nils-herrmann/clean_scirepeval huggingface dataset:
A Dorsal Vein Recognition System Based on Score Fusion Technique Combining Local and Statistical Features
Year: 2015

The numerous problems of the traditional security technologies have led to a rise in developing biometric systems. Many traditional biometric systems, such as fingerprint, face, and iris systems have been studied extensively in the previous decades .Nowadays the concept of using the dorsal vein pattern in authentication that uses the vast network blood vessels underneath a person's skin showed to be a proven biometric technique. Different trails have been done to extract veins patterns and build systems that can give good performance. In this paper, we proposed an automatic system for human identification based on their dorsal vein patterns. Within this approach preprocessing steps are implemented to get the enhanced grayscale images with visible and clear veins. Two features extraction techniques are used, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) to get eigenveins and keypoints respectively. Statistical distance classifiers are implemented for classification. Finally the results from both classifiers are fused using simple min rule. The system has been successfully tested on a database of 100 users using MATLAB version 2009. The obtained results show that the proposed system outperforms the results of each individual system (PCA, SIFT)
Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice and associated factors towards palliative care among nurses working in selected hospitals, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Venue: BMC Palliative Care
Year: 2014

BackgroundTo provide quality care at the end of life or for chronically sick patients, nurses must have good knowledge, attitude and practice about palliative care (PC) In Ethiopia PC is new and very little is known about the type of services offered and the readiness of nurses to provide PC.MethodsA cross sectional quantitative study design was carried out using 341 nurses working in selected hospitals in Addis Ababa from January 2012 to May 2012. Systematic random sampling was the method employed to select two governmental and two non governmental hospitals. The researchers used triangulation in their study method making use of: Frommelt's Attitude Toward Care of the Dying (FATCOD) Scale, Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN) and practice questions. This led to enhanced validity of the data. EPI INFO and SPSS software statistical packages were applied for data entry and analysis.ResultOf the total 365 nurses selected, a response rate of 341 (94.2% were registered. Out of the total study participants, 104 (30.5% had good knowledge and 259 (76% had favorable attitude towards PC. Medical and surgical wards as well as training on PC were positively associated with knowledge of nurses. Institution, individuals' level of education, working in medical ward and the training they took part on PC were also significantly associated with the attitude the nurses had. Nurses working in Hayat Hospital (nongovernmental) had a 71.5% chance of having unfavorable attitude towards PC than those working in Black Lion Hospital (governmental) Regarding their knowledge aspect of practice, the majority of the respondents 260 (76.2% had poor implementation, and nearly half of the respondents had reported that the diagnosis of patients was usually performed at the terminal stage. In line with this, spiritual and medical conditions were highly taken into consideration while dealing with terminally ill patients.ConclusionThe nurses had poor knowledge and knowledge aspect of practice, but their attitude towards PC was favorable. Recommendations are that due attention should be given towards PC by the national health policy and needs to be incorporated in the national curriculum of nurse education.
Bifunctional Aptamer Doxorubicin Conjugate Crosses the Blood Brain Barrier and Selectively Delivers Its Payload to EpCAM Positive Tumor Cells
Venue: Nucleic acid therapeutics
Year: 2020

The prognosis for breast cancer patients diagnosed with brain metastases is poor, with survival time measured merely in months. This can largely be attributed to the limited treatment options capable of reaching the tumor as a result of the highly restrictive blood brain barrier (BBB) While methods of overcoming this barrier have been developed and employed with current treatment options, the majority are highly invasive and nonspecific, leading to severe neurotoxic side effects. A novel approach to address these issues is the development of therapeutics targeting receptor mediated transport mechanisms on the BBB endothelial cell membranes. Using this approach, we intercalated doxorubicin (DOX) into a bifunctional aptamer targeting the transferrin receptor on the BBB and epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) on metastatic cancer cells. The ability of the DOX loaded aptamer to transcytose the BBB and selectively deliver the payload to EpCAM positive tumors was evaluated in an in vitro model and confirmed for the first time in vivo using the MDA MB 231 breast cancer metastasis model (MDA MB 231Br) We show that colocalized aptamer and DOX are clearly detectable within the brain lesions 75 min postadministration. Collectively, results from this study demonstrate that through intercalation of a cytotoxic drug into the bifunctional aptamer, a therapeutic delivery vehicle can be developed for specific targeting of EpCAM positive brain metastases.
An implementation of modified nodal array approach in designing a readout circuit for piezoresistive pressure sensor array
Venue: 2017 IEEE 3rd International Symposium in Robotics and Manufacturing Automation (ROMA)
Year: 2017

