Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE FACE OF AMBIVALENCE: SIMULTANEOUS EXPRESSIONS OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EMOTIONS DURING CUE-ELICITED CRAVING IN HEAVY SMOKERS

This study used the Facial Action Coding System (FACS; P. Ekman & W. V. Friesen, 1978) to examine abstinent smokers' immediate facial responses while exposed to smoking cues. The aim was to investigate potential associations between facial expressions thought to be linked to ambivalence and more traditional measures of ambivalence about their smoking habits. Ambivalence during cue exposure was operationalized as the simultaneous occurrence of positive and negative affect-related facial expressions. Thirty-four nicotine-deprived dependent smokers were presented with in vivo smoking cues, and their facial expressions were coded with the FACS; participants also completed self-report measures related to ambivalence about smoking. Smokers who displayed ambivalent facial expressions during smoking cue exposure reported significantly higher scores on three out of four measures of smoking ambivalence than did those who did not display ambivalent facial expressions. This effect was unique to those smokers displaying simultaneous positive and negative affect-related facial expressions, and the effect was not demonstrated in smokers' displaying just positive, just negative, or sequential instances of positive and negative affect-related expressions.
Predictors of survival in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease receiving long-term oxygen therapy

Aim Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects 2–4% of the UK's population and has significant mortality, however prognostication is difficult. Long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) has been identified by the Gold Standards Framework as a clinical indicator of advancing disease. We hypothesised the ADO index (for ‘Age, Dyspnoea and airflow Obstruction’), which predicts mortality, could be applied to our LTOT population to help identify patients with poor prognosis. We aimed to compare this to the Medical Research Council dyspnoea scale, body mass index, forced expiratory volume in 1 s and gas transfer. Methods This was a retrospective study on 136 patients with COPD started on LTOT, June 2003 to August 2010. Data were collected from LTOT databases and medical records. Patients’ length of survival was calculated from initiation of LTOT. Patients were grouped by individual parameters. Survival rates at 6 months, 1 year and 4 years were calculated. GraphPad Prism V.5. 0 software was used to construct Kaplan–Meier curves and perform log-rank tests. Results The ADO index discriminated survival at 6 months, 1 year and 4 years, p=0.0027. Low body mass index (<20) was associated with poor prognosis after 1 and 4 years, p=0.0015. Medical Research Council grade predicted survival at 4 years. Diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO)% predicted and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)% predicted did not predict survival. Conclusions This study showed wide variation in survival in a patient population on LTOT. The ADO score could be used as an early trigger for referral to palliative services, thus enhancing end-of-life care, which improves quality of life in COPD. A prospective study of this application would be required to prove this hypothesis.
Eqilibrium Approximation Quality of Current No-Limit Poker Bots

Approximating a Nash equilibrium is currently the best performing approach for creating poker-playing programs. While for the simplest variants of the game, it is possible to evaluate the quality of the approximation by computing the value of the best response strategy, this is currently not computationally feasible for larger variants of the game, such as heads-up no-limit Texas hold'em. In this paper, we present a simple and computationally inexpensive Local Best Response method for computing an approximate lower bound on the value of the best response strategy. Using this method, we show that existing poker-playing programs, based on solving abstract games, are remarkably poor Nash equilibrium approximations.
Eurographics/siggraph Symposium on Computer Animation (2003) Simulation of Clothing with Folds and Wrinkles

Clothing is a fundamental part of a character's persona, a key storytelling tool used to convey an intended impression to the audience. Draping, folding, wrinkling, stretching, etc. all convey meaning, and thus each is carefully controlled when filming live actors. When making films with computer simulated cloth, these subtle but important elements must be captured. In this paper we present several methods essential to matching the behavior and look of clothing worn by digital stand-ins to their real world counterparts. Novel contributions include a mixed ex-plicit/implicit time integration scheme, a physically correct bending model with (potentially) nonzero rest angles for pre-shaping wrinkles, an interface forecasting technique that promotes the development of detail in contact regions, a post-processing method for treating cloth-character collisions that preserves folds and wrinkles, and a dynamic constraint mechanism that helps to control large scale folding. The common goal of all these techniques is to produce a cloth simulation with many folds and wrinkles improving the realism.
European Countries

In this study, we use a unique dataset covering all higher education institutions, public research Institutions and private companies that have applied for funding to the European Framework Programs for Research and Innovation in the period 2007–2017. The first aim of this study is to show the composition of R&D performing actors per country, which to the best of our knowledge has never been done before. The second aim of this study is to compare country profiles in R&D composition, so that we may analyse whether the countries differ in concentration of R&D performing institutions. The third aim of this study is to investigate whether different R&D country profiles are associated with how the R&D systems perform, i.e. whether the profiles are associated with Research and Innovation performance indicators. Our study shows that the concentration of R&D actors at countrylevel and within the sectors differ across European countries, with the general conclusion being that countries that can be characterized as well-performing on citation and innovation indicators seem to combine (a) high shares of Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D as percentage of GDP with (b) a highly skewed R&D system, where a small part of the R&D performing actors account for a very high share of the national R&D performance. This indicates a dual R&D system which combines a few large R&D performing institutions with a very large number of small actors.
A longitudinal cohort study examining the relationship between working memory and UK primary school curricular mathematics

