title: Registration of colored 3D point clouds with a Kernel-based extension to the normal distributions transform

abstract: We present a new algorithm for scan registration of colored 3D point data which is an extension to the normal distributions transform (NDT). The probabilistic approach of NDT is extended to a color-aware registration algorithm by modeling the point distributions as Gaussian mixture-models in color space. We discuss different point cloud registration techniques, as well as alternative variants of the proposed algorithm. Results showing improved robustness of the proposed method using real-world data acquired with a mobile robot and a time-of-flight camera are presented.


title: Parallelism Level Impact on Energy Consumption in Reconfigurable Devices

abstract: Nowadays, System-on-Chip architectures are composed of several execution resources which support complex applications. As it shares silicon area and limits the cost of the global circuit, the embedding of a reconfigurable resource in these SoC provides flexibility to the hardware. In this case, several implementations of the same algorithm, offering different characteristics, can be considered in order to optimize performances. In general, the tasks mapped on reconfigurable resources are algorithms that can be defined through several levels of parallelism. Clearly, parallelism directly affects the area and the execution time, this paper shows that the energy consumption is not constant, and decreases when the parallelism grows up.


title: Emotional Memory Formation Is Enhanced across Sleep Intervals with High Amounts of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep

abstract: It is well established that sleep has a facilitating effect on memory formation in animals and humans (e.g., Jenkins and Dallenbach 1924; Smith 1985, 1995; Stickgold et al. 2000). However, the physiological mechanisms of this effect are still unclear. Specifically, there is an ongoing controversy concerning the differential contribution of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow wave sleep (SWS) to memory consolidation. In particular, human studies provided mixed results, some indicating a beneficial effect of REM sleep on memory (Empson and Clarke 1970; Lewin and Glaubman 1975; Tilley and Empson 1978) whereas others suggested SWS to be critical for memory formation (Yaroush et al. 1971; Barrett and Ekstrand 1972; Fowler et al. 1973; Ekstrand 1977). The divergent outcomes appear to reflect differences in the methods used for investigating memory formation during sleep and in the type of memory examined. The most commonly used approach in the study of sleep-associated memory formation is the REM sleep deprivation paradigm, in which subjects are awakened whenever polysomnographic recordings indicate signs of REM sleep. In control conditions, awakenings are induced in nonREM sleep. Yet the REM sleep-deprivation paradigm has been subject to profound criticism (Horne and McGrath 1984; Vertes and Eastman, in press). Compared with other sleep stages, frequent arousal from REM sleep induces serious emotional and cognitive disturbances. These disturbances impair performance at the time of memory retrieval, which is tested usually in the morning after the sleep period, and thus hinder any conclusion with regard to the role of REM sleep for the consolidation process. In a completely different approach, Ekstrand and coworkers compared memory retention following 4-h periods of undisturbed sleep covering either the first or the second half of the night (Yaroush et al. 1971; Barrett and Ekstrand 1972; Fowler et al. 1973; Ekstrand 1977). The paradigm allows dissociation of the effects of SWS and REM sleep because, in human sleep, the first half of the night is characterized by a high percentage of SWS, whereas REM sleep prevails in the second half. Because it leaves the normal sleep architecture during the relevant sleep intervals intact, this approach seems to be advantageous over the REM sleep-deprivation paradigm and, hence, was also adopted in this experiment. ::: ::: Memory is not uniform but is comprised of several subsystems, which are represented by different brain structures and are differentially influenced by sleep stages. Using the method by Ekstrand and coworkers (described above), Plihal and Born (1997, 1999) compared effects of early sleep (dominated by SWS) and late sleep (dominated by REM) on declarative and procedural memory consolidation. In these studies, early sleep was found to selectively improve consolidation of declarative tasks (paired-associate words, spatial rotation) but did not improve memory for the procedural tasks of the studies (mirror tracing, word stem priming). ::: ::: Declarative memory is known to rely essentially on the hippocampus and adjacent structures (e.g., Squire 1992). However, within the declarative memory system, processing of emotional materials differs from that of neutral material. A superior retention of emotional over neutral stimuli has been uniformly shown in healthy humans (e.g., Bradley et al. 1992; Burke et al. 1992; Cahill et al. 1994; Cahill and McGaugh 1998) and amnesic patients (Hamann et al. 1997). In addition to the hippocampal formation, declarative memory for emotional materials probably relies essentially on the amygdala (Cahill and McGaugh 1998; Roozendaal 2000). The amygdala has been shown to modulate memory processing in other brain regions including the hippocampus (Cahill and McGaugh 1998; McGaugh et al. 1996; Roozendaal 2000). Specifically, several studies demonstrated a contribution of the amygdala selectively to the formation of emotional but not neutral declarative memories (Markowitsch et al. 1994; Cahill et al. 1995, 1996; Adolphs et al. 1997, 2000; Hamann et al. 1999). ::: ::: Using positron emission tomography (PET), studies in humans have indicated an increased activation of the amygdala selectively during REM sleep (Maquet et al. 1996; Nofzinger et al. 1997). A close relation of REM sleep to emotional processing has been also suggested by studies of dreams, which appear to be more vivid and emotionally loaded during this sleep stage, whereas dreams occurring during other sleep stages, if reported at all, have a more thought-like cognitive character (Foulkes 1962). Moreover, affective disorders such as depression are typically characterized by distinct changes in REM sleep (for overviews see, e.g., Benca et al. 1992; Thase 1998). With this background, we assumed that REM sleep plays a specific role for emotional memories. Specifically, we hypothesized that late sleep, in which REM sleep predominates, facilitates the consolidation of emotional declarative memories more than that of neutral memories. No such differential effect was expected for early sleep comprising little REM sleep. The issue of whether REM sleep is specifically related to memory formation for emotional material has not yet been investigated except in studies using the REM sleep-deprivation paradigm (Grieser et al. 1972; Cartwright et al. 1975). ::: ::: Here, we compared declarative memory formation for neutral and emotionally arousing materials during periods of early and late sleep. Subjects had to read and memorize an emotional text and a neutral text before 3-h retention periods filled either with SWS-rich early or REM sleep-rich late sleep. In a control group, subjects stayed awake during corresponding 3-h retention intervals. Free recall was tested immediately after learning to determine performance at acquisition, and after the 3-h retention intervals (retrieval testing). Because glucocorticoids are known to be potent modulators of encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of declarative memories (Kirschbaum et al. 1996; de Quervain et al. 1998; Newcomer et al. 1999; Plihal et al. 1999; Roozendaal 2000) and because early and late nocturnal sleep periods differ with respect to the release of glucocorticoids from the pituitary-adrenal system, we also monitored cortisol concentrations in saliva before and after the retention intervals.


title: Research and implementation of RSA algorithm for encryption and decryption

abstract: Cryptographic technique is one of the principal means to protect information security. Not only has it to ensure the information confidential, but also provides digital signature, authentication, secret sub-storage, system security and other functions. Therefore, the encryption and decryption solution can ensure the confidentiality of the information, as well as the integrity of information and certainty, to prevent information from tampering, forgery and counterfeiting. Encryption and decryption algorithm's security depends on the algorithm while the internal structure of the rigor of mathematics, it also depends on the key confidentiality. Key in the encryption algorithm has a pivotal position, once the key was leaked, it means that anyone can be in the encryption system to encrypt and decrypt information, it means the encryption algorithm is useless. Therefore, what kind of data you choose to be a key, how to distribute the private key, and how to save both data transmission keys are very important issues in the encryption and decryption algorithm. This paper proposed an implementation of a complete and practical RSA encrypt/decrypt solution based on the study of RSA public key algorithm. In addition, the encrypt procedure and code implementation is provided in details.


title: The Influence of a Sense of Time on Human Development

abstract: The subjective sense of future time plays an essential role in human motivation. Gradually, time left becomes a better predictor than chronological age for a range of cognitive, emotional, and motivational variables. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains that constraints on time horizons shift motivational priorities in such a way that the regulation of emotional states becomes more important than other types of goals. This motivational shift occurs with age but also appears in other contexts (for example, geographical relocations, illnesses, and war) that limit subjective future time.


title: Supinator extender (SUE): A pneumatically actuated robot for forearm/wrist rehabilitation after stroke

abstract: The robot described in this paper, SUE (Supinator Extender), adds forearm/wrist rehabilitation functionality to the UCI BONES exoskeleton robot and to the ArmeoSpring rehabilitation device. SUE is a 2-DOF serial chain that can measure and assist forearm supination-pronation and wrist flexion-extension. The large power to weight ratio of pneumatic actuators allows SUE to achieve the forces needed for rehabilitation therapy while remaining lightweight enough to be carried by BONES and ArmeoSpring. Each degree of freedom has a range of 90 degrees, and a nominal torque of 2 ft-lbs. The cylinders are mounted away from the patient's body on the lateral aspect of the arm. This is to prevent the danger of a collision and maximize the workspace of the arm robot. The rotation axis used for supination-pronation is a small bearing just below the subject's wrist. The flexion-extension motion is actuated by a cantilevered pneumatic cylinder, which allows the palm of the hand to remain open. Data are presented that demonstrate the ability of SUE to measure and cancel forearm/wrist passive tone, thereby extending the active range of motion for people with stroke.


title: Triple Combination Therapy for Pincer Nail Deformity: Surgical Matricectomy, Thioglycolic Acid, and Anticonvex Sutures

abstract: BACKGROUND Pincer nail deformity (PND) is characterized by an excessive transverse curvature of the nail plate that increases along the longitudinal axis of the nail. Although many conservative and surgical techniques have been used in clinical practice, an established consensus for the correction of PND has not been present yet. OBJECTIVE Aim of the technique described in this article is to provide to restore the suitable nail-matrix system curvature by a simplified and quick approach, which could be seen as a synthesis of conservative and surgical treatments described in the literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS Nineteen cases of pincer nail of the great toe in 14 patients were analyzed. After softening nail plate with 5% thioglycolic acid solution for at least half an hour, surgical bilateral matricectomy and 2 anticonvex sutures with 1-0 polypropylene were performed to ensure proper nail plate shape. Besides demographic data, visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain, width index, height index, patient and surgeon satisfaction scores, operation time, and the day of painless return to the daily activities were investigated. RESULTS A statistical significance was observed in VAS score for pain, width, and height indices between preoperative and postoperative values. CONCLUSION This report gives acceptable outcomes with a combination of surgery and conservative treatments.


