Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prolonged Exposure and Virtual Reality-Enhanced Imaginal Exposure for PTSD following a Terrorist Bulldozer Attack: A Case Study

In this case study, virtual reality was used to augment imaginal exposure in a protocol based on prolonged exposure. A 29-year-old male patient developed posttraumatic stress disorder after surviving a deadly terrorist bulldozer attack on two civilian buses and several cars in Jerusalem; the traumas witnessed by the survivor included a decapitation. The crowded bus in which the patient was riding was pushed over onto its side by the terrorist, injuring, trapping, and terrifying the passengers and causing gasoline to leak. Guided by his therapist, the patient entered an immersive computer-generated virtual world to go "back" to the scene of the traumatic event to help him gain access to his memories of the event, process and reduce the intensity of the emotions (fear/anger) associated with his pathological memories, and change unhealthy thought patterns. Traumatic memories of childhood abuse and traumatic memories of the bulldozer terrorist attack were treated using imaginal exposure while the patient was in the virtual environment BusWorld. The patient showed large posttreatment reductions in PTSD symptoms, and his Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) scores dropped from 79 pretreatment to zero immediately posttreatment, and CAPS was still at zero 6 months later. Although case studies are inconclusive by nature, these encouraging preliminary results suggest that further exploration of the use of virtual reality during modified prolonged exposure for PTSD is warranted. As terrorist attacks increase in frequency and severity worldwide, research is needed on how to minimize the psychological consequences of terrorism.
Creativity and the Brain

Neurocognitive approach to higher cognitive functions that bridges the gap between psychological and neural level of description is introduced. Relevant facts about the brain, working memory and representation of symbols in the brain are summarized. Putative brain processes responsible for problem solving, intuition, skill learning and automatization are described. The role of non-dominant brain hemisphere in solving problems requiring insight is conjectured. Two factors seem to be essential for creativity: imagination constrained by experience, and filtering that selects most interesting solutions. Experiments with paired words association are analyzed in details and evidence for stochastic resonance effects is found. Brain activity in the process of invention of novel words is proposed as the simplest way to understand creativity using experimental and computational means. Perspectives on computational models of creativity are discussed.
Stat3 Activates the Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Like Orphan Receptor-1 Gene in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells

Background The receptor tyrosine kinase like orphan receptor (ROR)-1 gene is overexpressed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Because Stat3 is constitutively activated in CLL and sequence analysis revealed that the ROR1 promoter harbors γ-interferon activation sequence-like elements typically activated by Stat3, we hypothesized that Stat3 activates ROR1. Methodology/Principal Findings Because IL-6 induced Stat3 phosphorylation and upregulated Ror1 protein levels in MM1 cells, we used these cells as a model. We transfected MM1 cells with truncated ROR1 promoter luciferase reporter constructs and found that IL-6 induced luciferase activity of ROR1-195 and upstream constructs. Co-transfection with Stat3 siRNA reduced the IL-6-induced luciferase activity, suggesting that IL-6 induced luciferase activity by activating Stat3. EMSA and the ChIP assay confirmed that Stat3 binds ROR1, and EMSA studies identified two Stat3 binding sites. In CLL cells, EMSA and ChIP studies determined that phosphorylated Stat3 bound to the ROR1 promoter at those two ROR1 promoter sites, and ChIP analysis showed that Stat3 co-immunoprecipitated DNA of STAT3, ROR1, and several Stat3-regulated genes. Finally, like STAT3-siRNA in MM1 cells, STAT3-shRNA downregulated STAT3, ROR1, and STAT3-regulated genes and Stat3 and Ror1 protein levels in CLL cells. Conclusion/Significance Our data suggest that constitutively activated Stat3 binds to the ROR1 promoter and activates ROR1 in CLL cells.
A Generalized Loop Correction Method for Approximate Inference in Graphical Models

Belief Propagation (BP) is one of the most popular methods for inference in probabilistic graphical models. BP is guaranteed to return the correct answer for tree structures, but can be incorrect or non-convergent for loopy graphical models. Recently, several new approximate inference algorithms based on cavity distribution have been proposed. These methods can account for the effect of loops by incorporating the dependency between BP messages. Alternatively, region-based approximations (that lead to methods such as Generalized Belief Propagation) improve upon BP by considering interactions within small clusters of variables, thus taking small loops within these clusters into account. This paper introduces an approach, Generalized Loop Correction (GLC), that benefits from both of these types of loop correction. We show how GLC relates to these two families of inference methods, then provide empirical evidence that GLC works effectively in general, and can be significantly more accurate than both correction schemes.
Scaffolding Analysis: Extending the Scaffolding Metaphor to Learning Artifacts