Mathematics is an important skill that is taught to all children in the UK in a structured manner from a very early age. The purpose of this thesis was to examine how working memory (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974a; Baddeley & Hitch, 1994) and UK curricular mathematics are related, if specific components of working memory were more impactful upon performance in mathematics than others, and if we can predict mathematics outcomes using working memory measures. With reference to the influence of working memory on overall curricular mathematics performance, a cohort of 70 children from two primary schools in the North West of England was tested annually from their Reception year (mean age 5yrs 1m) at school to Year Two (mean age 6yrs 11m ). The study used a number of working memory tasks, a UK curricular mathematics test, and two Performance Measures. This allowed data to be analysed both in a cross-sectional manner and longitudinally (Chapter 5). The thesis also differentiates UK curricular mathematics into four separable “strands”, Number, Calculation, Measures, Shape and Space, and Problem Solving. These strands are described consistently throughout the UK mathematics curricular literature (DfEE, 1999; DfEE & QCA, 1999a; DfES, 2003a) and the cohort data was used to statistically analyse the relationships between working memory and each strand in turn using a correlational design in Chapters 6 to 9.Results indicated that working memory is a robust predictor of overall mathematics performance (Chapter 5), and of the Calculation Strand (Chapter 7). This finding was demonstrated in both the cross-sectional analyses and also in the longitudinal regression analyses. Of the working memory measures a distinct pattern of association was revealed. In particular the data imply that there is a strong role for the central executive at each age range, but in Year One verbal short-term memory emerges as an important predictor variable.Working memory also showed significant predictive influence over the remaining three curricular mathematics strands that were measured, particularly at the youngest age grouping, but working memory was not found to be a robust longitudinal predictor of Number, Problem Solving or Measures, Shape and Space.The overarching conclusion is that working memory, and in particular the central executive, may support the development of early curricular mathematical skills independent of the influence of age and Performance Measures. The practical and theoretical implications are considered.
CCR5 Haplotypes and Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in Malawi

Background CCR5 and CCR2 gene polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with protection against HIV transmission in adults and with delayed progression to AIDS. The CCR5 Δ32 deletion and SNP -2459G are associated with reduced expression of the CCR5 protein. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated the association between infant CCR2/CCR5 diplotype and HIV mother to child transmission (MTCT) in Malawi. Blood samples from infants (n = 552) of HIV positive women who received nevirapine were genotyped using a post-PCR multiplex ligase detection reaction and haplotypes were identified based on 8 CCR2/CCR5 SNPs and the open reading frame 32 base pair deletion. Following verification of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, log linear regression was performed to examine the association between mutations and MTCT. Overall, protection against MTCT was weakly associated with two CCR5 SNPs, -2459G (Risk ratio [RR], 0.78; confidence interval [CI], 0.54–1.12), and the linked CCR5 -2135T (RR, 0.78; CI, 0.54–1.13). No child carried the CCR5 Δ32 SNP. Maternal Viral Load (MVL) was found to be an effect measure modifier. Among mothers with low MVL, statistically significant protection against MTCT was observed for -2459G (RR, 0.50; CI, 0.27–0.91), and -2135T (RR, 0.51; CI, 0.28–0.92). Statistically significant protection was not found at high MVL. Conclusions/Significance Results from this study suggest that CCR5 SNPs -2459G and -2135T associated with reduced receptor expression protect against MTCT of HIV at low MVLs, whereas high MVLs may over-ride differences in coreceptor availability.
The Ties of Meeting Leaders: A Social Network Analysis

This study extends meeting research by applying social network analysis to meeting leaders’ behavior in actual, videotaped meetings (N = 46) and examining the position of meeting leaders in the meeting network. Analyses reveal that meeting leaders are key players in meetings taking on the roles of central actor, broker, and elicitor. The role of central actor is linked to the number of planned actions during the meeting whereas the role of elicitor is associated with participants’ satisfaction with the meeting leader and team productivity after the meeting. Our study highlights the different roles meeting leaders need to juggle to run meetings effectively.
The effect of wisdom in organizations on team cohesiveness, interpersonal trust and intrinsic job satisfaction, partially mediated by emotional intelligence