Uncovering sleepiness versus fatigue in Parkinson disease.


title: Is Obama's Win a Gain for Blacks? Changes in Implicit Racial Prejudice Following the 2008 Election

abstract: Many have questioned what Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election means for prejudice and intergroup relations in the United States. In this study, we examined both explicit and implicit prejudice toward African Americans prior to and immediately following the election of the first African American to the nation's highest office. Results indicated that implicit prejudice (as measured by an IAT) decreased following Obama's victory, though explicit prejudice remained unchanged. The results are discussed in terms of the malleability of implicit attitudes, race relations, and the impact an Obama presidency and other positive exemplars may have on intergroup relations.


title: Orthogonal nonnegative matrix tri-factorization for co-clustering: Multiplicative updates on Stiefel manifolds

abstract: Matrix factorization-based methods become popular in dyadic data analysis, where a fundamental problem, for example, is to perform document clustering or co-clustering words and documents given a term-document matrix. Nonnegative matrix tri-factorization (NMTF) emerges as a promising tool for co-clustering, seeking a 3-factor decomposition X~USV^@? with all factor matrices restricted to be nonnegative, i.e., U>=0,S>=0,V>=0. In this paper we develop multiplicative updates for orthogonal NMTF where X~USV^@? is pursued with orthogonality constraints, U^@?U=I, and V^@?V=I, exploiting true gradients on Stiefel manifolds. Experiments on various document data sets demonstrate that our method works well for document clustering and is useful in revealing polysemous words via co-clustering words and documents.


title: Comparative Analysis Of Encryption Algorithms For Data Communication 1

abstract: Information Security has become an important issue in data communication. Encryption has come up as a solution, and plays an important role in information security system. This security mechanism uses some algorithms to scramble data into unreadable text which can be only being decoded or decrypted by party those possesses the associated key. These algorithms consume a significant amount of computing resources such as CPU time, memory and battery power and computation time. This paper performs comparative analysis of three algorithm; DES, AES and RSA considering certain parameters such as computation time, memory usages and output byte. A cryptographic tool is used for conducting experiments. Experiments results are given to analyses the effectiveness of each algorithm


title: Acupuncture : Does it alleviate pain and are there serious risks ? A review of reviews

abstract: Acupuncture is commonly used for pain control, but doubts about its effectiveness and safety remain. This review was aimed at critically evaluating systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment of pain and at summarizing reports of serious adverse effects published since 2000. Literature searches were carried out in 11 databases without language restrictions. Systematic reviews were considered for the evaluation of effectiveness and case series or case reports for summarizing adverse events. Data were extracted according to predefined criteria. Fifty-seven systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria. Four were of excellent methodological quality. Numerous contradictions and caveats emerged. Unanimously positive conclusions from more than one high-quality systematic review existed only for neck pain. Ninety-five cases of severe adverse effects including 5 fatalities were included. Pneumothorax and infections were the most frequently reported adverse effects. In conclusion, numerous systematic reviews have generated little truly convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain. Serious adverse effects continue to be reported. Numerous reviews have produced little convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain. Serious adverse events, including deaths, continue to be reported.


title: Solutions to microplastic pollution – Removal of microplastics from wastewater effluent with advanced wastewater treatment technologies

abstract: Conventional wastewater treatment with primary and secondary treatment processes efficiently remove microplastics (MPs) from the wastewater. Despite the efficient removal, final effluents can act as entrance route of MPs, given the large volumes constantly discharged into the aquatic environments. This study investigated the removal of MPs from effluent in four different municipal wastewater treatment plants utilizing different advanced final-stage treatment technologies. The study included membrane bioreactor treating primary effluent and different tertiary treatment technologies (discfilter, rapid sand filtration and dissolved air flotation) treating secondary effluent. The MBR removed 99.9% of MPs during the treatment (from 6.9 to 0.005 MP L-1), rapid sand filter 97% (from 0.7 to 0.02 MP L-1), dissolved air flotation 95% (from 2.0 to 0.1 MP L-1) and discfilter 40-98.5% (from 0.5 - 2.0 to 0.03-0.3 MP L-1) of the MPs during the treatment. Our study shows that with advanced final-stage wastewater treatment technologies WWTPs can substantially reduce the MP pollution discharged from wastewater treatment plants into the aquatic environments.


title: The benefits of a challenge: student motivation and flow experience in tablet-PC-game-based learning

abstract: Advances in technology have led to continuous innovation in teaching and learning methods. For instance, the use of tablet PCs (TPCs) in classroom instruction has been shown to be effective in attracting and motivating students' interest and increasing their desire to participate in learning activities. In this paper, we used a TPCs game – an iPad app called Motion Math: Hungry Fish – to help young students learn to theoretically understand and practically implement the mathematical concepts of addition and subtraction. Based on findings from a pilot study, we categorized the game's 18 levels of difficulty into “challenging” (experimental group) and “matching” (control group) games. We aimed to investigate whether challenging games were more able than matching games to improve the students' motivation, flow experience, self-efficacy for technology, self-efficacy for science, feelings about the TPC game, and satisfaction with the learning approach. The findings showed that the students in the experimental ...


title: Shortening intertrial intervals in event-related cognitive studies with near-infrared spectroscopy

abstract: Abstract Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) enables imaging of brain activation by measuring changes in the concentration of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin (Hb). Shortening the length of the intertrial interval (ITI) seems to be a precondition for further cognitive event-related fNIRS experiments because it leads to higher statistical power. Therefore, this study investigated whether the ITI may be reduced from 12, 6, 4 s to at least 2 s. Brain activation was examined with a NIRO-300 spectrometer at the lateral prefrontal cortex in 17 healthy subjects during a randomized event-related color-word matching Stroop task. In the left lateral prefrontal cortex, the concentration of deoxy-Hb decreased significantly stronger during incongruent than neutral trials for an ITI of 12, 6, and 2 s due to coping with interference. For 4 s of ITI, no hemodynamic interference effect was detected, which was paralleled by low behavioral interference. Further, we examined whether the length of the ITI influenced the mean hemodynamic response. Shortening the ITI reduced the amplitude of oxy-Hb in contrast to deoxy-Hb, which remained almost unaltered. Summarizing results, randomized event-related cognitive fNIRS studies enable short ITIs particularly if changes in deoxy-Hb are considered.


title: Beyond Bitcoin - Part I: A critical look at blockchain-based systems

abstract: After more than six years from the launch of Bitcoin, it has become evident that the decentralized transaction ledger functionality implemented through the blockchain technology can be used not only for cryptocurrencies, but to register, confirm and transfer any kind of contract and property. In this work we analyze the most relevant functionalities and known issues of this technology, with the intent of pointing out the possible behaviours that are not as efficient as they should when t with a broader outlook. Our analysis would be the starting point for the


title: Character Motion Synthesis by Topology Coordinates

abstract: In this paper, we propose a new method to efficiently synthesize character motions that involve close contacts such as wearing a T-shirt, passing the arms through the strings of a knapsack, or piggy-back carrying an injured person. We introduce the concept of topology coordinates, in which the topological relationships of the segments are embedded into the attributes. As a result, the computation for collision avoidance can be greatly reduced for complex motions that require tangling the segments of the body. Our method can be combinedly used with other prevalent frame-based optimization techniques such as inverse kinematics.


CHANGE DETECTION IN CONTEXT


title: An Exploratory Study of Calendar Use

abstract: In this paper, we report on findings from an ethnographic study of how people use their calendars for personal information management (PIM). Our participants were faculty, staff and students who were not required to use or contribute to any specific calendaring solution, but chose to do so anyway. The study was conducted in three parts: first, an initial survey provided broad insights into how calendars were used; second, this was followed up with personal interviews of a few participants which were transcribed and content-analyzed; and third, examples of calendar artifacts were collected to inform our analysis. Findings from our study include the use of multiple reminder alarms, the reliance on paper calendars even among regular users of electronic calendars, and wide use of calendars for reporting and life-archival purposes. We conclude the paper with a discussion of what these imply for designers of interactive calendar systems and future work in PIM research.


