Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Language Model-Guided Classifier Adaptation for Brain-Computer Interfaces for Communication

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), such as the P300 speller, can provide a means of communication for individuals with severe neuromuscular limitations. BCIs interpret electroencephalography (EEG) signals in order to translate embedded information about a user’s intent into executable commands to control external devices. However, EEG signals are inherently noisy and nonstationary, posing a challenge to extended BCI use. Conventionally, a BCI classifier is trained via supervised learning in an offline calibration session; once trained, the classifier is deployed for online use and is not updated. As the statistics of a user’s EEG data change over time, the performance of a static classifier may decline with extended use. It is therefore desirable to automatically adapt the classifier to current data statistics without requiring offline recalibration. In an existing semi-supervised learning approach, the classifier is trained on labeled EEG data and is then updated using incoming unlabeled EEG data and classifier-predicted labels. To reduce the risk of learning from incorrect predictions, a threshold is imposed to exclude unlabeled data with low-confidence label predictions from the expanded training set when retraining the adaptive classifier. In this work, we propose the use of a language model for spelling error correction and disambiguation to provide information about label correctness during semi-supervised learning. Results from simulations with multi-session P300 speller user EEG data demonstrate that our language-guided semi-supervised approach significantly improves spelling accuracy relative to conventional BCI calibration and threshold-based semi-supervised learning.
Automation and standardization of subject-specific region-of-interest segmentation for investigation of diffusion imaging in clinical populations

Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is key in clinical neuroimaging studies. In recent years, DWI has undergone rapid evolution and increasing applications. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is widely used to analyse group-level differences in white matter (WM), but suffers from limitations that can be particularly impactful in clinical groups where 1) structural abnormalities may increase erroneous inter-subject registration and 2) subtle differences in WM microstructure between individuals can be missed. It also lacks standardization protocols for analyses at the subject level. Region of Interest (ROI) analyses in native diffusion space can help overcome these challenges, with manual segmentation still used as the gold standard. However, robust automated approaches for the analysis of ROI-extracted native diffusion characteristics are limited. Subject-Specific Diffusion Segmentation (SSDS) is an automated pipeline that uses pre-existing imaging analysis methods to carry out WM investigations in native diffusion space, while overcoming the need to interpolate diffusion images and using an intermediate T1 image to limit registration errors and guide segmentation. SSDS is validated in a cohort of healthy subjects scanned three times to derive test-retest reliability measures and compared to other methods, namely manual segmentation and tract-based spatial statistics as an example of group-level method. The performance of the pipeline is further tested in a clinical population of patients with traumatic brain injury and structural abnormalities. Mean FA values obtained from SSDS showed high test-retest and were similar to FA values estimated from the manual segmentation of the same ROIs (p-value > 0.1). The average dice similarity coefficients (DSCs) comparing results from SSDS and manual segmentations was 0.8 ± 0.1. Case studies of TBI patients showed robustness to the presence of significant structural abnormalities, indicating its potential clinical application in the identification and diagnosis of WM abnormalities. Further recommendation is given regarding the tracts used with SSDS.
Support Needs in Carers of People With Parkinson’s From Early to Later Stages: A Qualitative Study With 36 Carers in 11 European Countries

Background Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is associated with considerable carer burden, but there has been little qualitative research on the support needs of carers of People with Parkinson’s (PwP). Methods Semi-structured in-depth interviews with carers of PwP in 11 European countries. Results Interviews with 36 carers of PwP were analysed. At the time of diagnosis, carers often felt that they had a role in helping get a diagnosis and then in dealing with the impact of the diagnosis on the family. Information on medication was seen as particularly important for carers, and many of the carers felt that their informational needs differed from that of the PwPs. Many of the carers also felt that they needed to be present at all appointments to request referrals or ask for medication changes. Carers of those in the later stages of the disease often reported feeling isolated and not having any time for themselves. Conclusions The involvement of carers should be addressed more actively in the management of Parkinson’s.
Vocabulary for Universal Approximation: A Linguistic Perspective of Mapping Compositions

