Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Network convergence and the NAT/Firewall problems

Voice over IP technology is fueling the rapid growth on network convergence and we are seeing the successful deployment of converged networks within enterprises. However, most enterprises today sit behind firewalls and also use private IP addressing behind NATs (network address translators). These NATs and firewalls cause significant problems for multimedia over IP to work and function properly. There are presently two standards for VoIP signaling: H.323 (from ITU-T) and SIP (session initiation protocol from IETF). In this paper we present the details of the problems and issues associated with NATs/firewalls and then survey some ways to solve this problem for SIP. There is no single best solution yet. However, this paper discusses how such a simple and elegant solution can be built. This problem remains a significant obstacle for the successful adoption of convergence as security has become even more important to enterprises than adoption of emerging technologies.
Cocoa antioxidants and cardiovascular health 1 – 4

An increasing body of epidemiologic evidence supports the concept that diets rich in fruits and vegetables can promote health and attenuate, or delay, the onset of various diseases. Epidemiologic data support the idea that these health benefits are causally linked to the consumption of certain flavonoids present in fruit and vegetables. In the context of cardiovascular health, a particular group of flavonoids, namely, the flavan-3-ols (flavanols), has received attention. Flavanol-rich, plantderived foods and beverages include wine, tea, and various fruits and berries, as well as cocoa and cocoa products. Numerous dietary intervention studies in humans and animals indicate that flavanol-rich foods and beverages might exert cardioprotective effects with respect to vascular function and platelet reactivity. This review discusses the bioactivity of flavanols in the context of cardiovascular health, with respect to their bioavailability, their antioxidant properties, and their vascular effects. Am J Clin Nutr 2005;81(suppl):298S–303S.
Evaluation of myocardial perfusion and fatty acid uptake using a single injection of iodine-123-BMIPP in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

UNLABELLED The purpose of this study was to clarify the possibility of simultaneous evaluation of myocardial perfusion and fatty acid metabolism using a single injection of 123I-beta-methyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) in patients with acute coronary syndromes. METHODS Thirty patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP group) and 15 patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI group) were studied. BMIPP dynamic SPECT was performed 2 min after the injection of BMIPP (185 MBq), and images were obtained every 3 min for 15 min with a three-head gamma camera. Conventional BMIPP SPECT was also performed 30 min after the injection. Serial BMIPP and resting 201TI images were compared. RESULTS A 201TI-BMIPP mismatch between 30-min BMIPP and resting 201TI images was observed in 27 of 30 patients in the UAP group and 8 of 15 patients in the MI group, respectively. However, a 201TI-BMIPP mismatch between early (2-5-min) BMIPP and resting 201TI images was observed in only 2 of 30 patients in the UAP group and in only 2 of 15 patients in the MI group, respectively. The kappa statistics of tracer uptake between early BMIPP and resting 201TI images showed good concordance in UAP (kappa = 0.823) and MI (kappa = 0.765) groups, respectively. These results indicated that initial distribution of BMIPP reflects myocardial perfusion in patients with acute coronary syndromes. CONCLUSION Myocardial perfusion and fatty acid metabolism can be evaluated simultaneously using a single injection of BMIPP, when images are taken soon (2-5 min) and long after the injection in patients with acute coronary syndromes.
Changes in hypopharyngeal airway space and in tongue and hyoid bone positions following the surgical correction of mandibular prognathism.

This study was aimed at measuring the changes in the hyoid bone position, tongue position, and hypopharyngeal airway space in subjects with mandibular setback osteotomies. Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 15 patients were taken preoperatively, 6 weeks postoperatively, and at the follow-up with a mean of 1.5 +/- 0.4 years. A significant decrease in the hypopharyngeal airway space following mandibular setback surgery was found (P < .01). This change sustained during the follow-up period. The hyoid bone moved down (P < .001), and the lower tongue point also moved down (P < .05) postoperatively. Results of the study suggest that narrowing of the hypopharyngeal airway space due to the posterior and inferior movement of the tongue can be permanent.
Animation référencée vision : de la tâche au comportement

