Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COSIMIR/sup /spl reg// Factory: extending the use of manufacturing simulations

Simulation techniques in the area of manufacturing automation have become more and more important. Thus, there are several tools available for planning and offline-programming of automated production processes. We describe an innovative universal simulation system, called COSMIR/sup /spl reg// Factory. Based on a unique approach to parallel simulation this tool extends the use of manufacturing simulations. On the one hand, the presented system facilitates the simulation of complex manufacturing processes. On the other hand, the once developed simulation model is suited for further applications like 3D process visualization, teleservice, and virtual training of operators. Beside the technical description of the system's architecture, we present a practical example comprising the simulation of a production line and the connection to a superimposed controller.
Surface roughness of glass ionomer cements indicated for uncooperative patients according to surface protection treatment.

BACKGROUND Even today, use of Glass Ionomer Cements (GIC) as restorative material is indicated for uncooperative patients. AIM The study aimed at estimating the surface roughness of different GICs using or not their proprietary surface coatings and at observing the interfaces between cement and coating through SEM. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty specimens have been obtained and divided into 4 groups: Fuji IX (IX), Fuji IX/G-Coat Plus (IXC), Vitremer (V), Vitremer/Finishing Gloss (VFG). Samples were obtained using silicone moulds to simulate class I restorations. All specimens were processed for profilometric evaluation. The statistical differences of surface roughness between groups were assessed using One-Way Analysis of Variance (One-Way ANOVA) (p<0.05). The Two-Way Analysis of Variance (Two-Way ANOVA) was used to evaluate the influence of two factors: restoration material and presence of coating. Coated restoration specimens (IXC and VFG) were sectioned perpendicular to the restoration surface and processed for SEM evaluation. RESULTS No statistical differences in roughness could be noticed between groups or factors. Following microscopic observation, interfaces between restoration material and coating were better for group IXC than for group VFG. CONCLUSIONS When specimens are obtained simulating normal clinical procedures, the presence of surface protection does not significantly improve the surface roughness of GICs.
Efficacy of the APACHE II Score at ICU Discharge in Predicting Post-ICU Mortality and ICU Readmission in Critically Ill Surgical Patients

In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of the discharge Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score in predicting post-intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and ICU readmission during the same hospitalisation in a surgical ICU. Of 1190 patients who were admitted to the ICU and stayed >48 hours between October 2007 and March 2010, 23 (1.9%) died and 86 (7.2%) were readmitted after initial ICU discharge, with 26 (3.0%) admitted within 48 hours. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of the discharge and admission APACHE II scores in predicting in-hospital mortality was 0.631 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.603 to 0.658) and 0.669 (95% CI 0.642 to 0.696), respectively (P=0.510). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of discharge and admission APACHE II scores for predicting all forms of readmission was 0.606 (95% CI 0.578 to 0.634) and 0.574 (95% CI 0.545 to 0.602), respectively (P=0.316). The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of discharge APACHE II score in predicting early ICU readmissions was, however, higher than that of admission APACHE II score (0.688 [95% CI 0.660 to 0.714] versus 0.505 [95% CI 0.476 to 0.534], P=0.001). The discharge APACHE II score (odds ratio [OR] 1.1, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.22, P=0.024), unplanned ICU readmission (OR 20.0, 95% CI 7.6 to 53.1, P=0.001), eosinopenia at ICU discharge (OR 6.0, 95% CI 1.34 to 26.9, P=0.019), and hospital length-of-stay before ICU admission (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.03, P=0.021) were significant independent factors in predicting post-ICU mortality. This study suggests that the discharge APACHE II score may be useful in predicting post-ICU mortality and is superior to the admission APACHE II score in predicting early ICU readmission in surgical ICU patients.
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Protects Endotoxemic Rat from Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation

Background. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (ta-VNS) could evoke parasympathetic activities via activating the brainstem autonomic nuclei, similar to the effects that are produced after vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). VNS modulates immune function through activating the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Methods. VNS, ta-VNS, or transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on ST36 was performed to modulate the inflammatory response. The concentration of serum proinflammatory cytokines and tissue NF-kappa B p65 (NF-κB p65) were detected in endotoxaemia affected anesthetized rats. Results. Similar to the effect of VNS, ta-VNS suppressed the serum proinflammatory cytokines levels, such as tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) as well as NF-kappa B p65 expressions of lung tissues. ST36 stimulation also decreases LPS-induced high TNF-α level and NF-κB signal, but it did not restrain proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β and IL-6. Neither ta-VNS nor ST36 stimulation could suppress LPS-induced TNF-α and NF-κB after vagotomy or with α7nAChR antagonist injection. Conclusions. The present paper demonstrated that ta-VNS could be utilized to suppress LPS-induced inflammatory responses via α7nAChR-mediated cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.
Universal Filtered Multi-Carrier Transmission With Adaptive Active Interference Cancellation

