Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multiobjective Optimization of an Observer-Based Controller: Theory and Experiments on an Underwater Grinding Robot

Hydro-Québec operates hundreds of dikes and dams built many decades ago, and is committed to the long-term sustainability of these facilities. The researchers and engineers at its research institute have designed and manufactured a submersible grinding robot prototype capable of performing the important task of grinding underwater metallic structures. This robot, with direct drive linear motors, has an excellent dynamic performance, but lacks intrinsic stiffness. The design of a control system for such a system is a major challenge for control engineers, as the algorithm must achieve sufficient dynamic stiffness to withstand the significant external perturbations generated by the grinding process and the underwater environment, while at the same time minimizing the sensitivity of the control effort to measurement noise. A discrete-time observer-based control structure has already been proposed in a previous work for this purpose, but the empirical design procedure for this structure did not consider the two contradictory objectives. Using the same controller structure, we propose a new design methodology in this brief, based on a multiobjective genetic algorithm, for these mechatronic systems, which are highly prone to the effects of disturbances. The results obtained through optimization are compared with those obtained using the empirical method. The effectiveness of the proposed design is demonstrated through underwater grinding experiments using the robot test bench we have developed.
Why integration is key for dental office technology.

BACKGROUND Information technology, or IT, devices and applications for dental practice have multiplied tremendously during the last two decades. While many of these innovations can bring significant benefits to clinical practice, integrating them into a smooth working environment is a significant challenge. METHODS The author reviewed the level of integration of different IT-related products for dental practice and analyzed the consequences for work flow and ergonomics. He identified practical examples for different levels of integration among dental technology products. RESULTS The integration of hardware devices and software applications in the dental care environment leaves much to be desired. Practitioners are engaged in a constant struggle to keep their "technology parks" working smoothly. Four levels of integration exist: hardware-hardware, hardware-software, software-software and task-oriented information integration. While there are many examples for the successful integration of hardware devices, products tend to be less integrated in other areas. Task-oriented information integration is a vision that, in general, has not been realized. CONCLUSIONS Integration is crucial to the efficient and effective functioning of the dental office. However, practitioners cannot do much when industry does not integrate its products sufficiently. The industry, therefore, should adopt user-centered design principles, and its designers should work together to improve the integration of products from different vendors.
Positive selection of three chitinase genes of the family 18 of glycoside hydrolases in mammals

The digestive enzyme chitinase degrades chitin, and is found in a wide range of organisms, from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Although mammals cannot synthesize or assimilate chitin, several proteins of the glycoside hydrolase (GH) chitinase family GH18, including some with enzymatic activity, have recently been identified from mammalian genomes. Consequently, there is growing interest in molecular evolution of this family of proteins. Here we report on the use of maximum likelihood methods to test for evidence of positive selection in three genes of the chitinase family GH18, all of which are found in mammals. These focal genes are CHIA, CHIT1 and CHI3L1, which encode the chitinase proteins acidic mammalian chitinase, chitotriosidase and cartilage protein 39, respectively. The results of our analyses indicate that each of these genes has undergone independent selective pressure in their evolution. Additionally, we have found evidence of a signature of positive natural selection, with most sites identified as being subject to adaptive evolution located in the catalytic domain. Our results suggest that positive selection on these genes stems from their function in digestion and/or immunity.
Metrological management of large-scale measuring systems

In this paper, a quality-assurance model is proposed to correctly manage large-scale measuring systems in a sustainable way. Such systems are made up of interconnected hardware devices and software programs that are distributed over a large area and act as single measuring systems. The proposed model is based on a network-assisted calibration procedure, which allows both the hardware and software sections of a large-scale measuring system to be contemporaneously verified. The calibration procedure requires the availability of programmable traveling standards, which are sent to each measuring unit and are remotely controlled through the Internet. Two application examples that refer to the metrological confirmation of distributed measuring systems that monitor the power quality and the environmental pollution are also described.
Afferents to the orexin neurons of the rat brain

