Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sign language recognition

Millions of people around the world suffer from hearing disability. This large number demonstrates the importance of developing a sign language recognition system converting sign language to text for sign language to become clearer to understand without a translator. In this paper, a sign language recognition system using Backpropagation Neural Network Algorithm is proposed based on American Sign Language. The neural network of this system used extracted image features as input and it was trained using back-propagation algorithm to recognize which letter was the given letter with accuracy of respectively 70% and 85% with two proposed classifiers.
Universal Approximation of a Class of Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Neural Networks in Nonlinear Identification

Neural networks (NNs), type-1 fuzzy logic systems (T1FLSs), and interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems (IT2FLSs) have been shown to be universal approximators, which means that they can approximate any nonlinear continuous function. Recent research shows that embedding an IT2FLS on an NN can be very effective for a wide number of nonlinear complex systems, especially when handling imperfect or incomplete information. In this paper we show, based on the Stone-Weierstrass theorem, that an interval type-2 fuzzy neural network (IT2FNN) is a universal approximator, which uses a set of rules and interval type-2membership functions (IT2MFs) for this purpose. Simulation results of nonlinear function identification using the IT2FNN for one and three variables and for the Mackey-Glass chaotic time series prediction are presented to illustrate the concept of universal approximation.
An eHealth diptych: the impact of privacy regulation on medical error and malpractice litigation.

This is the third in a series of articles exploring the liability implications for technologically-mediated health care. In the first, Cyber-Malpractice: Legal Exposure for Cybermedicine, 25 Am. J. Law & Med. 327 (1999), I primarily looked at online providers and the difficulties faced in constructing causes of action against online medical advice sites. In the second, Structural and Legal Implications of e-Health, 33(4) J. Health L. 606 (2000), I explored some of the more fundamental structural changes wrought by eHealth and outlined some of their implications for liability models. In this article I argue that two well-publicized and pressing health care issues, ensuring the privacy of health information and combating the medical error problem, are closely related. I argue that they find common ground in process re-engineering and the adoption of technologies that, at an operational level, will intersect and frequently combine. The article also explores how infrastructure developments and how some unintended consequences of the HIPAA Privacy Regulations will have important effects on malpractice law and process, in some cases shifting the balance much further towards plaintiffs.
Towards automatic parallelization of “for” loops

An effective mechanism to improve the performance of a computing device is to include multiple processing units on a single integrated die. To exploit the performance gain of this mechanism, developing parallel programs is necessary. However, some existing programs are developed for serial execution and manual redesign of all such programs is tedious. Hence, automatic parallelization of existing serial programs is advantageous. One of the methods to execute programs in parallel is to make use of parallel computing platforms. With myriad number of parallel computing platforms, abstracting them from the developer is propitious. In this paper we propose an algorithm which is capable of detecting potential `for' loops in C code that can be parallelized using OpenMP platform. The algorithm proposed ensures the correctness of the program. It performs the required parallelization without post execution analysis, which avoids both execution of code and monitoring of resources accessed by the program.
The Leeuwenhoek Lecture, 1975 Bacterial sporulation: a problem in the biochemistry and genetics of a primitive developmental system

In 1958 Keilin gave the Leeuwenhoek Lecture and in it he described fairly extensively the observations that Leeuwenhoek had made of the dormant state among micro-organisms. There would be no point in going over this material; instead it will be useful to take up the story again in 1877. This was when Robert Koch wrote a classical paper on the work he had done with the rod-shaped bacteria that were known to cause anthrax. He developed a technique for culturing these in aqueous humour and he demonstrated clearly that the spore and the vegetative cell which differ enormously in size, appearance and staining properties are, in fact, interconvertible forms of the same organism (Koch 1877). In making this observation he had discovered the most primitive of life cycles and one which was subsequently found to occur in a variety of Gram-positive bacilli. From that time onwards bacterial spores have remained of interest for medical and veterinary reasons and also in the food preservation industry and in agriculture. More recently sporulation in bacilli has been studied as a developmental system that might be susceptible to analysis in terms of modern biochemistry. A considerable amount of work has now been done and it seems an appropriate moment to stop and enquire how successful these efforts have been.
Maintenance cost of a software design: A value-based approach