THE EFFECT OF WISDOM IN ORGANIZATIONS ON TEAM COHESIVENESS, INTERPERSONAL TRUST AND INTRINSIC JOB SATISFACTION, PARTIALLY MEDIATED BY EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE by Charles D. Oden Wisdom, though ancient in concept, has only recently grown in empirical research. Often seen as the pinnacle of human development, wisdom includes the key aspects of exceptional insight, reflection, discernment, knowledge, and judgment, which are required for guiding the long-term future of an organization. Wisdom is believed to enhance an organization’s ability to work towards multiple goals simultaneously, assist in appropriately assigning priorities, and lessen the organization’s reliance on guidance or rules. Utilizing simultaneous regression analysis, available through partial least squares modeling, this research study included 230 full time non-instructional staff from both a traditional university setting and numerous branch offices. The collective wisdom of individuals in a business setting, measured as a composite of the three dimensions (cognitive, affective and reflective), significantly increased team cohesiveness, cognitivebased and affective-based interpersonal trust, and intrinsic job satisfaction. The reflective wisdom factor of lack of self-pity or resentment provided the largest effect upon all three organizational measures. Perspective-taking significantly increased both team cohesiveness and all four aspects of emotional intelligence. Though emotional intelligence did have many significant relationships with wisdom, it was not determined to serve as a mediating variable. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful to Dr. Cynthia Ruppel for her encouragement, guidance and direction throughout the dissertation process. She consistently kept me focused on the underlying theoretical understanding rather than allowing me to become overwhelmed with data and research. I am also extremely grateful to Dr. Monika Ardelt for allowing me to use the Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale and her guidance concerning a deep and growing understanding of wisdom. I am also deeply grateful to Dr. Barry Barnes for sharing his knowledge and guidance concerning the organizational measures and reviewing the many details of this study. My utmost grateful appreciation is extended to my wonderful wife, who has endured many days of separation, long quiet days with little to no communication, and the unintended loss of my attention upon many occasions. She is my helper and the love of my life.
Cognitive function and advanced kidney disease: longitudinal trends and impact on decision-making

Background: Cognitive impairment commonly affects renal patients. But little is known about the influence of dialysis modality on cognitive trends or the influence of cognitive impairment on decision-making in renal patients. This study evaluated cognitive trends amongst chronic kidney disease (CKD), haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. The relationship between cognitive impairment and decision-making capacity (DMC) was also assessed. Methods: Patients were recruited from three outpatient clinics. Cognitive function was assessed 4-monthly for up to 2 years, using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) tool. Cognitive trends were assessed using mixed model analysis. DMC was assessed using the Macarthur Competency Assessment tool (MacCAT-T). MacCAT-T scores were compared between patients with cognitive impairment (MoCA <26) and those without. Results: In total, 102 (41 HD, 25 PD and 36 CKD) patients were recruited into the prospective study. After multivariate analysis, the total MoCA scores declined faster in dialysis compared with CKD patients [coefficient = −0.03, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = −0.056 to − 0.004; P = 0.025]. The MoCA executive scores declined faster in the HD compared with PD patients (coefficient = −0.12, 95% CI = −0.233 to − 0.007; P = 0.037). DMC was assessed in 10 patients. Those with cognitive impairment had lower MacCAT-T compared with those without [median (interquartile range) 19 (17.9–19.6) versus 17.4 (16.3–18.4); P = 0.049]. Conclusions: Cognition declines faster in dialysis patients compared with CKD patients and in HD patients compared with PD patients. Cognitive impairment affects DMC in patients with advanced kidney disease.
Comparative efficacy of Diazepam, Ketamine, and Diazepam-Ketamine combination for sedation or anesthesia in cockerel chickens -

The comparative efficacy of Diazepam, Ketamine, and Ketamine-Diazepam combination was assessed using adult chickens (n=30). The chickens were divided into three equal groups (G-1, G-2 and G-3), and were administered with Diazepam dosed at 0.5 mg/kg body weight (b.wt.), Ketamine HCL dosed at 20 mg/kg b.wt. , and Ketamine HCL (dosed at 10 mg/kg b.wt.) combined with Diazepam (dosed at 2 mg/kg b.wt.) through intramuscular (IM) route. The means of induction period, duration of sedation or anesthesia, full recovery period and duration of analgesia were significantly (p≤0.05) differed from one another. Similarly, the clinical and hematological parameters measured before and after the sedation or anesthesia within the groups were found to be differed significantly (p≤0.05) from each other. It was concluded that Diazepam dosed at 0.5 mg/kg b.wt. (IM) can be used in cockerels. However, combination of Ketamine (at 10 mg/kg IM)-Diazepam (at 2 mg/kg b.wt. IM) is preferably recommended as this combination is comparatively safer, and minimizes the pains elicited from the procedure of using Diazepam alone.
Deep Feature Engineering for Noise Robust Spoofing Detection

