Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Walking Speed on Peak Plantar Pressure

Background: Plantar pressure measurements often are used as a tool to evaluate pathologic gait. Previous studies, often done at self-selected walking speeds, have used peak plantar pressure to try to predict ulcer formation, compare surgical outcomes, and evaluate orthotic device efficacy. However, the relationship between walking speed and plantar pressures at specific plantar regions has not been clearly defined. Methods: Twenty normal subjects walked on a treadmill at six speeds (0.75 to 2.00 m/s). In-shoe peak plantar pressure was measured at five plantar regions and compared across the range of speeds. Results: Walking speed affected peak plantar pressure differently at the five examined plantar regions. The hallux and heel regions had the highest pressures, which increased linearly with faster speeds. The central and medial forefoot pressures initially increased but plateaued at the faster speeds, while the lateral forefoot had the lowest overall peak pressures, which decreased at the faster walking speeds. Therefore, significant quadratic effects were found at the forefoot. Best-fit regression equations defined distinct pressurespeed relationships at each plantar region (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The effect of walking speed on peak plantar pressure varied with plantar region. To achieve more robust peak plantar pressure measurements, walking speed should be controlled. Determining the normal plantar function across a range of speeds can aid in the development of shoes and foot orthoses. The pressurespeed relationships presented in this study can be used as a comparative tool for evaluating the efficacy of clinical interventions for pressure reduction, especially when walking speed changes may confound the outcomes.
Case-Based Reasoning at General Electric

General Electric has created case-based reasoning systems for remote diagnostics, call center automation, and internal productivity projects. CBR applications have been used to remotely diagnose x-ray machines, locomotives, and aircraft engines. Call centers have CBR systems that assist call takers in helping customers, provide web based customer self-service, and suggest standard responses to e-mail message. Productivity tools based on CBR have automated the appraisal of residential property for GE Mortgage, helped GE Plastics determine the correct pigments for creating a custom color plastic, and allowed GE Plastics to provide a web based tool for selecting a plastics' color
Where are Poor People to Live?: Transforming Public Housing Communities

Nowhere is the tension attending simultaneous political democratization and economic liberalization more sharply felt than in the realm of labour relations. What is happening in Soviet trade unions today? How will the emerging independent unions respond to anticipated rises in unemployment? What kind of social regulation of the labour market will be appropriate in the future? These papers from a pathbreaking US-Soviet conference on labour issues reveal a considerable diversity of views on questions whose resolution will be essential to social peace in this period of transition. Among the noted contributors are Joseph Berliner, Sam Bowles, Richard Freeman, Leonid Gordon, V.L. Kosmarskii, Alla Nazimova, Michael Piore, Boris Rakitskii, Iurii Volkov, Ben Ward and Tatiana Zaslavskaia.
A Log Service Package for the ATLAS TDAQ/DCS Group

This paper introduces the Log Service, developed at CERN within the ATLAS TDAQ/DCS framework. This package remedies the long standing problem of centralizing log messages produced by TDAQ applications in order to ease later access and maintenance. One or multiple Log Servers form the system's archival container, based on the MySQL database engine. A C++ interface is provided to access the Log Servers in a transparent manner. Furthermore, a user-friendly web-based tool intended for developers is available to easily browse and/or remove Log Messages. The outline of these software components are herein explained. Performance testing has been conducted within a controllable environment to observe the behaviour of the Log Service
Visual Search for Conjunctions of Physical and Numerical Size Shows That They Are Processed Independently

The size congruity effect refers to the interaction between numerical magnitude and physical digit size in a symbolic comparison task. Though this effect is well established in the typical 2-item scenario, the mechanisms at the root of the interference remain unclear. Two competing explanations have emerged in the literature: an early interaction model and a late interaction model. In the present study, we used visual conjunction search to test competing predictions from these 2 models. Participants searched for targets that were defined by a conjunction of physical and numerical size. Some distractors shared the target’s physical size, and the remaining distractors shared the target’s numerical size. We held the total number of search items fixed and manipulated the ratio of the 2 distractor set sizes. The results from 3 experiments converge on the conclusion that numerical magnitude is not a guiding feature for visual search, and that physical and numerical magnitude are processed independently, which supports a late interaction model of the size congruity effect.
On suboptimal control design for hybrid automata using predictive control techniques

Abstract In this paper we propose an on-line design technique for the target control problem of hybrid automata. First, we compute off-line the shortest path, which has the minimum discrete cost, from an initial state to the given target set. Next, we derive a controller which successfully drives the system from the initial state to the target set while minimizing a cost function. The model predictive control (MPC) technique is used when the current state is not within a guard set, otherwise the mixed-integer predictive control (MIPC) technique is employed. An on-line, semi-explicit control algorithm is derived by combining the two techniques and applied on a high-speed and energy-saving control problem of the CPU processing.
Participation and Learning Relationships: A Service-Learning Case Study