Interactive Shadow Play Animation System


title: A compressed sensing approach for query by example video retrieval

abstract: Recently, compressed Sensing (CS) has theoretically been proposed for more efficient signal compression and recovery. In this paper, the CS based algorithms are investigated for Query by Example Video Retrieval (QEVR) and a novel similarity measure approach is proposed. Combining CS theory with the traditional discrete cosine transform (DCT), better compression efficiency for spatially sparse is achieved. The similarity measure from three levels (frame level, shot level and video level, respectively) is also discussed. For several different kinds of natural videos, the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of system by the proposed method.


title: Active Polarization Descattering

abstract: Vision in scattering media is important but challenging. Images suffer from poor visibility due to backscattering and attenuation. Most prior methods for scene recovery use active illumination scanners (structured and gated), which can be slow and cumbersome, while natural illumination is inapplicable to dark environments. The current paper addresses the need for a non-scanning recovery method, that uses active scene irradiance. We study the formation of images under widefield artificial illumination. Based on the formation model, the paper presents an approach for recovering the object signal. It also yields rough information about the 3D scene structure. The approach can work with compact, simple hardware, having active widefield, polychromatic polarized illumination. The camera is fitted with a polarization analyzer. Two frames of the scene are taken, with different states of the analyzer or polarizer. A recovery algorithm follows the acquisition. It allows both the backscatter and the object reflection to be partially polarized. It thus unifies and generalizes prior polarization-based methods, which had assumed exclusive polarization of either of these components. The approach is limited to an effective range, due to image noise and illumination falloff. Thus, the limits and noise sensitivity are analyzed. We demonstrate the approach in underwater field experiments.


title: Ear Detection under Uncontrolled Conditions with Multiple Scale Faster Region-Based Convolutional Neural Networks

abstract: Ear detection is an important step in ear recognition approaches. Most existing ear detection techniques are based on manually designing features or shallow learning algorithms. However, researchers found that the pose variation, occlusion, and imaging conditions provide a great challenge to the traditional ear detection methods under uncontrolled conditions. This paper proposes an efficient technique involving Multiple Scale Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks (Faster R-CNN) to detect ears from 2D profile images in natural images automatically. Firstly, three regions of different scales are detected to infer the information about the ear location context within the image. Then an ear region filtering approach is proposed to extract the correct ear region and eliminate the false positives automatically. In an experiment with a test set of 200 web images (with variable photographic conditions), 98% of ears were accurately detected. Experiments were likewise conducted on the Collection J2 of University of Notre Dame Biometrics Database (UND-J2) and University of Beira Interior Ear dataset (UBEAR), which contain large occlusion, scale, and pose variations. Detection rates of 100% and 98.22%, respectively, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


title: The Human Connectome Project: A data acquisition perspective

abstract: The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is an ambitious 5-year effort to characterize brain connectivity and function and their variability in healthy adults. This review summarizes the data acquisition plans being implemented by a consortium of HCP investigators who will study a population of 1200 subjects (twins and their non-twin siblings) using multiple imaging modalities along with extensive behavioral and genetic data. The imaging modalities will include diffusion imaging (dMRI), resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI), task-evoked fMRI (T-fMRI), T1- and T2-weighted MRI for structural and myelin mapping, plus combined magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography (MEG/EEG). Given the importance of obtaining the best possible data quality, we discuss the efforts underway during the first two years of the grant (Phase I) to refine and optimize many aspects of HCP data acquisition, including a new 7T scanner, a customized 3T scanner, and improved MR pulse sequences.


title: Am J Community Psychol DOI 10.1007/s10464-013-9570-x ORIGINAL PAPER Improving Classroom Quality with The RULER Approach to Social and Emotional Learning: Proximal and Distal Outcomes

abstract: The RULER Approach to Social and Emotional Learning (“RULER”) is designed to improve the quality of classroom interactions through professional development and classroom curricula that infuse emotional literacy instruction into teaching–learning interactions. Its theory of change specifies that RULER first shifts the emotional qualities of classrooms, which are then followed, over time, by improvements in classroom organization and instructional support. A 2-year, cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted to test hypotheses derived from this theory. Sixty-two urban schools either integrated RULER into fifth- and sixth-grade English language arts (ELA) classrooms or served as comparison schools, using their standard ELA curriculum only. Results from multilevel modeling with baseline adjustments and structural equation modeling support RULER’s theory of change. Compared to classrooms in comparison schools, classrooms in RULER schools exhibited greater emotional support, better classroom organization, and more instructional support at the end of the second year of program delivery. Improvements in classroom organization and instructional support at the end of Year 2 were partially explained by RULER’s impacts on classroom emotional support at the end of Year 1. These findings highlight the important contribution of emotional literacy training and development in creating engaging, empowering, and productive learning environments.


title: Information Retrieval Features for Personality Traits

abstract: This paper describes the methods employed to solve the Au- thor Proling task at PAN-2015. The main goal was to test the use of features derived from Information Retrieval to identify the personality traits of the author of a given text. This paper describes the features, the classication algorithms employed, and how the experiments were run. Also, I provide a comparative analysis of my results compared to those of other groups.


title: Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration

abstract: Game developers have begun applying formal human-computer interaction (HCI) principles in design. Desurvire et al [2] adapted a set of Heuristics for productivity software to games. The resulting set, presented at CHI 2004, was Heuristics to Evaluate Playability (HEP). Generalization of these heuristics is required to make them applicable to a multiple of game genres and game deliveries. This follow-up study focused on the refined list, Heuristics of Playability (PLAY), that can be applied earlier in game development as well as aiding developers between formal usability/playability research during the development cycle. Heuristics were formed based on their efficacious scores on the popular game review website, metacritic.com. Fifty-four gamers rated High and Low ranked games on 116 potential heuristics. Implications for how these Heuristics will help developers improve game quality are discussed. PLAY has been found useful in design evaluation and elf-report survey format.


title: TEMPOROMANDIBULAR JOINT (TMJ) DISLOCATION DURING INTUBATION AND DENTAL PROCEDURES

abstract: Dislocation of the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ) is an infrequent condition involving a permanent, to some extent complete, disruption of the joint. TMJ dislocation may occur as a result of everyday activities such as yawning or laughing, or during activities that require mouth opening for a prolonged time, such as dental treatment. The data in the literature suggest that the lifetime prevalence of chronic TMJ dislocation is about 3%-7% in the general population, with a strong female representation. Dislocation may be unilateral or bilateral, the latter being more frequent. These disorders share symptoms characterized by pain in the TMJ area and inability to close the mouth. Many techniques have been advocated for the treatment recurrent TMJ dislocation. Nonsurgical approaches have been proposed to prevent excessive abnormal excursions of the condyle including bandages and splints and extra-articular sclerosing agent injections. Surgical procedures can be categorized under 2 main headings: 1) procedures that enhance the path of condylar movement; and 2) those that inhibit it.


title: Experiences Threat Modeling at Microsoft

abstract: Describes a decade of experience threat modeling products and services at Microsoft. Describes the current threat modeling methodology used in the Security Development Lifecycle. The methodology is a practical approach, usable by non-experts, centered on data flow diagrams and a threat enumeration technique of ‘STRIDE per element.’ The paper covers some lessons learned which are likely applicable to other security analysis techniques. The paper closes with some possible questions for academic research.


title: Kernel PCA and De-Noising in Feature Spaces

abstract: Kernel PCA as a nonlinear feature extractor has proven powerful as a preprocessing step for classification algorithms. But it can also be considered as a natural generalization of linear principal component analysis. This gives rise to the question how to use nonlinear features for data compression, reconstruction, and de-noising, applications common in linear PCA. This is a nontrivial task, as the results provided by kernel PCA live in some high dimensional feature space and need not have pre-images in input space. This work presents ideas for finding approximate pre-images, focusing on Gaussian kernels, and shows experimental results using these pre-images in data reconstruction and de-noising on toy examples as well as on real world data.


title: RF Energy Harvesting System at 2.67 and 5.8GHz

abstract: An RF energy harvesting system using a gap coupled microstrip antenna, designed and fabricated for 2.67 and 5.8GHz, is presented in this paper. Gain of 8.6dB and bandwidth of 100MHz has been achieved for antenna at 2.67GHz. A gain of 9dB and bandwidth of 690MHz is obtained for antenna at 5.8GHz. A CMOS rectifier topology designed in UMC 180nm CMOS process and working at 2.6 GHz is also presented. This topology works without any external bias circuit. Rectified voltage of 1.04V at 1MΩ load with 5-stage rectifier is achieved. Measured results of rectenna using Schottky diode at 2.67 and 5.8GHz are also presented.


A Step Towards Accountable Algorithms ? : Algorithmic Discrimination and the European Union General Data Protection


title: Detecting Anomalous Network Traffic with Self-organizing Maps

abstract: Integrated Network-Based Ohio University Network Detective Service (INBOUNDS) is a network based intrusion detection system being developed at Ohio University. The Anomalous Network-Traffic Detection with Self Organizing Maps (ANDSOM) module for INBOUNDS detects anomalous network traffic based on the Self-Organizing Map algorithm. Each network connection is characterized by six parameters and specified as a six-dimensional vector. The ANDSOM module creates a Self-Organizing Map (SOM) having a two-dimensional lattice of neurons for each network service. During the training phase, normal network traffic is fed to the ANDSOM module, and the neurons in the SOM are trained to capture its characteristic patterns. During real-time operation, a network connection is fed to its respective SOM, and a “winner” is selected by finding the neuron that is closest in distance to it. The network connection is then classified as an intrusion if this distance is more than a pre-set threshold.


title: S4ND: Single-Shot Single-Scale Lung Nodule Detection

abstract: The state of the art lung nodule detection studies rely on computationally expensive multi-stage frameworks to detect nodules from CT scans. To address this computational challenge and provide better performance, in this paper we propose S4ND, a new deep learning based method for lung nodule detection. Our approach uses a single feed forward pass of a single network for detection and provides better performance when compared to the current literature. The whole detection pipeline is designed as a single $3D$ Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) with dense connections, trained in an end-to-end manner. S4ND does not require any further post-processing or user guidance to refine detection results. Experimentally, we compared our network with the current state-of-the-art object detection network (SSD) in computer vision as well as the state-of-the-art published method for lung nodule detection (3D DCNN). We used publically available $888$ CT scans from LUNA challenge dataset and showed that the proposed method outperforms the current literature both in terms of efficiency and accuracy by achieving an average FROC-score of $0.897$. We also provide an in-depth analysis of our proposed network to shed light on the unclear paradigms of tiny object detection.


