pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Reproducibility of semi-quantitative parameters in FDG-PET using two different PET scanners: Influence of attenuation correction method and examination interval

Purpose: To evaluate the reproducibility of semi-quantitative parameters obtained from
	two FDG-PET studies using two different PET scanners. Methods: Forty-five patients
	underwent FDG-PET examination with two different PET scanners on separate days.
	Two PET images with different attenuation correction method were generated in each
	patient and three ROIs were placed on the lung tumor and normal organs (mediastinum
	and liver) in each image. Mean and maximum SUVs, tumor-to-mediastinum and
	tumor-to-liver ratios (T/M and T/L) and the percentage difference in parameters
	between 2 PET images (% Diff.) were compared. Results: All measured values except
	maximum SUV in the liver and tumor-related parameters (SUV in lung tumor, T/M,
	T/L) showed no significant difference between 2 PET images. Conclusion: The mean
	measured values showed high reproducibility and demonstrate that follow-up study or
	measurement of tumor response to anticancer drugs can be undertaken by FDG-PET
	examination without specifying the particular type of PET scanner
Reanalysis-driven climate simulation over CORDEX North America domain using the Canadian Regional Climate Model, version 5: model performance evaluation

The performance of reanalysis-driven Canadian Regional Climate Model, version 5 (CRCM5) in reproducing the present climate over the North American COordinated Regional climate Downscaling EXperiment domain for the 1989–2008 period has been assessed in comparison with several observation-based datasets. The model reproduces satisfactorily the near-surface temperature and precipitation characteristics over most part of North America. Coastal and mountainous zones remain problematic: a cold bias (2–6 °C) prevails over Rocky Mountains in summertime and all year-round over Mexico; winter precipitation in mountainous coastal regions is overestimated. The precipitation patterns related to the North American Monsoon are well reproduced, except on its northern limit. The spatial and temporal structure of the Great Plains Low-Level Jet is well reproduced by the model; however, the night-time precipitation maximum in the jet area is underestimated. The performance of CRCM5 was assessed against earlier CRCM versions and other RCMs. CRCM5 is shown to have been substantially improved compared to CRCM3 and CRCM4 in terms of seasonal mean statistics, and to be comparable to other modern RCMs
A review on the recent history of wind power ramp forecasting.

Forecasting large and fast variations of wind power (the so called ramps) helps achieve the integration of large amounts of wind energy. This paper presents a survey on wind power ramp forecasting, reflecting the increasing interest on this topic observed since 2007. Three main aspects were identified from the literature: wind power ramp definition, ramp underlying meteorological causes and experi-ences in predicting ramps. In this framework, we additionally outline a number of recommendations and potential lines of research
Diagnosis of pediatric obstructive sleep apnea: Preliminary findingsusing automatic analysis of airflow and oximetry recordings obtainedat patients’ home

Producción CientíficaThe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) greatly affects both the health and the quality of life of chil-dren. Therefore, an early diagnosis is crucial to avoid their severe consequences. However, the standarddiagnostic test (polysomnography, PSG) is time-demanding, complex, and costly. We aim at assessinga new methodology for the pediatric OSAS diagnosis to reduce these drawbacks. Airflow (AF) and oxy-gen saturation (SpO2) at-home recordings from 50 children were automatically processed. Informationfrom the spectrum of AF was evaluated, as well as combined with 3% oxygen desaturation index (ODI3)through a logistic regression model. A bootstrap methodology was conducted to validate the results.OSAS significantly increased the spectral content of AF at two abnormal frequency bands below (BW1)and above (BW2) the normal respiratory range. These novel bands are consistent with the occurrenceof apneic events and the posterior respiratory overexertion, respectively. The spectral information fromBW1 and BW2 showed complementarity both between them and with ODI3. A logistic regression modelbuilt with 3 AF spectral features (2 from BW1 and 1 from BW2) and ODI3 achieved (mean and 95% confi-dence interval): 85.9% sensitivity [64.5–98.7]; 87.4% specificity [70.2–98.6]; 86.3% accuracy [74.9–95.4];0.947 area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve [0.826–1]; 88.4% positive predictive value[72.3–98.5]; and 85.8% negative predictive value [65.8–98.5]. The combination of the spectral informationfrom two novel AF bands with the ODI3 from SpO2is useful for the diagnosis of OSAS in children.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (project TEC2011-22987)Junta de Castilla y León (project VA059U13
Taxonomy of mycelial actinobacteria isolated from Saharan soils and their efficiency to reduce aflatoxin B1 content in a solid-based medium

Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is a carcinogenic compound produced by filamentous fungi. In order to reduce AFB1 occurrence in foodstuffs, 13 strains of mycelial actinobacteria were tested in vitro for the efficacy to reduce AFB1 content; all were isolated from the Saharan soils of Algeria. Firstly, morphological study and molecular analysis, based on the 16S rRNA gene, indicated that these strains belong to Actinomadura, Nocardiopsis, Nonomuraea, Saccharothrix and Streptomyces genera. Secondly, each strain’s efficacy to reduce pure AFB1 content was studied in ISP2-medium. After a 4-day incubation at 30°C on AFB1-supplemented medium (5 ppm of AFB1), AFB1 was extracted and quantified. AFB1 content was reduced by all strains (42.9–97.6%). The three most efficient reducers (94.9–97.6%) were two strains belonging to the genus Streptomyces and one to the genus Saccharothrix. Among the latter, strains ACD6 and ABH19 showed no adsorption mechanism involved, suggesting a potential degradation mechanism. These findings led us to suggest that these actinobacterial strains could be used as decontamination treatments for the reduction of AFB1 content
Language teaching in a globalised world: harnessing linguistic super-diversity in the classroom

The student body is becoming increasingly diverse in terms of language, nationality and cultural background. This study explores ways in which such linguistic diversity can be harnessed in the language classroom to enhance the language learning process. This paper describes a series of activities which were designed and implemented in four higher education language classrooms in Ireland. The activities included awareness-raising of the language profile of students taking a particular language module, and facilitated comparison of key grammatical concepts in both the target languages of the groups concerned (German and Japanese) and in the other languages in the participants’ linguistic repertoires. The grammatical concepts included cases, sentence structure, tenses, passive voice and register. Analysis of participant feedback indicates that 36% of the participants were unaware of the other languages spoken by their fellow students prior to participating in the study, with 80% describing such knowledge as valuable to them. More than two thirds (70%) of participants described the activities as aiding their study of their target language
Risk of lung cancer mortality in nuclear workers from internal exposure to alpha particle-emitting radionuclides

Carcinogenic risks of internal exposures to alpha-emitters (except radon) are poorly understood. Since exposure to alpha particles-particularly through inhalation-occurs in a range of settings, understanding consequent risks is a public health priority. We aimed to quantify dose-response relationships between lung dose from alpha-emitters and lung cancer in nuclear workers.
We conducted a case-control study, nested within Belgian, French, and UK cohorts of uranium and plutonium workers. Cases were workers who died from lung cancer; one to three controls were matched to each. Lung doses from alpha-emitters were assessed using bioassay data. We estimated excess odds ratio (OR) of lung cancer per gray (Gy) of lung dose.
The study comprised 553 cases and 1,333 controls. Median positive total alpha lung dose was 2.42 mGy (mean: 8.13 mGy; maximum: 316 mGy); for plutonium the median was 1.27 mGy and for uranium 2.17 mGy. Excess OR/Gy (90% confidence interval)-adjusted for external radiation, socioeconomic status, and smoking-was 11 (2.6, 24) for total alpha dose, 50 (17, 106) for plutonium, and 5.3 (-1.9, 18) for uranium.
We found strong evidence for associations between low doses from alpha-emitters and lung cancer risk. The excess OR/Gy was greater for plutonium than uranium, though confidence intervals overlap. Risk estimates were similar to those estimated previously in plutonium workers, and in uranium miners exposed to radon and its progeny. Expressed as risk/equivalent dose in sieverts (Sv), our estimates are somewhat larger than but consistent with those for atomic bomb survivors.See video abstract at, http://links.lww.com/EDE/B232
Non-speech voice for sonic interaction: a catalogue