In recent years, deep learning-based sequence modelings, such as language models, have received much attention and success, which pushes researchers to explore the possibility of transforming non-sequential problems into a sequential form. Following this thought, deep neural networks can be represented as composite functions of a sequence of mappings, linear or nonlinear, where each composition can be viewed as a \emph{word}. However, the weights of linear mappings are undetermined and hence require an infinite number of words. In this article, we investigate the finite case and constructively prove the existence of a finite \emph{vocabulary} $V=\{\phi_i: \mathbb{R}^d \to \mathbb{R}^d | i=1,. ,n\}$ with $n=O(d^2)$ for the universal approximation. That is, for any continuous mapping $f: \mathbb{R}^d \to \mathbb{R}^d$, compact domain $\Omega$ and $\varepsilon>0$, there is a sequence of mappings $\phi_{i_1}, . , \phi_{i_m} \in V, m \in \mathbb{Z}_+$, such that the composition $\phi_{i_m} \circ . \circ \phi_{i_1} $ approximates $f$ on $\Omega$ with an error less than $\varepsilon$. Our results provide a linguistic perspective of composite mappings and suggest a cross-disciplinary study between linguistics and approximation theory.
Interactions between episodic and semantic memory

2 Episodic memory tasks 14 2.1 Free recall . 14 2.2 Semantic influences on recall performance . 18 2.2.1 Measures of semantic relatedness . 18 2.2.2 Semantic clustering . 20 2.2.3 Memory availability versus accessibility . 21 2.2.4 Inter-response times . 25 2.2. 5 Semantic organization and temporal contiguity . 28 2.2. 6 False memory . 34 2.3 Models of semantic organization . 36 2.3. 1 Recoding in categorized free recall . 36 2.3. 2 Interitem associations . 44 2.3. 3 Hybrid models . 47 2.4 Conclusions . 52
Appariement de formes basé sur une squelettisation hiérarchique. (Shape matching based on a hierarchical skeletonization)

Les travaux effectues durant cette these portent sur l’appariement de formes planes base sur une squelettisation hierarchique. Dans un premier temps, nous avons aborde la creation d’un squelette de forme grâce a un algorithme associant des outils de la geometrie discrete et des filtres. Cette association permet d’acquerir un squelette regroupant les proprietes desirees dans le cadre de l’appariement. Neanmoins, le squelette obtenu reste une representation de la forme ne differenciant pas les branches representant l’allure generale de celles representant un detail de la forme. Or, lors de l’appariement, il semble plus interessant d’associer des branches ayant le meme ordre d’importance, mais aussi de donner plus de poids aux associations decrivant un aspect global des formes. Notre deuxieme contribution porte sur la resolution de ce probleme. Elle concerne donc la hierarchisation des branches du squelette, precedemment cree, en leur attribuant une ponderation refletant leur importance dans la forme. A cet effet, nous lissons progressivement une forme et etudions la persistance des branches pour leur attribuer un poids. L’ultime etape consiste donc a apparier les formes grâce a leur squelette hierarchique modelise par un hypergraphe. En d’autres termes, nous associons les branches deux a deux pour determiner une mesure de dissimilarite entre deux formes. Pour ce faire, nous prenons en compte la geometrie des formes, la position relative des differentes parties des formes ainsi que de leur importance.
UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL INSTITUTO DE GEOCIÊNCIAS PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM GEOGRAFIA