In a traditional classroom setting, students come in, find their seats, and begin to take notes from a lecture. Possibly, for variety, they complete a worksheet, or work on a textbook assignment. Each of these traditional classroom activities is intended to help students learn the course content and in turn help them achieve some desired course grade. In this scenario, grades become the primary motivator for students to learn, and it is grades which spur the students to participate in classroom activities and discussions. Now imagine a different classroom—a classroom where students enter ready, motivated, and eager to master the days content not because of a fear of poor grades, but because of an internal desire to help others through participation in a class service project. In this classroom, the students understand that they must learn the appropriate skills found in the course content in order to better complete their service objectives, which are also—and not coincidentally—the course learning objectives. Here, students apply their newly learned skills towards the completion of a class service-learning project.
Viral and Epidemiological Determinants of the Invasion Dynamics of Novel Dengue Genotypes

Background Dengue has become a major concern for international public health. Frequent epidemic outbreaks are believed to be driven by a complex interplay of immunological interactions between its four co-circulating serotypes and large fluctuations in mosquito densities. Viral lineage replacement events, caused for example by different levels of cross-protection or differences in viral fitness, have also been linked to a temporary change in dengue epidemiology. A major replacement event was recently described for South-East Asia where the Asian-1 genotype of dengue serotype 2 replaced the resident Asian/American type. Although this was proposed to be due to increased viral fitness in terms of enhanced human-to-mosquito transmission, no major change in dengue epidemiology could be observed. Methods/Results Here we investigate the invasion dynamics of a novel, advantageous dengue genotype within a model system and determine the factors influencing the success and rate of fixation as well as their epidemiological consequences. We find that while viral fitness overall correlates with invasion success and competitive exclusion of the resident genotype, the epidemiological landscape plays a more significant role for successful emergence. Novel genotypes can thus face high risks of stochastic extinction despite their fitness advantage if they get introduced during episodes of high dengue prevalence, especially with respect to that particular serotype. Conclusion The rarity of markers for positive selection has often been explained by strong purifying selection whereby the constraints imposed by dengue's two-host cycle are expected to result in a high rate of deleterious mutations. Our results demonstrate that even highly beneficial mutants are under severe threat of extinction, which would suggest that apart from purifying selection, stochastic effects and genetic drift beyond seasonal bottlenecks are equally important in shaping dengue's viral ecology and evolution.
continuous improvement of physical functioning 6 Chapter 6 Continuous improvement of physical functioning in ankylosing spondylitis patients after the start of TNF-inhibitors : a three year follow up of physical functioning and spinal mobility

Objectives: (i) To establish the 3-year outcome and course of physical functioning and spinal mobility impairments in patients routinely treated with TNFi and (ii) to find predictors thereof. Methods: AS patients eligible for TNFi were followed in a 3-year prospective observational study. Prediction models were developed with linear-mixed-modelling. BASFI and BASMI were used as outcome measures for physical functioning and spinal mobility. Results: At baseline, 257 patients were included and treated with etanercept (n=174) or adalimumab (n=83). Physical functioning improved significantly during the first 24-weeks after the start of TNFi. The BASFI-score decreased from 5.4±2.4 to 3.3±2.6 in week 24, and stabilised thereafter (BASFI year three: 3.6±2.5). The BASMI showed a stable course over time. Lower baseline BASFI and BASMI predicted a better level of physical functioning and spinal mobility after 3 years of TNFi-therapy. Other predictors for a better 3-year outcome and course of physical functioning included absence of comorbidity, physical activity, younger age, and lower BMI at baseline. Conclusions: Physical functioning in routinely TNFi treated AS patients improved up to 24-weeks and stabilised thereafter. Spinal mobility showed a stable course over time. Predictors for the outcome and course of physical functioning after 3-years of TNFi-treatment included baseline BASFI, BASMI, comorbidity, physical activity, and BMI. The identification of these risk factors can be helpful when considering additional treatment options, such as physiotherapy or weight-reduction, to prevent further decline. In addition, these results suggest that the optimal time-point for the evaluation of treatment effects should be at 6 instead of 3 months. 89 continuous improvement of physical functioning
Y2K and the Construction of Risk Perception in Newspapres in Japan and the United States

