nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
Dynamic difficulty adjustment with Evolutionary Algorithm in games for rehabilitation robotics
Venue: 2016 IEEE International Conference on Serious Games and Applications for Health (SeGAH)

This article explores game difficulty adjustment for serious game applications in rehabilitation robotics. In this context, a difficulty adjustment system is proposed that takes user performance as input and generates two different responses: a) a change in the distance the user should cover, and b) the velocity provided to the target. User performance is estimated from its ability to achieve the targets (game score) performing movements. The system interference in user displacement value and target speed where chosen to stimulate the user to achieve specific rehabilitation goals. The game difficulty adjustment has received small attention in the context of rehabilitation robotics interfaces. It is important to note that games developed for rehabilitation differ from commercial entertainment games due to severe limitations imposed to patients by pathologies like stroke, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury. An Evolutionary Algorithm (AE) based optimization strategy was adopted to adjust game's difficulty. A meta profile for user behavior was also developed allowing to create and simulate different virtual users and game experiences in computer. This user profile includes a reaction time (time delay) motion disturbance and a kinematical motion profile based on a polynomial function. Using the meta profile, different user motion behavior can be generated for exhaustive test and optimization of the difficulty adjustment system. The approach allows the reduction of development time and also the reduction in the number of experiments with volunteers. The computer simulation test results are presented to demonstrate the capacity of the difficulty adjustment system to adapt the game characteristics to the users' abilities with different skills levels.
A Subject Specific EMG Driven Musculoskeletal Model for Applications in Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robotics
Venue: Int. J. Humanoid Robotics

Robotic devices have great potential in physical therapy owing to their repeatability, reliability and cost economy. However, there are great challenges to realize active control strategy, since the operator's motion intention is uneasy to be recognized by robotics online. The purpose of this paper is to propose a subject specific electromyography (EMG) driven musculoskeletal model to estimate subject's joint torque in real time, which can be used to detect his/her motion intention by forward dynamics, and then to explore its potential applications in rehabilitation robotics control. The musculoskeletal model uses muscle activation dynamics to extract muscle activation from raw EMG signals, a Hill type muscle tendon model to calculate muscle contraction force, and a proposed subject specific musculoskeletal geometry model to calculate muscular moment arm. The parameters of muscle activation dynamics and muscle tendon model are identified by off line optimization methods in order to minimize the differences between the estimated muscular torques and the reference torques. Validation experiments were conducted on six healthy subjects to evaluate the proposed model. Experimental results demonstrated the model's ability to predict knee joint torque with the coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.934+ 0.013 and the normalized root mean square error (RMSE) of 11.58% 1.44%
Digital Concrete: Opportunities and Challenges

Digital fabrication has been termed the "third industrial revolution" in recent years, and promises to revolutionize the construction industry with the potential of freeform architecture, less material waste, reduced construction costs, and increased worker safety. Digital fabrication techniques and cementitious materials have only intersected in a significant way within recent years. In this letter, we review the methods of digital fabrication with concrete, including 3D printing, under the encompassing term "digital concrete" identifying major challenges for concrete technology within this field. We additionally provide an analysis of layered extrusion, the most popular digital fabrication technique in concrete technology, identifying the importance of hydration control in its implementation.
Performance measurement system in supply chain management: application in the service sector

This study aims at proposing a performance measurement system (PMS) to assist in the supply chain management. This paper followed these steps: 1) conceptual theoretical structure's definition; 2) focal company choice; 3) mapping of current and beneath supply chains; 4) performance indicators' definition; 5) performance metric's definition; 6) checking for the significance of processes and metrics with AHP. The study proposes a PMS based on the SCOR model and it was applied to a company in the service sector and a supplier. Starting from the conducted analysis it was found that the most important processes in decreasing order were: source, planning, delivering, making and returning. For metrics, the most important were: perfect order fulfillment, stock cost, average answer time to a service request, deliveries carried out without failures, and customer complaint. According to the results, it is possible to settle the most important metrics between focal company and supplier, expecting the relationship's performance to be improved.
Impact of IoT (Internet of Things) on Growth of Cloud Applications in Service Sector with Specific Reference to Western Maharashtra
Venue: 2016 IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing in Emerging Markets (CCEM)