Emotions, stress, hunger, and circadian rhythms all promote wakefulness and behavioral arousal. Little is known about the pathways mediating these influences, but the orexin‐producing neurons of the hypothalamus may play an essential role. These cells heavily innervate many wake‐promoting brain regions, and mice lacking the orexin neurons have narcolepsy and fail to rouse in response to hunger (Yamanaka et al. [ 2003 ] Neuron 38:701–713). To identify the afferents to the orexin neurons, we first injected a retrograde tracer into the orexin neuron field of rats. Retrogradely labeled neurons were abundant in the allocortex, claustrum, lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and in many hypothalamic regions including the preoptic area, dorsomedial nucleus, lateral hypothalamus, and posterior hypothalamus. Retrograde labeling in the brainstem was generally more modest, but labeling was strong in the periaqueductal gray matter, dorsal raphe nucleus, and lateral parabrachial nucleus. Injection of an anterograde tracer confirmed that most of these regions directly innervate the orexin neurons, with some of the heaviest input coming from the lateral septum, preoptic area, and posterior hypothalamus. In addition, hypothalamic regions preferentially innervate orexin neurons in the medial and perifornical parts of the field, but most projections from the brainstem target the lateral part of the field. Inputs from the suprachiasmatic nucleus are mainly relayed via the subparaventricular zone and dorsomedial nucleus. These observations suggest that the orexin neurons may integrate a variety of interoceptive and homeostatic signals to increase behavioral arousal in response to hunger, stress, circadian signals, and autonomic challenges. J. Comp. Neurol. 494:845–861, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Aspirin at any dose above 30 mg offers only modest protection after cerebral ischaemia.

There is continuing debate about the relative efficacy of low (< 100 mg per day), medium (300 to 325 mg per day), and high (> 900 mg per day) doses of aspirin in patients after a transient ischaemic attack or non-disabling stroke. The purpose of this study was to resolve the issue. Thus a minimeta-analysis was performed on data from 10 randomised trials of aspirin only v control treatment in 6171 patients after a transient ischaemic attack or nondisabling stroke. The data on the trials were listed in an appendix of the report on the second cycle of the Antiplatelet Trialists' Collaboration. There was virtually no difference in relative risk reduction for low, medium, and high doses of aspirin (13%, 9%, and 14% respectively). This equivalence corresponds with the results of the UK-TIA trial in a direct comparison of 300 and 1200 mg. The Dutch TIA trial showed no difference in efficacy of 30 and 283 mg. It is concluded that aspirin at any dose above 30 mg daily prevents 13% (95% confidence interval 4-21) of vascular events and that there is a need for more efficacious drugs.
The Transmission of Fiscal Policy Shocks: International Spillovers and Non-Linearities

My dissertation addresses two issues that have not been adequately addressed in the empirical literature on the effects of fiscal policy: the possibility that U.S. fiscal policy has economically significant spillovers to other countries and the possibility that discretionary fiscal policy may have different effects in recessions and expansions. In the first chapter I estimate the magnitude and direction of spillovers from U.S. fiscal policy shocks to Canada, Japan, and the U.K. I find that U.S. government spending and net tax increases can be either beneficial or harmful for our trading partners. The magnitudes are generally moderate, with the response to a government spending increase typically an order of magnitude larger than the response to a net tax increase. In the second chapter I examine whether the spillovers to Canada vary across U.S. recessions and expansions and whether the responses vary non-linearly with the size or direction of the change in U.S. government spending. I find that there are indeed different effects in recession and expansion, but that the differences are short-lived, lasting no more than a few quarters. The use of a non-linear empirical model does not seem to matter much in estimating the direction of the responses to an increase in U.S. government spending, but the magnitudes of the effects on the real exchange rate and the trade balance are significantly larger than those estimated using a linear model. In the third chapter I shift the focus to the domestic effects of fiscal policy in Canada. I compare the responses of several Canadian macroeconomic series to increases in government spending in recession and expansion. With the notable exception of GDP, I find that the difference in responses across regimes is generally not significant in a statistical or qualitative sense. For GDP I find that the response to government spending shocks is negative in both recessions and expansions, but the magnitude of the response in recession is significantly larger.
Digitization of the Canadian Parliamentary Debates

Abstract This paper describes the digitization and enrichment of the Canadian House of Commons English Debates from 1901 to present. We start by laying out the general framework in which this project took place and then present the structure of the database and provide guidelines to prospective users. The paper concludes with the introduction of www.lipad. ca, an online platform designed as a hub for archiving Canadian political data, with the parliamentary proceedings at the centre of its architecture. Résumé Cet article décrit la numérisation et l'enrichissement de la publication parlementaire Débats de la Chambre des communes du Canada en langue anglaise, de 1901 à nos jours. Nous commençons par exposer le cadre général dans lequel ce projet s'est inscrit pour présenter ensuite la structure de la base de données et fournir des lignes directrices aux utilisateurs potentiels. L'article se conclut par la présentation de www.lipad. ca, une plateforme en ligne conçue pour être un carrefour d'archivage des données politiques canadiennes, avec les débats parlementaires au centre de son architecture.
ECO-FiWi: An Energy Conservation Scheme for Integrated Fiber-Wireless Access Networks

