surrounding noise temporally encompassed the entire foreground, and in humans this causes masking without auditory induction. Consistent with previous human psychophysical results, macaques showed better performance with surrounding masking noise than interrupting noise designed to elicit induction. These and other control experiments provide evidence that primates may share a general mechanism to perceptually complete missing sounds.
Generating qualified summarization answers using fuzzy concept hierarchies

In this paper, we introduce a partially automated method to generate qualified answers at multiple abstraction levels for database queries. We examine the issues involving data summarization by Attribute-Oriented Induction (AOI) on large databases using fuzzy concept hierarchies. Because a node may have many abstracts, the fuzzy hierarchies become more complex and vaguer than crisp ones. Therefore, we cannot use exactly the original AOI algorithm with crisp hierarchies, applied for fuzzy hierarchies, to get interesting answers. The main contribution of this paper is that we propose a new approach to refine fuzzy hierarchies and evaluate tuple-terminal conditions to reduce noisy tuples. The foundations of our approach are the generalization hierarchy and a new method to estimate tuple quality. We implemented the algorithm in our knowledge discovery system and the experimental results show that the approach is efficient and suitable for knowledge discovery in large databases.
CrowdSummary : Crowdsourced Abstractive Summary Generation with an Intelligent Interface

A well-written abstractive summary can save readers much time and effort in comprehending the information in an extensive document. However, abstractive summary generation is a task that is difficult for both humans and computers. For humans, it takes ample time for one to digest all of the information in a document and select important sentences that can be used to generate the abstract. On the other hand, computers can easily select important sentences in a document using statistical natural language processing algorithms. However, it is still not possible for computers to combine the important sentences in a document and generate a concise and coherent abstract, which is a task that is relatively easy for humans. In this project, we aim at building a crowd-computer hybrid system that first locates important sentences using statistical natural language processing and then recruits crowd workers to combine these sentences to generate high-quality abstractive summaries for users in a cheap and affordable manner.
Identification of the first joint of the Puma robot

The authors present a method for estimating the dynamic parameters in one joint of an industrial manipulator, the PUMA 560 FA. Modeling and identification of the PUMA robot are reported. The crucial issue in model-based control is how to accurately model friction. This is done for the first joint of PUMA 560. Simple model-based control experiments were performed using a flexible, interactive research environment created at the Tampere University of Technology. <<ETX>>
Integrating survey and ethnographic methods to evaluate conditional cash transfer programs

"Survey and ethnographic methods have been combined in the evaluations of conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs for the governments of Nicaragua and Turkey. This paper describes the quantitative and qualitative research designs for these evaluations, discusses the relative benefits of quantitative and qualitative approaches for studying CCTs, and provides examples of how findings of these different approaches complemented, explained, illuminated, or contradicted each other. While the surveys provided reliable measures of program impacts on human capital, the qualitative research provided explanations of why we do or do not find these impacts, and explored how social processes and social relations were affected by, and in turn shaped responses to, the programs. While many official evaluations now require mixed methods, and these have demonstrated policy relevance and impacts, there is still considerable progress to be made with respect to how methods are integrated in practice and how mixed approaches are appreciated in social program evaluation. " from authors' abstract
Freshmen: Guidance and counselling received in high school and that needed in university.

This study sought to determine the guidance and counselling services which Social Science students in one Government-owned university in Zimbabwe had received in high school and the guidance and counselling services that they desired upon entry into university. Variations in services received in high school and those desired at university were by school type of the respondents. More specifically, the study determined type of previous high school and provision of guidance and counselling programmes and attempted to assess if there were variations in guidance needs at university by previous school type. A survey research design was used. A selfadministered questionnaire with mostly closed questions was given to first year students at the end of their second month at university. A sample size of 90 (M = 41; F = 49) volunteered, through informed consent, to participate in the study. Data were analysed using a t-test for independent samples, chi-square and bar graphs. Results showed existence of guidance and counselling in all former school types with mission, government and private schools having in-class lessons and services well known to their students. There is no significant difference between male and female students (t = -1.18; df =88; α = 0.05) but females indicated more favourable responses than males. Former school type and existence of programme (chi-square = 6.1; df = 6; α = 0.05) and type of school and curriculum areas (chi-square = 3.31; df = 6; α = 0.05) were independent. At university most students from former government, mission and private schools preferred guidance on learning in large classes, adjustment difficulties, career and large workloads while those from rural schools mostly preferred personal/social counselling.
An Approach to the Improvement of Electrocardiogram-based Sleep Breathing Pauses Detection by means of Permutation Entropy of the Heart Rate Variability

Permutation entropy obtained from heart rate variability (HRV) is analyzed in a statistical model integrating electrocardiogram derived respiratory (EDR) features and cepstrum coefficients in order to detect obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) events. 70 ECG recordings from Physionet database are divided into a learning set and a test set of equal size. Each set consists of 35 recordings, containing a single ECG signal. Each recording includes a set of reference annotations, one for each minute, which indicates the presence or absence of apnea during that minute. Statistical classification methods based on Logistic Regression (LR) is applied to the classification of sleep apnea epochs. EDR presents a sensitivity of 64.3% and specificity of 86.5% (auc=83.9). Cepstrum presents a sensitivity of 63.8% and specificity of 89.2% (auc=86). Contribution of the permutation entropy increases the performance of the LR model, playing an important role in the OSA quantification task. In particular, when all features are analyzed, classifier reaches a sensitivity of 70.2% and specificity of 91.8% (auc=89.8).
Status of Institutional Preparedness for Adoption of E-Learning in Teacher Training Colleges in Kenya

The purpose of the study was to assess the level of preparedness for adoption of e-Learning strategy in Primary Teacher Training Colleges in Kenya. The objectives of the study were to: Determine the level of availability of ICT infrastructure; establish the level of accessibility to e-Learning resources; establish the ICT competency level of teachers and to examine the nature of supportive strategies in place to support e-Learning. Descriptive survey design was used. Sample size was 175 teachers determined by use of Krejcie and Morgan (1990) standardized tables. Simple Random sampling was used to obtain samples from five Teacher Training colleges. Questionnaires and observation checklist were utilized to collect both qualitative and Quantitative data. Data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics aided by Statistical Package for Social Sciences. From the study, over 86.8% of colleges have not acquired e-learning infrastructure, 62.1% of teachers have basic level ICT skills while most of PTTCs have hardly put in place strategies to support e-learning. The study recommends for an urgent policy dialogue with a view to the development of a comprehensive policy on e-learning for teacher education in Kenya. The Government of Kenya and other stakeholders need to work towards provision of essential infrastructure and training of teachers to enable use of e-learning in Primary Teacher Training Colleges in Kenya. The study generated useful information that can influence policy direction in relation to resource planning for implementation of e-learning in educational institutions in Kenya and other developing countries. From the empirical literature reviewed, it appears that studies do not adequately addressed issues related to the topic. It is therefore useful to conduct further research in this area, especially in private Teacher Training colleges and other higher levels of learning so as to generate concrete data to inform policy decisions. Keywords: e-Learning, Communication Technology, Infrastructure, strategy, Preparedness