Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Depth Perception Within Peripersonal Space Using Head-Mounted Display

In this paper, we address depth perception in the peripersonal space within three virtual environments: poor environment (dark room), reduced cues environment (wireframe room), and rich cues environment (a lit textured room). Observers binocularly viewed virtual scenes through a head-mounted display and evaluated the egocentric distance to spheres using visually open-loop pointing tasks. We conducted two different experiments within all three virtual environments. The apparent size of the sphere was held constant in the first experiment and covaried with distance in the second one. The results of the first experiment revealed that observers more accurately estimated depth in the rich virtual environment compared to the visually poor and the wireframe environments. Specifically, observers' pointing errors were small in distances up to 55 cm, and increased with distance once the sphere was further than 55 cm. Individual differences were found in the second experiment. Our results suggest that the quality of virtual environments has an impact on distance estimation within reaching space. Also, manipulating the targets' size cue led to individual differences in depth judgments. Finally, our findings confirm the use of vergence as an absolute distance cue in virtual environments within the arm's reaching space.
Detection of hepatitis C virus replication by In situ hybridization in epithelial cells of anti–hepatitis C virus–positive patients with and without oral lichen planus

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that there is a correlation between oral lichen planus and chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. HCV RNA has been recently detected in epithelial cells from oral lichen planus lesions by reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). However, this technique does not discriminate which types of cells are infected by the virus or if the viral RNA is present in the serum that contaminates the biopsy. Morphological evidence of viral replication in cells from these lesions is needed to establish a role for HCV in oral lichen planus. Consequently, we have analyzed the presence of positive and negative HCV‐RNA strands in oral mucosa biopsies from 23 patients (14 anti‐HCV–positive) diagnosed as having oral lichen planus and from 5 patients with chronic hepatitis C without oral lichen planus. Positive and negative HCV‐RNA strands were detected in epithelial cells of the mucosa biopsies from all anti‐HCV–positive patients independently of whether or not they had oral lichen planus, but in none of the anti‐HCV–negative cases. The percentage of stained cells ranged from 4.4% to 14.3%. These percentages do not correlate with the serum viremia levels or the intensity of the cellular infiltrate in patients with oral lichen planus. In conclusion, we have shown that HCV replicates in epithelial cells of patients with and without oral lichen planus. The pathological consequences of this finding remain to be elucidated.
Involvement of nurses in physician-assisted dying.

BACKGROUND Death in modern societies is often preceded by medical end-of-life decisions. Empirical research on these end-of-life decisions focuses predominantly on the physicians' role. Little is known about the role of other health care workers, especially that of nurses. AIM This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated how often nurses are consulted by physicians in the decision-making process preceding end-of-life decisions and how often nurses participate in administering lethal drugs in end-of-life decisions. METHOD Data were collected within a nationwide cross-sectional retrospective death certificate study in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. We selected 3999 deaths, a 20% random sample of all those occurring during the first 4 months of 1998. Anonymous questionnaires were mailed to the physicians who signed the death certificates. Several questions concerned the involvement of nurses in end-of-life decisions. RESULTS We received 1925 valid questionnaires. For all reported end-of-life decisions (39.3% of all deaths in Flanders), physicians provided information about the involvement of nurses. Physicians consulted at least one nurse in 52% of end-of-life decisions cases occurring in institutions, compared with 21.4% of such cases at home. Nurses administered lethal drugs in 58.8% of euthanasia cases occurring in institutions and in 17.2% at home. For cases in which life was ended without the patient's explicit request because, predominantly, they were too ill to do so, these percentages were respectively 82.7% and 25.2%. In institutions, nurses mostly administered drugs without the attendance of a physician who had prescribed the drugs. CONCLUSIONS Nurses in Belgium are largely involved in administering lethal drugs in end-of-life decisions, while their participation in the decision-making process is rather limited. To guarantee prudent practice in end-of-life decisions, we need clear guidelines, professionally supported and legally controlled, for the assignment of duties between physicians and nurses regarding the administration of lethal drugs to reflect current working practice. In addition, we need appropriate binding standards governing mutual communication about all end-of-life decisions.
Timestamping messages in synchronous computations