Universal filtered multi-carrier (UFMC) is one of the enabling techniques for 5G, which supports sliced spectrum by filtering successive sub-bands. The filter design is an essential and challenging issue, which is critical to the performance of UFMC. In this paper, we propose a novel UFMC scheme, namely, UFMC-AIC, which incorporates active interference cancellation into UFMC so as to mitigate the inter-sub-band interference. A non-convex optimization problem is formulated, which aims to maximize the overall signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio performance by adaptively optimizing the weighting factors of the interference cancellation subcarriers under the power constraints. The minorization–maximization method is applied to solve the problem in the ideal case when the sub-band states and the channel state information are perfectly known at the base station. A practical distributed solution is further obtained in a closed form by the Lagrangian dual method, which largely reduces the computational complexity with only slight performance loss compared with the ideal case. Simulation results show that our proposal with lower cost of filter can still achieve better bit error rate performance than the conventional UFMC under different carrier frequency offsets for the Rayleigh block-fading channel.
Model-free functional mri analysis using topographic independent component analysis

Data-driven fMRI analysis techniques include independent component analysis (ICA) and different types of clustering in the temporal domain. Since each of these methods has its particular strengths, it is natural to look for an approach that unifies Kohonen's self-organizing map and ICA. This is given by the topographic independent component analysis. While achieved by a slight modification of the ICA model, it can be at the same time used to define a topographic order (clusters) between the components, and thus has the usual computational advantages associated with topographic maps. In this contribution, we can show that when applied to fMRI analysis it outperforms FastICA.
Genetic networks inferred from time series of gene expression data

The paper considers the problem of building genetic networks from time series of gene expression data. The class of models of interest is that of systems of differential equations specifying gene-gene interactions and the goal is to infer the network structure from experimental gene expression data. As a mean to regularize the inverse problem, we assume the biologically plausible constraint which imposes limits on the number of genes interacting with any given gene. The existing algorithms for inferring gene network structure heavily rely on the transformation of the system of differential equations into an approximative discretized system. In contrast, our proposed algorithms infer the structure of the gene networks by operating with the exact solutions of the differential equations. For the case of time series of non-uniformly sampled gene expressions, we first fit an optimal sum of exponentials model to each gene, where the best fit is defined by the minimum description length (MDL) principle, the optimal model being subsequently used for interpolating the data at a finer and equidistant grid in time. As a simulating environment we take simple genetic networks, assumed to be the ground truth, where the dynamical interactions between genes are postulated to be linear differential equations. We show that we can recover the sparse structure of the original model using the data generated by the system for a wide range of model parameters (i.e. strengths of the gene-gene interactions).
Assigning Students in Group Work Projects. Can We Do Better than Random?

Group work projects are increasingly used in higher education, but there is little guidance on how best to allocate students to groups. If groups can be engineered to contain compatible people, then the process of group work may be easier and more productive. The Honey and Mumford learning styles questionnaire provides a quick and easy way in which students might be classified into purportedly complementary categories. This paper discusses a comparison of the performance of student groups formed randomly, with those formed using the learning styles questionnaire. We found no significant differences in the performances of these two sets of groups, and we discuss some possible reasons for this.
Gender Difference in Voice Onset Time

Voice onset time is known to be affected by phonetic context, age, native language of the speaker, or presence of a communication disorder in the speaker. The role of gender in VOT production has not been investigated. The present study reports a significant gender difference in VOT production of the /d/ and /t/ stops, with men having shorter VOTs than women (n subjects = 16). Qualitative differences in VOT based on gender are also noted. Although a significant difference in speaking rate between the genders was found, this was not correlated with VOT. Gender differences in VOT have implications for other research.
Sulfated Seaweed Polysaccharides as Multifunctional Materials in Drug Delivery Applications

