Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Time to detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in blood leukocytes is a predictor for the development of CMV disease in CMV-seronegative recipients of allografts from CMV-seropositive donors following liver transplantation.

In 35 cytomegalovirus (CMV)-seronegative recipients of livers from CMV-seropositive donors, 32 (91%) developed CMV infection and 24 of them (75%) experienced disease. Polymerase chain reaction for CMV DNA in leukocytes had the best positive and negative predictive values for the development of disease within 2 months from transplantation, and shell-vial or tube culture viremia was the best predictor thereafter. In patients who developed CMV disease, CMV DNA was first detected at 46 days (median; range, 13-128) after transplantation, significantly earlier than the 77 days (range, 46-174) for those who did not develop CMV disease (P = .02). By a semiquantitative method, the CMV DNA level in the first positive sample did not predict disease development. However, the maximum CMV DNA level during infection was significantly higher in patients who developed CMV disease. In CMV-seronegative recipients of livers from CMV-seropositive donors, the time to DNA positivity following transplantation may predict disease progression and be useful as a guide for the initiation of preemptive therapy.
The Far-Infrared Energy Distributions of Seyfert and Starburst Galaxies in the Local Universe: Infrared Space Observatory Photometry of the 12 Micron Active Galaxy Sample

New far-infrared photometry with ISOPHOT aboard the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) is presented for 58 galaxies with homogeneous published data for another 32 galaxies, all belonging to the 12 μm galaxy sample—in total, 29 Seyfert 1 galaxies, 35 Seyfert 2 galaxies, and 12 starburst galaxies, or about half of the 12 μm active galaxy sample, plus 14 normal galaxies for comparison. ISO and Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) data are used to define color-color diagrams and spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Thermal dust emission at two temperatures (one cold at 15-30 K and one warm at 50-70 K) can fit the 60-200 μm SED, with a dust emissivity law proportional to the inverse square of the wavelength. Seyfert 1 galaxies and Seyfert 2 galaxies are indistinguishable longward of 100 μm, while, as already seen by IRAS, the former have flatter SEDs shortward of 60 μm. A mild anticorrelation is found between the [200-100] color and the "60 μm excess. " We infer that this is due to the fact that galaxies with a strong starburst component and thus a strong 60 μm flux have a steeper far-infrared turnover. In non-Seyfert galaxies, increasing the luminosity corresponds to increasing the star formation rate, which enhances the 25 and 60 μm emission. This shifts the peak emission from around 150 μm in the most quiescent spirals to shorter than 60 μm in the strongest starburst galaxies. To quantify these trends further, we identified with the IRAS colors three idealized infrared SEDs: pure quiescent disk emission, pure starburst emission, and pure Seyfert nucleus emission. Even between 100 and 200 μm, the quiescent disk emission remains much cooler than the starburst component. Seyfert galaxies have 100-200 μm SEDs ranging from pure disks to pure starbursts, with no apparent contribution from their active nuclei at those wavelengths.
The impact of academic libraries on students' academic achievement: The relationship between learning styles and information seeking anxiety

Information seeking anxiety is a type of anxiety that affects academic performance. The present study was aimed at investigating the relationship between learning styles and information seeking anxiety in relation to the academic achievement of students. This was a descriptive-analytic research, and the study population consisted of students who had passed at least one semester in Behbahan University, Iran. The sample size was calculated 181 from the Morgan table. The results of this study showed that most of the students used the ‘assimilating' learning style. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between anxiety levels and the field of study. Also, there was no relationship between learning styles and age and gender. Moreover, there was no relationship of gender, academic semester, and age with academic achievement. Even though, there was no relationship between information seeking anxiety and learning styles vis a vis academic achievement, the assimilating learning style was preferred by the majority of the students. The comparison of learning styles with information seeking anxiety was a distinctive feature of this study, indicating that different aspects of learning did not have much effect on the anxiety levels of individuals, which could be the basis for further research on personality dimensions such as self-concept and intrinsic motivation in relation to information seeking anxiety and academic achievement.
Hybrid nonlinear model of McKibben pneumatic artificial muscle systems incorporating a pressure-dependent Coulomb friction coefficient

This study presents a more precise hybrid nonlinear model of pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM) systems actuated by a proportional directional control valve and confirms the validity of the presented model using various commercial PAMs. To enhance the precision, the Coulomb friction coefficient was incorporated as a function of the PAM inner-pressure. To evaluate the contribution of the modification to the modeling of PAM behavior, the authors determine whether the parameters are effectively observed, whether precision of the model is improved, and whether the model is applicable to various commercial PAM products from ActiveLink and FESTO. Furthermore, this study investigates the impacts on time responses and parameters when the temperature increases from 293 to 313 K. In addition to investigations concerning the validity, the authors show that the achievement of this study is an extension of the previously proposed nonlinear PAM model.
Friendship Networks and Care