This study explored cultural construction of risk perception of the Year 2000 problem using content analysis of Japanese and U.S. American newspapers. This study examines national cultural influences on Y2K risk perception, as well as the applicability of risk perception literature to the Y2K problem. Using four risk perception dimensions, responsibility, blame, control, and anticipated impact, 50 articles from a Japanese newspaper and 52 articles from a U.S. American newspaper were coded. Significant differences were found in coverage between the two news papers. The Japanese newspaper attributed more responsibility for dealing with Y2K problems to its own government than the American newspaper. The Japanese had a greater proportion of coverage portraying Y2K problems as under control or controllable than the U.S. American newspaper, whereas the American newspaper had more background material not specifying control, impact or responsibility.
Classification of HIV data by constructing a social network with frequent itemsets

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the last and the most life-threatening phase of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) disease. HIV attacks and heavily affects the immune system of the body which remains unable to resist the disease. HIV uses white blood cells to replicate itself and spreads everywhere in the body. The lifecycle of HIV disease, especially the replication stage must be prominently understood in order to develop effective drugs for treatment. HIV-1 protease enzyme is in charge of cleaving an amino acid octamer into peptides which are used to create proteins by virus. It should be scrutinized properly since it is a potential target to tightly bind drugs to protease for blocking the virus action at an early stage before cell infection. It is very critical to induce a model and predict cleavage of HIV-1 protease on octamers. Several machine learning approaches have been applied for predicting and profiling cleavage rules. However, we propose a novel general approach that can also be applied on different domains. It basically utilizes social network analysis and data mining techniques for classification. This method yet presents promising results that are comparable with existing machine learning methods, besides it gives the opportunity to validate the results obtained by using other techniques from social network analysis perspective. We have used the HIV-1 protease cleavage data set from UCI machine learning repository and demonstrated the effectiveness of our proposed method by comparing it with decision tree, Naive-Bayes and k-nearest neighbor methods.
Use of BAAM with a Digital Intubation Technique in a Trauma Patient

Abbreviations: BAAM = Back Airway Air Flow Monitor; CHF = congestive heart failure Introduction In both prehospital and emergency department settings, control of the airway is recognized as a cornerstone of therapy for the trauma patient. Endotracheal intubation is a definitive method of providing for oxygenation and ventilation as well as for protecting the airway against aspiration of blood and gastric contents. A case is reported that demonstrates the utility of using a recently developed item of adjunctive airway equipment, the Beck Airway Air Flow Monitor, Great Plains Ballistics, Inc. (BAAM)," in combination with the digital intubation technique. " Though certainly not for all intubation situations, traumatic or non-traumatic, this particular method of endotracheal intubation may be useful in either the prehospital or inhospital setting.
Improved sensitivity for meticillin resistance detection in coagulase-negative staphylococci by moxalactam antibiotic discs or a cefoxitin investigation zone.

Meticillin resistance in coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) is very common and is usually mediated by mecA encoding penicillin-binding protein 2a (PBP2a; Fleer et al., 2012). Difficulties in the detection of meticillin resistance in CoNS are due to the variable phenotypic resistance expression of mecA, which is characterized by the presence of a small oxacillinresistant subpopulation and/or transcriptional repression of mecA frequently found in CoNS (Dickinson & Archer, 2000; Finan et al., 2002; Nijjar et al., 2014). Therefore, the cefoxitin disc diffusion method, currently defined as a standard procedure by the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), may fail to detect meticillin resistance in these isolates (CLSI, 2016; EUCAST, 2016). The Committee for Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing of the French Society of Microbiology (CA-SFM) introduced a 30 μg moxalactam disc in 2005, which has been proposed to be a better predictor than cefoxitin for the detection of meticillin resistance in CoNS (CA-SFM, 2012; Join-Lambert et al., 2007). We evaluated the effectiveness of various single and combined methods for the detection of meticillin resistance in CoNS, and derived a practical diagnostic approach.
On sampling of image-based rendering data

Image-based rendering (IBR) generates novel views from images instead of 3D models. It can be considered as a process of sampling the light rays in the space and interpolating the ones in novel views. The sampling of IBR is a high-dimensional sampling problem, and is very challenging. This thesis focuses on answering two questions related to IBR sampling, namely how many images are needed for IBR, and if such number is limited, where should we capture them. There are three major contributions in this dissertation. First, we give a complete analysis on uniform sampling of IBR data. By introducing the surface plenoptic function, we are able to analyze the Fourier spectrum of non-Lambertian and occluded scenes. Given the spectrum, we also apply the generalized sampling theorem on the IBR data, which results in better rendering quality than rectangular sampling for complex scenes. Such uniform sampling analysis provides general guidelines on how the images in IBR should be taken. For instance, it shows that non-Lambertian and occluded scenes often require higher sampling rate. Second, we propose a very general sampling framework named freeform sampling. Freeform sampling has three categories: incremental sampling, decremental sampling and rearranged sampling. When the to-be-reconstructed function values are unknown, freeform sampling becomes active sampling. Algorithms of active sampling are developed for image-based rendering and show better results than the traditional uniform sampling approach. Third, we present a self-reconfigurable camera array that we developed, which features a very efficient algorithm for real-time rendering and the ability of automatically reconfiguring the cameras to improve the rendering quality. Both are based on active sampling. Our camera array is able to render dynamic scenes interactively at high quality. To our best knowledge, it is the first camera array in literature that can reconfigure the camera positions automatically.
A Low Power 10-Bit Time-to-Digital Converter Utilizing Vernier Delay Lines

A low power CMOS time-to-digital converter with resolution adjustable is presented in this paper. The proposed converter is consisted of a counter and two vernier delay lines to achieve the asynchronous measurement. The internal reference clock is formed by a single-end ring oscillator. The delay lines both in reference clock and the vernier delay lines are controlled by a current source, which makes the system to realize resolution adjustable between 8.5ns and 51ns. The whole system is operated by a dual 0.6V supply with 10-bit binary output. The simulated power consumption is less than 10uW. The differential nonlinearity (DNL) error of the vernier delay line is within 0.04LSB, and the integral nonlinearity (INL) error is within 0.05LSB.
A routine for converting regression algorithms into corresponding orthogonal regression algorithms

The routine converts any standard regression algorithm (that calculates both the coefficients and residuals) into a corresponding <italic>orthogonal</italic> regression algorithm. Thus, a standard, or robust, or <italic>L</italic><subscrpt>1</subscrpt> regression algorithm is converted into the corresponding standard, or robust, or <italic>L</italic><subscrpt>1</subscrpt> <italic>orthogonal</italic> algorithm. Such orthogonal procedures are important for three basic reasons. First, they solve the classical errors-in-variables (EV) regression problem. Standard <italic>L</italic><subscrpt>2</subscrpt> orthogonal regression, obtained by converting ordinary least squares regression, is the maximum likelihood solution of the EV problem under Gaussian assumptions. However, this <italic>L</italic><subscrpt>2</subscrpt> solution is known to be unstable under even slight deviations from the model. Thus this routine's ability to create <italic>robust</italic> orthogonal regression algorithms from robust ordinary regression algorithms will also be very useful in practice. Second, orthogonal regression is intimately related to principal components procedures. Therefore, this routine can also be used to create corresponding <italic>L</italic><subscrpt>1</subscrpt>, robust, etc., principal components algorithms. And third, orthogonal regression treats the <italic>x</italic> and <italic>y</italic> variables symmetrically. This is very important in many science and engineering modeling problems. Monte Carlo studies, which test the effectiveness of the routine under a variety of types of data, are given.
Ranging in underwater wireless sensor network: Received signal strength approach

In this paper the problem of ranging between two nodes in a wireless network of acoustic sensors in underwater medium is addressed. One of the fundamental issues in underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) is to determine the location of sensors which is mostly performed by utilizing the range estimation between the unknown and anchor nodes. In general, ranging is performed via measuring either time of arrival (ToA) of the signal or received signal strength (RSS). Previous studies dealt with determining sensors' location in underwater environment with the assumption of straight line wave propagation. However, the fact is that acoustic waves travel over curved path due to the inhomogeneity of the underwater medium. In this paper, we develop a new RSS based ranging algorithm in UWSN. To do that, we first obtain an analytical relation which defines transmission loss of acoustic waves in inhomogeneous medium and, then, based on this relation a new algorithm is proposed for estimating the range between two sensors. The performance of our proposed ranging algorithm is evaluated via computer simulations and is compared with that of the conventional straight line wave propagation model. The superiority of our approach in comparison with ToA based ranging algorithms is its applicability in asynchronous scenario.
Non-invasive ventilation in exacerbations of COPD

Randomized controlled trials have confirmed the evidence and helped to define when and where non invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) should be the first line treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). Noninvasive ventilation has its best indication in moderate-to-severe respiratory acidosis in patients with AECOPD. For this indication, studies conducted in ICU, in wards and in accident and emergency departments confirmed its effectiveness in preventing endotracheal intubation and reducing mortality. The skill of the health care team promotes proper NIV utilization and improves the patient outcome. Patients with severe acidosis or with altered levels of consciousness due to hypercapnic acute respiratory failure are exposed to high risk of NIV failure. In these patients a NIV trial may be attempted in closely monitored clinical settings where prompt endotracheal intubation may be assured.