In the last decades, the discovery of metabolites from marine resources showing biological activity has increased significantly. Among marine resources, seaweed is a valuable source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. The cell walls of marine algae are rich in sulfated polysaccharides, including carrageenan in red algae, ulvan in green algae and fucoidan in brown algae. Sulfated polysaccharides have been increasingly studied over the years in the pharmaceutical field, given their potential usefulness in applications such as the design of drug delivery systems. The purpose of this review is to discuss potential applications of these polymers in drug delivery systems, with a focus on carrageenan, ulvan and fucoidan. General information regarding structure, extraction process and physicochemical properties is presented, along with a brief reference to reported biological activities. For each material, specific applications under the scope of drug delivery are described, addressing in privileged manner particulate carriers, as well as hydrogels and beads. A final section approaches the application of sulfated polysaccharides in targeted drug delivery, focusing with particular interest the capacity for macrophage targeting.
DESIGN, VALIDITY, AND USE OF STRATEGICALLY FOCUSED EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE SURVEYS

This paper presents logic, procedures, validity, and use of employee attitude surveys targeted on strategic objectives of the firm. The logic is that employees at the front line are in an optimal position to report on the degree to which strategic initiatives are being carried out. The procedure is to design survey questions that focus on the initiative rather than on employees' personal feelings or satisfaction. To validate employee reports, the relationships between those reports and customer satisfaction over four quarters of the use of the survey are shown. Evidence shows that the logical and empirical keying of employee surveys to strategic initiatives and objectives of the firm provide data of immediate use to management, in the present case to both marketing and human resources management. By the 1930s employee attitude surveys were being frequently used in business to assess and document employee morale. History shows that, with the advent of the Thurstone procedure for attitude assessment (Thurstone & Chave, 1929), the large scale assessment of attitudes, both at work and elsewhere, took hold. Tiffin in 1942 noted that (p. 318): Until recently, management attempted to keep in touch with the morale of the working force only through such factors as chance remarks by employees, appearance and behavior of men [sic] at work, and occasional reports by supervisors. These methods were none too satisfactory. [I]f morale is to be gauged or measured, means must be found to encourage employees to express their honest feelings and reactions. The most satisfactory method of doing this is by means of an anonymous attitude survey or labor audit.
Sequential residual generator selection for fault detection

Structural methods in model-based fault diagnosis applications are simple and efficient tools for finding candidates for residual generation. However, the structural methods do not take model uncertainties and information about fault behavior into consideration. This may result in selecting residual generators with bad performance to be included in the diagnosis system. By using the Kullback-Leibler divergence, the performance of different residual generators can be compared to find the best one. With the ability to quantify diagnostic performance, the design of residual generators can be optimized by, for example, combining several residual generators such that the diagnostic performance is maximized. The proposed method for residual generation selection is applied to a water tank system to show that the achieved residual performance is improved compared to only use a structural method.
Does contact work in protracted asymmetrical conflict? Appraising 20 years of reconciliation-aimed encounters between Israeli Jews and Palestinians

In the past few decades, planned contact interventions between groups in conflict have played an important role in attempts at improving intergroup relations and achieving peace and reconciliation. This article focuses on such reconciliation-aimed intergroup encounters between Israeli Jews and Palestinians that seek to reduce hostility and increase understanding and cooperation between the two nationalities. Like other contact interventions conducted in settings of intergroup conflict, encounters between Israeli Jews and Palestinians represent a paradoxical project: this is a project that aspires to generate equality and cooperation between groups that are embedded in a protracted asymmetrical conflict. Though existing research teaches us valuable lessons on the effectiveness of contact conducted under optimal conditions, little is said about contact between groups involved in asymmetrical protracted dispute. The goal of this analysis is to examine the evolution of reconciliation-aimed contact interventions between Israeli Jews and Palestinians in the past 20 years. The research method is qualitative, relying on ethnographic data assembled during the relevant period of time. The findings identify and trace the evolution of four major models of Jewish—Palestinian planned encounters: the Coexistence Model, the Joint Projects Model, the Confrontational Model, and the Narrative-Story-Telling Model. The strengths and limitations of each model in transforming intergroup attitudes in asymmetric conflict are discussed.
El papel de las administraciones públicas en el fomento de las empresas de inserción

En este trabajo se resalta la importancia de las empresas de insercion, experiencias que asumen el reto de la integracion de miles de personas en situacion de exclusion social o en riesgo de la misma y constituyen una tipologia especifica entre las entidades de economia social y solidaria. Se agrupan en asociaciones autonomicas y estan potenciando un sector que empieza a despegar en Espana. Su reconocimiento, a traves de la Ley 44/2007, demuestra la relevancia que empiezan a tener dentro de las politicas activas de empleo, a pesar de un insuficiente y desigual apoyo que reciben y que es objeto del presente articulo. El objetivo de este articulo es aportar una panoramica sobre el tema que pueda contribuir a la investigacion y trabajar con la perspectiva de conseguir mejores apoyos y un compromiso efectivo con las empresas de insercion por parte de las administraciones publicas.
The neoconservative assault on the Earth: The environmental imperialism of the Bush administration

