Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design for a Robotic Companion

We can learn from the history of robotics that robots are getting closer to humans, both in the physical as well as in the social sense. The development line of robotics is marked with the triad: industrial — assistive — social robots, that leads from human–robot separation toward human–robot interaction. A social robot is a robot able to act autonomously and to interact with humans using social cues. A social robot that can assist a human for a longer period of time is called a robotic companion. This paper is devoted to the design and control issues of such a robotic companion, with reference to the robot FLASH designed at the Wroclaw University of Technology within the European project LIREC, and currently developed by the authors. Two HRI experiments with FLASH demonstrate the human attitude toward FLASH. A trial testing of the robot's emotional system is described.
riiodothyronine levels for risk stratification of patients ith chronic heart failure

PURPOSE: We sought to explore the use of triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations as an adjunct to clinical and functional parameters when estimating prognosis in patients with chronic heart failure. METHODS: We enrolled 281 patients with postischemic (n 153) or nonischemic (n 128) dilated cardiomyopathy. Total and free T3 concentrations, and traditional clinical and functional cardiac parameters, were measured 2 to 5 days after hospital admission. A multivariate model was utilized to predict all-cause and cardiac mortality. RESULTS: All-cause mortality was 23% (n 64) after a mean ( SD) of 12 7 months of follow-up; 47 (73%) of the patients died from cardiac causes. The mean ejection fraction was lower in those patients who died than in those who survived (26% 8% vs. 31% 8%, P 0.001), as were levels of total T3 (1.0 0.4 nmol/L vs. 1.3 0.3 nmol/L, P 0.001) and free T3 (3.2 1.4 pmol/L vs. 3.7 1.0 pmol/L, P 0.001). In a multivariate model, ejection fraction (odds ratio [OR] 2.0 per 10% decrease; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4 to 2.8 per 10% decrease; P 0.001) and total T3 level (OR 0.3 per 1-nmol/L increase; 95% CI: 0.1 to 0.5 per 1-nmol/L increase; P 0.001) were the only independent predictors of all-cause mortality. In an alternative model using free T3 levels, ejection fraction (OR 1.9; 95% CI: 1.4 to 2.7; P 0.001) and free T3 level (OR 0.6 per 1 pmol/L; 95% CI: 0.5 to 0.8 per 1 pmol/L; P 0.02) were associated with all-cause mortality. When we considered cardiac mortality alone, male sex (OR 3.5; 95% CI: 1.7 to 13; P 0.04), ejection fraction (OR 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2 to 2.5; P 0.006), and total T3 level (OR 0.3; 95% CI: 0.2 to 0.7; P 0.002) were independent predictors with the multivariate model. CONCLUSION: Low T3 levels are an independent predictor of mortality in patients with chronic heart failure, adding prognostic information to conventional clinical and functional cardiac parameters.
Incidence, Clinical Predictors, Genomics, and Outcome of Acute Kidney Injury Among Trauma Patients

Objective:To determine clinical and genomic characteristics and in-hospital mortality risk associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) in the multicenter prospective cohort of patients with blunt trauma. Summary Background Data:Less severe stages of AKI characterized by small changes in serum creatinine (sCr) are inadequately studied among trauma patients. Methods:We performed a secondary analysis of the “Inflammation and the Host Response to Injury” (Glue Grant) database to include adult blunt trauma patients without history of kidney disease. AKI was defined by the Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, and End-stage Kidney (RIFLE) classification, which requires a 50% increase in sCr and stratifies patients into following 3 severity stages: risk, injury, and failure. Association between all stages of AKI and in-hospital mortality was analyzed using a multivariable logistic regression analysis. Genome-wide expression analysis was performed on whole blood leukocytes obtained within 12 hours of trauma. Results:AKI occurred in 26% of 982 patients. The adjusted risk for hospital death was 3 times higher for patients with AKI compared with patients without AKI (odds ratio = 3.05) (95% confidence interval, 1.73–5.40). This risk was evident in a dose-response manner and even patients with mild AKI had odds ratio for dying of 2.57 (95% confidence interval, 1.19–5.50) compared with patients without AKI. Genome-wide expression analysis failed to show a significant number of genes whose expression could discriminate among patients with and without AKI. Conclusions:In a multicenter prospective cohort of blunt trauma patients, AKI characterized by small changes in sCr was associated with an independent risk of hospital death.
ACE inhibition promotes upregulation of endothelial progenitor cells and neoangiogenesis in cardiac pressure overload.