En synthese d'images, la qualite d'une animation depend souvent de specifications complexes et/ou peu intuitives. Dans le cadre de cette these, nous nous sommes interesses a l'etude de ce probleme en appliquant une technique issue du domaine de la robotique : l'asservissement visuelle. Cette technique permet de generer des mouvements 3D au travers d'une specification 2D (dans l'image) d'une tâche visuelle. Deux grandes classes de problemes ont ete etudies dans cette optique : le controle d'une camera en environnement virtuel et la modelisation de l'attention visuelle pour les humanoides autonomes de synthese. L'utilisation de l'asservissement permet dans les deux cas de specifier simplement ce que l'on cherche a obtenir ; dans le cas de la camera on specifie ce que l'on cherche a observer, alors que dans le cas de l'humanoide, on specifie ce qu'il doit observer. Grâce au principe de redondance, il nous a ete permis de prendre en compte de maniere dynamique et en temps reel des modifications de l'environnement, ou d'adresser des problemes relatifs a l'animation. Ainsi, dans le cadre de la camera, les problemes suivants ont ete traites : suivi de trajectoires et planification, gestion des occultations et des collisiosn, probleme de la "photo" ; dans le cadre de l'humanoide : lien avec la locomotion, evitement des butees articulaires, gestion du realisme. De plus, la validite de notre approche a ete dans le cadre de l'animation comportementale, en modelisant a la fois des comportements type cinematographique pour la camera, ainsi qu'un panel de comportement de perception pour l'humanoide. Les resultats de cette etude ont ete directement utilises dans different acdres applicatifs, dont l'animation d'un agent communicant realisee par France Telecom R&D, ainsi qu'une demonstration de fiction interactive presentee lors d'Imagina 2002
Visual odometry based on the Fourier-Mellin transform for a rover using a monocular ground-facing camera

This paper presents a visual odometry method that estimates the location and orientation of a robotic rover platform. The visual odometry approach is based on Fourier-Mellin transforms and phase-only matched niters which extract similarity transform parameters (i.e. rotation, scaling and translation) between consecutive images captured by a ground-pointing camera. By mapping these inter-image frame parameters to the real world, the rover's location is recovered. Given that the proposed strategy is a global method, it is well suited for environments exhibiting few features and illumination changes. Results show that this approach is more robust and accurate than an optical flow based visual odometry method.
Cardiovascular drift is related to reduced maximal oxygen uptake during heat stress.

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE This study investigated whether the progressive rise in heart rate (HR) and fall in stroke volume (SV) during prolonged, constant-rate, moderate-intensity exercise (cardiovascular drift, CVdrift) in a hot environment is associated with a reduction in VO(2max). METHODS CVdrift was measured in nine male cyclists between 15 and 45 min of cycling at 60% VO(2max) in 35 degrees C that was immediately followed by measurement of VO(2max). VO(2max) also was measured after 15 min of cycling on a separate day, so that any change in VO(2max) between 15 and 45 min could be associated with the CVdrift that occurred during that time interval. This protocol was performed under one condition in which fluid was ingested and there was no significant body weight change (0.3 +/- 0.4%), and under another in which no fluid was ingested and dehydration occurred (2.5 +/- 1%, P < 0.05). RESULTS Fluid ingestion did not affect CVdrift or change in VO(2max). A 12% increase in HR (151 +/- 9 vs 169 +/- 10 bpm, P < 0.05) and 16% decrease in SV (120 +/- 12 vs 101 +/- 10 mL.beat(-1), P < 0.05) between 15 and 45 min was accompanied by a 19% decrease in VO(2max) (4.4 +/- 0.6 vs 3.6 +/- 0.4 L.min(-1), P < 0.05) despite attainment of a higher maximal HR (P < 0.05) at 45 min (194 +/- 5 bpm) vs 15 min (191 +/- 5 bpm). Submaximal VO(2) increased only slightly over time, but VO(2max) increased from 63 +/- 5% at 15 min to 78 +/- 8% at 45 min (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION We conclude CVdrift during 45 min of exercise in the heat is associated with decreased VO(2max) and increased relative metabolic intensity. The results support the validity of using changes in HR to reflect changes in relative metabolic intensity during prolonged exercise in a hot environment in which CVdrift occurs.
Some Philosophical Problems with Formal Learning Theory

Recent work in formal learning theory has attempted to capture the essentials of the concept-learning task in a formal framework. This paper evaluates the potential contributions of certain kinds of models to the study of learning by exploring the philosophical implications of these models. Some of my remarks bear on mainstream AI learning techniques such as version spaces and explanation-based learning.
Biomechanical aspects of primary implant stability: a human cadaver study.

