Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of End Groups on the Raman Spectra of Lycopene and β-Carotene under High Pressure

The Raman spectra of all-trans-lycopene in n-hexane were measured under high pressure, and the results compared with those of β-carotene. The different pressure effects on Raman spectra are analyzed taking into account the different structures of lycopene and β-carotene molecules. It is concluded that: (a) the vibronic coupling between the S1 and S0 states of β-carotene is stronger than that of lycopene, (b) the diabatic frequency increment of the ν1 mode is more susceptible to pressure than that of the ν2 mode for lycopene, and (c) β-rings rotation can relieve the pressure effect on the C=C bond length in β-carotene. This work provides some insights for elucidating the structural and environmental effects on Raman spectra of carotenoids.
CENTRIFUGAL CLARIFICATION OF MOLASSES

The compositions of the various organic and inorganic species in cane molasses show wide variations. Centrifugation can be used to remove suspended so! id particles. The bulk of these are precipitated calcium compounds. Removal of calcium by precipitation and subsequent centrifugation can be enhanced by the addition of sulphuric acid. The effects of dilution, temperature, and acid addition on the efficiency of calcium removal by centrifugation are described. A relatively simple procedure to determine the optimal molasses pretreatment method for maximum calcium removal is presented.
Assessing the Use of P16 Ink4a Promoter Gene Methylation in Serum for Detection of Bladder Cancer

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate whether hypermethylation in p16 INK4a gene promoter could serve as plasma biomarker of bladder cancer. Methods and Patients: We examined the p16 INK4a status using methylation-specific PCR in 86 cancer patients and 49 controls (31 healthy people and 18 patients with benign urological diseases). Results: The p16 INK4a methylation was found in 22% of the serum samples and in 26% of the bladder cancer biopsies; one of them with carcinoma in situ. The presence of hypermethylated p16 INK4a in serum seems to be a product from tumour cells because a strong statistical association was found between both matched DNA signals (p < 0:0001). Using the control group, the presence of methylated p16 INK4a in the serum of individuals with suspicion of bladder cancer was found to be associated with the tumour presence (p ¼ 0:0009). Aberrant p16 INK4a methylation was also observed in one non-cancer patient, which is undergoing further assessment. Conclusions: According with our results, methylation of p16 INK4a promoter may be involved in the bladder cancer genesis and the presence of p16 INK4a methylated in serum of these patients could be useful in the cancer diagnosis with values of sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of 0.226, 0.950 and 0.98, respectively. These figures support the use of methylated p16 INK4a as a new class of tumour marker in bladder cancer.
Evidence-Based Apps? A Review of Mental Health Mobile Applications in a Psychotherapy Context

mHealth denotes the use of mobile devices within a health care context. One type of mHealth that has gained increased popularity is the use of mobile applications (apps). Despite a plethora of apps that are commercially available, the efficacy or effectiveness of these apps is largely unknown. This article reviews the literature on the use of mental health mobile apps in a psychotherapy context. The review focuses on the efficacy or effectiveness and common features of mental health apps. At present, there is insufficient empirical support for any 1 particular app to be considered evidence-based. A number of methodological concerns among treatment outcome studies further complicate conclusions regarding efficacy and effectiveness. Nonetheless, preliminary results are promising and warrant further research. Apps included in this review were generally extensions of empirically supported treatments, primarily grounded in cognitive–behavioral therapy. Implications and clinical issues for practitioners are discussed. Given the current state of the research, clinicians may wish to consider cautiously incorporating apps as an adjunct to treatment or recommending apps to clients, but much is unknown including the possibility that in some circumstances, particular apps may prove to be iatrogenic for some clients.
Nível de Aptidão Física de Atletas de Ginástica Rítmica: Comparações entre Categorias Etárias

The aim of this study was to assess physical fitness of competing rhythmic gymnasts and to compare the performance according to competitive category considering maturation and training time. The study comprised 33 gymnasts, including 12 junior, 14 juvenile and 7 senior and information was collected about maturation, training time and anthropometry. In addition, tests were applied regarding i) flexibility of lumbar spine extension, shoulder girdle, hip flexion and extension; ii) static and dynamic balance, iii) lower and upper limbs power. In this context 92% of junior between 2 and 4 hours per session. 43% of juvenile athletes train between 2 and 4 hours and 57% more than 4 hours. In the adult category 85% train between 2 and 4 hours and 15% train more than 4 hours. The main results showed lower values of lower limbs power and balance to the junior category and high values in upper limbs power to the senior category. Regarding the general characteristics of training, junior athletes practice rhythmic gymnastics for 2,83±1,57, juvenile for 6,43±2,41 years and seniors for 10±3,37 years with differences between the first group and the others (p<0,05). About the amount of weekly training, younger athletes train 3,25±0,75, juvenile 5,07±1,07 days and seniors 4,71±0,76 times per week. The junior group showed lower results of balance and flexibility when compared to other categories. Considering somatotype, junior and juvenile categories showed their highest mean values for the ectomorphy while the mesomorphic component was highlighted among adults.
Complete Genome sequence of Burkholderia phymatum STM815T, a broad host range and efficient nitrogen-fixing symbiont of Mimosa species