title: Recent Advancements in Event Processing

abstract: Event processing (EP) is a data processing technology that conducts online processing of event information. In this survey, we summarize the latest cutting-edge work done on EP from both industrial and academic research community viewpoints. We divide the entire field of EP into three subareas: EP system architectures, EP use cases, and EP open research topics. Then we deep dive into the details of each subsection. We investigate the system architecture characteristics of novel EP platforms, such as Apache Storm, Apache Spark, and Apache Flink. We found significant advancements made on novel application areas, such as the Internet of Things; streaming machine learning (ML); and processing of complex data types such as text, video data streams, and graphs. Furthermore, there has been significant body of contributions made on event ordering, system scalability, development of EP languages and exploration of use of heterogeneous devices for EP, which we investigate in the latter half of this article. Through our study, we found key areas that require significant attention from the EP community, such as Streaming ML, EP system benchmarking, and graph stream processing.


title: Comprehensive Approach to Modeling and Simulation of Photovoltaic Arrays

abstract: This paper proposes a method of modeling and simulation of photovoltaic arrays. The main objective is to find the parameters of the nonlinear I-V equation by adjusting the curve at three points: open circuit, maximum power, and short circuit. Given these three points, which are provided by all commercial array data sheets, the method finds the best I-V equation for the single-diode photovoltaic (PV) model including the effect of the series and parallel resistances, and warranties that the maximum power of the model matches with the maximum power of the real array. With the parameters of the adjusted I-V equation, one can build a PV circuit model with any circuit simulator by using basic math blocks. The modeling method and the proposed circuit model are useful for power electronics designers who need a simple, fast, accurate, and easy-to-use modeling method for using in simulations of PV systems. In the first pages, the reader will find a tutorial on PV devices and will understand the parameters that compose the single-diode PV model. The modeling method is then introduced and presented in details. The model is validated with experimental data of commercial PV arrays.


title: Conceptual design and dimensional synthesis for a 3-DOF module of the TriVariant-a novel 5-DOF reconfigurable hybrid robot

abstract: This paper deals with the conceptual design and dimensional synthesis of a 3-DOF parallel mechanism module which forms the main body of a newly invented 5-DOF reconfigurable hybrid robot named "TriVariant." The TriVariant is a modified version of the Tricept robot, achieved by integrating one of the three active limbs into the passive limb. The idea leading to the innovation of the module is systematically addressed. Its kinematic performance is optimized by minimizing a global and comprehensive conditioning index subject to a set of appropriate mechanical constraints. It is concluded that the proposed hybrid system is more cost-effective and has a competitive kinematic performance in comparison with the well-known Tricept robot.


title: ICDAR 2013 Competitions on Signature Verification and Writer Identification for On- and Offline Skilled Forgeries (SigWiComp 2013)

abstract: This paper presents the results of the ICDAR2013 competitions on signature verification and writer identification for on- and offline skilled forgeries jointly organized by PR researchers and Forensic Handwriting Examiners (FHEs). The aim is to bridge the gap between recent technological developments and forensic casework. Two modalities (signatures, and handwritten text) are considered where training and evaluation data (in Dutch and Japanese) were collected and provided by FHEs and PR-researchers. Four tasks were defined where the systems had to perform Dutch offline signature verification, Japanese offline signature verification, Japanese online signature verification, and Dutch writer identification. The participants of the signatures modality were motivated to report their results in Likelihood Ratios (LR). This has made the systems even more interesting for application in forensic casework. For evaluation of signatures modality, we used both the traditional Equal Error Rate (EER) and forensically substantial Cost of Log Likelihood Ratios (Cllr). The system having the smallest value of the Minimum Cost of Log Likelihood Ratio (Cllrmin) is declared winner. For evaluation of the handwritten text modality, we used the precision and accuracy measures and winners are announced on the basis of best F-measure value.


title: Review: A survey of energy efficient MAC protocols for IEEE 802.11 WLAN

abstract: In recent years, IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs) have been widely deployed, and more and more mobile devices have built-in WLAN interfaces. However, WLAN employs the carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) medium access control (MAC) protocol, which consumes a significant portion of the energy resources of a mobile device. Hence, minimizing the energy consumption of the WLAN interface in mobile devices has recently attracted considerable interest in both academia and industry. This article provides a survey and an experimental study of the energy consumption issues and energy-efficient technologies of the MAC protocol in IEEE 802.11 WLAN.


title: Agent Based Modelling and Simulation tools: A review of the state-of-art software

abstract: Abstract The key intent of this work is to present a comprehensive comparative literature survey of the state-of-art in software agent-based computing technology and its incorporation within the modelling and simulation domain. The original contribution of this survey is two-fold: (1) Present a concise characterization of almost the entire spectrum of agent-based modelling and simulation tools, thereby highlighting the salient features, merits, and shortcomings of such multi-faceted application software; this article covers eighty five agent-based toolkits that may assist the system designers and developers with common tasks, such as constructing agent-based models and portraying the real-time simulation outputs in tabular/graphical formats and visual recordings. (2) Provide a usable reference that aids engineers, researchers, learners and academicians in readily selecting an appropriate agent-based modelling and simulation toolkit for designing and developing their system models and prototypes, cognizant of both their expertise and those requirements of their application domain. In a nutshell, a significant synthesis of Agent Based Modelling and Simulation (ABMS) resources has been performed in this review that stimulates further investigation into this topic.


title: Influence of water-level variations on wave transmission through flushing culverts positioned in a breakwater body

abstract: An important aspect that must be considered in harbor design and construction is the water quality within the basin, which depends on the water exchange between the harbor and surrounding water body. Of the most internationally distinguished methods for this purpose (mechanical shakers, overflows, pumps, permeable breakwaters), the most cost-effective method is to use flushing culverts through the body of the breakwater structure. This paper presents physical model results of a flushing culvert functioning with variations of the flushing culvert diameter (D), length (Lc), and vertical position in relation to the water surface level (W). A physical model (rubble mound breakwater) was placed in the wave channel with a piston-type wave generator, where spectral waves were generated. During the measurements, three different hydraulic processes of the wave transmission were observed, depending on the position of the water surface. The research results are presented as transmission coefficients (Kt).


Wearable/disposable sweat-based glucose monitoring device with multistage transdermal drug delivery module


title: PUSH: A Pipelined Reconstruction I/Of or Erasure-Coded Storage Clusters

abstract: A key design goal of erasure-coded storage clusters is to minimize reconstruction time, which in turn leads to high reliability by reducing vulnerability window size. PULL-Rep and PULL-Sur are two existing reconstruction schemes based on PULL-type transmission, where a rebuilding node initiates reconstruction by sending a set of read requests to surviving nodes to retrieve surviving blocks. To eliminate the transmission bottleneck of replacement nodes in PULL-Rep and mitigate the extra overhead caused by non-contiguous disk access in PULL-Sur, we incorporate PUSH-type transmissions to node reconstruction, where the reconstruction procedure is divided into multiple tasks accomplished by surviving nodes in a pipelining manner. We also propose two PUSH-based reconstruction schemes (i.e., PUSH-Rep and PUSH-Sur), which can not only exploit the I/O parallelism of PULL-Sur, but also maintain sequential I/O accesses inherited from PULL-Rep. We build four reconstruction-time models to study the reconstruction process and estimate the reconstruction time of the four schemes in large-scale storage clusters. We implement a proof-of-concept prototype where the four reconstruction schemes are deployed and quantitatively evaluated. Experimental results show that the PUSH-based reconstruction schemes outperform the PULL-based counterparts. In a real-world (9,6)RS-coded storage cluster, PUSH-Rep speeds up the reconstruction time by a factor of 5.76 compared with PULL-Rep; PUSH-Sur accelerates the reconstruction by a factor of 1.85 relative to PULL-Sur.


title: A 22 nm All-Digital Dynamically Adaptive Clock Distribution for Supply Voltage Droop Tolerance

abstract: An all-digital dynamically adaptive clock distribution mitigates the impact of high-frequency supply voltage (VCC) droops on microprocessor performance and energy efficiency. The design integrates a tunable-length delay prior to the global clock distribution to prolong the clock-data delay compensation in critical paths during a VCC droop. The tunable-length delay prevents critical-path timing-margin degradation for multiple cycles after the VCC droop occurs, thus allowing a sufficient response time for dynamic adaptation. An on-die dynamic variation monitor detects the onset of the VCC droop to proactively gate the clock at the end of the tunable-length delay to eliminate the clock edges that would otherwise degrade critical-path timing margin. In comparison to a conventional clock distribution, silicon measurements from a 22 nm test chip demonstrate simultaneous throughput gains and energy reductions of 14% and 3% at 1.0 V, 18% and 5% at 0.8 V, and 31% and 15% at 0.6 V, respectively, for a 10% VCC droop.


title: A machine-learning approach to negation and speculation detection for sentiment analysis

abstract: Recognizing negative and speculative information is highly relevant for sentiment analysis. This paper presents a machine-learning approach to automatically detect this kind of information in the review domain. The resulting system works in two steps: in the first pass, negation/speculation cues are identified, and in the second phase the full scope of these cues is determined. The system is trained and evaluated on the Simon Fraser University Review corpus, which is extensively used in opinion mining. The results show how the proposed method outstrips the baseline by as much as roughly 20% in the negation cue detection and around 13% in the scope recognition, both in terms of F1. In speculation, the performance obtained in the cue prediction phase is close to that obtained by a human rater carrying out the same task. In the scope detection, the results are also promising and represent a substantial improvement on the baseline up by roughly 10%. A detailed error analysis is also provided. The extrinsic evaluation shows that the correct identification of cues and scopes is vital for the task of sentiment analysis.