We present a method of timestamping messages and events in synchronous computations that capture the order relationship with vectors of size less than or equal to the size of the vertex cover of the communication topology of the system. Our method is fundamentally different from the techniques of Fidge (1989) and Mattern (1989). The timestamps in our method do not use one component per process but still guarantee that the order relationship is captured accurately. Our algorithm is online and only requires piggybacking of timestamps on program messages. It is applicable to all programs that either use programming languages based on synchronous communication such as CSP or use synchronous remote procedure calls.
Ginseng treatment reduces bacterial load and lung pathology in chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in rats

The predominant pathogen in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which results in a chronic lung infection associated with progressive pulmonary insufficiency. In a rat model of chronic P. aeruginosa pneumonia mimicking that in patients with CF, we studied whether the inflammation and antibody responses could be changed by treatment with the Chinese herbal medicine ginseng. An aqueous extract of ginseng was injected subcutaneously, and cortisone and saline were used as controls. Two weeks after challenge with P. aeruginosa, the ginseng-treated group showed a significantly improved bacterial clearance from the lungs (P < 0.04), less severe lung pathology (P = 0.05), lower lung abscess incidence (P < 0.01), and fewer mast cell numbers in the lung foci (P < 0.005). Furthermore, lower total immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels (P < 0.01) and higher IgG2a levels (P < 0.025) in serum against P. aeruginosa sonicate and a shift from an acute type to a chronic type of lung inflammation compared to those in the control and cortisone-treated groups were observed. These findings indicate that ginseng treatment of an experimental P. aeruginosa pneumonia in rats promotes a cellular response resembling a TH1-like response. On the basis of these results it is suggested that ginseng may have the potential to be a promising natural medicine, in conjunction with other forms of treatment, for CF patients with chronic P. aeruginosa lung infection.
Case closed: research evidence on the positive public health impact of the age 21 minimum legal drinking age in the United States.

OBJECTIVE In 2006, the nonprofit organization Choose Responsibility called for repealing the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which had led all 50 states to establish a minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of 21 years, and allowing the states to lower their MLDA to 18 years. Two years later, the organization assembled a small group of college and university presidents (the Amethyst Initiative) to call publicly for a critical reexamination of the law. Public health and traffic safety experts responded to these efforts by generating new research on the age 21 MLDA, thus warranting an updated review of the literature. METHOD This review focuses primarily on research published since 2006, when Choose Responsibility began its public relations campaign to lower the MLDA. RESULTS Recent research on the age 21 MLDA has reinforced the position that the current law has served the nation well by reducing alcohol-related traffic crashes and alcohol consumption among youths, while also protecting drinkers from long-term negative outcomes they might experience in adulthood, including alcohol and other drug dependence, adverse birth outcomes, and suicide and homicide. CONCLUSIONS The age 21 law saves lives and is unlikely to be overturned. College and university leaders need to put into effect workable policies, stricter enforcement, and other evidence-based prevention efforts that have been demonstrated to reduce underage drinking and alcohol-related problems on campus and are being applied successfully at prominent academic institutions.
A Time-Dependent Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows for E-Commerce Supplier Site Pickups Using Genetic Algorithm

The VRP is classified as an NP-hard problem. Hence exact optimization methods may be difficult to solve these problems in acceptable CPU times, when the problem involves real-world data sets that are very large. To get solutions in determining routes which are realistic and very close to the actual solution, we use heuristics and metaheuristics which are of the combinatorial optimization type. A literature review of VRPTW, TDVRP, and a metaheuristic such as the genetic algorithm was conducted. In this paper, the implementation of the VRPTW and its extension, the time-dependent VRPTW (TDVRPTW) has been carried out using the model as well as metaheuristics such as the genetic algorithm (GA). The algorithms were implemented, using Matlab and HeuristicLab optimization software. A plugin was developed using Visual C# and DOT NET framework 4.5. Results were tested using Solomon’s 56 benchmark instances classified into groups such as C1, C2, R1, R2, RC1, RC2, with 100 customer nodes, 25 vehicles and each vehicle capacity of 200. The results were comparable to the earlier algorithms developed and in some cases the current algorithm yielded better results in terms of total distance travelled and the average number of vehicles used.
Eventual linear convergence of the Douglas-Rachford iteration for basis pursuit

We provide a simple analysis of the Douglas-Rachford splitting algorithm in the context of $\ell^1$ minimization with linear constraints, and quantify the asymptotic linear convergence rate in terms of principal angles between relevant vector spaces. In the compressed sensing setting, we show how to bound this rate in terms of the restricted isometry constant. More general iterative schemes obtained by $\ell^2$-regularization and over-relaxation including the dual split Bregman method are also treated, which answers the question how to choose the relaxation and soft-thresholding parameters to accelerate the asymptotic convergence rate. We make no attempt at characterizing the transient regime preceding the onset of linear convergence.
[Infectious spondylodiscitis: a study of forty-one cases].