In this paper, we modified the Nodal Array Approach (NAA) in designing readout circuit for piezoresistive pressure sensor array to include more sensors in a network and rearranging the topology of the variable resistors for more efficiency and accuracy in producing the results. In order to maximize the number of sensors that can be read in a single network, NAA's reading technique also needs to be modified and extended to more than 4 iterations readings. Furthermore, the modified topology of variable resistors locations has indirectly remove its previous limitation of uniqueness and permutation. An additional work has been done in dividing the sensor's resistance value into range group in order to suit the pressure sensor's behavior characteristic. For any sensor that operating in a specific range of operation, the results can achieved lower than 5% of calculation error by comparing to its real value.
Holocene subsurface temperature variability in the eastern Antarctic continental margin
Year: 2012

We reconstructed subsurface ~45 200 m water depth) temperature variability in the eastern Antarctic continental margin during the late Holocene, using an archaeal lipid based temperature proxy (TEX86L) Our results reveal that subsurface temperature changes were probably positively coupled to the variability of warmer, nutrient rich Modified Circumpolar Deep Water (MCDW, deep water of the Antarctic circumpolar current) intrusion onto the continental shelf. The TEX86Lrecord, in combination with previously published climatic records, indicates that this coupling was probably related to the thermohaline circulation, seasonal variability in sea ice extent, sea temperature, and wind associated with high frequency climate dynamics at low latitudes such as internal El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) This in turn suggests a linkage between centennial ENSO like variability at low latitudes and intrusion variability of MCDW into the eastern Antarctic continental shelf, which might have further impact on ice sheet evolution.
Customer experience management: toward implementing an evolving marketing concept
Year: 2017

Although research continues to debate the future of the marketing concept, practitioners have taken the lead, appraising customer experience management (CEM) as one of the most promising marketing approaches in consumer industries. In research, however, the notion of CEM is not well understood, is fragmented across a variety of contexts, and is insufficiently demarcated from other marketing management concepts. By integrating field based insights of 52 managers engaging in CEM with supplementary literature, this study provides an empirically and theoretically solid conceptualization. Specifically, it introduces CEM as a higher order resource of cultural mindsets toward customer experiences (CEs) strategic directions for designing CEs, and firm capabilities for continually renewing CEs, with the goals of achieving and sustaining long term customer loyalty. We disclose a typology of four distinct CEM patterns, with firm size and exchange continuity delineating the pertinent contingency factors of this generalized understanding. Finally, we discuss the findings in relation to recent theoretical research, proposing that CEM can comprehensively systemize and serve the implementation of an evolving marketing concept.
Using Corpora for Error Correction in EFL Learners' Writing
Year: 2015

This study reports on a small scale study exploring the effects of using corpora in the process of revising essays in English as a foreign language (EFL) 30 undergraduate students from two College English Classes in China participate in the experiment. The BFSU CQP web is used for assisting experimental group to correct the lexico grammatical errors in writing. The findings reveal that corpora as reference resources are more helpful than the online dictionary in helping learners make accurate corrections and reduce errors in free production. The following questionnaires indicate that participants generally show positive attitudes toward corpus use in writing. However, there are also some challenges to overcome while using corpora such as too much time spent in analyzing data, too many examples in the concordance lines and so on. These findings suggest the need for more well planned corpus based activities to help learners benefit as much as possible from corpora assisted learning.
Secure Industrial Internet of Things Critical Infrastructure Node Design
Venue: IEEE Internet of Things Journal
Year: 2019

Integration of industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) into critical infrastructures (CIs) is aiming to improve efficiency in many crucial areas. The positive benefits of IIoT are increasing the demand for devices, but without proper security design foundations, CIs may be open to many different attack vectors. This lack of IIoT device security standards is a major concern. Due to the nature of these infrastructures and impact of compromises, CI device security is an utmost concern and must be focused on during all phases of development and manufacturing as opposed to the addition of security after functional design as seen with many current Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Many of these sensors and devices have limited resources, such as low power consumption, reduced memory storage, and reduced fixed point processing capabilities. Traditional security protocols and solutions are often not practical on these restrained devices, and there are no current standards for characterizing device security. This paper presents a candidate security level based architecture for low power IoT CI devices implementing modular, low power, security primitives that are shown through simulation models and embedded software implementation to create a robustly layered defense in depth IoT architecture. This candidate architecture will help provide a foundation for future CI IoT device security standardization.
Identification of hyperspectral vegetation indices for Mediterranean pasture characterization
Venue: Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinformation
Year: 2009