title: A Multi-Sensorial Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) System for Low-Cost Micro Aerial Vehicles in GPS-Denied Environments

abstract: One of the main challenges of aerial robots navigation in indoor or GPS-denied environments is position estimation using only the available onboard sensors. This paper presents a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) system that remotely calculates the pose and environment map of different low-cost commercial aerial platforms, whose onboard computing capacity is usually limited. The proposed system adapts to the sensory configuration of the aerial robot, by integrating different state-of-the art SLAM methods based on vision, laser and/or inertial measurements using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF). To do this, a minimum onboard sensory configuration is supposed, consisting of a monocular camera, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and an altimeter. It allows to improve the results of well-known monocular visual SLAM methods (LSD-SLAM and ORB-SLAM are tested and compared in this work) by solving scale ambiguity and providing additional information to the EKF. When payload and computational capabilities permit, a 2D laser sensor can be easily incorporated to the SLAM system, obtaining a local 2.5D map and a footprint estimation of the robot position that improves the 6D pose estimation through the EKF. We present some experimental results with two different commercial platforms, and validate the system by applying it to their position control.


title: Rasch analysis of the patient-rated wrist evaluation questionnaire

abstract: The Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) was developed as a wrist joint specific measure of pain and disability and evidence of sound validity has been accumulated through classical psychometric methods. Rasch analysis (RA) has been endorsed as a newer method for analyzing the clinical measurement properties of self-report outcome measures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the PRWE using Rasch modeling. We employed the Rasch model to assess overall fit, response scaling, individual item fit, differential item functioning (DIF), local dependency, unidimensionality and person separation index (PSI). A convenience sample of 382 patients with distal radius fracture was recruited from the hand and upper limb clinic at large academic healthcare organization, London, Ontario, Canada, 6-month post-injury scores of the PRWE was used. RA was conducted on the 3 subscales (pain, specific activities, and usual activities) of the PRWE separately. The pain subscale adequately fit the Rasch model when item 4 “Pain - When it is at its worst” was deleted to eliminate non-uniform DIF by age group, and item 5 “How often do you have pain” was rescored by collapsing into 8 intervals to eliminate disordered thresholds. Uniform DIF for “Use my affected hand to push up from the chair” (by work status) and “Use bathroom tissue with my affected hand” (by injured hand) was addressed by splitting the items for analysis. After background rescoring of 2 items in pain subscale, 2 items in specific activities and 3 items in usual activities, all three subscales of the PRWE were well targeted and had high reliability (PSI = 0.86). These changes provided a unidimensional, interval-level scaled measure. Like a previous analysis of the Patient-Rated Wrist and Hand Evaluation, this study found the PRWE could be fit to the Rasch model with rescoring of multiple items. However, the modifications required to achieve fit were not the same across studies, our fit statistics also suggested one of the pain items should be deleted. This study adds to the pool of evidence supporting the PRWE, but cannot confidently provide a Rasch-based scoring algorithm.


title: A Bidirectional Inductive Power Interface for Electric Vehicles in V2G Systems

abstract: Demand for supplying contactless or wireless power for various applications, ranging from low-power biomedical implants to high-power battery charging systems, is on the rise. Inductive power transfer (IPT) is a well recognized technique through which power can be transferred from one system to another with no physical contacts. This paper presents a novel bidirectional IPT system, which is particularly suitable for applications such as plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems, where two-way power transfer is advantageous. The proposed IPT system facilitates simultaneous and controlled charging or discharging of multiple EVs through loose magnetic coupling and without any physical connections. A mathematical model is presented to show that both the amount and direction of power flow between EVs or multiple systems can be controlled through either phase or/and magnitude modulation of voltages generated by converters of each system. The validity of the concept is verified by theoretical analysis, simulations, and experimental results of a 1.5-kW prototype bidirectional IPT system with a 4-cm air gap. Results indicate that the proposed system is an ideal power interface for efficient and contactless integration of multiple hybrid or EVs into typical power networks.


title: Progress and prospects in plant genome editing

abstract: The emergence of sequence-specific nucleases that enable genome editing is revolutionizing basic and applied biology. Since the introduction of CRISPR-Cas9, genome editing has become widely used in transformable plants for characterizing gene function and improving traits, mainly by inducing mutations through non-homologous end joining of double-stranded breaks generated by CRISPR-Cas9. However, it would be highly desirable to perform precision gene editing in plants, especially in transformation-recalcitrant species. Recently developed Cas9 variants, novel RNA-guided nucleases and base-editing systems, and DNA-free CRISPR-Cas9 delivery methods now provide great opportunities for plant genome engineering. In this Review Article, we describe the current status of plant genome editing, focusing on newly developed genome editing tools and methods and their potential applications in plants. We also discuss the specific challenges facing plant genome editing, and future prospects.


title: The Role of Parents in Problematic Internet Use among US Adolescents

abstract: The internet has transformed the way youth communicate, learn, and network, with implications for their broader social, psychological, and physical health and well-being. With the technological capability of accessing the internet from anywhere, at any time, paired with the enormous variety of internet activities in which youth engage—from social networking to chatting to streaming videos to playing games to watching television content—instances of problematic internet behavior have emerged. We conducted an online national survey of 629 US adolescents ages 12–17 years old and a matching survey of one of their parents. We investigated the relationship between problematic internet behavior and parental monitoring, parental mediation of internet use, and parental estimates of their adolescent’s time spent using computers. Analyses showed that problematic internet use was associated with less parental monitoring and parental mediation and poorer parental relationships. Adolescents that spent a lot of time on the computer were also more likely to engage in problematic internet use. Although we cannot determine the direction of the relationships, results support the important role of parents in adolescents’ problematic internet use.


title: Body-mass index and incidence of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies

abstract: Summary Background Excess bodyweight, expressed as increased body-mass index (BMI), is associated with the risk of some common adult cancers. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the strength of associations between BMI and different sites of cancer and to investigate differences in these associations between sex and ethnic groups. Methods We did electronic searches on Medline and Embase (1966 to November 2007), and searched reports to identify prospective studies of incident cases of 20 cancer types. We did random-effects meta-analyses and meta-regressions of study-specific incremental estimates to determine the risk of cancer associated with a 5 kg/m 2 increase in BMI. Findings We analysed 221 datasets (141 articles), including 282 137 incident cases. In men, a 5 kg/m 2 increase in BMI was strongly associated with oesophageal adenocarcinoma (RR 1·52, p 2 increase in BMI and endometrial (1·59, p Interpretation Increased BMI is associated with increased risk of common and less common malignancies. For some cancer types, associations differ between sexes and populations of different ethnic origins. These epidemiological observations should inform the exploration of biological mechanisms that link obesity with cancer.


title: Dynamic Taint Analysis for Automatic Detection, Analysis, and SignatureGeneration of Exploits on Commodity Software

abstract: Software vulnerabilities have had a devastating effect on the Internet. Worms such as CodeRed and Slammer can compromise hundreds of thousands of hosts within hours or even minutes, and cause millions of dollars of damage [26, 43]. To successfully combat these fast automatic Internet attacks, we need fast automatic attack detection and filtering mechanisms. In this paper we propose dynamic taint analysis for automatic detection of overwrite attacks, which include most types of exploits. This approach does not need source code or special compilation for the monitored program, and hence works on commodity software. To demonstrate this idea, we have implemented TaintCheck, a mechanism that can perform dynamic taint analysis by performing binary rewriting at run time. We show that TaintCheck reliably detects most types of exploits. We found that TaintCheck produced no false positives for any of the many different programs that we tested. Further, we describe how TaintCheck could improve automatic signature generation in


title: OPM vs. UML--Experimenting with Comprehension and Construction of Web Application Models

abstract: Object-Process Methodology (OPM), which is a holistic approach to modeling and evolving systems, views objects and processes as two equally important entities that describe the system's structure and behavior in a single model. Unified Modeling Language (UML), which is the standard object-oriented modeling language for software systems, separates the system model into various aspects, each of which is represented in a different view (diagram type). ::: ::: The exponential growth of the Web and the progress of Internet-based architectures have set the stage for the proliferation of a variety of Web applications, which are classified as hybrids between hypermedia and information systems. Such applications require a modeling approach that is capable of clearly specifying aspects of their architecture, communication, and distributive nature. Since UML and OPM are two candidates for this task, this study has been designed to establish the level of comprehension and the quality of the constructed Web application models using each one of these two approaches. ::: ::: In the experiment we carried out, third year undergraduate information systems engineering students were asked to respond to comprehension and construction questions about two representative Web application models. The comprehension questions related to the system's structure, dynamics, and distribution aspects. The results suggest that OPM is better than UML in modeling the dynamics aspect of the Web applications. In specifying structure and distribution aspects, there were no significant differences. The results further suggest that the quality of the OPM models students built in the construction part was superior to that of the corresponding UML models.