Friendship Networks and Care Based on her own research and a survey of both quantitative and qualitative social research, the author demonstrates the importance of care by a network of friends for the elderly, the seriously ill, single adults, singles mothers and in times of crisis. Although women predominate as friends who care, the response of gay men to the AIDS epidemic demonstrates that such care does not have to be gender specific. The author discusses the limits of such informal care, and argues for greater cultural recognition of care by friends as distinct from family, and for changes in social policy.
Time-resolved ring structure of backscattered circularly polarized beams from forward scattering layered structures

The backscattering of circularly polarized light at normal incidence to a half-space composed of two index matched layers with different absorption coefficients is studied using the Electric Field Monte Carlo method. The top layer, of thickness L1 = 2.5[ls], where ls is the scattering length, is non-absorbing and is composed of particles suspended in water with anistropy factor g = 0.8. The bottom layer, of thickness L2 = 25[ls], is composed of absorbing particles with g = 0.8. The backscattered light with the same helicity (co-polarized) as the incident beam emerging from the top surface is analyzed in the time domain as absorption in the second layer increases from 1% to 10% of the scattering coefficient, μs. For the case of a homogenous half-space, composed of non absorbing particles with anisotropy factor g = 0.8, a ring-peak is known to be observed in the time-resolved co-polarized backscattered light intensity. For the two layer geometry tested here, a similar ring structure is found and used to determine the path length of photons traveling in the second layer. In recent studies, the ring-peak was postulated to be comprised of photons undergoing semi-circular trajectories as a result of near forward scattering events in the forward scattering media. This ideal picture of photon trajectories is tested and found to be an accurate characterization of photon trajectories in forward scattering media. Specifically, it is shown that time-sliced measurements of the backscattered co-polarized intensity at the ring-peak and path lengths of photons determined from the segment of arc of their idealized semi-circluar trajectories in the second layer can be used in conjunction with Beer's law to reproduce the known absorption coefficient of the second layer. This is a first indication that photons contributing to the ring-peak in co-polarized backscatter follow semi-circular trajectories. Moreover, it demonstrates that ring-structure can be used to determine subsurface features such as absorption coefficients in layered structures.
Towards clinical applications in fMRI neurofeedback : learning how to change brain states

The goal of neurofeedback training is to provide participants with relevant information on their ongoing brain processes in order to enable them to change these processes in a meaningful way. Under the assumption of an intrinsic brain-behavior link, neurofeedback can be a tool to guide a participant towards a desired behavioral state, such as a healthier state in the case of patients. Current research in clinical neuroscience regarding the most robust indicators of pathological brain processes in psychiatric and neurological disorders indicates that fMRI-based functional connectivity measures may be among the most important biomarkers of disease. The present study therefore investigated the general potential of providing fMRI neurofeedback based on functional correlations, computed from short-window time course data at the level of single task periods. The ability to detect subtle changes in task performance with block-wise functional connectivity measures was evaluated based on imaging data from healthy participants performing a simple motor task, which was systematically varied along two task dimensions representing two different aspects of task difficulty. The results demonstrate that fMRI-based functional connectivity measures may provide a better indicator for an increase in overall (motor) task difficulty than activation level-based measures. Windowed functional correlations thus seem to provide relevant and unique information regarding ongoing brain processes, which is not captured equally well by standard activation level-based neurofeedback measures. Functional connectivity markers, therefore, may indeed provide a valuable tool to enhance and monitor learning within an fMRI neurofeedback setup. CONNECTIVITY NEUROFEEDBACK | 47
Assessment of vitamin B6 status in Korean patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes

The purpose of this study was to assess vitamin B6 intake and status in Korean patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Sixty‐four patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and with 8–11% A1C and 28 age, sex‐matched control subjects were participated. The dietary vitamin B6 intake and food sources were estimated with 24hour recall method and plasma pyridoxal‐5‐phosphate (PLP) was measured. There was no significant difference in daily total calorie intake between diabetes and control group (1928¡¾402 vs. 2092¡¾765kcal). There was no significant difference in daily total calorie intake between diabetes and control group (2.56 ¡¾0.92 mg/d vs. 2.62 ¡¾0.93mg/d). Plasma PLP levels in diabetic patients tended to be lower than that of control subjects although this difference was not statistically significant due to the large standard deviation (80.0¡¾61.3 nmol/L vs. 68.6¡¾38.6 nmol/L). No significant correlation was found between plasma PLP level and the intakes of total vitamin B6, vitamin B6/1000kcal and vitamin B6/protein in diabetic patients. These data show that plasma PLP levels in diabetic patients tended to be lower than that of control subjects although there was no difference in vitamin B6 intake. Therefore, plasma PLP levels should be monitored in pre‐diabetic patients with diabetic risk factors
Comparison of Dsr, Aodv and Dsdv Routing Protocols in Fully and Partially Connected Vanet

Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) are special case of Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). The design of routing protocols in VANETs is an important and necessary issue. In this paper, DSDV, DSR and AODV routing protocols are simulated when the connection sessions are increased. Finding indicates utilization of DSR protocol is more applicable for environment that number of connection sessions is high. The simulation results of DSDV are not desirable in comparison with other two reactive routing protocols.
Decentralized cooperative simultaneous localization and mapping for dynamic and sparse robot networks

Communication among robots is key to performance in cooperative multi-robot systems. In practice, communication connections for information exchange between all robots are not always guaranteed, which adds difficulty to state estimation. This paper examines the decentralized cooperative simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem under a sparsely-communicating and dynamic network. We mathematically prove how the centralized-equivalent estimate can be obtained by all robots in the network in a decentralized manner. Furthermore, a robot only needs to consider its own knowledge of the network topology to detect when the centralized-equivalent estimate is obtainable. Our approach is validated through more than 250 minutes of experiments using a team of real robots, with accurate groundtruth data of all robots and landmark features.
Online Social Interactions: A Natural Experiment on Word of Mouth versus Observational Learning

Consumers’ purchase decisions can be influenced by others’ opinions, or word of mouth (WOM), and/or others’ actions, or observational learning (OL). Although information technologies are creating increasing opportunities for firms to facilitate and manage these two types of social interaction, to date, researchers have encountered difficulty in disentangling their competing effects and have provided limited insights into how these two social influences might differ from and interact with each other. Using a unique natural experimental setting resulting from information policy shifts at the online seller Amazon.com, the authors design three longitudinal, quasi-experimental field studies to examine three issues regarding the two types of social interaction: (1) their differential impact on product sales, (2) their lifetime effects, and (3) their interaction effects. An intriguing finding is that while negative WOM is more influential than positive WOM, positive OL information significantly increases sales, but negative OL information has no effect. This suggests that reporting consumer purchase statistics can help mass-market products without hurting niche products. The results also reveal that the sales impact of OL increases with WOM volume.
Authentic interaction and examiner accommodation in the IELTS speaking test: A discussion

Speakers naturally adjust their speech in interactions with others and will use accommodative strategies if their co-speaker is having difficulty understanding. These same adjustments have also been found in examiner accommodation in second language speaking tests (Cafarella, 1997; Ross, 1992). In the training of examiners in the IELTS speaking test, there is an attempt to control the degree of examiner accommodation in the interests of consistency. Examiners are explicitly instructed to avoid the use of response tokens or to repeat a question only once without rephrasing it in the face of repair (Seedhouse & Egbert, 2006). This specific attempt to remove aspects of what is deemed to be authentic1 interactional behaviour runs counter to what speakers do ‘in the wild’ as the growing body of research in conversation analysis shows (see for example Hutchby & Wooffit, 2008). We believe that it is timely to discuss the issue of examiner accommodation within a language-testing context against a backdrop of what is now known about naturally occurring interaction. We initiate such a discussion by reviewing the scholarly literature on interaction, and on the IELTS speaking test and examiner accommodation.
Identifiability and limit cycles

The report discusses when the non-linear dynamic equations of a non-linear system in a limit-cycle can be determined from measured data. The minimal order needed for this turns out to be the minimal dimension in which the stable orbit of the system does not intersect itself. This is illustrated with a fourth order spiking neuron model, which is identified using a non-linear second order differential equation model.
The star cluster population of the spiral galaxy NGC 3370

Aims. We study the photometric and structural properties of the star cluster system in the late type Sc spiral NGC 3370. Methods. BVI observations from the Advanced Camera for Surveys on board of HST are used to analyse in detail the colours, magnitudes and spatial properties of cluster candidates. The final catalogue of sources used for the study is composed by 277 objects. Results. The colour distributions of cluster candidates appear multi-modal. Although firm age constraints need the use of more age-sensitive indicators, the comparison of cluster candidate colours with the colours of Galactic and Magellanic Clouds star clusters, suggests an age difference between the various sub-peaks, with a red old sub-system, a rich population of intermediate age (~1 Gyr), and a blue tail of very young (below ~100 Myr) clusters. The luminosity functions appear normal for this type of galaxy, as for the distribution of cluster effective radii $(R_{\mathrm{eff}})$. Our analysis suggests the presence of a peak in the $R_{\mathrm{eff}}$ distribution at ~3.0 pc, with blue (likely young) cluster candidates showing smaller radii respect to red (likely old) objects. Finally, inspecting the properties of candidate globular clusters, we find a colour distribution matching with Galactic Globulars, with a median [Fe/H] ~ -1.5 dex, though a non negligible tail towards lower metallicities is also present.
Flexible Ontology-Independent and QOS-Enabled Dynamic Web Services Composition Using Google Distance