AIMS Inhibition of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) prevents maladaptive cardiac remodelling. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) from the bone marrow contribute to endothelial repair and neovascularization, effects that are potentially important during cardiac remodelling. We hypothesized that ACE inhibitors may exert beneficial effects during pressure-induced myocardial hypertrophy by regulating progenitor cell function. METHODS AND RESULTS In C57/Bl6 mice, development of cardiac hypertrophy induced by transaortic constriction (TAC) for 5 weeks was reduced by ramipril, 5 mg/kg p.o. , independent of blood pressure lowering. Ramipril prevented TAC-induced apoptosis of cardiac myocytes and endothelial cells. On day 1 after TAC, upregulation of Sca-1(pos)/KDR(pos) EPC was observed, which was further increased by ramipril. EPC were persistently elevated in the TAC mice receiving vehicle treatment but not in the ramipril group after 5 weeks. These effects were independent of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha mRNA and protein expression. The ACE inhibitor but not TAC improved the migratory capacity of DiLDL(pos) EPC. Increased cardiac afterload induced upregulation of extracardiac neoangiogenesis. This effect was enhanced by ACE inhibition. Ramipril but not TAC markedly increased cardiac capillary density determined by the ratio of CD31(pos) cells to cardiomyocytes. Bone marrow transplantation studies revealed that TAC increased the percentage of bone marrow-derived GFP(pos) endothelial cells in the myocardium, and ramipril made this effect more pronounced. CONCLUSIONS ACE inhibition prevents pressure-induced maladaptive cardiac hypertrophy and increases intra- and extracardiac neoangiogenesis associated with the upregulation of EPC and amelioration of EPC migration. The regulation of progenitor cells from the bone marrow identifies a novel effect of ACE inhibitors during cardiac remodelling.
Motion planning of a snake-like robot using an optimized harmonic potential field

Snake-like robots have gained popularity in the last three decades for their ability to utilize several gaits in order to navigate through different terrains. They are analogous in morphology to snakes, tentacles, and elephant trunks. We propose a novel method of navigating a snake-like robot based on the Harmonic Field with Optimized Boundary Conditions (HFOBC) and a boundary following algorithm. We apply the HFOBC navigation function using a number of fictitious charges equally spaced on each link. These charges actively follow the potential field towards the target. Futhermore, a generalized mathematical model for an n-link snake-like robot based on Lagrange formulation has also been proposed in this paper.
Load-sensitive continuously variable transmission for powerful and inexpensive robot hands

This paper presents a load-sensitive continuously variable transmission (CVT) for finger joints. Fingers of robot hands require power when grasping an object and speed when opening and closing. Therefore a CVT is ideal to improve the power transmission of a finger joint. Existing friction CVT are too big and heavy to be installed in a finger joint. By focusing on the fact that finger joints do not necessarily rotate 360 degrees, this paper presents a remarkably simple and small load-sensitive CVT consisting of a five-bar linkage and a torsion coiled spring. Since no special machine elements are necessary, it can be manufactured inexpensively. We have developed a two-finger gripper with the CVT, which can grasp an object powerfully and manipulate quickly.
Economía y psico(pato)logía