title: Presynaptic depression of glutamatergic synaptic transmission by D1-like dopamine receptor activation in the avian basal ganglia

abstract: Vocal behavior in songbirds exemplifies a rich integration of motor, cognitive, and social functions that are shared among vertebrates. As a part of the underlying neural substrate, the song system, the anterior forebrain pathway (AFP) is required for song learning and maintenance. The AFP resembles the mammalian basal ganglia-thalamocortical loop in its macroscopic organization, neuronal intrinsic properties, and microcircuitry. Area X, the first station in the AFP, is a part of the basal ganglia essential for vocal learning. It receives glutamatergic inputs from pallial structures and sends GABAergic outputs to thalamic structures. It also receives dense dopaminergic innervation from the midbrain. The role of this innervation is essentially unknown. Here we provide evidence that dopamine (DA) can modulate the glutamatergic inputs to spiny neurons in area X. In whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings from neurons in brain slices of adult zebra finches, we found that activation of D1-like DA receptors depresses ionotropic glutamatergic synaptic current in area X spiny neurons. This effect is mediated by a presynaptic site of action, mimicked by activation of adenylyl cyclase, and blocked by protein kinase A inhibitor and an adenosine A1 receptor antagonist. These results suggest that, in addition to altering the input-output function of spiny neurons by modulating their excitability, as we have shown previously, DA can directly influence the excitatory inputs to these neurons as well. Thus, DA can exert fine control over information processing through spiny neurons in area X, the dynamics of the AFP output, and ultimately song learning and maintenance.


title: Objective Quality Assessment of Tone-Mapped Images

abstract: Tone-mapping operators (TMOs) that convert high dynamic range (HDR) to low dynamic range (LDR) images provide practically useful tools for the visualization of HDR images on standard LDR displays. Different TMOs create different tone-mapped images, and a natural question is which one has the best quality. Without an appropriate quality measure, different TMOs cannot be compared, and further improvement is directionless. Subjective rating may be a reliable evaluation method, but it is expensive and time consuming, and more importantly, is difficult to be embedded into optimization frameworks. Here we propose an objective quality assessment algorithm for tone-mapped images by combining: 1) a multiscale signal fidelity measure on the basis of a modified structural similarity index and 2) a naturalness measure on the basis of intensity statistics of natural images. Validations using independent subject-rated image databases show good correlations between subjective ranking score and the proposed tone-mapped image quality index (TMQI). Furthermore, we demonstrate the extended applications of TMQI using two examples - parameter tuning for TMOs and adaptive fusion of multiple tone-mapped images.


title: Dynamics in Hierarchical CSCW Systems

abstract: Computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) is a popular research topic in recent years. In classical cooperative applications, cooperation cannot be adapted to the dynamics and hierarchies of real world. According to the formal specification of dynamic cooperation in hierarchical systems, a dynamic hierarchical cooperative system model, DHCSCW, is proposed in this paper. In this model, cooperators capable of dynamic cooperation and a new hierarchical structure Group Cluster are constructed. Dynamic cooperation can be implemented through directed information loop among cooperators in adjacent levels. Based on this model, dynamic cooperation can be implemented through the horizontal active cooperation in a group, and hierarchical cooperation can be implemented through vertical cooperation between groups at adjacent levels.


title: A classification scheme for open government data: towards linking decentralised data

abstract: Open government data (OGD) refers to making public sector information freely available in open formats and ways that enable public access and facilitate exploitation. Lately, a large number of OGD initiatives launched worldwide aiming to implement one-stop portals acting as single points of access to governmental data. At the same time, the so-called linked data technologies emerged aiming at publishing structured data on the web in such a way that enables semantically enriching data, uniform access to data, and linking of data. In this paper, we first propose a classification scheme for OGD initiatives based on the relevant literature. We thereafter, review and analyse OGD initiatives based on the proposed scheme. We finally present an architecture and prototype implementation for the most advanced OGD class in our scheme, which enables linking decentralised data.


title: A flexible error correction scheme for IEEE 802.15.4-based industrial Wireless Sensor Networks

abstract: Noise and interference make a substantial impact on wireless transmissions in industrial environments, resulting in frequent erroneous packet deliveries. Existing industrial communication standards adopt the IEEE 802.15.4 specification, which provides no means to correct the detected errors. We propose an IEEE 802.15.4-compliant Forward Error Correction-based approach that can be easily retrofitted into the standard without the need for any kind of interaction with chip manufacturers or standardization bodies. We evaluate the approach on link- and network-level scenarios. Improvement of reliability by using FEC can yield multiple benefits: a reduced number of retransmissions, and lower average latency, to name a few. With respect to the uncoded system, the proposed solution provides identical coding gain as the traditional FEC method, at a significantly lower computational load of decoding.


title: Matrix photochemistry of the complexes (CO)5M C(OMe)Ph (M Cr, W) having close-lying reactive MLCT and LF states

abstract: Abstract This article describes the photochemistry of (CO) 5 MC(OMe)Ph (M  Cr, W) in inert gas matrices as 10 K at different irradiation wavelengths. The reactions were studied by following the IR spectral changes in the carbonyl and carbene stretching region. Irradiation with visible light into the low-energy MLCT band resulted in complete conversion of the complexes from anti - into syn -configurations. A similar isomerization reaction occurred as the primary photoprocess upon irradiation into the LF band at ca. 350 nm but this reaction was followed by release of CO as a secondary photoprocess, and in the case of the W-complex a subsequent third photochemical reaction was also observed. The photoproduct of this last reaction appeared to be coordinatively saturated, although it still contained a W(CO) 4 -moiety. In agreement with an earlier proposal based on flash-photolysis data, it is suggested that a CH bond of the carbene methoxy group interacts with W via a two-electron, three-centre bond, thus occupying the open site at the metal. Conclusions are drawn about the reactivity of the MLCT and LF states of the isomers.


title: The darklight rises: visible light communication in the dark: demo

abstract: Visible Light Communication (VLC) emerges as a new wireless communication technology with appealing benefits not present in radio communication. However, current VLC designs commonly require LED lights to emit perceptible light beams, which greatly limits the applicable scenarios of VLC (e.g., in a sunny day when indoor lighting is not needed), and brings high energy overhead and unpleasant visual experiences for mobile devices to transmit data using VLC. We design and develop DarkLight, a new VLC primitive that allows light-based communication to be sustained even when LEDs emit extremely-low luminance. The key idea is to encode data into ultra-short, imperceptible light pulses. We tackle challenges in circuit designs, data encoding/decoding schemes, and DarkLight networking, to efficiently generate and reliably detect ultra-short light pulses using off-the-shelf, low-cost LEDs and photodiodes. Our DarkLight prototype supports 1.3-m distance with 1.6-Kbps data rate. By loosening up VLC's reliance on visible light beams, DarkLight presents an unconventional direction of VLC and fundamentally broadens VLC's application scenarios.


title: Path Following Control of Mobile Robot Using Lyapunov Techniques and PID Cntroller

abstract: Path following of the mobile robot is one research hot for the mobile robot navigation. For the control system of the wheeled mobile robot(WMR) being in nonhonolomic system and the complex relations among the control parameters, it is difficult to solve the problem based on traditional mathematics model. In this paper, we presents a simple and effective way of implementing an adaptive following controller based on the PID for mobile robot path following. The method uses a non-linear model of mobile robot kinematics and thus allows an accurate prediction of the future trajectories. The proposed controller has a parallel structure that consists of PID controller with a fixed gain. The control law is constructed on the basis of Lyapunov stability theory. Computer simulation for a differentially driven nonholonomic mobile robot is carried out in the velocity and orientation tracking control of the nonholonomic WMR. The simulation results of wheel type mobile robot platform are given to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


title: Development of a new exoskeleton for upper limb rehabilitation

abstract: This paper deals with the development of a novel exoskeleton for the robotic rehabilitation of upper extremities. The system is based on modular custom-designed actuation groups implementing high reduction ratios and redundant position measurement for securing patient safety, and joint torque sensing for guaranteeing system performance and providing application flexibility. Experimental results of the special component prototypes are reported which confirm the validity of the developed actuation groups and the potentials of the proposed exoskeleton architecture.


title: Automatic Prediction of Perceptual Image and Video Quality This paper discusses the principles and methods of modern algorithms for automatically assessing the perceived quality of visual signals . By

abstract: Finding ways to monitor and control the perceptual quality of digital visual media has become a pressing concern as the volume being transported and viewed continues to increase exponentially. This paper discusses the principles and methods of modern algorithms for automatically predicting the quality of visual signals. By casting the problem as analogous to assessing the efficacy of a visual communication system, it is possible to divide the quality assessment problem into understandable modeling subproblems. Along the way, we will visit models of natural images and videos, of visual perception, and a broad spectrum of applications.


title: Heritability of Carotid Artery Atherosclerotic Lesions: An Ultrasound Study in 154 Families

abstract: Background and Purpose— Ultrasound examination of the carotid arteries yields several quantitative measures that may serve as intermediate phenotypes in genetic studies. This study was undertaken to compare the heritabilities of 3 ultrasound measures: intima-media thickness (IMT), plaque score, and maximal stenosis. Methods— We studied 565 individuals from 154 families ascertained by an affected parent with carotid artery atherosclerosis. IMT, plaque score, and maximal stenosis of the carotid arteries were examined by B-mode ultrasound and analyzed quantitatively. Heritability estimates were obtained by variance component analysis as implemented in the program SOLAR (sequential oligogenic linkage analysis routines). Covariates were age, sex, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, amount of nicotine consumed, and plasma levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, LDL/HDL ratio, lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], triglycerides, facto...