This dissertation reviews the Arctic environmental changes in recent decades and examines their geopolitical consequences. The interest in the region by the Arctic nations (Canada, Denmark Greenland, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and USA) have increased, mainly due to the volume of hydrocarbons available in the region, estimated at 13% of the oil and 30% of the natural gas yet to be discovered. For the last 50 years, the Arctic has shown the fastest warming trend in the world, twice as much as the worldwide mean, this has caused rapid environmental changes such as the shrinkage of glaciers, which contributed to the mean sea level rise; the permafrost thaw, which releases large amounts of CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere, intensifying the greenhouse effect; the migration of the vegetation towards the North, changing food availability and the migration patterns of animals; the increase of the ocean surface temperature, which may cause the migration of fish shoals to colder areas. However, the most rapid environmental change, which draws the most attention, is the reduction of the sea ice cover area in the summer. Such reduction favours the exploitation of natural resources in the ocean and also opens the Arctic Ocean to navigation in the summer (i.e., opening of the Northeast and the Northwest passages). The Arctic countries have developed strategies to deal with the new challenges arising from these changes, all have promised to work for peace and cooperation, but, in fact, it is apparent an increase in military exercises in the region to exercise regional sovereignty. Countries with an Arctic Ocean coast (Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and USA) plan to expand their EEZs (Exclusive Economic Zones) and some claims overlap, which can be a new focus of conflict. Also, there is an emergent interest of non-Arctic nations (e.g., China, India and Singapore) that want to use the new sea routes and also participate in consortia for natural resources exploitation. The geopolitical scenario is still uncertain, Canada and the US have not yet reached an agreement on the sovereignty of the Northwest Passage, considered international waters by the latter, and only Norway and Russia reached a diplomatic agreement on their maritime boundaries. Considering that the Arctic is undergoing these rapid environmental and geopolitical changes, it is advisable that Brazil acts in the region, at least to observe the scenarios resulting from such modifications. As one of the first actions, it is suggested the signing of the Svalbard Treaty, which would give to the country access to this Arctic archipelago, both for conducting scientific research as for possible exploitation of natural resources.
Liveweight, feed intake and feed conversion efficiency of lactating dairy cows

Liveweight, milk yield and feed intake were measured in two experiments, the first with 30 cows grazing on pasture and the second with 16 cows fed indoors on fresh pasture. Feed intakes by the grazing cows were estimated from faecal outputs, using chromic oxide as the indigestiblemarker.Therelationbetweendailymetabolisableenergy intake (MBI),daily milkenergyoutput, liveweight”. 7s(LWO~7s) anddaily change in liveweight were examined by multiple regression analysis. Milk energy was significantly related to MEI in all analyses, and LW’. 75 was significantly related to MEI in the majority of the analyses. The partial regression coefficients for Lw0.7s ranged from 0.8 to 1.4, higher than are commonly reported. The data suggest that an increase of 100 kg liveweight (between 350 and 550 kg) is associated with an increased energy requirement of about 15 MI ME per day. The results show that LwO,” has a significant effect on MEI, and therefore (at a common milk energy output) on feed conversion efficiency. An “index of efficiency” is proposed which will enable cows which differ in milk yield, weight and breed to be ranked according to their predicted “gross feed conversion efficiency”.
Supplementary materials for: A solution to the learning dilemma for recurrent networks of spiking neurons

S2 Optimization and regularization procedures 4 S2.1 Optimization procedure . 4 S2.2 Firing rate regularization for LSNNs . 4 S2.3 Weight decay regularization . 5 S2.4 Optimization with rewiring for sparse network connectivity . 5
A Piezoelectric Tactile Sensor and Human-inspired Tactile Exploration Strategy for Lump Palpation in Tele-operative Robotic Minimally Invasive Surgery

