Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semantic Disambiguation and Linking of Quantitative Mentions in Textual Content

Semantic annotation techniques provide the basis for linking textual content with concepts in well grounded knowledge bases. In spite of their many application areas, current semantic annotation systems have some limitations. One of the prominent limitations of such systems is that none of the existing semantic annotator systems are able to identify and disambiguate quantitative (numerical) content. In textual documents such as Web pages, specially technical contents, there are many quantitative information such as product specifications that need to be semantically qualified. In this paper, we propose an approach for annotating quantitative values in short textual content. In our approach, we identify numeric values in the text and link them to an existing property in a knowledge base. Based on this mapping, we are then able to find the concept that the property is associated with, whereby identifying both the concept and the specific property of that concept that the numeric value belongs to. Results obtained from the developed gold standard dataset show that the proposed automated semantic annotation platform is quite effective in detecting and disambiguating numerical content, and connecting them to associated properties on the external knowledge base. Our experiments show that our proposed approach is able to reach an accuracy of over 70% for semantically annotating quantitative content.
Vitamin D Deficiency, Cognitive Impairment and Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Recent preventive strategies for patients with cognitive impairment include the identification of modifiable somatic risk factors like vitamin D deficiency. Methods: A systematic literature research and meta-analysis were conducted to assess the association of cognitive impairment and vitamin D deficiency. Results: Data from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies suggest an association between cognitive impairment and vitamin D deficiency. Meta-analysis of 5 cross-sectional and 2 longitudinal studies comprising 7,688 participants showed an increased risk of cognitive impairment in those with low vitamin D compared with normal vitamin D (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.91–3.00; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Methodological limitations of these studies comprise heterogeneity of study populations, different forms of cognitive assessment, the problem of reverse causality, different definitions of vitamin D deficiency and inconsistent control for confounders. As the value of vitamin D substitution in cognitive impairment remains doubtful, a long-time major placebo-controlled randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation in participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) should be started.
Reasoning about Recursive Probabilistic Programs*

This paper presents a wp–style calculus for obtaining expectations on the outcomes of (mutually) recursive probabilistic programs. We provide several proof rules to derive one– and two–sided bounds for such expectations, and show the soundness of our wp–calculus with respect to a probabilistic pushdown automaton semantics. We also give a wp–style calculus for obtaining bounds on the expected runtime of recursive programs that can be used to determine the (possibly infinite) time until termination of such programs.
Hearing screening.

After completing this article, readers should be able to: 1. Describe the prevalence and burden of hearing impairment. 2. Delineate the “gold” and “proxy” gold standards for measuring hearing impairment. 3. Describe the screening tests currently used to detect newborn hearing impairment. 4. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of universal newborn hearing screening. 5. Describe appropriate hearing screening methods after infancy.
Optically gated beating-heart imaging

The constant motion of the beating heart presents an obstacle to clear optical imaging, especially 3D imaging, in small animals where direct optical imaging would otherwise be possible. Gating techniques exploit the periodic motion of the heart to computationally “freeze” this movement and overcome motion artifacts. Optically gated imaging represents a recent development of this, where image analysis is used to synchronize acquisition with the heartbeat in a completely non-invasive manner. This article will explain the concept of optical gating, discuss a range of different implementation strategies and their strengths and weaknesses. Finally we will illustrate the usefulness of the technique by discussing applications where optical gating has facilitated novel biological findings by allowing 3D in vivo imaging of cardiac myocytes in their natural environment of the beating heart.
Residual Voltage in Biphasic Electrical Stimulation: Cause, Clues, and Control

Electrical stimulation of neural tissue has been known to evoke functional responses in ani-mals. Stimulation is primarily performed by passing controlled, symmetric biphasic currentpulses to an electrode placed near the neural tissue. The biphasic current pulse consists of anegative pulse, followed by a positive pulse to maintain charge neutrality. A theoretical anal-ysis on a ? rst order electrode-electrolyte (tissue) interface model has shown that perfectlybalanced input current signals do not ensure net neutrality at the interface, due to an unre-coverable loss of charge via the faradaic impedance. In chronically implanted devices, there iscurrently no practical way to quickly identify changes that occur at the electrode-tissue inter-face, especially in high-density electrode arrays. This work explores the extent to which theresidual voltage can act as a preliminary indicator of electrode degradation, because residualvoltage is essentially a characteristic of the interface. While residual voltage provides timelyfeedback when sampled at regular intervals, it can accumulate and a DC voltage on a stimu-lation electrode can be potentially unsafe in a chronically implanted device. The method ofdelivering current signals has traditionally been implemented as an open loop system. Thiswork also demonstrates that one can control the residual voltage by correcting the positivepulse of the biphasic signal based on the existing state of the electrode-electrolyte/tissueinterface. While the resulting biphasic stimulation waveform is imbalanced, the interfaceis electrochemically neutral. The updated value of the imbalanced anodic pulse width canprovide us meta-data about the interface, in case there is any degradation. By controllingthe residual voltage at the electrode actively with feedback, the proposed closed loop systemwill improve the safety of neural stimulator systems.
Great Apes' Risk-Taking Strategies in a Decision Making Task

We investigate decision-making behaviour in all four non-human great ape species. Apes chose between a safe and a risky option across trials of varying expected values. All species chose the safe option more often with decreasing probability of success. While all species were risk-seeking, orangutans and chimpanzees chose the risky option more often than gorillas and bonobos. Hence all four species' preferences were ordered in a manner consistent with normative dictates of expected value, but varied predictably in their willingness to take risks.
Effect of sealing infected dentin with glass ionomer cement on the abundance and localization of MMP-2, MMP-8, and MMP-9 in young permanent molars in vivo.

BACKGROUND The study of MMPs' behavior in carious lesions contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in dentin reorganization after restoration. AIM To compare the abundance and localization of MMPs 2, 8, and 9 in infected dentin before and after restoration. DESIGN The sample consisted of 23 young permanent molars with active deep carious lesions. Infected carious dentin samples were collected from the same tooth at baseline and 60 days after cavity lining with GIC and composite resin restoration and processed for immunohistochemistry assays. After digital images were obtained, two calibrated operators analyzed the samples according to the immunostaining intensity and the MMPs' localization. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS The intensity of immunostaining for MMP-8 was reduced after 60 days (P = 0.02), and no difference was observed for MMP-2 (P = 0.32) and MMP-9 (P = 0.14). The MMPs' distribution was generalized in the intertubular dentin and absent or located in the intratubular dentin, regardless of the period. CONCLUSION The sealing of infected carious dentin in young permanent molars reduced the expression of MMP-8, which is consistent with the initial remodeling process of the dentin matrix.
Endovascular Therapeutic Hypothermia for Acute Ischemic Stroke: ICTuS 2/3 Protocol

Therapeutic hypothermia improves neurological outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest or neonatal hypoxic–ischemic injury. Although supported by preclinical evidence, therapeutic hypothermia for acute stroke remains under study. In the Intravascular Cooling in the Treatment of Stroke (ICTuS) trial, awake stroke patients were successfully cooled using an endovascular cooling catheter and a novel antishivering regimen. In the ICTuS-L study, the combination of endovascular hypothermia and thrombolysis proved feasible; while hypothermia was associated with no increased risk of bleeding complications, there was an increased association with pneumonia. Despite efforts to expedite, cooling began on average six-hours after stroke onset. We designed a novel Phase 2/3 trial to further test the safety of combined thrombolysis and endovascular hypothermia and to determine if the combination shows superiority compared with thrombolysis alone. ICTuS 2 (n = 400) will assess four hypotheses, and if milestones are met, ICTuS 3 (n = 1200) will begin as a seamless continuation for a total sample of 1600 patients. The ICTuS 2 milestones include (1) target temperature reached within six-hours of symptom onset; (2) no increased risk of pneumonia; (3) no increase in signs/symptoms of fluid overload due to chilled saline infusions; and (4) sufficient recruitment to complete the trial on time. The ICTuS 2/3 protocol contains novel features–based on the previous ICTuS and ICTuS-L trials – designed to achieve these milestones. Innovations include scrupulous pneumonia surveillance, intravenous chilled saline immediately after randomization to induce rapid cooling, and a requirement for catheter placement within two-hours of thrombolysis. An Investigational Device Exemption has been obtained and an initial group of sites initiated.
Synthesis of (Polymer blend-MgO) Nanocomposites and Studying Electrical Properties for Piezoelectric Application

Nanocomposites prepared by casting method with different percentages of nano magnesium oxide (0, 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 6) wt%. The structural and electrical properties of (PAA-CMC-MgO) nanocomposites were studied.The experimental results of Scanning electron microscopy shows the surface morphology of the (PAA-CMC-MgO) nanocomposites where many aggregates or chunks randomly distributed on the top surface, homogeneous and coherent.The D.C electrical conductivity for (PAA-CMC-MgO) nanocomposites increased with increasing of temperature and magnesium oxid nanoparticles concentration, while activation energy decreases with increasing of the magnesium oxid nanoparticles concentration.The A.C electrical properties show that the dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the nanocomposites decrease with increasing the frequency of applied electrical field and they increase with the increase of the concentration of the magnesium oxide nanoparticles. The A.C electrical conductivity increases with increasing the concentration of magnesium oxide nanoparticles and also increases with the increase frequency, as well as almost constant at high frequency.The results of sensor application showed that the electrical resistance of (PAA-CMC-MgO) nanocomposite decreases with increases in pressure.
Divide et impera: Acceleration of DTI tractography using multi‐GPU parallel processing

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography technique represents neural fiber pathways by using local tensor information based on water diffusion anisotropy in brain white matter. However, DTI tractography is often unable to reconstruct crossing, kissing, and branching fiber trajectories due to intrinsic limitations of DTI. Increasingly complex tractography algorithms provided reliable and visually pleasing results, yet at an increasing computational cost in comparison with simple tractography algorithms. To shorten the computation time, we developed multi‐GPU (graphics processing unit)‐based parallelized versions of deterministic and probabilistic tractography algorithms to investigate their utility for near‐real time tractography. We were able to dramatically reduce the computation time using multiple GPUs (three NVIDIA TESLA C1060s) in comparison to the central processing unit (CPU) sequential processing. Deterministic tractography could accelerate 101 times faster, and probabilistic tractography could accelerate 63 times faster. The results showed that parallel tractography algorithm is well suited with GPU which has fundamentally parallelized architecture. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 23, 256–264, 2013
SAMPLE PAGES TO BE FOLLOWED EXACTLY IN PREPARING SCRIPTS MULTI-PARAMETRIC CONSTRAINED OPTIMAL CONTROL OF A PNEUMATIC ARTIFICIAL MUSCLE

The Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) is a highly non-linear form of actuation that is characterized by a decrease in the actuating length when pressurized. Its non-linear nature and time-varying parameters cause difficulties in modelling their characteristics and designing controllers for high-performance positioning systems. In this article, the control problem of a PAM is considered. A constrained linear and PieceWise Affine (PWA) system model approximation is utilized and a controller composed of: a) a feedforward term regulating control input at specific setpoints, and b) a Constrained Finite Time Optimal Controller (CFTOC) handling any deviations from the system’s equilibrium points is synthesized. Simulation studies are used to investigate the efficacy of the suggested controller. Copyright Controlo 2012
Three-valued abstractions of games: uncertainty, but with precision

We present a framework for abstracting two-player turn-based games that preserves any formula of the alternating /spl mu/-calculus (AMC). Unlike traditional conservative abstractions which can only prove the existence of winning strategies for only one of the players, our framework is based on 3-valued games, and it can be used to prove and disprove formulas of AMC including arbitrarily nested strategy quantifiers. Our main contributions are as follows. We define abstract 3-valued games and an alternating refinement relation on these that preserves winning strategies for both players. We provide a logical characterization of the alternating refinement relation. We show that our abstractions are as precise as can be via completeness results. We present AMC formulas that solve 3-valued games with /spl omega/-regular objectives, and we show that such games are determined in a 3-valued sense. We also discuss the complexity of model checking arbitrary AMC formulas on 3-valued games and of checking alternating refinement.
Interaction et contexte dans les interfaces zoomables

La plupart des logiciels interactifs font un usage intensif des systemes de menus. Ceux-ci permettent de selectionner des operations variees mais n'offrent generalement pas de moyen de controler leur execution. Un second interacteur doit alors etre utilise (typiquement une boite de dialogue) ce qui impose une decomposition d'une action unique (du point de vue de l'utilisateur) en une suite d'interactions successives. Nous proposons un nouveau type de menu, appele Control Menu, qui permet de fluidifier l'interaction en unifiant la selection et le controle des operations. L'acces interactif aux bases de donnees et la navigation dans les espaces d'information de grande taille constituent des tâches primordiales pour de nombreuses applications. Or, les systemes de visualisation posent souvent des problemes de desorientation, les utilisateurs ayant frequemment des difficultes a se localiser precisement dans l'espace d'information et a trouver les donnees recherchees. Cette these propose plusieurs techniques d'aide contextuelle pour remedier a ces problemes dans le cadre des interfaces basees sur le concept de zoom semantique (ou interfaces zoomables). Le premier type d'aide, qui offre une vue " en profondeur " de l'espace d'information via une representation hierarchique, permet non seulement de faciliter la localisation de la position courante et des informations recherchees mais aussi d'accelerer la navigation. La seconde technique est basee sur la generation dynamique de vues transparentes et temporaires que les utilisateurs peuvent creer et controler en un seul geste. Ces vues interactives se superposent a la vue courante en y rajoutant des informations contextuelles ou historiques qui aident l'utilisateur a comprendre ce qui entoure le point de focus ou quel chemin a ete effectue pour arriver a ce dernier. Ces aides contextuelles necessitent un couplage etroit entre interaction et presentation, qui est obtenu en utilisant des Control Menus.
A naive approach to compose aerial images in a mosaic fashion

There is growing interest in multiple sequence image analysis to represent those data in a new landscape, for instance reconstruction of old films, mosaicing of images. This paper focuses attention on the mosaic problem; it introduces a naive method to link together images where a common part of the scene is present among two images. An application has been developed to test the method on aerial sequences of images. Given the long distance of aircraft from the scene, the method assumes images without distortions and without problems of prospective. Moreover, the application does not need any additional parameters coming from human experience and for this reason it can be thought of as a full automated application. In our experimentation the method shows good results and it appears robust and accurate for that kind of image.
The cellular prion protein PrPc is a partner of the Wnt pathway in intestinal epithelial cells

The cellular prion protein (PrPc), a component of desmosomes, contributes to the intestinal barrier function. A nuclear pool of PrPc interacts with γ-catenin; up-regulates the transcriptional activity of the β-catenin/TCF7L2 complex, the main effector of the canonical Wnt pathway; and promotes intestinal cell proliferation.
Kinetic properties of intramembrane charge movement under depolarized conditions in frog skeletal muscle fibers

Intramembrane charge movement was measured on skeletal muscle fibers of the frog in a single Vaseline-gap voltage clamp. Charge movements determined both under polarized conditions (holding potential, VH = - 100 mV; Qmax = 30.4 +/- 4.7 nC/micro(F), V = -44.4 mV, k = 14.1 mV; charge 1) and in depolarized states (VH = 0 mV; Qmax = 50.0 +/- 6.7 nC/micro(F), V = -109.1 mV, k = 26.6 mV; charge 2) had properties as reported earlier. Linear capacitance (LC) of the polarized fibers was increased by 8.8 +/- 4.0% compared with that of the depolarized fibers. Using control pulses measured under depolarized conditions to calculate charge 1, a minor change in the voltage dependence (to V = -44.6 mV and k = 14.5 mV) and a small increase in the maximal charge (to Qmax = 31.4 +/- 5.5 nC/micro(F] were observed. While in most cases charge 1 transients seemed to decay with a single exponential time course, charge 2 currents showed a characteristic biexponential behavior at membrane potentials between -90 and -180 mV. The voltage dependence of the rate constant of the slower component was fitted with a simple constant field diffusion model (alpha m = 28.7 s-1, V = -124.0 mV, and k = 15.6 mV). The midpoint voltage (V) was similar to that obtained from the Q-V fit of charge 2, while the steepness factor (k) resembled that of charge 1. This slow component could also be isolated using a stepped OFF protocol; that is, by hyperpolarizing the membrane to -190 mV for 200 ms and then coming back to 0 mV in two steps. The faster component was identified as an ionic current insensitive to 20 mM Co2+ but blocked by large hyperpolarizing pulses. These findings are consistent with the model implying that charge 1 and the slower component of charge 2 interconvert when the holding potential is changed. They also explain the difference previously found when comparing the steepness factors of the voltage dependence of charge 1 and charge 2.
Automated Cough Assessment on a Mobile Platform

The development of an Automated System for Asthma Monitoring (ADAM) is described. This consists of a consumer electronics mobile platform running a custom application. The application acquires an audio signal from an external user-worn microphone connected to the device analog-to-digital converter (microphone input). This signal is processed to determine the presence or absence of cough sounds. Symptom tallies and raw audio waveforms are recorded and made easily accessible for later review by a healthcare provider. The symptom detection algorithm is based upon standard speech recognition and machine learning paradigms and consists of an audio feature extraction step followed by a Hidden Markov Model based Viterbi decoder that has been trained on a large database of audio examples from a variety of subjects. Multiple Hidden Markov Model topologies and orders are studied. Performance of the recognizer is presented in terms of the sensitivity and the rate of false alarm as determined in a cross-validation test.
What Hinders Teachers in Using Computer and Video Games in the Classroom? Exploring Factors Inhibiting the Uptake of Computer and Video Games

The purpose of this study is to identify factors inhibiting teachers' use of computer and video games in the classroom setting and to examine the degree to which teaching experience and gender affect attitudes toward using games. Six factors that hinder teachers' use of games in the classroom were discovered: Inflexibility of curriculum, Negative effects of gaming, Students' lack of readiness, Lack of supporting materials, Fixed class schedules, and Limited budgets. Lack of supporting material, Fixed class schedules, and Limited budgets were factors that female teachers believed to be more serious obstacles to game use in the classroom than male teachers did. Experienced teachers, more so than inexperienced teachers, believed that adopting games in teaching was hindered by Inflexibility of curriculum and Negative effects of gaming. On the other hand, inexperienced teachers, more so than experienced teachers, believed that adopting games in teaching is less hindered by Lack of supporting materials and Fixed class schedules.