THE COST OF ABSENTEEISM AND THE EFFECT OF DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND TENURE ON ABSENTEEISM


title: The low temperature performance of Li-ion batteries

abstract: Abstract A symmetric cell was adopted to analyze low temperature performance of Li-ion battery. Results showed that impedances of both Li-ion and symmetric cells are mainly composed of bulk resistance ( R b ), surface layer resistance ( R sl ) and charge-transfer resistance ( R ct ). Among these three components, the R ct is most significantly increased and becomes predominant as the temperature falls to below −10 °C. Therefore, we may ascribe the poor low temperature performance of Li-ion battery to the substantially high R ct of the graphite and cathode. Comparing impedance spectra of the symmetric cells, we found that at −30 °C the delithiated graphite and lithiated cathode, both of which correspond to a discharged state in a Li-ion battery, have a much higher R ct than when charged. This means that the Li-ion battery in the discharged state suffers a higher polarization. This result explains the phenomenon that at low temperatures, charging of a discharged Li-ion battery is more difficult than discharging of a charged battery.


title: Revisiting Bertin Matrices: New Interactions for Crafting Tabular Visualizations

abstract: We present BERTIFIER, a web app for rapidly creating tabular visualizations from spreadsheets. BERTIFIER draws from Jacques Bertin's matrix analysis method, whose goal was to "simplify without destroying" by encoding cell values visually and grouping similar rows and columns. Although there were several attempts to bring this method to computers, no implementation exists today that is both exhaustive and accessible to a large audience. BERTIFIER remains faithful to Bertin's method while leveraging the power of today's interactive computers. Tables are formatted and manipulated through crossets, a new interaction technique for rapidly applying operations on rows and columns. We also introduce visual reordering, a semi-interactive reordering approach that lets users apply and tune automatic reordering algorithms in a WYSIWYG manner. Sessions with eight users from different backgrounds suggest that BERTIFIER has the potential to bring Bertin's method to a wider audience of both technical and non-technical users, and empower them with data analysis and communication tools that were so far only accessible to a handful of specialists.


title: Imaged document text retrieval without OCR

abstract: We propose a method for text retrieval from document images without the use of OCR. Documents are segmented into character objects. Image features, namely the vertical traverse density (VTD) and horizontal traverse density (HTD), are extracted. An n-gram-based document vector is constructed for each document based on these features. Text similarity between documents is then measured by calculating the dot product of the document vectors. Testing with seven corpora of imaged textual documents in English and Chinese as well as images from the UW1 (University of Washington 1) database confirms the validity of the proposed method.


title: GASPP: a GPU-accelerated stateful packet processing framework

abstract: Graphics processing units (GPUs) are a powerful platform for building high-speed network traffic processing applications using low-cost hardware. Existing systems tap the massively parallel architecture of GPUs to speed up certain computationally intensive tasks, such as cryptographic operations and pattern matching. However, they still suffer from significant overheads due to critical-path operations that are still being carried out on the CPU, and redundant inter-device data transfers. ::: ::: In this paper we present GASPP, a programmable network traffic processing framework tailored to modern graphics processors. GASPP integrates optimized GPU-based implementations of a broad range of operations commonly used in network traffic processing applications, including the first purely GPU-based implementation of network flow tracking and TCP stream reassembly. GASPP also employs novel mechanisms for tackling control flow irregularities across SIMT threads, and sharing memory context between the network interface and the GPU. Our evaluation shows that GASPP can achieve multi-gigabit traffic forwarding rates even for computationally intensive and complex network operations such as stateful traffic classification, intrusion detection, and packet encryption. Especially when consolidating multiple network applications on the same device, GASPP achieves up to 16.2× speedup compared to standalone GPU-based implementations of the same applications.


title: Deep plane cervicofacial flap: A useful and versatile technique in head and neck surgery

abstract: BACKGROUND ::: Large oncosurgical defects of the cheek present a challenging reconstructive problem, especially when skin resections are combined with other procedures such as parotidectomy and/or neck dissection. ::: ::: ::: METHODS ::: We present our experience with the deep plane cervicofacial flap (DPCFF) for reconstructing zone 1 (n=7), zone 2 (n=6), and zone 3 (n=5) cheek defects resulting from excision of primary cutaneous malignancies (n=13) and metastatic parotid (n=6) and/or neck (n=4) disease with skin involvement. The patients were between 65 and 88 years of age (mean, 76.7 years). The design of the flap was determined by the location of the defect and the need for simultaneous parotidectomy and/or neck dissection. Sixteen flaps were anteriorly based, whereas two were posteriorly based. ::: ::: ::: RESULTS ::: Twelve patients underwent simultaneous parotidectomy (n=11) and/or neck dissection (n=10) and/or facial reanimation procedures (n=6). The size of the cutaneous defects ranged from 4 x 4 to 10 x 10 (mean, 5.6 x 5.3) cm. Eight patients received postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy to the primary site and/or parotid bed and neck. Superficial marginal flap necrosis occurred in one of the three patients who received definitive radiotherapy before salvage surgery and repair with DPCFF. Other complications included one hematoma, one ectropion, and one retraction of the lower eyelid. Apart from mild facial contour deficiency in two patients, excellent functional and cosmetic outcome with good skin color and texture match were achieved in all patients. ::: ::: ::: CONCLUSIONS ::: The DPCFF is a versatile reconstructive technique in head and neck surgery. It provides a simple solution for a variety of cheek defects as an excellent alternative to regional or free tissue transfer. It can be used when simultaneous parotidectomy and/or neck dissection and/or facial reanimation procedures are required. This composite musculo-fascio-cutaneous unit is reliable with excellent vascularity, because it has an axial blood supply. Division of the facial suspensory ligaments during elevation of the flap in the sub-superficial musculo-aponeurotic system (SMAS) plane increases the mobility of this flap, which facilitates transfer.


title: Visual Analytics for Multimodal Social Network Analysis: A Design Study with Social Scientists

abstract: Social network analysis (SNA) is becoming increasingly concerned not only with actors and their relations, but also with distinguishing between different types of such entities. For example, social scientists may want to investigate asymmetric relations in organizations with strict chains of command, or incorporate non-actors such as conferences and projects when analyzing coauthorship patterns. Multimodal social networks are those where actors and relations belong to different types, or modes, and multimodal social network analysis (mSNA) is accordingly SNA for such networks. In this paper, we present a design study that we conducted with several social scientist collaborators on how to support mSNA using visual analytics tools. Based on an openended, formative design process, we devised a visual representation called parallel node-link bands (PNLBs) that splits modes into separate bands and renders connections between adjacent ones, similar to the list view in Jigsaw. We then used the tool in a qualitative evaluation involving five social scientists whose feedback informed a second design phase that incorporated additional network metrics. Finally, we conducted a second qualitative evaluation with our social scientist collaborators that provided further insights on the utility of the PNLBs representation and the potential of visual analytics for mSNA.


title: Acceptance of pain, self-compassion and psychopathology: Using the chronic pain acceptance questionnaire to identify patients’ subgroups

abstract: The present study explores whether specific subgroups of patients could be identified based on Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire scores. A battery of self-report questionnaire was used to assess acceptance of pain, self-compassion and psychopathology in 103 participants with chronic pain, from Portuguese health care units. ::: ::: K-Means cluster were performed and the results supported three subgroups of patients (low acceptance subgroup; high acceptance subgroup; intermediate subgroup with activity engagement near to the mean and low willingness to pain). ::: ::: One-way ANOVA's showed that the three subgroups identified differed significantly from each other on psychopathology and self-compassion. Results indicated that the intermediate subgroup presented less depression and stress, compared with the low acceptance subgroup. In what concerns self-compassion, the low acceptance subgroup reported higher self-judgment, isolation and over identification, compared with the intermediate subgroup. These subgroups also differed from each other in common humanity and mindfulness. Implications and clinical utility of the results were discussed, suggesting the increase of willingness to pain as an important key in chronic pain interventions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ::: ::: Key Practitioner Message: ::: ::: • Findings suggest the buffer effect of activity engagement in chronic pain on psychopathology; ::: ::: • The expressive relation between activity engagement and self-compassion in chronic pain; ::: ::: • The presence of an intermediate subgroup of patients suggests that the increase of willingness to pain may add unique benefits in the treatment of chronic pain.


title: CaSE: Cache-Assisted Secure Execution on ARM Processors

abstract: Recognizing the pressing demands to secure embedded applications, ARM TrustZone has been adopted in both academic research and commercial products to protect sensitive code and data in a privileged, isolated execution environment. However, the design of TrustZone cannot prevent physical memory disclosure attacks such as cold boot attack from gaining unrestricted read access to the sensitive contents in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM). A number of system-on-chip (SoC) bound execution solutions have been proposed to thaw the cold boot attack by storing sensitive data only in CPU registers, CPU cache or internal RAM. However, when the operating system, which is responsible for creating and maintaining the SoC-bound execution environment, is compromised, all the sensitive data is leaked. In this paper, we present the design and development of a cache-assisted secure execution framework, called CaSE, on ARM processors to defend against sophisticated attackers who can launch multi-vector attacks including software attacks and hardware memory disclosure attacks. CaSE utilizes TrustZone and Cache-as-RAM technique to create a cache-based isolated execution environment, which can protect both code and data of security-sensitive applications against the compromised OS and the cold boot attack. To protect the sensitive code and data against cold boot attack, applications are encrypted in memory and decrypted only within the processor for execution. The memory separation and the cache separation provided by TrustZone are used to protect the cached applications against compromised OS. We implement a prototype of CaSE on the i.MX53 running ARM Cortex-A8 processor. The experimental results show that CaSE incurs small impacts on system performance when executing cryptographic algorithms including AES, RSA, and SHA1.