espanolLa atencion a la salud en general y a la salud mental en particular en los paises desarrollados se esta transformando radicalmente, y generalmente para peor, en los ultimos anos. La mayor parte de las decisiones que han guiado esta transformacion han emanado no de los departamentos de sanidad, sino de los de politica economica. Los «economistas» se han ocupado sin complejos en funcion de los conocimientos de la disciplina que les es propia, de la vida de los ciudadanos y de la actividad de profesionales de otras areas de conocimiento. Sin embargo la actividad de los «economistas» y de los responsables de las politicas economicas ha sido rara vez objeto de la atencion de otras disciplinas. Desde luego el que los «economistas» hablen de lo que no saben e impongan su criterio sobre ello no es un argumento para que los demas hagamos lo mismo. Aunque quizas si para que nos preguntemos por que nos parece natural que esto sea asi. EnglishIn developed countries, health care in general and mental health care in particular has been undergoing radical transformation in recent years, mostly for the worse. Most of the decisions that have guided this transformation have emanated not from health departments, but from those of economic policy. «Economists» have shamelessly busied themselves based on knowledge of their discipline, of the life of the populace and of the activity of professionals of other areas of knowledge. Nevertheless, the activity of the «economists» and economics policymakers has rarely been subject to the attention of other disciplines. As such, the fact that the «economists» do not know what they are talking about and impose their criteria on it does not mean that the rest of us should do the same. However, maybe we should ask ourselves why it seems natural to us that it would be that way.
Valorization of Lignin to Simple Phenolic Compounds over Tungsten Carbide: Impact of Lignin Structure.

Lignins isolated from representative hardwood, softwood, and grass materials were effectively hydrocracked to aromatics catalyzed by tungsten carbide over activated carbon (W2 C/AC). The effects of botanical species and fractionation methods on lignin structure and the activity of W2 C/AC were studied in detail. Gas permeation chromatography (GPC), FTIR, elemental analysis, and 2 D HSQC NMR showed that all the extracted samples shared the basic skeleton of lignin, whereas the fractionation method significantly affected the structure. The organosolv process provided lignin with a structure more similar to the native lignin, which was labile to be depolymerized by W2 C/AC. Softwood lignins (i.e., spruce and pine) possessed higher molecular weights than hardwood lignins (i.e., poplar and basswood); whereas corn stalk lignin that has noncanonical subunits and exhibited the lowest molecular weight owing to its shorter growth period. β-O-4 bonds were the major linkages in all lignin samples, whereas softwood lignins contained more resistant linkages of β-5 and less β-β than corn stalk and hardwood lignins; as a result, lowest hydrocracking efficiency was obtained in softwood lignins, followed by corn stalk and hardwood lignins. 2 D HSQC NMR spectra of lignin and the liquid oil as well as the solid residue showed that W2 C/AC exhibited high activity not only in β-O-4 cleavage, but also in deconstruction of other ether linkages between aromatic units, so that high yield of liquid oil was obtained from lignin.
IDKeeper: A Web Password Manager with Roaming Capability Based on USB Key

This paper presents an architecture that affords Web users a trusted ID/Password manager with roaming capability named IDKeeper. The design objectives of this solution are (i) to protect web users from phishing attacks especially malware-based phishing and web spoofing; (ii) to provide an easy-to-use system with roaming capability so that web user can focus on their transaction rather that security and they can use their credential information everywhere. At first, design principles are given based on the analysis of the existing attacks today. Secondly, the solution overview and usage overview are presented. Thirdly, we give the software architecture and the particular implementation. At last, the advantages of IDKeeper are given in conclusion. With IDKeeper, IDs and passwords are stored on users' USB Key, coupling ID/Password to users, not to their machines or to the third-party servers.
Context-Aware Rate-Adaptive Beaconing for Efficient and Scalable Vehicular Safety Communication

Vehicular safety applications, such as cooperative collision warning systems, rely on beaconing to provide situational awareness that is needed to predict and therefore to avoid possible collisions. Beaconing is the continual exchange of vehicle motion-state information, such as position, speed, and heading, which enables each vehicle to track its neighboring vehicles in real time. This work presents a context-aware adaptive beaconing scheme that dynamically adapts the beaconing repetition rate based on an estimated channel load and the danger severity of the interactions among vehicles. The safety, efficiency, and scalability of the new scheme is evaluated by simulating vehicle collisions caused by inattentive drivers under various road traffic densities. Simulation results show that the new scheme is more efficient and scalable, and is able to improve safety better than the existing non-adaptive and adaptive rate schemes.
[The effect of a health maintenance program on physical function and mental health of the elderly in nursing homes].

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a Health Maintenance Program on physical functions and mental health of the elderly in nursing homes. METHOD Sixty elderly(over 65 years old) in a randomized control study participated in a 16-week group-based intervention including functional exercises and health education. The participants were divided into 3 groups(Health Maintenance Program Group, Supportive Music Exercise Group, and Control Group) of 20 elderly each. Data was collected from Dec. 1st, 2005 to Mar. 30th, 2006. Physical function of lower body strength was assessed using a 30-second chair test, flexibility was assessed using a sit-and-reach test, and static balance was assessed by the ability to balance on one leg with open and closed eyes. Depression was assessed using the Korean Form of the Geriatric Depression Scale and self esteem was assessed using Rosenberg's Self Esteem Questionnaire. Data was analyzed by Chi-square test, One-way ANOVA, and Repeated measure two factor analysis. RESULTS A Health Maintenance Program significantly increased muscle strength, flexibility and static balance, but depression and self-esteem scores were not significantly changed. CONCLUSION Findings demonstrated that a Health Maintenance Program was more effective on physical function than mental health of the elderly in nursing homes.
A QoS routing method for ad-hoc networks based on genetic algorithm

A lot of work has been done on routing in MANETs. However, the proposed routing resolutions deal only with the best effort data traffic. Connections with quality of service (QoS) requirements are not supported. QoS routing has been receiving increasingly intensive attention in the wireline network domain. However, for MANETs only few QoS algorithms are proposed to be developed and QoS routing algorithms should be adaptive, flexible, and intelligent. We propose a genetic algorithm (GA) based routing method for Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (GAMAN). Robustness rather that optimality is the primary concern of GAMAN. The GAMAN uses two QoS parameters for routing. The performance evaluation via simulations shows that GAMAN is a promising QoS routing algorithm for MANETs.
Otoacoustic emissions and extended high-frequency hearing sensitivity in young adults Emisiones otoacústicas y sensibilidad extendida a frecuencias altas en adultos jóvenes

The relationship between hearing sensitivity in the extended high-frequency region (8–16 kHz) and (1) the presence of synchronized spontaneous otoacoustic emissions (SSOAEs) and (2) the strength of click-evoked and distortion product otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs and DPOAEs) was investigated in 104 ears of 57 young adults. The age range was confined to 16 to 19 years. All subjects had normal hearing in the conventional audiometric frequency range (0.5–8 kHz). Ears with detected SSOAEs had better hearing sensitivity in the extended high-frequency region and also higher levels of CEOAEs and DPOAEs than ears with undetected SSOAEs. The results support the hypothesis that the presence of SSOAEs is indicative of an ear with highly normal cochlear function over a broad frequency range.
Mafs, Prox1, and Pax6 Can Regulate Chicken βB1-Crystallin Gene Expression*

During lens fiber cell differentiation, the regulation of crystallin gene expression is coupled with dramatic morphological changes. Here we report that Mafs, Prox1, and Pax6, which are essential transcription factors for normal lens development, bind to three functionally important cis elements, PL1, PL2, and OL2, in the chicken βB1-crystallin promoter and may cooperatively direct the transcription of this lens fiber cell preferred gene. Gel shift assays demonstrated that Mafs bind to the MARE-like sequences in the PL1 and PL2 elements, whereas Prox1, a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein like its Drosophila homolog Prospero, interacts with the OL2 element. Furthermore, Pax6, a known repressor of the chicken βB1-crystallin promoter, binds to all three of these cis elements. In transfection assays, Mafs and Prox1 activated the chicken βB1-crystallin promoter; however, their transactivation ability was repressed when co-transfected with Pax6. Taken together with the known spatiotemporal expression patterns of Mafs, Prox1, and Pax6 in the developing lens, we propose that Pax6 occupies and represses the chicken βB1-crystallin promoter in lens epithelial cells, and is displaced by Prox1 and Mafs, which activate the promoter, in differentiating cortical fiber cells.
SVMs applied to objective aesthetic evaluation conservative breast cancer treatment