A piezoelectric tactile sensor is proposed in this paper featuring small size suitable for minimally invasive surgery (MIS), simple structure with only one transducer for both actuation and sensing, and easy instrumentation requiring only electrical impedance measurement. Its validity and sensing performance are confirmed with simulations. In addition, the sensor together with a model of soft tissue with embedded lump are used to generate stiffness maps in various scenarios, which facilitate the construction of a virtual lump palpation system together with a vibrotactile feedback device and a visual tracking system. Subsequent experimental studies reveal that human palpation strategies have influence on the lump detection performance. The "Scanning" strategy leads to better performance in lump localization and size discrimination ratio, whereas the "Edge following" strategy achieves better performance in shape discrimination. Therefore, a combination of different palpation strategies is suggested which may help achieve the best performance in all aspects of the lump palpation task, and finally forms a human-inspired lump palpation solution that contributes to the robot-assisted MIS.
Curcumin Combination Chemotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal cancer and there is innate resistance to standard chemotherapy regimens in pancreatic cancer. Gemcitabine was approved in 1996 for the chemotherapeutic treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer. FOLFIRINOX (fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, oxaliplatin) and gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel combination therapies have shown superiority to gemcitabine monotherapy but are more toxic than gemcitabine monotherapy. Therefore, gemcitabine monotherapy is still one of the standard treatments for pancreatic cancer for patients who can’t tolerate the toxicity of other chemotherapeutic regimens. The effectiveness of standard chemotherapeutic drugs is limited in pancreatic cancer due to drug resistance, and undesirable side effects. There is a likelihood that the combination of standard chemotherapy with natural compounds having anti-cancer potential like curcumin will increase the effectiveness of treatment as well as reduce the toxic side effects of standard chemotherapeutic agents. Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma longa (turmeric) and is considered a promising anticancer agent. Here, a review is presented about the potential use of curcumin with standard chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer as there is a potential in different combination regimens of curcumin in pancreatic cancer to increase median survival in pancreatic cancer in comparatively less toxic, novel ways. Also, curcumin combination chemotherapy may lead to the improvement of cancer and chemotherapy-related symptoms. The poor bioavailability of curcumin has been the major obstacle for its clinical application. To overcome this problem, several curcumin preparations have been developed including cost-effective preparation methods to increase the bioavailability of curcumin. Different studies have shown that gemcitabine curcumin combination regimen can effectively increase survival with less toxicity in patients who are resistant to gemcitabine and can’t even tolerate the toxicity of other chemotherapeutic combination regimens. Although clinical trials are needed, Paclitaxel and curcumin cobound albumin nanoparticles also have the potential to become another alternative chemotherapeutic regimen for pancreatic cancer. For those patients who can tolerate gemcitabine paclitaxel regimen toxicity, there can also be a future possibility of using paclitaxel and curcumin cobound albumin nanoparticles with gemcitabine and this triple therapy may have enhanced therapeutic effects with comparatively less toxic effects. Curcumin has shown its effectiveness with the constituents of FOLFIRINOX in other types of cancers, therefore there is a need for curcumin FOLFIRINOX combined clinical trials in pancreatic cancer as curcumin has the potential to increase the effectiveness of FOLFIRINOX as well as reduce its toxic side effects.
Relevance of therapy goals in outpatient cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic psychotherapy

Abstract Objective: Against a background of sparse research and contradictory findings, the present study investigates determinants of psychotherapy goals and predictive value for therapy success in outpatient psychotherapy. Method: The sample consisted of 473 patients from a university-based polyclinic and their corresponding 103 therapists. Goals were coded with the Bern Inventory of Treatment Goals (BIT-T). Results: The results show that goal congruence between therapists and patients is relatively small. Theoretical orientation had a significant influence on the complexity of goal structure and goal preferences. With regard to the prognostic validity, only patients' problem- and symptom-focused goals enabled the prediction of treatment success independent of basic therapeutic variables. Conclusions: These findings underline the importance of consideration of patients' individual treatment goals in clinical practice and underpin the relevance of therapy goals for future psychotherapy research.
Genetic Polymorphisms and Drug Interactions Leading to Clopidogrel Resistance: Why the Asian Population Requires Special Attention