On September 11, 2001, nineteen men associated with the al Qaeda terrorist network flew jet airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing 2,976 persons. In response, President George W. Bush committed America to a “war on terrorism. ” The invasion and occupation of two countries, Afghanistan and Iraq, embody the global front of the war. The costs of the wars have been tremendous, with hundreds of billions of dollars spent and more than 100,000 lives lost (mostly civilian). On the domestic front, the president and Congress created the Department of Homeland Security, curtailing the civil liberties of American citizens and heightening surveillance of foreign nationals. This war on terrorism represents a massive mobilization of governmental powers and entails substantial sacrifices on the part of Americans, as well as many others around the world. More of the same can be expected in the Bush Administration’s second term.
Gathering & Collective Movement of Unicycle A ( ge ) nts with Crude Sensing Capabilities

We present a local rule of behavior for extremely simple agents, only able to detect the presence of other agents in a visibility sector directly in front of them. By implementing this simple, local, rule of interaction, the agents coordinate their movement without ever acquiring any information on the exact location of any other agent. The simplicity of the agents allow for a cost effective implementation of the model, since the use of sophisticated equipment is rendered unnecessary. The formation to which the agents converge, be it a rotating regular polygon, a set of rotating polygons, or some other cohesive behavior, depends on a set of simple predefined parameters: the agents’ field of view, their common speed and their rotation radii. The work presented here contains a full analysis of a beacon-agent system, as well as convergence theorems for a 2-agent system and equilibrium analysis for a N -agent system. Gathering in the N -agent case and orientation synchronization in the 2-agent case are demonstrated in simulation. Methods of controlling the location of such a swarm are also discussed and were tested both in simulations and in the lab with actual robots. 1 T ec hn io n C om pu te r Sc ie nc e D ep ar tm en t T eh ni ca l R ep or t C IS -2 01 702 2 01 7
Emergence of Anthrax Edema Toxin as a Master Manipulator of Macrophage and B Cell Functions

Anthrax edema toxin (ET), a powerful adenylyl cyclase, is an important virulence factor of Bacillus anthracis. Until recently, only a modest amount of research was performed to understand the role this toxin plays in the organism’s immune evasion strategy. A new wave of studies have begun to elucidate the effects this toxin has on a variety of host cells. While efforts have been made to illuminate the effect ET has on cells of the adaptive immune system, such as T cells, the greatest focus has been on cells of the innate immune system, particularly the macrophage. Here we discuss the immunoevasive activities that ET exerts on macrophages, as well as new research on the effects of this toxin on B cells.
Localization and array shape estimation using software defined radio array testbed

The emergence of software defined radio (SDR) aims to increase flexibility as well as reduce cost, size, weight and power (SWAP) inherent in traditional hardware radios. This paper is concerned with addressing issues associated with the formation of an array system from multiple SDR boards where each has an independent local oscillators (LO) in a multi-antenna system using representative examples such as localization and array shape estimation. In particular, practical experimental results are initially presented for estimating the unknown location of a single source using an SDR array of known array geometry. Furthermore, in the case that the SDR array geometry is unknown, a novel array shape estimation algorithm is proposed. The proposed algorithm estimates the antenna locations without requiring any external sources. This is achieved by allowing the array elements operate as transceivers.
A Cross‐Cultural Comparison of Korean and American Science Teachers’ Views of Evolution and the Nature of Science

Despite a few international comparisons of the evolutionary beliefs of the general public, comparatively less research has focused on science teachers. Cross‐cultural studies offer profitable opportunities for exploring the interactions among knowledge and belief variables in regard to evolution in different socio‐cultural contexts. We investigated the evolutionary worldviews of pre‐service science teachers from Asia (specifically South Korea), a region often excluded from international comparisons. We compared Korean and American science teachers’: (1) understandings of evolution and the nature of science, and (2) acceptance of evolution in order to elucidate how knowledge and belief relationships are manifested in different cultural contexts. We found that Korean science teachers exhibited ‘moderate’ evolutionary acceptance levels comparable to or lower than American science teacher samples. Gender was significantly related to Korean teachers’ evolution content knowledge and acceptance of evolution, with female Christian biology teachers displaying the lowest values on all measures. Korean science teachers’ understandings of nature of science were significantly related to their acceptance and understanding of evolution; this relationship appears to transcend cultural boundaries. Our new data on Korean teachers, combined with studies from more than 20 other nations, expose the global nature of science teacher ambivalence or antipathy toward evolutionary knowledge.