This paper surveys the uses of non-speech voice as an interaction modality within sonic applications. Three main contexts of use have been identified: sound retrieval, sound synthesis and control, and sound design. An overview of different choices and techniques regarding the style of interaction, the selection of vocal features and their mapping to sound features or controls is here displayed. A comprehensive collection of examples instantiates the use of non-speech voice in actual tools for sonic interaction. It is pointed out that while voice-based techniques are already being used proficiently in sound retrieval and sound synthesis, their use in sound design is still at an exploratory phase. An example of creation of a voice-driven sound design tool is here illustrated
Applying A Methodology For Educating Students With Special Needs: A Case Study

The introduction of innovative educational technologies opens up new ways of interacting with students. We propose to exploit this potential to help in the education of children with special needs. We analyze the state of the art of tools supporting the teaching process, focusing on the omissions of existing research. We propose a new framework to help throughout the whole teaching process and describe its application to Proyecto Aprender (Learn Project), an educational resource targeting children with learning difficulties. Finally, we outline some conclusions and current/future research lines
Stabilization of Tollmien-Schlichting Waves by Mode Interaction

Decreasing skin friction in boundary layers attached to aircraft wings can have an impact in both fuel consumption and pollutant production, which are becoming crucial to reduce operation costs and meet environmental regulations, respectively. Skin friction in turbulent boundary layers is about ten times that of laminar boundary layers. Thus, an obvious method to reduce friction drag is to delay transition to turbulence, which is a fairly involved process in real aircraft wings [J98]. Transition sis promoted either by Tollmien—Schlichting (TS) and Klebanov (K) modes [K94], with the former playing an essential role. Various methods (e.g., suction [SG00,ZLB04], wave cancellation [WAA01,LG06]) have been proposed to reduce TS modes in laminar boundary layers. Mode interaction methods have been successfully used in fluid systems to control related instabilities, such as the Rayleigh—Taylor instability [LMV01]. Here, we present some recent results on using these methods to control TS modes in a compressible, 2D boundary layer over a flat plate at zero incidence. A given unstable TS mode can be stabilized by coupling its spatial evolution with that of a second selected stable TS mode, in such a way that the stable mode takes energy from the unstable one and gives a stable coupled evolution of both modes. The coupling device is a wavetrain in the boundary layer, with appropriate wavenumber and frequency, which can be created by an array of oscillators on the wall, and promotes both (i) parametric coupling between the stable and unstable TS modes and (ii) a mean flow that is also stabilizing. Three differences with wave cancelation methods are relevant. Namely, (a) nonlinear terms play an essential role in the process; (b) the unstable TS mode is stabilized (its growth rate is decreased), not just canceled; and (c) stabilization does not depend on the phase of the incoming wave, which implies that active control is not necessary
Monitoring Neurological disease in Phonation

It is well known that many neurological diseases leave a fingerprint in voice and speech production. The dramatic impact of these pathologies in life quality is a growing concert. Many techniques have been designed for the detection, diagnose and monitoring the neurological disease. Most of them are costly or difficult to extend to primary services. The present paper shows that some neurological diseases can be traced a the level of voice production. The detection procedure would be based on a simple voice test. The availability of advanced tools and methodologies to monitor the organic pathology of voice would facilitate the implantation of these tests. The paper hypothesizes some of the underlying mechanisms affecting the production of voice and presents a general description of the methodological foundations for the voice analysis system which can estimate correlates to the neurological disease. A case of study is presented from spasmodic dysphonia to illustrate the possibilities of the methodology to monitor other neurological problems as well
On the relevance of earnings components in valuation and forecasting