ABSTRACT Ischemic heart disease and stroke are the two leading causes of death worldwide. Antiplatelet therapy plays the most significant role in the management of these cardiovascular and cerebrovascular occlusive events to prevent recurrent ischemic attack. Clopidogrel, an antiplatelet drug, is widely prescribed either alone or in combination with aspirin as dual antiplatelet therapy for the prevention of vascular occlusive events. The antiplatelet response to clopidogrel varies widely. Hyporesponders and nonresponders are likely to have adverse cardiovascular events during follow-up. Some drugs, such as proton pump inhibitors (omeprazole), calcium channel blockers, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (nefazadone), coumarin derivatives (phenprocoumon), benzodiazepines, sulfonylurea, erythromycin, and itraconazole, decrease the antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel when administered concomitantly. Decreased response to clopidogrel is common among Asians due to genetic polymorphisms associated with clopidogrel resistance, and it is nearly 70% in some of the Asian communities. It is necessary to study Asian populations, because there are a large number of Asians throughout the world due to increased migration. Current guidelines do not make genetic testing or platelet response testing mandatory prior to clopidogrel prescription. Therefore, it is important for clinicians treating Asian patients to keep in mind the interindividual variability in response to clopidogrel when prescribing the drug.
An epidemiological study of newly diagnosed sputum positive tuberculosis patients in Dhubri district, Assam, India and the factors influencing their compliance to treatment

Context: Tuberculosis (TB) affects the economically productive age group and has emerged as a disease of significant socio-economic global burden. Aims: The aim of this study is to identify epidemiological factors responsible for TB and the clinico-social correlates influencing their compliance. Subjects and Methods: All new smear positive TB (NSP-TB) patients registered in Dhubri District Tuberculosis Center-Tuberculosis Unit during 2007 in Assam were included in this study. The study was performed by interview technique using a pre-tested questionnaire. Results: Nearly 90.76% of the participants were in the age group of 15-55 years and were predominantly unskilled workers and sole earning member of their family. 83.33% of the patients had symptoms of cough for more than 3 weeks and most of them (98.15%) lived in overcrowded houses. More than half of the patients had X-ray examination as their initial approach to diagnosis. More males (59.18%) than females (40.82%) reported to the health institution within first 6 weeks after the onset of symptom and among them 91.84% were declared cured after completion of therapy and while, only 40% of the patients initiating treatment after 6 weeks of the onset of symptoms were declared cured after completion of therapy. Conclusions: The prevalence of NSP-TB cases was more among the illiterate and underprivileged population who needs counseling and motivation for early intervention.
Storage allocation framework for designing lean buffers in forward-reserve model: a test case

Purpose The retail revolution swing from traditional distribution to e-tailing services and unprecedented increase in internet adoption insist practitioners to diversely plan warehousing strategies. More than practically required storage space has been identified as wastes, and also it does not improve performance. An organized framework integrating storage design policies, operational performance and customer value improvement for retail-distribution management is lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop broad guidelines to design the “just-right” amount of forward area, i.e., “lean buffer” answering the following questions: “What should be lean buffer size? How effective the forward area is? As per demand variations, which storage waste (SKU) should be allocated with how much storage space? What is the amount of storage waste (SW)? How smooth the material flow is in between reserve-forward area? ” for storage allocation in cosmetics distribution centers. Design/methodology/approach After forecasting static storage allocation between two planning horizons, if a particular SKU is less or non-moving, then it will cause SW, as the occupied location can be utilized by other competing SKUs, and also it impedes material flow for an instance. A dynamically efficient and self-adaptive, knapsack instance based heuristics is developed in order to make effective storage utilization. Findings The existing state-of-the-art under study is supported with a distribution center case, and the study investigates the need of a model adopting lean management approach in storage allocation policies along with test results in LINGO. The sensitivity analysis describes the impact of varying demand and buffer size on performance. The results are compared with uniform and exponential distributed demands, and findings reveal that the proposed heuristics improves efficiency and reduce SWs in forward-reserve area. Originality/value The presented model demonstrates a novel thinking of lean adoption in designing storage allocation strategy and its performance measures while reducing wastes and improving customer value. Future research issues are highlighted, which may be of great help to the researchers who would like to explore the emerging field of lean adoption for sustainable retail and distribution operations.