The traditional approach for applications development has always been very complicated and had higher total cost of ownership (TCO) The cost incurred for hardware and software required to run is significant and we need to add significant cost in managing dedicated software. With Cloud Computing, this is replaced by personalized, power to the people, do it yourself approach is "in" with the emergence of new technology known as Cloud Computing. In modern management of business, selection of right decision among RIGHT CHOICE among alternatives available. The choice of right decision mainly depends on the quality and quantity of underlying data. Hence initially from 70s to year 2000 majority of IT systems were data oriented system. With advent of speedy network from cloud and variety of devices to capture data, the IOT (Internet of Things) emerged.
Growing pains the low cost carrier sector in Indonesia: internal service quality using a critical incident technique

This study explores managers' perceptions of internal service quality (ISQ) for building a safety culture in Indonesian low cost carriers (LCC) using the critical incident technique (CIT) approach to determine the domain constructs of ISQ. This study used departmental managers or district managers who were drawn at random from the directory of the Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (IDGCA) and the researchers conducted critical incident interviews with 23 of them. These respondents described a total of 163 useable incidents, giving accounts of positive and negative internal evaluations of service quality drawn from these incidents. Based on retrospective interviews and, after the incidents had been categorized, the study found that domain constructs of ISQ included human factors, process, punctuality, sales and marketing and safety. The managers' first hand experiences helped clarify the domain constructs of ISQ in the LCC setting. By using internal service evaluations, management can assess the quality of service periodically and of safety awareness. These efforts could not only improve the reliability and quality of a company's services but also allow management to diagnose service errors through important components of service quality specifically defined for the airline business. The results of this study could be used to help improve current service quality internally. The ISQ results suggest practical actions for improvements that provide guidance to management, which can be achieved by the using the internal service evaluation technique to increase passengers' confidence in local air operators. These actions include improvements in human factors, process, punctuality, sales and marketing, and safety.
Challenges and prospects of private sector participation in solid waste management in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania

The objective of this research was to evaluate effectiveness of private sector participation in solid waste collection and transportation in Dar es Salaam City. The study covered 20 private service providers in municipalities of Kinondoni, Temeke and Ilala. Information was collected through questionnaires, interview guides, physical observation and field studies. Data were sought from 5 private companies, 15 Community Based Organizations, Dar es Salaam City Council, Waste Departments of Municipal authorities and local governments of ward and streets. The results show that private sector service providers collected and transported 9% of the 29,764 tons of solid wastes generated per week. They have also provided employment opportunities to over 350 people, who are helping to keep the city clean and increase national income through payment of various taxes. It was also observed that private sector operates in difficult conditions because of low cost recovery, the use of inferior wastes collection and transportation equipment, limited scheduling, short contract duration, inefficient system of refuse fee collection, an absence of planned wastes recycling systems, inaccessible roads and weak implementation of relevant municipal policies and by laws. It was further noted that the success of the system will depend on accountability of municipal authorities by raising the awareness of the communities in order to improve willingness to pay for refuse fees and discourage illegal dumping of waste by individuals, enforcing municipal by laws, and planning and promotion of environmentally friendly waste management practices.
Mycophenolate mofetil as an immunomodulator in refractory noninfectious uveitis.
Venue: Arquivos brasileiros de oftalmologia

To evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) for the treatment of noninfectious uveitis using the methods advocated by the Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature (SUN) Working Group and to compare this with other studies of immunosuppression in ocular inflammation.  Retrospective case series. Patients with noninfectious uveitis, followed at a tertiary Uveitis Service in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 2007 to 2014 and receiving oral MMF for a minimum of 6 months, were retrospectively reviewed. After reaching an optimal dose of MMF, patients were evaluated after 6 (T6) 12 (T12) and 24 months (T24) The optimal dose varied for each patient (medium 2.2 g/day, range 1.0 3.0 g/day) The main outcome measures were: 1) success on achieving complete control of inflammation in both eyes and/or oral prednisone dosage reduction to =10 mg per day, and 2) the length of time required to reduce oral prednisone to =10 mg/day, partial control of ocular inflammation, and side effects.  In a cohort of 16 patients with refractory noninfectious uveitis, 67% reached the ideal prednisone dose after 1 year of MMF treatment and 83% after 2 years of MMF treatment. Complete or partial inflammation control was achieved in 43.7% at T12. Two patients (14% had disease remission after 4.7 years of MMF treatment. Adverse effects were gastrointestinal disturbances, infection, insomnia, and liver function abnormalities at a rate of 0.03 patient year each.  This small retrospective case series is consistent with the literature concerning the high efficacy and moderate tolerability of MMF in noninfectious uveitis. Observation of patients should be continued for at least 1 year to clearly determine MMF efficacy.
The effects of creativity on advertising wear in and wear out