Burkholderia phymatum is a soil bacterium able to develop a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with species of the legume genus Mimosa, and is frequently found associated specifically with Mimosa pudica. The type strain of the species, STM 815T, was isolated from a root nodule in French Guiana in 2000. The strain is an aerobic, motile, non-spore forming, Gram-negative rod, and is a highly competitive strain for nodulation compared to other Mimosa symbionts, as it also nodulates a broad range of other legume genera and species. The 8,676,562 bp genome is composed of two chromosomes (3,479,187 and 2,697,374 bp), a megaplasmid (1,904,893 bp) and a plasmid hosting the symbiotic functions (595,108 bp).
Reduced soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products in COPD

The soluble receptor for advanced glycation end-products (sRAGE) has anti-inflammatory properties, and deficiency of circulating sRAGE is associated with various human diseases. Whether sRAGE concentrations are reduced in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been determined. The aim of this study was to determine plasma levels of sRAGE in COPD patients and establish whether sRAGE varies in relation to forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and other inflammatory markers. 61 COPD patients and 42 healthy controls were recruited. Plasma sRAGE, C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) were measured in patients with stable COPD. A subgroup had measurements during acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD). sRAGE was significantly lower in stable COPD than in healthy controls (p<0.001), while CRP (p<0.001) and SAA (p = 0.015) were higher in stable COPD than in healthy controls. Multiple linear regression confirmed that COPD was negatively associated with sRAGE (p<0.001). Plasma sRAGE was positively correlated with FEV1 (r2 = 0.530, p<0.001), while CRP and SAA were inversely proportional to FEV1. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that only sRAGE was a strong predictor of FEV1. AECOPD were associated with even lower sRAGE levels that increased with convalescence. Circulating sRAGE is lower in COPD and shows a strong correlation to the degree of airflow limitation.
The impact of mindfulness on well-being and performance in the workplace: an inclusive systematic review of the empirical literature

ABSTRACT Work can be demanding, imposing challenges that can be detrimental to the physical and mental health of workers. Efforts are therefore underway to develop practices and initiatives that may improve occupational well-being. These include interventions based on mindfulness meditation. This paper offers a systematic review of empirical studies featuring analyses of mindfulness in occupational contexts. Databases were reviewed from the start of records to January 2016. Eligibility criteria included experimental and correlative studies of mindfulness conducted in work settings, with a variety of well-being and performance measures. A total of 153 papers met the eligibility criteria and were included in the systematic review, comprising 12,571 participants. Mindfulness was generally associated with positive outcomes in relation to most measures. However, the quality of the studies was inconsistent, so further research is needed, particularly involving high-quality randomized control trials.
Numeracy Abilities of Children in Grades 4 to 6 with Mild Intellectual Disability in Singapore

Abstract Mathematics is an important aspect of daily life. Basic numeracy skills are needed to accomplish everyday tasks. However, research regarding the relationship between cognitive ability, mental age, and basic numeracy skills for children with intellectual disability (ID) is scarce. This research study investigated the correlation between intellectual ability and the development of number sense and arithmetic abilities in individuals with ID. Thirty-two students from a special school for individuals with ID in Singapore participated in this research study. Based on the results, basic numeracy is more closely correlated to the mental ages of the students than their intelligence quotient. This finding will be discussed and suggestions for future research will be provided.
Isomorphisms Between Subiaco q{Clan Geometries

For q =2 e , e 4, the Subiaco construction introduced in [2] provides one q{clan, one ock, and for e 6 2( mod 4), one oval inPG(2;q). When e 2 (mod 4), there are two inequivalent ovals. The associated generalised quadrangle of order (q 2 ;q) has a complete automorphism group G of order 2e(q 2 1)q 5 . For each Subiaco oval O there is a group of collineations of PG(2;q) induced by a subgroup ofG and stabilisingO . W hene 2( mod 4), for both ovals the complete stabiliser is just that induced by a subgroup ofG.
Robust output feedback control of incompletely observable nonlinear systems without input dynamic extension