Pre-print also submitted to SSRN Archive. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s11156-013-0347-yThis paper articulates the links between relevance of an earnings component in forecasting (abnormal) earnings and its relevance in valuation in a nonlinear framework. The analysis shows that forecasting relevance does not imply valuation relevance even though valuation irrelevance is implied by forecasting irrelevance. Firstly, I consider an accounting information system where earnings components "add up" to a fully informative earnings number. Secondly, I analyze two accounting systems where a "core" earnings component is the relevant earnings construct for valuation and the second earnings component is irrelevant but may be predictable and relevant in forecasting other accounting items. I find that dividend displacement effect on earnings and the dynamics of individual earnings components are critical in this analysis
Solving the linear interval tolerance problem for weight\ud
initialization of neural networks

Determining good initial conditions for an algorithm used to train a neural network is considered a parameter estimation problem dealing with uncertainty about the initial weights. Interval Analysis approaches model uncertainty in parameter estimation problems using intervals and formulating tolerance problems. Solving a tolerance problem is defining lower and upper bounds of the intervals so that the system functionality is\ud
guaranteed within predefined limits. The aim of this paper is to show how the problem of determining the initial weight intervals of a neural network can be defined in terms of solving a linear interval tolerance problem. The proposed Linear Interval Tolerance\ud
Approach copes with uncertainty about the initial weights without any previous knowledge or specific assumptions on the input data as required by approaches such as fuzzy\ud
sets or rough sets. The proposed method is tested on a number of well known benchmarks for neural networks trained with the back-propagation family of algorithms. Its efficiency is evaluated with regards to standard performance measures and the results obtained are compared against results of a number of well known and established initialization methods. These results provide credible evidence that the proposed method\ud
outperforms classical weight initialization methods
Co-oxidation kinetic model for the thermal oxidation of polyethylene-unsaturated substrate systems

The thermal oxidation of polyethylene (PE) impregnated by the methyl esters of unsaturated fatty acids (UFEs) was studied using chemiluminescence, and infra-red spectrophotometry. It was shown that the presence of UFEs accelerates the PE aging process. This can be interpreted as a co-oxidation phenomenon. In this study, the previously established models for PE and UFEs self-oxidation have been coupled in order to develop a co-oxidation model. Using the existing rate constants for the PE and UFEs selfoxidations, this model can simulate the complex shape of the kinetic curves of PE-UFE co-oxidatio
Stimulation of Immunoreactive Insulin Release by Glucose in Rat Brain Synaptosomes

The effect of glucose on the release of immunoreactive insulin (IRI) in synaptosomes isolated from rat brain was studied. In the absence of glucose synaptosomes release about 4% (0.77 µIU/mg protein) of total content. Glucose increases significantly the IRI released by synaptosomes. Addition of the glycolytic inhibitor iodoacetic acid (IAA), decreased the glucose-induced release of IRI by about 50%, suggesting that glucose metabolism is involved. The observation that glucose provides a concentration related signal for IRI release indicates that this synaptosomal preparation may be useful as a model for research on the mechanism of insulin release in brain.http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:102097181209
Study of Nα-benzoyl-L-argininate ethyl ester chloride, a model compound for poly(ester amide) precursors: X-ray diffraction, infrared and Raman spectroscopies, and quantum chemistry calculations