Problems with ontology-dependent approaches for dynamic web services composition occur when ontologies are poorly maintained or unavailable in a domain, or the costs of maintenance exceed their benefits. To resolve such problems, this paper proposes the use of Google Distance as an ontology-independent method for the semantic similarity matching stage of web services discovery. Further, it provides an improved method for matching QoS parameters in the operational similarity matching stage of web services selection. The methods are embedded within a simple architecture for dynamic web services composition. We provide comparisons between our and existing QoS-enabled service discovery approaches in two major categories of web composition methods: workflow-based and AI-based. Our implementation exercise clearly shows the performance tradeoffs that help implementers to better assess an overall QoS-enabled dynamic composition method for its suitability to application-level services workload characteristics.
Federal Home Loan Bank Lending to Community Banks: Are Targeted Subsidies Necessary?

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 extended the lending authority of Federal Home Loan Banks to include advances secured by small-enterprise loans of community financial institutions. The authors examine three possible reasons for the extension of this selective credit subsidy to community banks and thrifts, including the need to subsidize community depository institutions, stabilize the Federal Home Loan Banks, and address a market failure for small enterprise loans in rural banking markets. They use two empirical models to investigate whether funding constraints affect small-business lending decisions by rural community banks. The results reject the hypothesis that access to increased funds will increase the amount of small-business loans made by community banks.
The local submillimetre luminosity functions and predictions from Spitzer to Herschel

We present new determinations of the local submillimetre (submm) luminosity functions, solving the `submm Olbers' paradox'. We also present predictions of source counts and luminosity functions in current and future far-infrared to submm surveys. Using the submm colour temperature relations from the Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) Local Universe Galaxy Survey, and the discovery of 450-mum excess emission in these galaxies, we interpolate and extrapolate the IRAS detections to make predictions of the spectral energy distributions of all 15411 PSCz galaxies from 50 to 1300 mum. Despite the long extrapolations, we find excellent agreement with (i) the 90-mum luminosity function of Serjeant et al., (ii) the 850-mum luminosity function of Dunne et al., (iii) the millimetre-wave photometry of Andreani and Franceschini, and (iv) the asymptotic differential and integral source count predictions at 50-1300 mum by Rowan-Robinson. We find that the local 850-mum submm luminosity density converges to 7.3 +/- 0.2 × 1019h65 W Hz-1 Mpc-3. Remarkably, the local spectral luminosity density and the extragalactic background light together strongly constrain the cosmic star formation history for a wide class of evolutionary assumptions. We find that the extragalactic background light, the 850-mum 8-mJy source counts and the Omega* constraints all independently point to a decline in the comoving star formation rate at z > 1. In order to reconcile this with direct determinations, we suggest that either there is a top-heavy initial mass function at high redshifts, and/or there is stronger evolution in the more luminous far-infrared galaxies than seen in the population as a whole.
GyroLock: Stabilizing the Heart With Control Moment Gyroscope (CMG)—From Concept to First In Vivo Assessments

We present herein an original solution to actively stabilize the epicardium in the context of beating-heart coronary artery bypass grafting. Our solution uses a control moment gyroscope to generate the compensation torque and an accelerometer for sensing. This approach makes the designed system completely independent from the stabilizing instrument, as well as independent from any external measurement. We compare two control approaches in a simulation: The first one uses a Kalman filter with a harmonic disturbance model, and the second one uses an adaptive algorithm. Results highlight the superiority of the adaptive control for our application. The first in vivo assessments are presented, showing the efficiency of the principle under real conditions. Using only accelerometric measurements, targeted cardiac motion harmonics are reduced on the order of 68%. With an optical sensor, the reduction exceeds 90%. This constitutes an improvement compared with prior solutions, despite the presence of nonnegligible uncertainties and distant sensing.
Unscented information filtering method for reducing multiple sensor registration error

In this paper, new filtering method for sensor registration is provided to estimate and correct error of registration parameters in multiple sensor environments. Sensor registration is based on filtering method to estimate registration parameters in multiple sensor environments. Accuracy of sensor registration can increase performance of data fusion method selected. Due to various error sources, the sensor registration has registration errors recognized as multiple objects even though multiple sensors are tracking one object. In order to estimate the error parameter, new nonlinear information filtering method is developed using minimum mean square error estimation. Instead of linearization of nonlinear function like an extended Kalman filter, information estimation through unscented prediction is used. The proposed method enables to reduce estimation error without a computation of the Jacobian matrix in case that measurement dimension is large. A computer simulation is carried out to evaluate the proposed filtering method with an extended Kalman filter.