Alternative valid software design solutions can give response to the same software product requirements. In addition, a great part of the success of a software project depends on the selected software design. However, there are few methods to quantify how much value will be added by each design strategy, and hence very little time is spent choosing the best design option. This paper presents a new approach to estimate and quantify how profitable is to improve a design solution. This will be achieved by estimating the maintenance cost of a software project using two main variables: The probability of change of each design artifact, and the cost associated to each change. Two techniques are proposed in this paper to support this approach: COCM (Change-Oriented Configuration Management) and CORT (Change-Oriented Requirement Tracing).
Dimensionally regularized box and phase-space integrals involving gluons and massive quarks

The basic box and phase-space integrals needed to compute at second order the three-jet decay rate of the Z-boson into massive quarks are presented in this paper. Dimensional regularization is used to regularize the infrared divergences that appear in intermediate steps. Finally, the cancellation of these divergences among the virtual and the real contributions is showed explicitly.
Effects of changes in abdominal pressure on left ventricular performance and regional blood flow

Many clinical conditions are associated with an increase in abdominal pressure. While the effects on venous return have been studied in the past little attention has been given to the effect of abdominal pressure on left-sided hemodynamic events. The effects of acute changes in abdominal pressure (Pab) on left ventricular (LV) hemodynamics and outflow distribution were evaluated in ten open-chest dogs, which had undergone right heart bypass to eliminate the influence of changes in Pab on systemic venous return. Pressures were measured in the left atrium (Pab), aorta (Pab), and stomach (Pab). Electromagnetic flow probes were positioned around the ascending aorta (Qaa), descending aorta (Qaa) and the innominate or subclavian artery (Qin) to reflect total cardiac output and the respective regional caudad and cephalad blood flows. Compressing the abdomen to increase acutely Pab (9.2 ± 0.6 torr) also significantly increased Pao (7.8 ± 1.2 torr), Pla (1.7 ± 0.4 torr), and Qin (15.2 ± 4.5%), while Qaa (-9.5 ± 2.0%) and Qda (-26.3 ± 7.0%) significantly decreased. Opposite findings were obtained immediately after release of abdominal compression. Thus, an acute increase in Pab with a constant pulmonary artery inflow increased the after-load imposed on the left ventricle and redistributed LV output, with a reduction in flow to the abdomen. Part of the fall in Qaa and increase in Pla could be attributed to passive elevation of the diaphragm by the increase in Pab, i.e., heart-lung-diaphragm interdependence. We conclude that acute changes in Pab may significantly effect left-sided hemodynamic events through changes in LV afterload, regional distribution of cardiac output, and diaphragmatic position. These findings have important clinical implications for understanding hemodynamic events under numerous conditions associated with changes in Pab.
Reduction of MicroRNA 122 Expression in IFNL3 CT/TT Carriers and during Progression of Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