OBJECTIVES To characterize a series of patients with Infectious Spondylodiscitis (IS). MATERIAL AND METHODS Retrospective analysis of all cases diagnosed between October of 1999 and April of 2006 in our hospital, by files review. RESULTS Forty one patients, mean age of 61.2 +- 15.1 years; 26 (63.4%) were male. Thirty two (78.0%) had predisposing conditions or associated diseases and 12 (29.3%) had epidemiological risk. The most frequent clinical manifestations were local pain (97.6%) and general complaints (51.2%). The mean duration of the symptoms was 12.5 weeks. Raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate was the most frequent inflammatory marker. CT-scan was diagnostic in 3 cases and MRI in the remainders. IS was most frequent in the lumbar spine. The etiological agent was isolated in 22 patients (53.7 %) and in 4 (9.8%) the diagnosis was serological. The diagnosis of Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis (PS) was presumed in 21 (51.2%) cases, Granulomatous Spondylodiscitis (GS) in 18 (43.9%) and GS with pyogenic over infection in 2 (4.9%). Fourteen patients had other infectious foci. All patients had antibiotic treatment. Two patients needed abscess CT-scan guided drainage and five needed surgery. Twenty six patients (63.4%) had good evolution and 8 (19.5%) had reasonable evolution; 6 patients had bad evolution (14.6%), dying; one patient was lost for follow-up. Inflammatory markers decreased in the control analysis. CONCLUSIONS The IS is a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge, being the high index of suspicion of this pathology in the most susceptible patients fundamental for early detection and adequate treatment.
Readings On Communicating With Strangers

Part 1 Conceptual foundations: central concepts - uncertainty and communication, Charels R. Berger intergroup anxiety, Walter G. Stephan the sociology of the stranger, Donald N. Levine mindfulness, Ellen Langer categorization and particularization, Michael Billig. Part 2 Influences on the process of communicating with strangers: cultural influences on communication - collectivism v individualism, Harry C. Trinidas contexts, high and low, Edward T. Hall cultural dimensions in management and planning, Geert Hofstede the social identity theory of intergroup behaviour, Henri and John C. Turner identity and inter-group bonding, Suan Ting-Toomey stereotyped-based expectancies - effects on information processing and social behaviour, David L. Hamilton et al Prejudice tolernace, Michael Billig et al contact and co-operation - when do they work? , Marilyn B. Brewer and Norman Miller. Part 3 Encoding and decoding messages: message decoding - cross-cultural interaction, social attributions, and intergroup relations, Joseph Jaspars and Miles Hewstone person perception in cross-cultural settings, Gary Oddou and Mark Mendenhall verbal behaviour - verbal communication styles, William B. Gudykunst and Stella Ting-Toomey speech and the communal function in four cultures, Gerry Philipsen language attitude and behaviour, John Edwards Anthony Mulac, Howard Giles speech accommodation, James J. Bradac and Patricia Johnson nonverbal bahaviour - nonverbal dimensions and context regulation, William Gudykunst and Stella Ting-Toomey emotions in intercultural communication, David Matsumoto, Harold Wallbott, and Klaus Scherer. Part 4 Interactions with strangers: interpersonal interactions with strangers - the development of interpersonal relationships with strangers, William B. Gudykunst the quality of interracial interactions, Terrence L. Rose the same and different - crossing boundaries of colour, culture, sexual preference, disability and age, Letty Cottin Pogrebin stranger adaptation - the adjustment of sojourners, Adrian Furnham facilitating immigrant adaptation, Young Yun Kim applying a theory of intercultural adaptation, William B. Gunykunst and Sandra Sudweeks effectiveness in communicating with strangers - intercultural communication competence, Young Yun Kim being perceived as a competent communicator, William B. Gudykunst decreasing prejudice by increasing discrimination, Ellen Langer a strategy for building better relationships as we negotiate, Rodger Fisher and Scott Brown becoming intercultural - intercultural transformation, Young Yun Kim and Brent D. Ruben beyond diversity - the development of species identity, