Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-Pulsating Semiconductor Lasers : Theory and ExperimentC

We report detailed measurements of the pump{current dependency of the self-pulsating frequency of semiconductor CD lasers. A distinct kink in this dependence is found and explained using rate{equation model. The kink denotes a transition between a region where the self{pulsations are weakly sustained relaxation oscillations and a region where Q{switching takes place. Simulations show that spontaneous emission noise plays a crucial role for the cross{over.
Les collocations comme indice pour distinguer les genres textuels

Cette etude se propose de verifier l’efficacite des collocations en tant qu’indice pour distinguer les genres textuels. De plus, elle a le double objectif d’aborder l’exploration de la variabilite de l’italien en utilisant des methodologies computationnelles, et de verifier l’efficacite d’une nouvelle mesure d’association dans l’etude des collocations.Quatre typologies de collocations ont ete analysees (verbe-nom, nom-adjectif, nom-nom et nom-preposition-nom) dans six genres textuels differents, dont trois sont ecrits (textes litteraires, textes academiques et compositions scolaires) et trois sont oraux (conversations, discours et dialogues filmiques). La frequence des collocations dans les differents genres montre que chaque typologie de texte a des preferences specifiques pour des typologies de collocations specifiques; la seule frequence et la seule distinction entre textes ecrits et oraux, toutefois, ne reussit pas a interpreter cette differente distribution selon un modele coherent. A cet effet, la mesure statistique de la gravite lexicale semble posseder une efficacite majeure, comme nous essayerons de demontrer.
Offline Signature Verification and Recognition System

Authentication of a person is the major concern in this era for security purposes. A number of biometric techniques have been proposed for personal identification in the past. Among the vision based ones are face recognition, fingerprint recognition, iris scanning and retina scanning. The primary advantage that signature verification systems have over other type's technologies is that signatures are already accepted as the common method of identity verification. As signatures continue to play an important role in financial, commercial and legal transactions, truly secured authentication becomes more and more crucial. A signature by an authorized person is considered to be the "seal of approval" and remains the most preferred means of authentication. The method presented in this paper consists of image prepossessing, geometric feature extraction, neural network training and verification. In this paper signatures from database are extracted before feature extraction. After the signature is scanned through device and entered in to the system, it then be converted to gray image representing black and white in two dimensional image. A verification stage includes applying the extracted features of test signature to a trained neural network which will classify it as genuine or forged. The signature verification system is designed using MATLAB. These extracted features are then applied as input to a trained neural network which will classify it as a genuine or forged signature.
The Effect of Prior Concussions on Cognitive Performance in Recreational College Athletes

Context: Sports-related concussions impact between 1.6 and 3.0 million athletes annually in the USA. Although the CDC has qualified sports-related concussion as an epidemic, there is a significant lack of data regarding the best way to assess the long-term effects of concussion, especially in recreational athletes. Objective: To assess the relationship between concussion history and cognitive performance in a group of recreational athletes. Design: Quantitative cross-sectional study. Setting: University of South Carolina, Columbia SC, USA. Participants: Healthy college athletes with no prior history of concussion (n=25) and college athletes with a prior history of at least one concussion (n=25). Main Outcome Measures: Working memory (Paced Visual Serial Addition Test), response inhibition (Go/NoGo task) and decision-making (computer-based visual sorting task). Results: Athletes with a prior history of concussion showed a trend toward lower accuracy on the working memory task, impaired performance in response inhibition and decision making tasks. Factor analysis of the dependent variables derived from a custom-built test battery identified five factors, when entered into a binary logistic model, correctly classified 80% of participants as either having a prior concussion or not. Results of a stepwise linear regression model revealed that the response inhibition factor was significantly correlated with the number of prior concussions. Conclusions: Overall, the results indicated impaired cognitive performance in athletes with a prior history of concussion and show that some, but not all cognitive impairments may vary as a function of the number of prior concussions. These data provide further evidence of the negative consequences of concussion and highlight the vital need to increase research and development efforts aimed at creating apt precautionary measures and rehabilitative methods to minimize the effect of concussions in athletes.
Comparison of the Number of Image Acquisitions and Procedural Time Required for Transarterial Chemoembolization of Hepatocellular Carcinoma with and without Tumor-Feeder Detection Software

Purpose. To compare the number of image acquisitions and procedural time required for transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with and without tumor-feeder detection software in cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods. We retrospectively reviewed 50 cases involving software-assisted TACE (September 2011–February 2013) and 84 cases involving TACE without software assistance (January 2010–August 2011). We compared the number of image acquisitions, the overall procedural time, and the therapeutic efficacy in both groups. Results. Angiography acquisition per session reduced from 6.6 times to 4.6 times with software assistance (P < 0.001). Total image acquisition significantly decreased from 10.4 times to 8.7 times with software usage (P = 0.004). The mean procedural time required for a single session with software-assisted TACE (103 min) was significantly lower than that for a session without software (116 min, P = 0.021). For TACE with and without software usage, the complete (68% versus 63%, resp.) and objective (78% versus 80%, resp.) response rates did not differ significantly. Conclusion. In comparison with software-unassisted TACE, automated feeder-vessel detection software-assisted TACE for HCC involved fewer image acquisitions and could be completed faster while maintaining a comparable treatment response.
Difference computation of large models

Modern software engineering practices lead to large models which exist in many versions. Version management systems should offer a service to compare, and possibly merge, these models. The computation of a difference between large models is a big challenge; current algorithms are too inefficient here. We present a new technique for computing differences between models. In practical tests, this technique has been an order of magnitude faster than currently known algorithms. The main idea is to use a high-dimensional search tree for efficiently finding similar model elements. Individual elements are mapped onto a vector of numerical values using a collection of metrics for models and a numerical representation of the names which occur in a model.
Acoustic analysis of nasal and lateral consonants: The merger in Eastern Min

The contrast between word-initial [n] and [l] is disappearing in many Chinese languages, including Eastern Min. Before investigating the status of the merger, we need to identify the acoustic cues that distinguish [n] from [l]. In English and Mandarin, languages with the [n] and [l] contrast, we examined: (1) Duration: consonant duration and consonant-vowel transition duration; (2) Formant frequencies: F1, F2 and F3 at the midpoint of the consonant; (3) Formant intensities: I1, I2, and I3 at the midpoint of the consonant; and (4) Relative amplitude (the amplitude difference between the consonant and the following vowel). Preliminary results show that [n] is significantly longer than [l] in Mandarin and English but not in Eastern Min. F2 of [n] is higher than F2 of [l] in English and Mandarin, whereas the direction is reversed in Eastern Min. Finally, the difference in relative amplitude between [n] and [l] is greater in English and Mandarin than in Eastern Min. Together, these results suggest a merger in progress in Eastern Min . Moreover, older Eastern Min speakers showed the merger to a greater degree than younger speakers, presumably because the older speakers use Mandarin less frequently.The contrast between word-initial [n] and [l] is disappearing in many Chinese languages, including Eastern Min. Before investigating the status of the merger, we need to identify the acoustic cues that distinguish [n] from [l]. In English and Mandarin, languages with the [n] and [l] contrast, we examined: (1) Duration: consonant duration and consonant-vowel transition duration; (2) Formant frequencies: F1, F2 and F3 at the midpoint of the consonant; (3) Formant intensities: I1, I2, and I3 at the midpoint of the consonant; and (4) Relative amplitude (the amplitude difference between the consonant and the following vowel). Preliminary results show that [n] is significantly longer than [l] in Mandarin and English but not in Eastern Min. F2 of [n] is higher than F2 of [l] in English and Mandarin, whereas the direction is reversed in Eastern Min. Finally, the difference in relative amplitude between [n] and [l] is greater in English and Mandarin than in Eastern Min. Together, these results suggest a merger in .
Study on covert networks of terroristic organizations based on text analysis

Text information on typical domestic terrorist organization released by domestic mainstream network media is collected, and network text analysis tools are adopted to extract the entities that reflect the social network structure of terroristic organizations and the associated data from text information, to construct the covert networks for social organization structure of terrorists. Network analysis tools are adopted to carry out a social network quantitative analysis to the terroristic network characteristics in both individual level and organizational level. The study shows, that text information on terroristic activities from various network media can be effectively processed by text data mining, and visual network models that reflect social organization structure of terrorists can be made accordingly, and this demonstrates that to combine data mining tools with social network analytical method is an effective approach to study the covert networks of terroristic organizations.
College Stress, Minority Status Stress, Depression, Grades, and Persistence Intentions Among Hispanic Female Students: A Mediation Model

The present study examined the mediating role of depression symptoms in the relation of college stress and minority status stress to cumulative grade point average (GPA) and persistence intentions among Hispanic women (n = 426) enrolled in a 4-year major research public institution. Results of path analyses indicated a strong model-data fit for the proposed model. When controlling for each other, both typical college stress and minority status stress positively predicted depression and, in turn, depression negatively predicted college persistence intentions. Tests of indirect effects revealed that depression mediated the relation of college stress and minority status stress to persistence. No mediation effects were present in the relation of the stress variables to cumulative GPA. Findings suggest that depression symptoms is one of the pathways through which college stress and minority status stress may result in lower levels of persistence intentions and, possibly, dropout behavior among Hispanic college women in 4-year institutions.
Relationship between Testicular Volume and Conventional or Nonconventional Sperm Parameters

Background. Reduced testicular volume (TV) (<12 cm3) is associated with lower testicular function. Several studies explored the conventional sperm parameters (concentration, motility, and morphology) and the endocrine function (gonadotropins and testosterone serum concentrations) in the patients with reduction of TV. No other parameters have been examined. Aim. This study aims at evaluating some biofunctional sperm parameters by flow cytometry in the semen of men with reduced TV compared with that of subjects with normal TV. Methods. 78 patients without primary scrotal disease were submitted to ultrasound evaluation of the testis. They were divided into two groups according to testicular volume: A Group, including 40 patients with normal testicular volume (TV > 15 cm3) and B Group, including 38 patients with reduced testicular volume (TV ≤ 12 cm3). All patients underwent serum hormone concentration, conventional and biofunctional (flow cytometry) sperm parameters evaluation. Results. With regard to biofunctional sperm parameters, all values (mitochondrial membrane potential, phosphatidylserine externalization, chromatin compactness, and DNA fragmentation) were strongly negatively correlated with testicular volume (P < 0.0001). Conclusions. This study for the first time in the literature states that the biofunctional sperm parameters worsen and with near linear correlation, with decreasing testicular volume.
Cardiopulmonary Reflex Before and After Regression of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Essential Hypertension

Studies that have examined the cardiopulmonary receptor control of circulation in hypertension have produced conflicting results. In 10 normotensive subjects and in age-matched essential hypertensive subjects without (n = 10) or with left ventricular hypertrophy (n = 12), as well as in seven subjects of the latter group restudied after 1 year of treatment that induced regression of cardiac hypertrophy, we examined the cardiopulmonary reflex by increasing central venous pressure and stimulating cardiopulmonary receptors through passive leg raising and by reducing central venous pressure and deactivating cardiopulmonary receptors through nonhypotensive lower body negative pressure. Reflex responses were measured as changes in forearm vascular resistance (mean blood pressure divided by plethysmographically measured blood flow), plasma norepinephrine concentration, and plasma renin activity. In hypertensive subjects without left ventricular hypertrophy, stimulation and deactivation of cardiopulmonary receptors caused changes in forearm vascular resistance, norepinephrine concentration, and plasma renin activity that were modestly reduced as compared with those in normotensive subjects. However, all these changes were markedly reduced in hypertensive subjects with left ventricular hypertrophy. Following regression of left ventricular hypertrophy, the changes in vascular resistance, plasma norepinephrine, and plasma renin activity induced by cardiopulmonary receptor manipulation all unproved markedly. These results demonstrate that cardiopulmonary receptor regulation of peripheral vascular resistance and of neurohumoral variables is impaired in essential hypertension and that the impairment is much more pronounced when this condition is associated with cardiac structural alterations. Therapeutic regression of these alterations, however, leads to a marked improvement of this reflex, with consequent favorable effects on circulatory homeostasis.
Synthesis of a low molecular weight collagen by chondrocytes from the presumptive calcification region of the embryonic chick sterna: the influence of culture with collagen gels

The mature chick sternum is divisible almost equally into cephalic calcified and caudal cartilagenous regions. Isolation and culture of cells derived from embryonic precursors of these regions has revealed two discrete populations of cells with distinct morphological features and synthetic capabilities. Both cell populations grew well in culture within or upon collagen gels or upon plastic and maintained morphologies similar to those observed in the parent tissue. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of radiolabeled proteins synthesized by the cells in culture demonstrated large differences in the types of collagens synthesized. Both chondrocyte populations synthesized type II and minor cartilage collagens but only chondrocytes isolated from the presumptive calcification region synthesized the previously identified, low molecular weight collagen, termed G collagen. Synthesis of G collagen was stimulated by culture within or upon collagen gels such that it represented an average of 65% of the total collagen synthesized by presumptive calcification region chondrocytes after 7 d of culture within collagen gels. Light and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the two chondrocyte types exhibited distinct morphological features and accumulated different extracellular matrices in culture.
Tuberculosis in Pregnancy: A Review