ABSTRACT The microRNA miR-122 is highly expressed in the liver and stimulates hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication in vitro. IFNL3 (lambda-3 interferon gene) polymorphisms and the expression of miR-122 have been associated with sustained virological response (SVR) to treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). We investigated, in vivo, the relationship between miR-122 expression, IFNL3 polymorphism, fibrosis, and response to PEG-IFN plus ribavirin. Pretreatment liver biopsy specimens and serum samples from 133 patients with CHC were included. Sixty-six patients achieved SVR, and 64 failed to respond to the treatment (43 nonresponders [NR] and 21 relapsers [RR]). All stages of fibrosis were represented, with 39, 50, 23, and 19 patients, respectively, having Metavir scores of F1, F2, F3, and F4. miR-122 expression was assessed by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and IFNL3 rs12979860 by direct sequencing. Hepatic miR-122 expression was higher in patients with the IFNL3 CC genotype than in those with the IFNL3 CT or TT genotype, in all patients (P = 0.025), and in NRs plus RRs (P = 0.013). Increased hepatic miR-122 was more strongly associated with complete early virological response (cEVR) (P = 0.003) than with SVR (P = 0.016). In multivariate analysis, increased hepatic miR-122 was only associated with the IFNL3 CC genotype. miR-122 was decreased in patients with advanced fibrosis (Metavir scores of F3 and F4) compared to its levels in patients with mild and moderate fibrosis (F1 and F2) (P = 0.01). Serum and hepatic expression of miR-122 were not associated. The association between miR-122 and IFNL3 was stronger than the association between miR-122 and response to treatment. miR-122 may play a role in the early viral decline that is dependent on IFNL3 and the innate immune response. IMPORTANCE miR-122 plays a crucial role during HCV infection. Moreover, it was reported that miR-122 binding within the HCV genome stimulates its replication. Moreover, miR-122 is highly expressed within hepatocytes, where it regulates many cellular pathways. A reduction of miR-122 expression has been suggested to be associated with responsiveness to IFN-based therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Several independent genome-wide association studies reported a strong association between IFNL3 polymorphism and responsiveness to IFN-based therapy. We report here a strong association between the expression of miR-122 and IFNL3 polymorphism that is independent of the response to the treatment. Our data suggest that modification of miR-122 expression may play an important role in the molecular mechanism associated with IFNL3 polymorphism. Moreover, we report a reduction of miR-122 at more advanced stages of fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
EFFECTS OF D-AMPHETAMINE UPON BRAIN AMINE CONTENT AND LOCOMOTOR ACTIVITY OF MICE.

d -Amphetamine, cocaine and pipradrol increased the locomotor activity of groups of five mice. Although both cocaine and pipradrol caused greater increases in locomotor activity than those attained with d -amphetamine, only d -amphetamine caused significant changes in brain norepinephrine, dopamine or 5-HT levels at doses which increased locomotor activity. These results indicate that changes in brain amines caused by d -amphetamine are neither secondary to the activity-increasing effects of d -amphetamine nor result from a nonspecific action of drugs which increase locomotor activity. Changes in locomotor activity caused by d -amphetamine were not correlated closely with changes in the brain content of norepinephrine, dopamine or 5-HT. Small doses of d -amphetamine increased brain dopamine levels. Larger doses decreased the brain content of norepinephrine and increased the brain content of 5-HT. Pretreatment of mice with either iproniazid or reserpine enhanced the activity-increasing effect of d -amphetamine.
The Use of Argon Laser Punctal Stenosis in Patients With Contact Lens-Induced Dry Eyes

Objective: To determine the efficacy of argon laser punctal stenosis in patients with contact lens-induced dry eyes. Methods: A retrospective review of 25 eyes of 13 patients who underwent argon laser punctal stenosis to improve their contact lens intolerance was performed. The mean age was 31 (range, 21–52) years and 11 patients (85%) were women. The mean Schirmer I test was 15.2 (range, 3–35). Results: All patients tolerated the procedure well. In 19 eyes, the treatment involved only the lower punctum, whereas in six eyes, it involved both the upper and lower puncta. Eight patients required more than one treatment session (range, 2–6). At follow-up after 6 months, 10 of the 13 (77%) patients reported a substantial improvement in their symptoms and contact lens wear time. Conclusions: Argon laser punctual stenosis provides a useful and titratable treatment of contact lens intolerance due to dry eyes.
The moving staircase - Problems of appraisal and evaluation in a turbulent environment

This paper considers the problems of evaluating the benefits of an investment in information technology and systems against a background of institutional change. It is based on a case study in the National Health Service and follows the progress of a project to introduce benefits realisation in NHS Trusts. The case illustrates the importance of personal, hands‐on attention to benefits management and calls attention to the different contingencies faced by managers in attempting to introduce evaluation or benefits realisation schemes. It concludes that, where managers face “certain” contingencies, formative evaluation will be beneficial, but where the contingencies are uncertain, structural changes in the organisation may be more effective in achieving benefits. The paper ends with a plea for evaluation activities to be re‐integrated into their organisational context.
AcctionNet : A Dataset Of Human Activity Recognition Using On-phone Motion Sensors