We introduce a new output feedback controller for general MIMO nonlinear systems which are only observable on regions of the state and input spaces. Unlike previous approaches, we do not add integrators at the input side of the system, and thus avoid the need to design a stabilizing control law for a higher order system. Robustness with respect to a class of time-varying disturbances is guaranteed, and the performance of any state feedback controller designed to achieve closed-loop stability with respect to a set (e.g., a robust controller) is recovered.
Parsing of Grammatical Relations in Transcripts of Parent-Child Dialogs

Automatic analysis of syntax is one of the core problems in natural language processing. Despite significant advances in syntactic parsing of written text, the application of these techniques to spontaneous spoken language has received more limited attention. The recent explosive growth of online, accessible corpora of spoken language interactions opens up new opportunities for the development of high accuracy parsing approaches to the analysis of spoken language. The availability of high accuracy parsers will in turn provide a platform for development of a wide range of new applications, as well as for advanced research on the nature of conversational interactions. One concrete field of investigation that is ripe for the application of such parsing tools is the study of child language acquisition. In this thesis, we describe an approach for analyzing the syntactic structure of spontaneous conversational language in parent-child interactions. Specific emphasis is placed on the challenge of accurately annotating the English corpora in the CHILDES database with grammatical relations (such as subject, objects and adjuncts) that are of particular interest and utility, to researchers in child language acquisition. This work involves rule-based and corpus-based natural language processing techniques, as well as methodology for combining results from different parsing approaches. We present novel strategies for integrating the results of different parsers into a system with improved accuracy. One practical application of this research is the automation of language competence measures used by clinicians and researchers of child language development. We present an implementation of an automatic version of one such measurement scheme. This provides not only a useful tool for the child language research community, but also a task-based evaluation framework for grammatical relation identification. Through experiments using data from the Penn Treebank, we show that several of the techniques and ideas presented in this thesis are applicable not just to analysis of parent-child dialogs, but to parsing in general.
Relationships among Event-Related Potentials, Memory, and Schizophrenic Symptoms in College Students with Schizotypal-Traits

The present study investigated the relationships among event-related potentials (ERPs), memory, and schizophrenic symptoms in college students with schizotypal-traits. Scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) were used to categorize the participants into schizotypal-trait (n = 30) and normal control (n = 37) groups. ERPs were assessed using an auditory oddball paradigm, in which a series of standard tones (1000 Hz) and target tones (1500 Hz) were presented; participants were asked to count the number of presented target tones. The verbal memory and visual memory of the participants were evaluated using the Korean version of the California Verbal Learning Test (K-CVLT) and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT), respectively. The schizotypal-trait and control groups did not differ in terms of age, educational level, IQ score, accuracy on the auditory oddball task, or performance on the K-CVLT and RCFT measures. However, the schizotypal-trait group exhibited significantly smaller P300 amplitudes than the control group. Additionally, the P300 amplitudes measured at Cz and Pz were negatively correlated with the cognitive-perceptual factor scores on the SPQ. Thus, the present results indicate that reduced P300 amplitudes may represent a biological marker of schizophrenia.
What is a peer? The role of network definitions in estimation of endogenous peer effects

We employ a standard identification strategy from the peer effects literature to investigate the importance of network definitions in estimation of endogenous peer effects. We use detailed information on friends in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Survey (Add Health) to construct two network definitions that are less ad hoc than the school-grade cohorts commonly used in the educational peer effects literature. We demonstrate that accurate definitions of the network seriously impact estimation of peer effects. In particular, we show that peer effects estimates on educational achievement, smoking and drinking are substantially larger with our more detailed measures than with the school-grade cohorts. These results highlight the need to further understand how friendships form in order to fully understand implications for policy that alters the peer group mix at the classroom or cohort level.
Mechanical Ventilation Boot Camp: A Simulation-Based Pilot Study

Objectives. Management of mechanically ventilated patients may pose a challenge to novice residents, many of which may not have received formal dedicated critical care instruction prior to starting their residency training. There is a paucity of data regarding simulation and mechanical ventilation training in the medical education literature. The purpose of this study was to develop a curriculum to educate first-year residents on addressing and troubleshooting ventilator alarms. Methods. Prospective evaluation was conducted of seventeen residents undergoing a twelve-hour three-day curriculum. Residents were assessed using a predetermined critical action checklist for each case, as well as pre- and postcurriculum multiple-choice cognitive knowledge questionnaires and confidence surveys. Results. Significant improvements in cognitive knowledge, critical actions, and self-reported confidence were demonstrated. The mean change in test score from before to after intervention was +26.8%, and a median score increase of 25% was noted. The ARDS and the mucus plugging cases had statistically significant improvements in critical actions, p < 0.001. A mean increase in self-reported confidence was realized (1.55 to 3.64), p = 0.049. Conclusions. A three-day simulation curriculum for residents was effective in increasing competency, knowledge, and confidence with ventilator management.
Unraveling the BitTorrent Ecosystem