Spoofing detection for automatic speaker verification (ASV) aims to discriminate between genuine and spoofed speech. This topic has received increased attentions recently due to safety concerns with deploying an ASV system. While the performance of spoofing detection has improved significantly in clean condition in recent studies, the performance degrades dramatically in noisy conditions. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose to extract robust and discriminative deep features by using deep learning techniques for spoofing detection. In particular, we employ deep feedforward, recurrent, and convolutional neural networks to extract discriminative features. We also introduce multicondition training, noise-aware training, and annealed dropout training to make neural networks more robust against noise and to avoid overfitting to specific spoofing attacks and noise types. The proposed neural networks and training techniques are combined into a single framework for spoofing detection. Experimental evaluation is carried out on a noisy version of the standard ASVspoof 2015 corpus, including both additive noisy and reverberant scenarios. Experimental results confirm that the proposed system dramatically decreases averaged equal error rates from 19.1% and 22.6% to 3.2% and 5.1% for seen and unseen noisy conditions, respectively.
Matched Comparison of Self-Expanding Transcatheter Heart Valves for the Treatment of Failed Aortic Surgical Bioprosthesis: Insights From the Valve-in-Valve International Data Registry (VIVID)

Background— Transcatheter valve-in-valve implantation is an established therapy for high-risk patients with failed surgical aortic bioprosthesis. There are limited data comparing outcomes of valve-in-valve implantation using different transcatheter heart valves (THV). Methods and Results— Patients included in the Valve-in-Valve International Data registry (VIVID) and treated with self-expanding THV devices were analyzed using centralized core laboratory blinded to clinical events. St. Jude Medical Portico versus Medtronic CoreValve were compared in a 1:2 fashion after propensity score matching. A total of 162 patients, Portico- (n=54) and CoreValve- (n=108) based valve-in-valve procedures comprised the study population with no significant difference in baseline characteristics (age, 79±8.2 years; 60% women; mean STS [Society of Thoracic Surgery] score 8.1±5.5%). Postimplantation, CoreValve was associated with a larger effective orifice area (1.67 versus 1.31 cm2; P=0.001), lower mean gradient (14±7.5 versus 17±7.5 mm Hg; P=0.02), and lower core laboratory–adjudicated moderate-to-severe aortic insufficiency (4.2% versus 13.7%; P=0.04), compared with Portico. Procedural complications including THV malpositioning, second THV requirement, or coronary obstruction were not significantly different between the 2 groups. Survival and stroke rates at 30 days were similar, but overall mortality at 1 year was higher among patients treated with Portico compared with CoreValve (22.6% versus 9.1%; P=0.03). Conclusions— In this first matched comparison of THVs for valve-in-valve implantations, Portico and CoreValve demonstrated differences in postprocedural hemodynamics and long-term clinical outcomes. Although this could be related to THV design characteristics, the impact of other procedural factors cannot be excluded and require further evaluation.
Development of an Instrument to Assess Work Ethics.

In this article, the authors detail the development process they used to create an instrument to assess work ethics. This instrument was then used to measure work ethic attributes among students enrolled in technical education programs in the state of Georgia in the USA. The creation of such an instrument is one response to concerns nationally and among business communities and technical institutes in Georgia about the inconsistency between adequate skill levels and appropriate work ethic values among job applicants and the implications for their long term employability. Technical institutes within the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education (GDTAE) system have incorporated the concept of work ethics into their curriculum. This program consists of eight core components and, as yet, there is no instrument available to measure these. This study aimed to develop a psychometrically sound instrument that could measure these components accurately and succinctly. The study resulted in an instrument validated by those knowledgeable of the GDTAE work ethics program, its focus and its intent. Recommendations are made for further research in this area.
The sizes of mini-voids in the local universe: an argument in favor of a warm dark matter model?

Using high-resolution simulations within the Cold and Warm Dark Matter models we study the evolution of small scale structure in the Local Volume, a sphere of 8 Mpc radius around the Local Group. We compare the observed spectrum of mini-voids in the Local Volume with the spectrum of mini-voids determined from the simulations. We show that the \LWDM model can easily explain both the observed spectrum of mini-voids and the presence of low-mass galaxies observed in the Local Volume, provided that all haloes with circular velocities greater than 20 km/s host galaxies. On the contrary within the LCDM model the distribution of the simulated mini-voids reflects the observed one if haloes with maximal circular velocities larger than 35 km/s host galaxies. This assumption is in contradiction with observations of galaxies with circular velocities as low as 20 km/s in our Local Universe. A potential problem of the LWDM model could be the late formation of the haloes in which the gas can be efficiently photo-evaporated. Thus star formation is suppressed and low-mass haloes might not host any galaxy at all.