The scaffolding metaphor was originally developed to describe the support given by a more expert individual in a one-on-one interaction. Since then, the notion of scaffolding has been applied more broadly, and it has been transformed and generalized. Most recently, it has been used by researchers in the learning sciences to describe features and functions of technological artifacts, especially those of educational software. In this article, we present an analytic framework that we believe can guide and systematize these new uses of the scaffolding metaphor. In this new framework, "scaffolds" are not features of artifacts or situations, nor is "scaffolding" something that may be occurring (or not) in a given situation that we observe. Rather, a scaffolding analysis is a kind of comparative analysis that we perform on learning interactions. Because this analysis is comparative, it always produces results that are relative to specific choices that we make in framing the comparative analysis. In this article, we present a theoretical argument for our proposed framework and illustrate the definition by applying it to two software environments.
The results of operative treatment of medial epicondylitis.

The results of the operative treatment of medial epicondylitis in forty consecutive elbows (thirty-eight patients) were assessed retrospectively on the basis of the subjective outcome, pain noted during resisted palmar flexion of the hand and wrist, satisfaction of the patient, and grip strength. The mean age of the patients at the time of the operation was forty-two years (range, twenty-two to fifty-six years). Coexistent ulnar neuritis was identified preoperatively in twenty-four elbows. The operative procedure involved release of the attachment of the common flexor muscle of the forearm at the medial epicondyle in all of the elbows and release of the retinaculum over the cubital tunnel in seventeen of the twenty-four elbows that had coexistent ulnar neuritis. The patients were followed for a mean of forty-four months (range, twenty-four to sixty-seven months). Twenty-five elbows had a good over-all subjective outcome. The preoperative pain had resolved in twenty-eight elbows. The over-all subjective outcome was less favorable for the elbows that had had coexistent ulnar neuritis (p < 0.05). Eleven of the sixteen elbows that had had isolated medial epicondylitis and had been treated with a flexor release were free of symptoms at the time of follow-up, compared with only three of the twenty-four elbows that had had coexistent ulnar neuritis. This difference was significant (p < 0.01). Moreover, in fifteen elbows, the symptoms of ulnar neuritis persisted. There was no difference in grip strength between the treated and contralateral extremities. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Retrospective Derivation and Validation of a Search Algorithm to Identify Emergent Endotracheal Intubations in the Intensive Care Unit

Summary Background: The development and validation of automated electronic medical record (EMR) search strategies are important in identifying emergent endotracheal intubations in the intensive care unit (ICU). Objective: To develop and validate an automated search algorithm (strategy) for emergent endotracheal intubation in the critically ill patient. Methods: The EMR search algorithm was created through sequential steps with keywords applied to an institutional EMR database. The search strategy was derived retrospectively through a secondary analysis of a 450-patient subset from the 2,684 patients admitted to either a medical or surgical ICU from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2011. This search algorithm was validated against an additional 450 randomly selected patients. Sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values of the automated search algorithm were compared with a manual medical record review (the reference standard) for data extraction of emergent endotracheal intubations. Results: In the derivation subset, the automated electronic note search strategy achieved a sensitivity of 74% (95% CI, 69%-79%) and a specificity of 98% (95% CI, 92%-100%). With refinements in the search algorithm, sensitivity increased to 95% (95% CI, 91%-97%) and specificity decreased to 96% (95% CI, 92%-98%) in this subset. After validation of the algorithm through a separate patient subset, the final reported sensitivity and specificity were 95% (95% CI, 86%-99%) and 100% (95% CI, 98%-100%). Conclusions: Use of electronic search algorithms allows for correct extraction of emergent endotracheal intubations in the ICU, with high degrees of sensitivity and specificity. Such search algorithms are a reliable alternative to manual chart review for identification of emergent endotracheal intubations.
Customers' Intention to Use Digital Services in Retail Banking - An Information Processing Perspective

Service digitization increasingly impacts work and life. A frequent example is Internet banking. While customers act independently from time and space constraints, banks benefit from significantly lower transaction costs compared to branches. However, customers use online channels for distinct transactions and favor physical interactions with bank advisors for others. To understand the underlying drivers for the intention to use digital banking services, we derive a research model that is theoretically grounded in the Information Processing View. It is validated in a quantitative study with 338 evaluations among retail banking customers. The results indicate that customers’ information requirements and process risk negatively impact intended digital process use. In contrast, process experience positively impacts the intended digital process use. This paper is, to our best knowledge, the first to explore the role of information requirements and process-specific characteristics in detail. It guides practitioners in establishing more effective and efficient digital banking services.
What Do Multiwinner Voting Rules Do? An Experiment Over the Two-Dimensional Euclidean Domain