Cosmetic assessment of conservative breast cancer treatment plays a major role in the study of breast cancer techniques. Objective assessment methods are being preferred to overcome the drawbacks of subjective evaluation. In this paper a methodology for the objective assessment of conservative breast cancer treatment is proposed. The quantitative measures used in this research provide an objective way to calculate the overall cosmetic result. We report experiments using support vector machines to derive an optimal assessment rule. The results seem to indicate that it is possible to construct an algorithm for a complete objective classification of the aesthetic result of breast conservative treatment.
Modifying chemical landscapes by coupling to vacuum fields.

is typically achieved by placing the material in an optical cavity, such as that formed by two parallel mirrors, which is tuned to be resonant with a transition to an excited state. Theory, discussed below, shows that even in the absence of light, a residual splitting always exists due to coupling to vacuum (electromagnetic) fields in the cavity. While cavity strong coupling and the associated hybrid states have been extensively studied due to the potential they offer in physics such as room temperature Bose–Einstein condensates and thresholdless lasers, the implication for chemistry remains totally unexplored. This is despite the fact that strong coupling with organic molecules lead to exceptionally large vacuum Rabi splittings (hundreds of meV) due to their large transition dipole moments. The molecules plus the cavity must thus be thought of as a single entity with new energy levels and therefore should have its own distinct chemistry. We demonstrate here that one can indeed influence a chemical reaction by strongly coupling the energy landscape governing the reaction pathway to vacuum fields. In the absence of dissipation, the Rabi splitting energy h WR (Figure 1) between the two new hybrid light–matter states is given, for a two-level system at resonance with a cavity mode, by the product of the electric field amplitude E in the cavity and the transition dipole moment d :
The Link between Copper and Wilson's Disease

Wilson's disease (hepatolenticular degeneration) is a rare inherited autosomal recessive disorder of copper metabolism leading to copper accumulation in the liver and extrahepatic organs such as the brain and cornea. Patients may present with combinations of hepatic, neurological and psychiatric symptoms. Copper is the therapeutic target for the treatment of Wilson's disease. But how did copper come to be linked with Wilson's disease? The answer encompasses a study of enzootic neonatal ataxia in lambs in the 1930s, the copper-chelating properties of British Anti-Lewisite, and the chemical analysis for copper of the organs of deceased Wilson's disease patients in the mid-to-late 1940s. Wilson's disease is one of a number of copper-related disorders where loss of copper homeostasis as a result of genetic, nutritional or environmental factors affects human health.
Modeling, Extracting and Description of Intrinsic Cues of High Resolution Satellite Images: Independent Component Analysis Based Approaches. (Modélisation et Extraction des Descripteurs Intrinsèques des Images Satellite à Haute Résolution: Approches Fondées sur l'Analyse en Composantes Indépendantes

Sub-meter resolution satellite images, capture very detailed information, as for example, shape of buildings, roads, etc. The main purpose of the thesis is to propose descriptors for sub-meter resolution satellite images especially for those who contain geometrical or man-made structures. Independent component analysis (ICA) is a good candidate for this purpose, since previous studies demonstrated that the resulted basis vectors contain some small lines and edges, the important elements in the characterization of geometrical structures. As a basic analysis, a study about the effects of scale size and dimensionality of ICA system on indexing of satellite images is presented and the optimum dimensionality and scale size are found. There are two view points for feature extraction based on ICA. The usual idea is to use the ICA coefficients (ICA sources) and the other is to use the ICA basis vectors related to every image. Based on the first point of view, an ordinary ICA source based approach is proposed for feature extraction. This approach is developed and modified through a topographic ICA system to extract middle level features which leads to a significant improvement in results. Based on the other point of view, two methods are proposed. One of them uses the bag of words idea which considers the basis vectors as visual words. Second method uses the lines properties inside the basis vectors to extract features. Also, using the lines properties idea, another method is developed which directly detects the line segments in the images. Finally, the capabilities of proposed descriptors are compared through a supervised classification based on support vector machine (SVM).
Conformations of randomly linked polymers.

We consider polymers in which M randomly selected pairs of monomers are restricted to be in contact. Analytical arguments and numerical simulations show that an ideal (Gaussian) chain of N monomers remains expanded as long as M (N/M)^(nu). The number of links needed to collapse a polymer in three dimensions thus scales as N^(phi), with (phi) > 0.43.