Integrated fiber-wireless (FiWi) access networks aim at taking full advantage of the reliability and high capacity of the optical backhaul along with the flexibility, ubiquity, and cost savings of the wireless/cellular front-end to provide broadband services for both mobile and fixed users. In FiWi access networks, energy efficiency issues must be addressed in a comprehensive fashion that takes into account not only wireless front-end but also optical backhaul segments to extend the battery life of wireless devices and allow operators to reduce their OPEX, while not compromising quality of service (QoS). This paper proposes an energy conservation scheme for FiWi networks (ECO-FiWi) that jointly schedules power-saving modes of wireless stations and access points and optical network units to reduce their energy consumption. ECO-FiWi maximizes the overall network performance by leveraging TDMA to synchronize the power-saving modes and incorporate them into the dynamic bandwidth allocation (DBA) process. A comprehensive energy saving model and an M/G/1 queuing-based analysis of downstream and upstream end-to-end frame delays are presented accounting for both backhaul and front-end network segments. Analytical results show that ECO-FiWi achieves significant amounts of energy saving, while preserving upstream delay and incurring a low delay for downstream traffic.
Uncovering the Heterogeneous Effects of ECB Unconventional Monetary Policies Across Euro Area Countries

We assess the effects of the ECB’s recent unconventional monetary policy measures by estimating a global VAR that exploits panel variation among all euro area economies and explicitly takes into account cross-country interdependencies. Unconventional monetary policy measures have benefi cial effects on activity, credit, infl ation and equity prices, and lead to a depreciation of the exchange rate. Most euro area members benefi t from these measures, but with a substantial degree of heterogeneity. Cross-country spillovers account for a sizable fraction of such dispersion, and substantially amplify effects. Countries with less fragile banking systems benefi t the most from unconventional monetary policy measures. Compared to expansionary conventional monetary policies, unconventional measures are particularly effective in reducing fi rms’ fi nancing costs and boosting credit.
Granulomatous lobular mastitis: imaging, diagnosis, and treatment.

OBJECTIVE Granulomatous lobular mastitis is a rare chronic inflammatory disease that has clinical and radiologic findings similar to those of breast cancer. We performed a retrospective analysis of clinical, imaging, and treatment findings in 54 women diagnosed with granulomatous lobular mastitis between January 2000 and April 2008. CONCLUSION The imaging findings of granulomatous lobular mastitis overlap with those of malignancy. The most common presentation is a focal asymmetric density on mammography and an irregular hypoechoic mass with tubular extensions on ultrasound. Core biopsy is typically diagnostic. Once the diagnosis is established by tissue sampling, corticosteroids are the first line of treatment.
Lesion Profiling and Subcellular Prion Localization of Cervid Chronic Wasting Disease in Domestic Cats

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an efficiently transmitted, fatal, and progressive prion disease of cervids with an as yet to be fully clarified host range. While outbred domestic cats (Felis catus) have recently been shown to be susceptible to experimental CWD infection, the neuropathologic features of the infection are lacking. Such information is vital to provide diagnostic power in the event of natural interspecies transmission and insights into host and strain interactions in interspecies prion infection. Using light microscopy and immunohistochemistry, we detail the topographic pattern of neural spongiosis (the “lesion profile”) and the distribution of misfolded prion protein in the primary and secondary passage of feline CWD (FelCWD). We also evaluated cellular and subcellular associations between misfolded prion protein (PrPD) and central nervous system neurons and glial cell populations. From these studies, we (1) describe the novel neuropathologic profile of FelCWD, which is distinct from either cervid CWD or feline spongiform encephalopathy (FSE), and (2) provide evidence of serial passage-associated interspecies prion adaptation. In addition, we demonstrate through confocal analysis the successful co-localization of PrPD with neurons, astrocytes, microglia, lysosomes, and synaptophysin, which, in part, implicates each of these in the neuropathology of FelCWD. In conclusion, this work illustrates the simultaneous role of both host and strain in the development of a unique FelCWD neuropathologic profile and that such a profile can be used to discriminate between FelCWD and FSE.
Parameter Extraction Method for the Electrical Model of a Silicon Photomultiplier

The availability of an effective electrical model, able to accurately reproduce the signals generated by a Silicon Photo-Multiplier coupled to the front-end electronics, is mandatory when the performance of a detection system based on this kind of detector has to be evaluated by means of reliable simulations. We propose a complete extraction procedure able to provide the whole set of the parameters involved in a well-known model of the detector, which includes the substrate ohmic resistance. The technique allows achieving very good quality of the fit between simulation results provided by the model and experimental data, thanks to accurate discrimination between the quenching and substrate resistances, which results in a realistic set of extracted parameters. The extraction procedure has been applied to a commercial device considering a wide range of different conditions in terms of input resistance of the front-end electronics and interconnection parasitics. In all the considered situations, very good correspondence has been found between simulations and measurements, especially for what concerns the leading edge of the current pulses generated by the detector, which strongly affects the timing performance of the detection system, thus confirming the effectiveness of the model and the associated parameter extraction technique.
Transient responses of coronary flow in the blood‐perfused isolated rat heart submitted to changes in oxygen content.