title: Meanings of Poverty: An Ethnography of Bolsa Familia Beneficiaries in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil

abstract: The Bolsa Familia Programme became the main conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme of the federal government in Brazil during the Pink Tide period. Based on ethnograpic research carried out in a favela (informal, low-income neighbourhood) in Rio de Janeiro, the chapter analyses key aspects related to the Bolsa Familia programme, and the multifaceted meanings attributed to “being poor” and “poverty” by beneficiaries, local residents, and social workers managing the program. Concurrently, the chapter discusses the absence of an universally accepted definition of poverty in Brazil and internationally and how strictly income-based forms of measuring poverty do not coincide with the way it is understood by favela residents.


title: Analysis of Password Cracking Methods & Applications

abstract: This project examines the nature of password cracking and modern applications. Several applications for different platforms are studied. Different methods of cracking are explained, including dictionary attack, brute force, and rainbow tables. Password cracking across different mediums is examined. Hashing and how it affects password cracking is discussed. An implementation of two hash-based password cracking algorithms is developed, along with experimental results of their efficiency.


title: Partitioning Models for Scaling Parallel Sparse Matrix-Matrix Multiplication

abstract: We investigate outer-product--parallel, inner-product--parallel, and row-by-row-product--parallel formulations of sparse matrix-matrix multiplication (SpGEMM) on distributed memory architectures. For each of these three formulations, we propose a hypergraph model and a bipartite graph model for distributing SpGEMM computations based on one-dimensional (1D) partitioning of input matrices. We also propose a communication hypergraph model for each formulation for distributing communication operations. The computational graph and hypergraph models adopted in the first phase aim at minimizing the total message volume and balancing the computational loads of processors, whereas the communication hypergraph models adopted in the second phase aim at minimizing the total message count and balancing the message volume loads of processors. That is, the computational partitioning models reduce the bandwidth cost and the communication hypergraph models reduce the latency cost. Our extensive parallel experiments on up to 2048 processors for a wide range of realistic SpGEMM instances show that although the outer-product--parallel formulation scales better, the row-by-row-product--parallel formulation is more viable due to its significantly lower partitioning overhead and competitive scalability. For computational partitioning models, our experimental findings indicate that the proposed bipartite graph models are attractive alternatives to their hypergraph counterparts because of their lower partitioning overhead. Finally, we show that by reducing the latency cost besides the bandwidth cost through using the communication hypergraph models, the parallel SpGEMM time can be further improved up to 32%.


title: B2. Broadband millimeter-wave rectangular reflectarray antenna utilizing novel polarization insensitive multi-resonant unit cells

abstract: A new broadband millimeter-wave reflectarray antenna structure utilizing novel polarization insensitive multi resonant unit cells is proposed. The design frequency of the RA is set at 30 GHz, and it consists of 20×20 polarization independent insensitive resonant unit cells (UCs), which are illuminated by pyramidal horn antenna. The unit cell of this array contains two concentric rings combined with a cross loop and cross strips inside for bandwidth enhancement. For maximum aperture efficiency and realized gain, a pyramidal horn antenna placed at F to obtain F/D=0.4. The simulation results show that the obtained maximum gain is 23.8 dB with a slight variation over the operating frequency range and a good cross-polarization level.


title: Scalable, generic, and adaptive systems for focused crawling

abstract: Focused crawling is the process of exploring a graph iteratively, focusing on parts of the graph relevant to a given topic. It occurs in many situations such as a company collecting data on competition, a journalist surfing the Web to investigate a political scandal, or an archivist recording the activity of influential Twitter users during a presidential election. In all these applications, users explore a graph (e.g., the Web or a social network), nodes are discovered one by one, the total number of exploration steps is constrained, some nodes are more valuable than others, and the objective is to maximize the total value of the crawled subgraph. In this article, we introduce scalable, generic, and adaptive systems for focused crawling. Our first effort is to define an abstraction of focused crawling applicable to a large domain of real-world scenarios. We then propose a generic algorithm, which allows us to identify and optimize the relevant subsystems. We prove the intractability of finding an optimal exploration, even when all the information is available. Taking this intractability into account, we investigate how the crawler can be steered in several experimental graphs. We show the good performance of a greedy strategy and the importance of being able to run at each step a new estimation of the crawling frontier. We then discuss this estimation through heuristics, self-trained regression, and multi-armed bandits. Finally, we investigate their scalability and efficiency in different real-world scenarios and by comparing with state-of-the-art systems.


title: Power converters and control of wind energy conversion systems

abstract: The rapid increase in global energy consumption and the impact of greenhouse gas emissions has accelerated the transition towards greener energy sources. The need for distributed generation employing renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and fuel cells has gained significant momentum. Advanced power electronic systems, affordable high performance devices, and smart energy management principles are deemed to be an integral part of renewable, green and efficient energy systems. This paper discuss the most emerging renewable energy source, wind energy, which by means of power electronics is changing from being a minor energy source to be acting as an important power source in the energy system and the standard power converter topologies from the simplest converters for starting up the turbine to advanced power converter topologies, where the whole power is flowing through the converter.


title: Advancing Software-Defined Networks: A Survey

abstract: Having gained momentum from its promise of centralized control over distributed network architectures at bargain costs, software-defined Networking (SDN) is an ever-increasing topic of research. SDN offers a simplified means to dynamically control multiple simple switches via a single controller program, which contrasts with current network infrastructures where individual network operators manage network devices individually. Already, SDN has realized some extraordinary use cases outside of academia with companies, such as Google, AT&T, Microsoft, and many others. However, SDN still presents many research and operational challenges for government, industry, and campus networks. Because of these challenges, many SDN solutions have developed in an ad hoc manner that are not easily adopted by other organizations. Hence, this paper seeks to identify some of the many challenges where new and current researchers can still contribute to the advancement of SDN and further hasten its broadening adoption by network operators.


title: Comparing the accuracy and efficacy of ultrasound-guided versus blind injections of steroid in the glenohumeral joint in patients with shoulder adhesive capsulitis

abstract: Shoulder adhesive capsulitis is a condition mainly characterized by a decreased range of motion (ROM), with a lifelong prevalence of 2–5 %. Intra-articular steroid injection is an important treatment in this disease. It has been suggested that ultrasound-guided (US-guided) intra-articular injections are more accurate and effective than blind injections. This randomized clinical trial was designed to compare efficacy and accuracy of US-guided injections versus blind injections of steroid in the glenohumeral joint. Forty-one patients diagnosed with shoulder adhesive capsulitis were included. Patients randomly underwent intra-articular injection either blind or under guidance of ultrasound by a specialist. Immediately after injection, radiograms were obtained to assess the accuracy of injection. Demographic characteristics, their functional status, the severity of pain, and the ROM were gathered and compared between the two groups. Twenty patients in the US-guided group and 21 in the blind group finished the 4-week period of the study. Improvements in pain, ROM, and functional score after 1 and 4 weeks were more prominent in the US-guided group, but the differences were not statistically significant, except for the changes in extension where the improvements were significantly higher in the US-guided group (p = 0.01). The accuracy of injections was also higher in the US-guided group (90 % vs. 76.19 %), but the differences were not found to be significant (p = 0.24). US-guided injections can be more accurate and yield better improvements in pain, ROM, and function of the patients, but they cost more and are time-consuming.


title: Investigating pipeline and state of the art blood glucose biosensors to formulate next steps

abstract: Ten years on from a review in the twentieth issue of this journal, this contribution assess the direction research in the field of glucose sensing for diabetes is headed and various technologies to be seen in the future. The emphasis of this review was placed on the home blood glucose testing market. After an introduction to diabetes and glucose sensing, this review analyses state of the art and pipeline devices; in particular their user friendliness and technological advancement. This review complements conventional reviews based on scholarly published papers in journals.


INTRODUCING “ ACTIVE LISTENING ” TO INSTANT MESSAGING AND E-MAIL : BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS


title: Keyword selection and processing strategy for applying text mining to patent analysis

abstract: We focused on keyword strategies for applying text-mining to patent data.Four factors were evaluated through k-means clustering and entropy values.Using an abstract based on a TF-IDF represent the best keyword selection strategy.Using Boolean expression represents the best keyword processing strategy. Previous studies have applied various methodologies to analyze patent data for technology management, given the advances in data analysis techniques available. In particular, efforts have recently been made to use text-mining (i.e. extracting keywords from patent documents) for patent analysis purposes. The results of these studies may be affected by the keywords selected from the relevant documents - but, despite its importance, the existing literature has seldom explored strategies for selecting and processing keywords from patent documents.The purpose of this research is to fill this research gap by focusing on keyword strategies for applying text-mining to patent data. Specifically, four factors are addressed; (1) which element of the patent documents to adopt for keyword selection, (2) what keyword selection methods to use, (3) how many keywords to select, and (4) how to transform the keyword selection results into an analyzable data format. An experiment based on an orthogonal array of the four factors was designed in order to identify the best strategy, in which the four factors were evaluated and compared through k-means clustering and entropy values. The research findings are expected to offer useful guidelines for how to select and process keywords for patent analysis, and so further increase the reliability and validity of research using text-mining for patent analysis.


title: Sports performance: is there evidence that the body clock plays a role?

abstract: Athletic performance shows a time-of-day effect, possible causes for which are environmental factors (which can be removed in laboratory studies), the sleep-wake cycle and the internal "body clock". The evidence currently available does not enable the roles of these last two factors to be separated. Even so, results indicate that the body clock probably does play some role in generating rhythms in sports performance, and that to deny this is unduly critical. Protocols to assess the separate roles of the body clock and time awake are then outlined. A serious impediment to experimental work is muscle fatigue, when maximal or sustained muscle exertion is required. Dealing with this problem can involve unacceptably prolonged protocols but alternatives which stress dexterity and eye-hand co-ordination exist, and these are directly relevant to many sports (shooting, for example). The review concludes with suggestions regarding the future value to sports physiology of chronobiological studies.