BACKGROUND The quality of bone is an important factor in the successful implant treatment, and it is evident that higher implant failure is more likely in poor quality of bone. The primary stability of oral implants related to resistance to micromotion during healing is influenced by bone quality, surgical technique, and implant design. PURPOSES The aims of this biomechanical study were to explore the effect of bone quality on initial intraosseous stability of implants, and to determine the correlations between the bone quality and implant stability parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-four implants (Neoss Ltd., Mölnlycke, Sweden) were placed into anterior and posterior regions of three human cadaver mandibles. The bone densities of implant recipient sites were preoperatively determined using computerized tomography (CT) in Hounsfield unit (HU). The maximum insertion torque values were recorded, and primary implant stability measurements were noninvasively performed by means of resonance frequency analysis (RFA). RESULTS The bone density values ranged from -267 HU to 553 HU. It was found that mean bone density, insertion torque, and RFA values were 113 +/- 270 HU, 41.9 +/- 5 Ncm, and 70 +/- 7 implant stability quotient (ISQ), respectively. Statistically significant correlations were found between bone density and insertion torque values (r = 0.690, p < .001); bone density and ISQ values (r = 0.557, p < .05); and insertion torque and ISQ values (r = 0.853, p < .001). CONCLUSION CT is a useful tool to assess bone quantity and quality in implant recipient sites, and bone density has a prevailing effect on implant stability at placement.
Circularity and self-similarity analysis for the precise location of the pupils

This paper presents a new method to automatically locate pupils in images (even with low-resolution) containing human faces. In particular pupils are localized by a two steps procedure: at first self-similarity information is extracted by considering the appearance variability of local regions and then they are combined with an estimator of circular shapes based on a modified version of the Circular Hough Transform. Experimental evidence of the effectiveness of the method was achieved on challenging databases containing facial images acquired under different lighting conditions and with different scales and poses.
Head posture influences the geometric and hemodynamic features on the healthy human carotid bifurcation

Atherosclerosis is the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western world. Low and oscillating wall shear stress (WSS) regions have been previously reported as parameters that correlate with the development of atherosclerosis. In this study we investigated geometric and hemodynamic changes in the carotid bifurcation as a result of posture change. Data from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were used to construct three dimensional (3D) surface models and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) fields. Two healthy volunteers were imaged by MRI in three different head postures: a) the supine neutral (N) head position, b) the prone position with leftward head rotation (LR) up to 80° and c) the prone position with rightward head rotation (RR) up to 80o. The area exposure to unfavorable hemodynamics, based on thresholds set for oscillatory shear index (OSI), WSS and relative residence times (RRT), was used to quantify the hemodynamic impact on the wall. Significant change in the hemodynamic burden on the wall was found for the OSI. The velocity profile at the common carotid artery (CCA) upstream of the carotid bifurcation (CB) was investigated at the supine and RR prone position for six healthy volunteers. The results indicated that blood flow rate decreased at peak systole, for the prone position for both the right and left CCAs.
Le 'Compressed sensing' pour l'holographie acoustique de champ proche - I : Aspects algorithmiques et simulations