We visualize aggregate outputs of popular multiwinner voting rules — SNTV, STV, Bloc, k-Borda, Monroe, Chamberlin–Courant, and PAV — for elections generated according to the two-dimensional Euclidean model. We consider three applications of multiwinner voting, namely, parliamentary elections, portfolio/movie selection, and shortlisting, and use our results to understand which of our rules seem to be best suited for each application. In particular, we show that STV (one of the few nontrivial rules used in real high-stake elections) exhibits excellent performance, whereas the Bloc rule (also often used in practice) performs poorly.
Progressive Fracture of Fiber Composites

Refined models and procedures are described for determining progressive composite fracture in graphite/epoxy angleplied laminates. Unique Lewis Research Center capabilities are utilized including the Real-Time Ultrasonic C-Scan (RUSCAN) ex perimental facility and the Composite Durability Structural Analysis (CODSTRAN) computer code. CODSTRAN is used to predict the fracture progression based on com posite mechanics, finite element stress analysis, and fracture criteria modules. The RUSCAN facility, CODSTRAN computer code, and scanning electron microscope are used to determine durability and identify failure mechanisms in graphite/epoxy com posites. Results indicate that RUSCAN/CODSTRAN is an effective method of study ing progressive fracture of composites.
Motion planning in urban environments: Part I

We present the motion planning framework for an autonomous vehicle navigating through urban environments. Such environments present a number of motion planning challenges, including ultra-reliability, high-speed operation, complex inter-vehicle interaction, parking in large unstructured lots, and constrained maneuvers. Our approach combines a model-predictive trajectory generation algorithm for computing dynamically-feasible actions with two higher-level planners for generating long range plans in both on-road and unstructured areas of the environment. In this Part I of a two-part paper, we describe the underlying trajectory generator and the on-road planning component of this system. We provide examples and results from ldquoBossrdquo, an autonomous SUV that has driven itself over 3000 kilometers and competed in, and won, the Urban Challenge.
Towards Automatic Discovery of Deviations in Binary Implementations with Applications to Error Detection and Fingerprint Generation

Different implementations of the same protocol specification usually contain deviations, i.e., differences in how they check and process some of their inputs. Deviations are commonly introduced as implementation errors or as different interpretations of the same specification. Automatic discovery of these deviations is important for several applications. In this paper, we focus on automatic discovery of deviations for two particular applications: error detection and fingerprint generation. We propose a novel approach for automatically detecting deviations in the way different implementations of the same specification check and process their input. Our approach has several advantages: (1) by automatically building symbolic formulas from the implementation, our approach is precisely faithful to the implementation; (2) by solving formulas created from two different implementations of the same specification, our approach significantly reduces the number of inputs needed to find deviations; (3) our approach works on binaries directly, without access to the source code. We have built a prototype implementation of our approach and have evaluated it using multiple implementations of two different protocols: HTTP and NTP. Our results show that our approach successfully finds deviations between different implementations, including errors in input checking, and differences in the interpretation of the specification, which can be used as fingerprints.
Estimating the Wishart Affine Stochastic Correlation Model using the empirical characteristic function

Abstract This paper provides the first estimation strategy for the Wishart Affine Stochastic Correlation (WASC) model. We provide elements showing that the use of empirical characteristic function-based estimates is advisable as this function is exponential affine in the WASC case. We use a GMM estimation strategy with a continuum of moment conditions based on the characteristic function. We present the estimation results obtained using a dataset of equity indexes. The WASC model captures most of the known stylized facts associated with financial markets, including leverage and asymmetric correlation effects.
Melatonin Activates Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Apoptosis in Rats with Diethylnitrosamine-Induced Hepatocarcinogenesis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most lethal human cancers worldwide because of its high incidence, its metastatic potential and the low efficacy of conventional treatment. Inactivation of apoptosis is implicated in tumour progression and chemotherapy resistance, and has been linked to the presence of endoplasmic reticulum stress. Melatonin, the main product of the pineal gland, exerts anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and anti-angiogenic effects in HCC cells, but these effects still need to be confirmed in animal models. Male Wistar rats in treatment groups received diethylnitrosamine (DEN) 50 mg/kg intraperitoneally twice/once a week for 18 weeks. Melatonin was given in drinking water at 1 mg/kg/d, beginning 5 or 12 weeks after the start of DEN administration. Melatonin improved survival rates and successfully attenuated liver injury, as shown by histopathology, decreased levels of serum transaminases and reduced expression of placental glutathione S-transferase. Furthermore, melatonin treatment resulted in a significant increase of caspase 3, 8 and 9 activities, polyadenosine diphosphate (ADP) ribose polymerase (PARP) cleavage, and Bcl-associated X protein (Bax)/Bcl-2 ratio. Cytochrome c, p53 and Fas-L protein concentration were also significantly enhanced by melatonin. Melatonin induced an increased expression of activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), C/EBP-homologous protein (CHOP) and immunoglobulin heavy chain-binding protein (BiP), while cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression decreased. Data obtained suggest that induction of apoptosis and ER stress contribute to the beneficial effects of melatonin in rats with DEN-induced HCC.
A Clustering-Based Algorithm for Automatic Document Separation