BitTorrent is the most successful open Internet application for content distribution. Despite its importance, both in terms of its footprint in the Internet and the influence it has on emerging P2P applications, the BitTorrent Ecosystem is only partially understood. We seek to provide a nearly complete picture of the entire public BitTorrent Ecosystem. To this end, we crawl five of the most popular torrent-discovery sites over a ine-month period, identifying all of 4.6 million and 38,996 trackers that the sites reference. We also develop a high-performance tracker crawler, and over a narrow window of 12 hours, crawl essentially all of the public Ecosystem's trackers, obtaining peer lists for all referenced torrents. Complementing the torrent-discovery site and tracker crawling, we further crawl Azureus and Mainline DHTs for a random sample of torrents. Our resulting measurement data are more than an order of magnitude larger (in terms of number of torrents, trackers, or peers) than any earlier study. Using this extensive data set, we study in-depth the Ecosystem's torrent-discovery, tracker, peer, user behavior, and content landscapes. For peer statistics, the analysis is based on one typical snapshot obtained over 12 hours. We further analyze the fragility of the Ecosystem upon the removal of its most important tracker service.
Multi-Exposure and Multi-Focus Image Fusion in Gradient Domain

A multi-exposure and multi-focus image fusion algorithm is proposed. The algorithm is developed for color images and is based on blending the gradients of the luminance components of the input images using the maximum gradient magnitude at each pixel location and then obtaining the fused luminance using a Haar wavelet-based image reconstruction technique. This image reconstruction algorithm is of [Formula: see text] complexity and includes a Poisson solver at each resolution to eliminate artifacts that may appear due to the nonconservative nature of the resulting gradient. The fused chrominance, on the other hand, is obtained as a weighted mean of the chrominance channels. The particular case of grayscale images is treated as luminance fusion. Experimental results and comparison with other fusion techniques indicate that the proposed algorithm is fast and produces similar or better results than existing techniques for both multi-exposure as well as multi-focus images.
Understanding and promoting rural adolescents' psychosocial development in the context of a unique social milieu

ii Acknowledgments. iv List of Tables . vii List of Figures . viii Chapter 1: General Introduction . 1 Chapter 2: Paper 1 – Interplay of School and Family Social Climate in the Prediction of Rural and Urban Young Persons’ Achievement and Employment Outcomes . 7 Introduction . 8 Method . 17 Results . 23 Discussion . 26 Chapter 3: Paper 2 – Marginalized Rural Youth: An Agenda for Intervention and Research . 50 Stratification within Adolescents’ Educational Contexts . 52 Rural Community Features that Amplify Problems of Marginalization . 57 Support for Intergroup Contact Theory . 60 Applying ICT to the Unique Developmental Needs of Marginalized Rural Youth . 64 Conclusion . 74 Chapter 4 – General Discussion . 76 References . 82
Robust stabilization of linear uncertain systems via quantized feedback

This paper studies the problem of robust stabilization for linear uncertain systems via logarithmic quantized feedback. Our work is based on a new method for the analysis of quantized feedback. More specifically, we characterize the quantization error using a simple sector bound. It is shown in our previous work that this method yields the same result on the coarsest quantization density as in the work of Elia and Mitter, when the system does not involve uncertainties. The advantage of this new method is that it is applicable to multi-input-multi-output systems and to performance control problems. In this paper, we apply this method to robust stabilization of linear uncertain systems. We give conditions under which there exists a quadratic stabilizing controller for a given quantization density. Both state feedback and output feedback are considered. For output feedback, we consider two cases: 1) quantization occurs at the control input; and 2) quantization occurs at the measured output.
Interference Aware Reliable Cooperative Cognitive Networks for Real-Time Applications

With growing real-time traffic and limited spectrum resources, the communication system must adopt reliable and efficient spectrum sharing techniques for providing improved services to end users. Cooperative cognitive radio network (CCRN) offers a promising solution based on the principle of cooperative diversity where primary users offer transmission opportunities to secondary users in exchange for their relay services. However, existing CCRN models ignore the overhead of cooperation formation and the potential interference introduced by secondary users' transmissions. This may hurt successful packet delivery, and therefore, they cannot be applied to real-time systems. In this paper, we propose an interference aware reliable communication system for real-time applications exploiting the flexibility of a cooperative cognitive network. We formulate the communication system as a Markov decision process and quantify the impact of cooperation overhead and secondary interference on successful packet delivery through its actions and reward functions. We present a distributed algorithm for use in a realistic multi-user setting where a user applies the algorithm to determine cooperation gain, select cooperation pairs, and schedule cooperative transmissions. The simulation results show that the proposed model improves packet reception rate with low cooperation overhead compared to an existing cooperation model.