A field experiment was carried out to assess biomass and nitrogen status in Mediterranean pastures by means of hyperspectral high resolution field radiometric data. Spectral and agronomic measurements were collected at three different pasture growth stages and in grazed ungrazed plots distributed over an area of 14 ha. Reflectance based vegetation indices such as simple ratio indices (SR[i,j] and normalized difference vegetation indices (NDVI[i,j] were calculated using all combinations of two wavelengths i and j in the spectral range 400 1000 nm. The performances of these indices in predicting green biomass (GBM, t ha 1) leaf area index (LAI, m2 m 2) nitrogen content (N, kg ha 1) and nitrogen concentration (NC, were evaluated by linear regression analysis using the cross validated coefficient of determination R CV 2 and root mean squared error (RMSECV) SR involving bands in near infrared (i 770 930 nm) and in the red edge (j 720 740 nm) yielded the best performance for GBM R CV 2 0.73 RMSECV 2.35 t ha 1) LAI R CV 2 0.73 RMSECV 0.37 m2 m 2) and N R CV 2 0.73 RMSECV 7.36 kg ha 1) The best model performances for NC R CV 2 0.54 RMSECV 0.35% were obtained using SR involving near infrared bands (i 775 820 nm) and longer wavelengths of the red edge (j 740 770 nm) The defined indices lead to significant improvements in model predictive capability compared to the traditional SR [near infrared, red] and NDVI [near infrared, red] and to broad band indices. The possibility of exploiting these results gathered at field level with high resolution spectral data (FWHM 3.5 nm) also at landscape level by means of hyperspectral airborne or satellite sensors was explored. Model performances resulted extremely sensitive to band position, suggesting the importance of using hyperspectral sensors with contiguous spectral bands.
?La regla de Derecho debe prevalecer sobre el Principio Juridico Laboral? Analisis del Contrato Administrativo de servicios
Year: 2018

La autora expone criticamente la problematica laboral del trabajador al servicio del Estado peruano sujeto al regimen del denominado Contrato Administrativo de Servicios (CAS) y tiene como objetivo determinar que, en materia laboral, el Estado aplica la regla de derecho haciendola prevalecer sobre el principio juridico, en perjuicio del trabajador, afectando asi los principios y derechos laborales existentes en dicha relacion laboral. Asimismo, tiene como proposito verificar que el Estado no reconoce al trabajador sujeto a dicho regimen laboral, el derecho al tiempo de servicios adquirido ni la proteccion contra el despido arbitrario, entre otros derechos. La investigadora concluye en que, a partir de la indebida prevalencia de la regla de derecho sobre el principio juridico, el Contrato Administrativo de Servicios es inconstitucional por afectar principios y derechos laborales, por lo que plantea la modificacion del regimen CAS para que se reconozcan todos los derechos laborales al trabajador estatal.
PPNa DBS for gait and balance disorders in Parkinson's disease: a double blind, randomised study
Venue: Journal of Neurology
Year: 2015

Gait and balance disorders are the major source of motor disabilities in advanced forms of Parkinson's disease (PD) Low frequency stimulation of the pedunculopontine nucleus area (PPNa DBS) has been recently proposed to treat these symptoms with variable clinical results. To further understand the effects of PPNa DBS on resistant gait and balance disorders, we performed a randomised double blind cross over study in six PD patients. Evaluation included clinical assessment of parkinsonian disability, quality of life and neurophysiological recordings of gait. Evaluations were done 1 month before, 4 and 6 months after surgery with four double blinded conditions assessed: with and without PPNa DBS, with and without levodopa treatment. Four patients completed the study and two patients were excluded from the final analysis because of peri operative adverse events (haematoma, infection) Clinically, the combination of PPNa DBS and levodopa treatment produced a significant decrease of the freezing episodes. The frequency of falls also decreased in three out of four patients. From a neurophysiological point of view, PPNa DBS significantly improved the anticipatory postural adjustments and double stance duration, but not the length and speed of the first step. Interestingly, step length and speed improved after surgery without PPNa DBS, suggesting that the lesioning effect of PPNa DBS surgery alleviates parkinsonian akinesia. Quality of life was also significantly improved with PPNa DBS. These results suggest that PPNa DBS could improve gait and balance disorders in well selected PD patients. However, this treatment may be riskier than others DBS surgeries in these patients with an advanced form of PD.
The "Abe Effect" in Northeast Asia: The Interplay of Security, Economy, and Identity
Year: 2015