This study examines the transient response of coronary blood flow to acute changes in O2 content at normal and high arterial PO2 (Pa, O2) in the blood‐perfused, working isolated rat heart. The perfusion system used in this study presents the following advantages: it eliminates the gas/blood interface, includes a peripheral circulation for control of pre‐load and after‐load, and allows for rapid change of perfusates and continuous recording of aortic and coronary blood flow. With this system the isolated rat heart is capable of stable haemodynamic performance for periods in excess of 4 h. A sudden decrease in O2 content from 0.147 to 0.067 11(‐11) at constant Pa,O2 (133 mmHg; n = 15) was associated with a marked increase in coronary blood flow (QCOR). This increase showed two phases: a rapid phase which reached 200% of the control value in 20 s, followed by a slow phase (235% in 90 s). When the same decrease in O2 content (0.135 to 0.057 11(‐1] was associated with an increase in Pa, O2 (n = 22; 143 to 412 mmHg), the response of QCOR was limited both in amplitude (175% rather than 235%) and in rate of onset (response time of 15.6 instead of 9.2 s). These results are consistent with the majority of currently popular hypotheses regarding control of QCOR including the adenosine hypothesis and that of vessel wall PO2 being a direct mediator. The time course of changes in coronary vascular resistance, with a Pa, O2‐dependent rapid phase, suggests the simultaneous function of the two mechanisms.
Mechanisms of Gait Asymmetry Due to Push-Off Deficiency in Unilateral Amputees

Unilateral lower-limb amputees exhibit asymmetry in many gait features, such as ground force, step time, step length, and joint mechanics. Although these asymmetries result from weak prosthetic-side push-off, there is no proven mechanistic explanation of how that impairment propagates to the rest of the body. We used a simple dynamic walking model to explore possible consequences of a unilateral impairment similar to that of a transtibial amputee. The model compensates for reduced push-off work from one leg by performing more work elsewhere, for example during the middle of stance by either or both legs. The model predicts several gait abnormalities, including slower forward velocity of the body center-of-mass during intact-side stance, greater energy dissipation in the intact side, and more positive work overall. We tested these predictions with data from unilateral transtibial amputees (N = 11) and nonamputee control subjects (N = 10) walking on an instrumented treadmill. We observed several predicted asymmetries, including forward velocity during stance phases and energy dissipation from the two limbs, as well as greater work overall. Secondary adaptations, such as to reduce discomfort, may exacerbate asymmetry, but these simple principles suggest that some asymmetry may be unavoidable in cases of unilateral limb loss.
Postictal psychiatric events during prolonged video-electroencephalographic monitoring studies.

BACKGROUND Postictal psychiatric events presenting as postictal psychotic events and postictal nonpsychotic events are known to occur following seizure clusters. Accordingly, patients undergoing prolonged video-electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring studies may be at increased risk of experiencing postictal psychiatric event, as they often have flurries of seizures during these studies. OBJECTIVES To determine the annual incidence and clinical characteristics of postictal psychotic events and postictal nonpsychotic events in video-EEG monitoring studies in patients with partial seizure disorders and to identify potential pathogenic factors. RESULTS Thirteen patients met the criteria for a postictal psychiatric event during the 18-month study period, 10 presenting as postictal psychotic events and three as postictal nonpsychotic events. The annual incidence of postictal psychiatric events at our monitoring unit for 1988 was 7.8%, 6.4% presenting as postictal psychotic events and 1.4% as postictal nonpsychotic events. Seven patients had their first-ever postictal psychiatric event during the monitoring study. In 12 of the 13 patients, the postictal psychiatric events mimicked well-defined psychiatric entities of shorter duration (mean, 66.5 hours); they appeared 12 to 72 hours after the last seizure and remitted spontaneously or with the use of low-dose psychotropic medication. No significant differences in EEG, neuroradiologic, psychiatric, medical, or psychosocial data were found between the patients with postictal psychiatric events and a group of 13 age-matched control patients. Follow-up data of comparable duration were available in nine patients with postictal psychiatric events and nine controls. Psychiatric events were reported more frequently by patients with postictal psychiatric events than by control patients (P=.03). In three patients, postictal psychiatric events converted to interictal events. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that monitoring studies increase the risk for postictal psychiatric events, which neurologists need to be familiar with, as they represent important morbidity associated with these studies.