Both ad creativity and ad repetition play a pivotal role in advertising strategy. It is therefore of practical and theoretical importance to understand how they interact with one another on advertising effectiveness. After reviewing existing theories, we predict three way interactions among: divergence, relevance, and repetition over six important dependent variables. Using a 2x2x3 between subjects experimental design, we find that the classic inverted U Shape (repeatedly found in previous repetition research) is observed only for ads with low divergence and relevance. In contrast, creative ads (high divergence and relevance) wear in immediately and show little sign of wearing out even over repeated exposures. Mixed levels of divergence and relevance produce immediate wear in but do show wearing out over repeated exposures. Implications for advertising management and media programming are discussed.
The Heart of Humanistic Psychology

Through a philosophical analysis, guided by phenomenology, humanistic psychology is interpreted as a way of knowing that is guided by an interpretive stance of love. Hermeneutics, the study of interpretation, understands that interpretation is guided by certain moods or dispositions. Agape love, or a good will toward others, is an interpretive stance, or hermeneutic, by which others can be understood through an empathic attitude of charitability, which provides a safe space for the other person to disclose himself or herself. An approach to science and practice, when it is grounded in a hermeneutic of love, can be understood to be guided by a recognition that human beings have dignity, which calls us to an ethic of caring. As humanistic psychology is understood to be guided by a hermeneutics of love, its basic philosophical presuppositions are revealed with regard to its ontological, epistemological, and ethical foundations. Whereas dignity is a central concept of humanistic psychology, a hermeneutics of love may be a unique method of access for revealing concretely the reality of human dignity as a foundation for social ethics.
Efficient Computation of Exposure Profiles on Real World and Risk Neutral Scenarios for Bermudan Swaptions

This paper presents a computationally efficient technique for the computation of exposure distributions at any future time under the risk neutral and some observed real world probability measures; these are needed for the computation of credit valuation adjustment (CVA) and potential future exposure (PFE) In particular, we present a valuation framework for Bermudan swaptions. The essential idea is to approximate the required value function via a set of risk neutral scenarios and use this approximated value function on the set of observed real world scenarios. This technique significantly improves the computational efficiency by avoiding nested Monte Carlo simulation and using only basic methods such as regression. We demonstrate the benefits of this technique by computing exposure distributions for Bermudan swaptions under the Hull White and G2 models.
Pricing Bermudan options under local Levy models with default

We consider a defaultable asset whose risk neutral pricing dynamics are described by an exponential L\'evy type martingale. This class of models allows for a local volatility, local default intensity and a locally dependent L\'evy measure. We present a pricing method for Bermudan options based on an analytical approximation of the characteristic function combined with the COS method. Due to a special form of the obtained characteristic function the price can be computed using a Fast Fourier Transform based algorithm resulting in a fast and accurate calculation. The Greeks can be computed at almost no additional computational cost. Error bounds for the approximation of the characteristic function as well as for the total option price are given.
Mathematics, Peace, and the Cold War: Scientific Diplomacy and Richard Courant's Scientific Identity

This paper seeks to combine studies of emigre scientists, Cold War American science, and cultural histories of mathematical communities by analyzing Richard Courant's participation in the National Academy of Sciences interacademy exchange program with the Soviet Union in the 1960s. Following his dismissal by the Nazi government from his post as Director of the Gottingen Mathematics Institute in 1933, Courant spent a year at the University of Cambridge, and then immigrated to the United States where he developed the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. Courant's participation with the National Academy of Sciences interacademy exchange program at the end of his career highlights his ideologies about the mathematics discipline, the international mathematics community, and the political role mathematicians could play in contributing to international peace through scientific diplomacy. Courant's Cold War scientific identity emerges from his activities as an emigre mathematician, institution builder, and international "ambassador."
A Port and Frequency Reconfigurable MIMO Slot Antenna for WLAN Applications
Venue: IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

A novel compact four port reconfigurable multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna design for IEEE 802.11 applications is proposed. In one configuration, the antenna provides four ports operating from 4.9 to 5.725 GHz with isolation between antennas greater than 14 dB. In the second configuration, it provides a two port antenna operating at 2.4 2.5 GHz together with another two port antenna operating at 4.9 5.725 GHz all with isolations greater than 18 dB. The structure consists of four slot antennas, and two of the slots are made reconfigurable by including MEMS switches in the slots. The overall antenna size is compact and occupies 46x20x1.6 mm3 and is printed on FR 4 printed circuit board. The proposed antenna is investigated by simulation and measurement, and results include radiation patterns, S parameters, and signal correlations and branch power ratio (BPR) between ports. These show that in typical wireless environments' envelope, cross correlations of less than 0.2 between the ports are obtained. The effect of the RF MEMS switches on the antenna performance is also addressed.
Multi region Two Stream R CNN for Action Detection
Venue: ECCV