For text, audio, video, and still images, a number of projects have addressed the problem of estimating inter-object similarity and the related problem of finding transition, or ‘segmentation’ points in a stream of objects of the same media type. There has been relatively little work in this area for document images, which are typically text-intensive and contain a mixture of layout, text-based, and image features. Beyond simple partitioning, the problem of clustering related page images is also important, especially for information retrieval problems such as document image searching and browsing. Motivated by this, we describe a model for estimating inter-page similarity in ordered collections of document images, based on a combination of text and layout features. The features are used as input to a discriminative classifier, whose output is used in a constrained clustering criterion. We do a task-based evaluation of our method by applying it the problem of automatic document separation during batch scanning. Using layout and page numbering features, our algorithm achieved a separation accuracy of 95.6% on the test collection.
Java-through-C compilation: an enabling technology for Java in embedded systems

The Java programming language is acheiving greater acceptance in high-end embedded systems such as cellphones and PDAs. However, current embedded implementations of Java impose tight constraints on functionality, while requiring significant storage space. In addition, they require that a JVM be ported to each such platform. We demonstrate the first Java-to-C compilation strategy that is suitable for a wide range of embedded systems, thereby enabling broad use of Java on embedded platforms. This strategy removes many of the constraints on functionality and reduces code size without sacrificing performance. The compilation framework described is easily retargetable, and is also applicable to bare-bones embedded systems with no operating system or JVM. On an average, we found the size of the generated executables to be over 25 times smaller than those generated by a cutting-edge Java-to-native-code compiler, while providing performance comparable to the best of various Java implementation strategies.
The correlation of sexual dimorphism in tooth size and arch form.

AIM To determine the sexual dimorphism in the sizes of the 6 anterior teeth in the maxilla and the mandible, as well as the sexual dimorphism in the maxillary and mandibular arch forms in Greek patients seeking orthodontic treatment. An attempt was made to establish a correlation between tooth size and arch form. METHOD The sample consisted of 100 male and 100 female patients seeking orthodontic treatment, between the ages of 20 and 25 years, and with no history of prior orthodontic treatment. Mesiodistal measurements of the 6 anterior teeth, as well as sagittal and transverse measurements of the dental arches, were taken on both the maxillary and mandibular casts. The subjects of the sample were divided into 5 groups, according to certain arch form characteristics determined from these measurements. RESULTS The female subjects in this sample had both smaller teeth and smaller maxillary and mandibular arch dimensions. No significant differences in the distribution of the 5 forms according to gender were seen. When comparing the sum of the mesiodistal distances of the 6 anterior teeth to the arch form, the results do not offer a safe conclusion.
A simple fluctuation lower bound for a disordered massless random continuous spin model in $d=2$

We prove a finite volume lower bound of the order $\sqrt{\log N}$ on the delocalization of a disordered continuous spin model (resp. effective interface model) in $d=2$ in a box of size $N$. The interaction is assumed to be massless, possibly anharmonic and dominated from above by a Gaussian. Disorder is entering via a linear source term. For this model delocalization with the same rate is proved to take place already without disorder. We provide a bound that is uniform in the configuration of the disorder, and so our proof shows that disorder will only enhance fluctuations.
Morphology of the cerebral cortex in preclinical Huntington's disease.

OBJECTIVE Cortical morphology was evaluated in subjects with known gene expansion for Huntington's disease and no manifest disease. METHOD Magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained for 24 subjects with preclinical Huntington's disease and were compared to those for 24 matched healthy subjects by means of novel imaging methods to quantify aspects of cortical structure. RESULTS In relation to the comparison subjects, those with preclinical Huntington's disease showed altered cortex morphology with enlargement of gyral crowns and abnormally thin sulci. These changes were manifested in global alterations of gyral and sulcal shape. CONCLUSION These findings lend support to the notion that, in addition to the degenerative process, abnormal neural development may also be an important process in the pathoetiology of Huntington's disease.