Smartphones have become ubiquitous in modern society. With almost everyone carrying a smartphone in their pocket, the availability of sensor data (accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.) has sky rocketed. How we can use all this sensor data to benefit smartphone users remains an open problem. We present a new human activity recognition dataset, AcctionNet, we hope provides one avenue to explore this wealth of data. AcctionNet comprises 10.3 million data-points and 13 different activity labels. AcctionNet is, as far as the authors are aware, the largest human activity recognition dataset that includes more than 5 labels. We benchmark the dataset using various state of the art imaging methods for time series, as well as standard deep learning models.
Sensitive RIA measures testosterone concentrations in prepubertal and pubertal children comparable to tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract Background. Immunoassays have been criticized for poor accuracy at low testosterone concentrations. Mass spectrometry (MS) has been proposed as the only reliable method for testosterone determination. The aim of this study was to compare a sensitive testosterone radioimmunoassay (RIA) with results from different MS. Methods. We compared testosterone concentrations determined by a sensitive testosterone RIA, lower limit of detection 0.03 nmol/L and limit of quantitation 0.1 nmol/L, with four tandem MS that were included in an international external quality assessment program for laboratory medicine. We also compared the morning concentrations of testosterone in girls and boys at different pubertal stages, using results from the RIA, with reported values determined by LC-MS/MS, developed for androgen determination in children. Results. The mean (SD), concentrations were similar between RIA and MS: 1.5 (0.3) and 1.4 (0.4) in the child/women range (0.8–2.6 nmol/L) and 16.0 (3.7) and 17.8 (4.5) nmol/L for the adult male range (10.1–30.0 nmol/L), respectively. The ratio between RIA and MS versus results from mean values of the four MS methods was 1.0 (0.18); 1.1 (0.18) for child/women concentrations and 0.9 (0.13) for male testosterone concentrations. Furthermore, compared to the pediatric reference values determined by LC-MS/MS, the sensitive testosterone RIA delivered similar testosterone values across the different pubertal stages. Conclusions. The comparison between different tandem MS methods and a sensitive testosterone RIA illustrates that there are immunoassays that deliver clinically useful information in prepubertal and pubertal children.
Detection of Subclinical Cardiac Involvement in Systemic Sclerosis by Echocardiographic Strain Imaging

Background: Cardiac involvement is one of the major problems in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Subclinical cardiac involvement has a higher frequency than thought previously. In this study we investigated whether subclinical cardiac involvement can be detected by using echocardiographic strain imaging in SSc patients without pulmonary hypertension. Methods: Echocardiographic examinations were performed to 27 SSc patients and 26 healthy controls. Left ventricular strain parameters were obtained from apical views and average strain value was calculated from these measurements. Results: There were no significant differences between patients and controls regarding two‐dimensional (2D), conventional Doppler and tissue Doppler velocity measurements. Strain was reduced in 6 of 12 segments of the left ventricle (LV) and in 1 of 2 segments of the right ventricle (RV). Strain rate (SR) was reduced in 2 of 12 segments of the LV and 1 of 2 segments of the RV in SSc patients as compared to controls (P < 0.05 for all). These involvements did not match any particular coronary artery distribution. More important differences were detected by average strain and SR values of the LV between patients and controls (19.78 ± 3.00% vs 23.41 ± 2.73%, P < 0.001; 2.01 ± 0.41 vs 2.23 ± 0.27/sec, P = 0.026, respectively). Furthermore, carbon monoxide diffusion capacity (DLCO) in scleroderma patients significantly correlated with LV average strain (r = 0.59; P = 0.001). Conclusion: Evaluation of ventricular function by using echocardiographic strain imaging appears to be useful to detect subclinical cardiac involvement in SSc patients with normal standard echocardiographic and tissue Doppler velocity findings.
Is More Information Better than Less? Understanding the Impact of Demand Response Mechanisms in Energy Markets