We propose a multi region two stream R CNN model for action detection in realistic videos. We start from frame level action detection based on faster R CNN [1] and make three contributions: (1) we show that a motion region proposal network generates high quality proposals which are complementary to those of an appearance region proposal network; (2) we show that stacking optical flow over several frames significantly improves frame level action detection; and (3) we embed a multi region scheme in the faster R CNN model, which adds complementary information on body parts. We then link frame level detections with the Viterbi algorithm, and temporally localize an action with the maximum subarray method. Experimental results on the UCF Sports, J HMDB and UCF101 action detection datasets show that our approach outperforms the state of the art with a significant margin in both frame mAP and video mAP.
End to End Learning of Action Detection from Frame Glimpses in Videos
Venue: 2016 IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR)

In this work we introduce a fully end to end approach for action detection in videos that learns to directly predict the temporal bounds of actions. Our intuition is that the process of detecting actions is naturally one of observation and refinement: observing moments in video, and refining hypotheses about when an action is occurring. Based on this insight, we formulate our model as a recurrent neural network based agent that interacts with a video over time. The agent observes video frames and decides both where to look next and when to emit a prediction. Since backpropagation is not adequate in this non differentiable setting, we use REINFORCE to learn the agent's decision policy. Our model achieves state of the art results on the THUMOS'14 and ActivityNet datasets while observing only a fraction (2% or less) of the video frames.
Visual deficits in Nepalese patients with oculocutaneous albinism
Venue: Journal of optometry

Albinism poses a significant threat to visual functions and causes remarkable ocular morbidity often resulting in visual disabilities. The study aimed at describing the visual status in patients with diagnosed cases of complete oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) attending to a tertiary eye hospital in Nepal.  This was a cross sectional descriptive hospital based study of all diagnosed oculocutaneous albinotic cases (16 males and 9 females; mean age of 16 years) who visited the Department of Ophthalmology at the Institute of Medicine, for ocular consultation between September 1, 2011 and December 1, 2013.  Twenty five cases (50 eyes) with OCA were enrolled in the study. All the participants had maximally reduced visual acuity (mean: 1.24 0.50 logMAR) Myopic astigmatism was the most common refractive error (n 17; 34% 58% of all participants had with the rule astigmatism. Considering the spherical equivalent power, most of the eyes (n 30; 60% had myopia, with overall mean SE refractive error of 1.59 5.39 D. Visual acuity improved significantly with refractive correction in place (paired sample t test, p 0.05) Horizontal pendular nystagmus was the most common nystagmus (n 34 eyes; 68% Alternating esotropia and alternating exotropia each were observed in 16% of participants who had strabismus (40% of all cases) The diaphanous iris, foveal hypoplasia and poliosis were the most consistent clinical features.  Patients with OCA present with a broad spectrum of visual deficits that impair the visual functions. Significant improvement in visual acuity following optical correction serves as an impetus to the reduction of visual disabilities in individuals with albinism.
Treeline Responsiveness to Climate Warming: Insights from a Krummholz Treeline in Rolwaling Himal, Nepal

At a global scale, the elevational position of natural upper treelines is determined by low temperatures during growing season. Thus, climate warming is expected to induce treelines to advance to higher elevations. Empirical studies in diverse mountain ranges, however, give evidence of both advancing alpine treelines as well as rather insignificant responses. Himalayan treeline ecotones show considerable differences in altitudinal position as well as in physiognomy and species composition. To assess the sensitivity of a near natural treeline to climate warming at local scale, we analysed the relations between changes of growth parameters and temperature gradients along the elevational gradient in the treeline ecotone in Rolwaling valley, Nepal, by a multispecies approach. We observed species specific transition patterns (diameter at breast height, height, tree and recruit densities) and varying degrees of abruptness of these transitions across the treeline ecotone resulting in a complex stand structure. Soil temperatures are associated with physiognomic transitions, treeline position and spatial regeneration patterns. In conclusion, treeline tree species have the potential to migrate upslope in future. Upslope migration, however, is controlled by a dense krummholz belt of Rhododendron campanulatum. Currently, the treeline is rather stable; however we found a prolific regeneration as well as signs of stand densification. Given the spatial heterogeneity of Himalayan treeline ecotones, further studies are needed to fully understand the complex conditions for the establishment and development of tree seedlings and the responsiveness of Himalayan treeline ecotones to climate change.