Poly(ester amide)s (PEAs) are lacking in structural and spectroscopic information. This paper reports a structural and spectroscopic characterization of Nα-benzoyl-L-argininate ethyl ester chloride (BAEEH+·Cl−), an important amino acid derivative and an adequate PEAs’ model compound. Crystals of BAEEH+·Cl− obtained by slow evaporation in an ethanol/water mixture were studied by different complementary techniques. X-ray analysis shows that BAEEH+·Cl− crystallizes in the chiral space group P21. There are two symmetry independent cations (and anions) in the unit cell. The two cations have different conformations: in one of them, the angle between the least-squares planes of the phenyl ring and the guanidyl group is 5.1(2)º, and in the other the corresponding angle is 13.3(2)º. There is an extensive network of H-bonds that assembles the ions in layers parallel to the ab plane. Experimental FT-IR and Raman spectra of BAEEH+·Cl− were recorded at room temperature in the 3750–600 cm−1 and 3380–100 cm−1 regions, respectively, and fully assigned. Both structural and spectroscopic analysis were supported by quantum chemistry calculations based on different models (in vacuo and solid-state DFT simulations)
Synchrotron x-ray topographic and high-resolution diffraction analysis of mask-induced strain in epitaxial laterally overgrown GaAs layers

Synchrotron x-ray back reflection section topographs of epitaxial lateral overgrown (ELO) GaAs samples grown on (001) GaAs substrates show images of the GaAs layers bent due to the interaction between the layer and the SiO2 mask. The topographs are simulated under the assumption of orientational contrast. Using the same data the measured x-ray diffraction curve is simulated. The calculations, which are in good agreement with the measurements, are used to gain information on the tilted (001) lattice planes in each ELO layer. We show that the bending of ELO lattice planes reaches a maximum at the center of the ELO stripes, where misorientation is at a minimum, and decreases towards the edges of the stripes, where misorientation reaches a maximum
Factorizing time-aware multi-way tensors for enhancing semantic wearable sensing

Automatic concept detection is a crucial aspect of automatically indexing unstructured multimedia archives. However, the current prevalence of one-per-class detectors neglect inherent concept relation- ships and operate in isolation. This is insufficient when analyzing content gathered from wearable visual sensing, in which concepts occur with high diversity and with correlation depending on context. This paper presents a method to enhance concept detection results by constructing and factorizing a multi-way concept detection tensor in a time-aware manner. We derived a weighted non-negative tensor factorization algorithm and applied it to model concepts’ temporal occurrence patterns and show how it boosts overall detection performance. The potential of our method is demonstrated on lifelog datasets with varying levels of original concept detection accuracies
Evaluating the achievements and impacts of EC framework programme transport projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present what kind of elements and evaluation methods should be included into a framework for evaluating the achievements and impacts of transport projects supported in EC Framework Programmes  (FP). Further, the paper discusses the possibilities  of such an evaluation framework in producing recommendations regarding future transport research and policy objectives as well as mutual learning for the basis of strategic long term planning.  Methods The paper describes the two-dimensional evaluation methodology developed in the course of the FP7 METRONOME project. The dimensions are: (1) achievement of project objectives and targets in different levels and (2) research project impacts according to four impact groups. The methodology uses four complementary approaches in evaluation, namely evaluation matrices, coordinator questionnaires,  lead user interviews and workshops.  Results Based on the methodology testing, with a sample of FP5 and FP6 projects, the main results relating to the rationale, implementation and achievements of FP projects is presented. In general, achievement of objectives in both  FPs was good. Strongest impacts were identified within the impact group of management and co-ordination. Also scientific and end-user impacts of the projects were adequate, but wider societal impacts quite modest.   The paper concludes with a discussion both on the theoretical and practical implications of the  proposed methodology and by presenting some relevant future research needs
From irradiance to output power fluctuations: the pv plant as a low pass filter

The power generated by large grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) plants depends greatly on the solar irradiance. This paper studies the effects of the solar irradiance variability analyzing experimental 1-s data collected throughout a year at six PV plants, totaling 18 MWp. Each PV plant was modeled as a first order filter function based on an analysis in the frequency domain of the irradiance data and the output power signals. An empiric expression which relates the filter parameters and the PV plant size has been proposed. This simple model has been successfully validated precisely determining the daily maximum output power fluctuation from incident irradiance measurements