Le "Compressed Sensing (CS)" propose une nouvelle facon de mesurer des champs complexes en utilisant des connaissances sur la physique des champs etudies des la phase d'echantillonnage, c'est-a-dire directement au niveau du capteur. On suppose que le champ a acquerir possede une representation parcimonieuse, c'est-a-dire pouvant etre decrit dans une base (connue) par un faible nombre de coefficients (inconnus); on acquiert alors des echantillons dans des directions faiblement correlees a l'espace de representation des signaux, par exemple a l'aide de projections aleatoires. Sous ces hypotheses, on peut en theorie reduire considerablement le nombre de donnees a acquerir, pour une precision de reconstruction des champs sensiblement equivalente. Le projet ECHANGE (ECHantillonnage Acoustique Nouvelle GEneration) finance par l'ANR a pour objectif de developper un cadre theorique, algorithmique et experimental, fonde sur les principes du CS pour la mesure de champs acoustiques complexes au moyen d'un nombre limite de transducteurs. Comme domaine initial, nous avons choisi d'adapter les principes du CS a l'holographie acoustique de champ proche (NAH). L'objectif de cette methode inverse est de reconstruire le champ vibratoire d'une structure a partir de la mesure de son champ acoustique proche. Cet expose presente les algorithmes utilises, leurs performances, ainsi que les differentes hypotheses sur la parcimonie des signaux qui ont ete prises : utilisation de la base de Fourier en deux dimensions, de dictionnaire de sinus et de cosinus reels, prise en compte de la forme de la structure ou non, etc. On presentera egalement les resultats de simulations numeriques visant a determiner la meilleure forme d'antenne possible et la reduction maximale du nombre de capteurs permettant de conserver de bons resultats.
Temperature Interference Reduction for Pressure Sensor Made of Conductive Polymer Composite

To lower the temperature interference on the piezoresistive sensor made of conductive polymer composite, a differential structure composed of “positive piezoresistive and positive thermoresistive unit (PPPTU)” and “negative piezoresistive and positive thermoresistive unit (NPPTU)” is designed. The mass ratio of carbon black to silicone rubber in the composite in PPPTU is 0.06, which results in the increase of the electrical resistance of the composite with the increase of the compressive pressure/temperature. The mass ratio in NPPTU is 0.12, which results in the decrease/increase of the resistance of the composite with the increase of the compressive pressure/temperature. PPPTU and NPPTU are placed on the neighboring arms of an electrical bridge to construct a differential structure. The experimental results verify the feasibility of using the differential structure based on PPPTU and NPPTU to reduce the temperature interference.
Creating Empowering Meaning: An Interactive Process of Promoting Health with Chronically Ill Older Canadians

CAROL L. McWILLIAM, M. STEWART, J. B. BROWN, S. McNAIR, K. DESAI, M. L. PATTERSON, N. DEL MAESTRO and B. J. PITTMAN Centre for Studies in Family Medicine, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, Thames Valley Family Practice Research Unit, The University of Western Ontario, St Joseph's Family Medical Centre, London, Ontario, Oxford County Home Care Program, Woodstock, Ontario and Middlesex±London Home Care Program, London, Ontario
Construction of recombinant neisserial Hsp60 proteins and mapping of antigenic domains

Here we report the cloning and expression, in Escherichia coli, of PCR‐amplified DNA encoding the 63‐kDa stress‐inducible protein of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains VP1 and PiD2, Neisseria meningitidis 2996 and the commensal Neisseria flavescens. DNA sequence analysis revealed in all cases one open reading frame of 541‐544 amino acids corresponding to a protein of approximately 57 000 Da. The various neisserial proteins were >98% identical at the amino acid level and showed extensive homology with proteins belonging to the HspSO heat‐shock‐protein family. We constructed defined glutathione S‐transferase fusion polypeptides of the gonococcal Hsp60 homologue to locate antigenic domains on the recombinant protein. Variation in the immunoreactivity of two monoclonal antibodies recognizing a conserved and a neisseria‐unique antigenic Hsp60 determinant, respectively, could thus be deduced to result from single amino acid substitutions. Analysis of the antibody response in patients’sera demonstrated reactivity with the same fusion polypeptides in six out of nine sera, indicating that neisserial Hsp60 is expressed during the natural infection and that distinct domains on the protein are immunodominant in vivo.
Scalable and Secure Multi Cloud Architecture for IaaS to Address the Performance Issues