Due to the integration of intermittent resources of power generation such as wind and solar, the amount of supplied energy will show unprecedented fluctuations. Electricity retailers can partially meet the challenge of matching demand and volatile supply by shifting power demand according to the fluctuating supply side. This so-called Demand Response mechanism requires innovations in Information Systems such as Advanced Metering Infrastructures. Whereas the technology side of these infrastructures is relatively well understood, further effort, to quantify the economic dimension of Demand Response, is strongly needed. Therefore, we present the foundation of a Demand Response system to model both costs and revenues based on-real world data. Although our model suggests that an average energy retailer faces initial setup costs for the infrastructure of up to €24 million, we provide evidence that savings from load shifting exceed the running costs of the Information System significantly – by more than €250k per year. With higher information granularities, revenues from Demand Response increase further. However, this effect is countervailed by disproportionately growing communication costs and opposes the common expectation that more information is better than less.
Enhanced Integration of Multisensory Body Information by Proximity to “Habitual Action Space”

Previous research suggests integration of visual and somatosensory inputs is enhanced within reaching (peripersonal) space. In such experiments, somatosensory inputs are presented on the body while visual inputs are moved relatively closer to, or further from the body. It is unclear, therefore, whether enhanced integration in “peripersonal space” is truly due to proximity of visual inputs to the body space, or, simply the distance between the inputs (which also affects integration). Using a modified induction of the rubber hand illusion, here we measured proprioceptive drift as an index of visuosomatosensory integration when distance between the two inputs was constrained, and absolute distance from the body was varied. Further, we investigated whether integration varies with proximity of inputs to the habitual action space of the arm—rather than the actual arm itself. In Experiment 1, integration was enhanced with inputs proximal to habitual action space, and reduced with lateral distance from this space. This was not attributable to an attentional or perceptual bias of external space because the pattern of proprioceptive drift was opposite for left and right hand illusions, that is, consistently maximal at the shoulder of origin (Experiment 2). We conclude that habitual patterns of action modulate visuosomatosensory integration. It appears multisensory integration is modulated in locations of space that are functionally relevant for behavior, whether an actual body part resides within that space or not.
Antibiotic synergism of enterococci. Relation to inhibitory concentrations.

Not all enterococci show synergism between penicillin and streptomycin or kanamycin, but most patients receive combined therapy empirically since tests for synergism are difficult to perform. Enterococci showing synergism are considered "resistant" to streptomycin and kanamycin, but usually have not been tested with concentrations higher than 100μ/ml. We had found that strains not showing synergism are actually highly resistant to these antibiotics, in contrast to strains that do show synergism. Of 30 strains where synergism occurred between penicillin G potassium and streptomycin sulfate when killing curves were performed, 27 were inhibited by 250μg/ml. Seventeen strains not showing synergism required 6,000μg/ml or more for inhibition and 11 grew in 50,000μg/ml Forty-four strains showing synergism between penicillin and kanamycin sulfate were inhibited by 250μg/ml or less of kanamycin sulfate, and 5 strains not showing synergism had minimal inhibitory concentrations of 25,000μg/ml or higher.
Potential Similarities in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is clinically characterized by insidious onset of memory and cognitive impairments, which are also presented in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Many studies have shown that seizures occur in some patients with AD, and AD is a risk factor for epilepsy, mainly complex partial and secondary generalized seizure. Here, we focus on the relationship between TLE and AD in clinical and pathological aspects, as they are having similar comorbidities and mechanisms. In this study, we first reviewed the clinical observations that showed concomitant AD and TLE. Then, we picked up common genetic and pathological changes in both the diseases from neurobiological researches. Although both the diseases have delicate differences in many aspects, their common characteristics intrigue more detailed research to be done by newer technology.