Tuberculosis (TB) was declared a public health emergency by WHO in 2005. The disease is a significant contributor to maternal mortality and is among the three leading causes of death among women aged 15–45 years in high burden areas. The exact incidence of tuberculosis in pregnancy, though not readily available, is expected to be as high as in the general population. Diagnosis of tuberculosis in pregnancy may be challenging, as the symptoms may initially be ascribed to the pregnancy, and the normal weight gain in pregnancy may temporarily mask the associated weight loss. Obstetric complications of TB include spontaneous abortion, small for date uterus, preterm labour, low birth weight, and increased neonatal mortality. Congenital TB though rare, is associated with high perinatal mortality. Rifampicin, INH and Ethambutol are the first line drugs while Pyrazinamide use in pregnancy is gaining popularity. Isoniazid preventive therapy is a WHO innovation aimed at reducing the infection in HIV positive pregnant women. Babies born to this mother should be commenced on INH prophylaxis for six months, after which they are vaccinated with BCG if they test negative. Successful control of TB demands improved living conditions, public enlightenment, primary prevention of HIV/AIDS and BCG vaccination.
Development of Modular Combinational Gorilla Robot System

Aim at solving the main problems of complexity and mechanism rigidity in the design and development of gorilla robot system, the modular combinational design method is introduced to the design of gorilla robot. Based on series joint unit with high rigidity and large output, a modular combinational gorilla robot is designed. The opening control system of the gorilla robot is composed of RS485 and intelligent drive and control modular. The developed gorilla robot system has characteristics of multiple motion ways, lighter weight - about 35kg, minitype - minimal standing height of 0.89m, integration and modular combination
Visual Surround Suppression in Schizophrenia

Compared to unaffected observers patients with schizophrenia (SZ) show characteristic differences in visual perception, including a reduced susceptibility to the influence of context on judgments of contrast – a manifestation of weaker surround suppression (SS). To examine the generality of this phenomenon we measured the ability of 24 individuals with SZ to judge the luminance, contrast, orientation, and size of targets embedded in contextual surrounds that would typically influence the target’s appearance. Individuals with SZ demonstrated weaker SS compared to matched controls for stimuli defined by contrast or size, but not for those defined by luminance or orientation. As perceived luminance is thought to be regulated at the earliest stages of visual processing our findings are consistent with a suppression deficit that is predominantly cortical in origin. In addition, we propose that preserved orientation SS in SZ may reflect the sparing of broadly tuned mechanisms of suppression. We attempt to reconcile these data with findings from previous studies.
Sclera vein identification in real time using single board computer

Ocular Biometrics is one of the promising areas in the field of Biometrics. Among this wide area of research, Sclera region of the eye and its unique feature makes it suitable for person identification. Sclera is the white protective region in the eye, because of this protective nature it is difficult to tamper. The vein pattern present in the sclera can be achieved in visible spectrum, which makes it different from other conventional biometrics. This paper is proposed to develop a real time system for person identification by using commercial digital camera and single board computer (Raspberry Pi). The segmentation of sclera is done by locating iris with circular Hough transform. The feature extraction is performed by principal component analysis. Hamming distance based method is used for template matching. Nikon D5100 camera is used to take sclera vein images. The proposed system successfully tested with frontal gazed images.
Meta-analysis of drug-related deaths soon after release from prison

Aims The transition from prison back into the community is particularly hazardous for drug-using offenders whose tolerance for heroin has been reduced by imprisonment. Studies have indicated an increased risk of drug-related death soon after release from prison, particularly in the first 2 weeks. For precise, up-to-date understanding of these risks, a meta-analysis was conducted on the risk of drug-related death in weeks 1 + 2 and 3 + 4 compared with later 2-week periods in the first 12 weeks after release from prison. Methods English-language studies were identified that followed up adult prisoners for mortality from time of index release for at least 12 weeks. Six studies from six prison systems met the inclusion criteria and relevant data were extracted independently. Results These studies contributed a total of 69 093 person-years and 1033 deaths in the first 12 weeks after release, of which 612 were drug-related. A three- to eightfold increased risk of drug-related death was found when comparing weeks 1 + 2 with weeks 3–12, with notable heterogeneity between countries: United Kingdom, 7.5 (95% CI: 5.7–9.9); Australia, 4.0 (95% CI: 3.4–4.8); Washington State, USA, 8.4 (95% CI: 5.0–14.2) and New Mexico State, USA, 3.1 (95% CI: 1.3–7.1). Comparing weeks 3 + 4 with weeks 5–12, the pooled relative risk was: 1.7 (95% CI: 1.3–2.2). Conclusions These findings confirm that there is an increased risk of drug-related death during the first 2 weeks after release from prison and that the risk remains elevated up to at least the fourth week.