Security is an important concern to improve in emerging cloud computing to store, manage, analyze and share the sensitive data. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a provision cloud model attracting all business customers to use cloud by offering on-demand and pay-per-use hardware, storage, servers and other networking components. Present single cloud architectures are having numerous security problems like centralized data management, untrusted service providers, Honest-but-Curious cloud management etc. Multi cloud architecture was introduced recently to improve the efficiency at architecture level and to assure the sensitive data security to data owner. Recent researches were concentrated only to implement generic multi cloud architecture, which causes to raise the load balancing, elasticity and availability issues in multi cloud environment of IaaS. In this paper we introduced scalable and secure multi cloud architecture for IaaS model. This architecture addressed all issues of generic multi cloud architecture and proves that, it is most suitable one for IaaS model management.
Analysis of Line Source Radiation Above Grounded Inhomogeneous Chiral Layer Using a Hybrid Method of Fourier Transform and Taylor's Series Expansion

An analytical approach is introduced to analyze scattering and wave propagation in the problem involving a line source near an inhomogeneous chiral slab based on combination of Fourier transform and Taylor's series expansion. In this method, Taylor's series expansion is used for all electromagnetic parameters and Fourier transformed electric and magnetic fields of the inhomogeneous chiral medium. The unknown coefficients of the electric and magnetic fields in the Fourier domain are found by solving a system of linear coupled equations. For verification purpose, some special examples are considered, and the obtained results from this method are compared to the available exact solutions.
Indoor air pollution and respiratory illness in children from rural India: a pilot study.

OBJECTIVE Indoor air pollution measured in terms of particulate matter < 2.5 microm in diameter (PM2.5), is an important cause of respiratory illness in children. Therefore, PM2.5 levels in rural households and its correlation with respiratory illness-related symptoms in children were studied. METHODS A questionnaire-based survey of children for respiratory illness-related symptoms was conducted in 37 households of a village (Khanpurjupti, Delhi-NCR, India) from September 2011 to October 2011. Assessment of 24-hour PM2.5 level was done using University of California-Berkeley Particle and Temperature Sensor (UCB-PATS). RESULTS Thirty-seven households in a rural area were studied. These were divided into 20 respiratory households, i.e. those with children with respiratory illness-related symptoms and 17 control households. The 24-hour PM2.5 was measured in all the houses. The average minimum and maximum PM2.5 levels were 7.24 mg/m3 and 22.70 mg/m3, respectively (mean = 10.47 mg/m3) among the 20 respiratory households. The average minimum and maximum PM2.5 levels were 1.10 mg/m3 and 18.17 mg/m3, respectively (mean = 4.99 mg/m3) in the 17 control households. The PM2.5 levels were significantly greater (p < 0.05) in houses where children had respiratory symptoms compared to the control households. Further, biomass fuel use and number of family members were significantly associated with respiratory illness in children. CONCLUSION Increased PM2.5 levels, biomass fuel use and number of family members were found to be associated with increased occurrence of respiratory illness in children.
Clinical Placement Before or After Simulated Learning Environments?: A Naturalistic Study of Clinical Skills Acquisition Among Early-Stage Paramedicine Students

Background There is conflicting evidence surrounding the merit of clinical placements (CPs) for early-stage health-profession students. Some contend that early-stage CPs facilitate contextualization of a subsequently learned theory. Others argue that training in simulated-learning experiences (SLEs) should occur before CP to ensure that students possess at least basic competency. We sought to investigate both claims. Methods First-year paramedicine students (n = 85) undertook 3 days of CP and SLEs as part of course requirements. Students undertook CP either before or after participation in SLEs creating 2 groups (Clin→Sim/Sim→Clin). Clinical skills acquisition was measured via direct scenario-based clinical assessments with expert observers conducted at 4 intervals during the semester. Perceptions of difficulty of CP and SLE were measured via the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index. Results Students’ clinical assessment scores in both groups improved significantly from beginning to end of semester (P < 0.001). However, at semester’s end, clinical assessment scores for the Sim→Clin group were statistically significantly greater than those of the Clin→Sim group (P = 0.021). Both groups found SLEs more demanding than CP (P < 0.001). However, compared with the Sim→Clin group, the Clin→Sim group rated SLE as substantially more time-demanding than CP (P = 0.003). Conclusions Differences in temporal demand suggest that the Clin→Sim students had fewer opportunities to practice clinical skills during CP than the Sim→Clin students due to a more limited scope of practice. The Sim→Clin students contextualized SLE within subsequent CP resulting in greater improvement in clinical competency by semester’s end in comparison with the Clin→Sim students who were forced to contextualize skills retrospectively.