IN DECEMBER 2012 ABE SHINZO RETURNED TO POWER AFTER FIVE years in the political wilderness. Since taking office he has solidified his political leadership by winning all successive elections, paving the way to becoming one of the longest tenured premiers in postwar Japan. His security and foreign policies have already changed the landscape of international relations in East Asia as Tokyo's relations with Seoul and Beijing spiraled down to new lows for the post Cold War era. Abe's new security policy, under the slogan "Proactive Contribution to Peace," helped bring the Japan US alliance to an unprecedented level of closeness, clearly pitted against China. The Abe government is also potentially challenging the China centered new economic order by promoting the US led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade network. Abe's decision to enter the TPP talks became a game changer in the race for free trade agreements in Asia and the Pacific.All these changes motivate the authors in this special issue to restore agency to Japan as a catalytic actor in complex regional trends and provide a more balanced and complete picture of Northeast Asian international relations, which has been overly focused on US China relations. Explanations these days of transformations in the East Asian regional order mainly focus on themes such as China's "peaceful rise," the US "pivot to Asia," Chinese leader Xi Jinping's "new model of great power relations," and China's "new type of neighboring relations" with Asian countries. Sino US relations are indisputably important, but US China competition and cooperation are not the only independent variables in the East Asian regional order. With the reemergence of Prime Minister Abe, Japan's presence and influence have been on the rise, and the articles in this special issue by Hiroshi Nakanishi and Takashi Terada focus on the Abe cabinet's ideology, identity, and policies, while T. J. Pempel critically evaluates the Abe effect in the Japanese economy, domestic politics, and the region. Xiaoming Zhang offers a comprehensive overview of JapanChina relations after Abe's comeback. John Delury provides a genealogical analysis of Korea Japan relations, while I explore how Abe's policy has influenced South Korea's regional strategic posture.In explaining the Abe effect, we adopt a synthetic approach to the international relations of Northeast Asia. Considering that Japan's military capabilities are basically unchanged, the realist theory of international relations, which posits that a shift in the balance of power between countries would threaten its security, fails to explain Japan's challenge to regional harmony. Likewise, mainstream liberalist theory cannot account for the Abe effect, given that Japan's economy remains highly integrated through trade, investment, and financial networks.
An Introduction to Agent Based Modeling: Modeling Natural, Social and Engineered Complex Systems with NetLogo
Year: 2016

Computing Reviews, the leading online review service for computing literature. The NetLogo environment developed at Northwestern University  has become one of the most widely used tools for agentbased modeling. NetLogo's restricted dialect of LISP has proven much more accessible to users such as social scientists than a general purpose language such as Java, required to work with other agentbased environments: for example, recursive porous agent simulation toolkit (REPAST) or multiagent simulator of neighborhoods (MASON) The simplicity of the language is not surprising, since NetLogo is a direct descendant of the Logo language, originally developed to teach programming to children, and NetLogo is widely used as a teaching language. Remarkably, the architects of NetLogo have managed to provide the system with extensions that allow it to be used for real research as well, and NetLogo models are becoming more and more common in serious research papers, particularly in the social sciences. NetLogo's motto is " Low Threshold, No Ceiling. " The rich tutorial materials and examples available on the system's website are sufficient to enable most users to overcome the low threshold. This volume, written by the author of the NetLogo language and one of his associates, supplements those materials in two important ways. First, it clearly conveys the motivation for agentbased modeling and the constructivist philosophy that guides its practitioners. Second, it develops models incrementally, showing how a very simple initial model can grow to take advantage of sophisticated functions and extensions that justify the " no ceiling " part of the motto. Perhaps to reinforce the point that the authors are serious computer scientists, the book's chapters start with 0 rather than 1. Chapters 0 and 1 motivate agentbased modeling (ABM) in the context of complex systems that demonstrate emergent behavior. They present alternative modeling paradigms and discuss the tradeoffs of ABM and when it is preferable to other approaches by reviewing the behavior of some simple models that are included in NetLogo's library (predatorprey, forest fires, ant foraging) Chapters 2 to 4 show how to construct an ABM, illustrating the technique of starting with a very simple model and then extending it incrementally. Chapter 5 backs away from individual models to examine the components of an agent based model: the different kinds of agents one might use, the importance of their environment and interactions, and the user interface and scheduling mechanism. The last three chapters are especially
Automated modelling of a food web in lake Bled using measured data and a library of domain knowledge
Year: 2006

In this paper, we applied automated modelling (computer model construction) method to the task of modelling a complex lake ecosystem. The method (Lagramge) integrates domain expert knowledge in the process of automated model induction from given data set. The data set comprises long term measurements (from 1995 to 2002) of physical, chemical and biological data in lake Bled, Slovenia. Given expert knowledge in terms of a simple food web concept and rules for modelling thereof, we first induced a model for long term dynamics of the phytoplankton in the lake. Failing to obtain a good fit, we also induced models of phytoplankton dynamics for each year separately. The differences between these models indicate structural dynamics of the food web in lake Bled, i.e. indicate that the behaviour of the lake is changing from year to year. Additionally, we successfully induced a three equation model (nutrient phytoplankton zooplankton) on the data from year 1996.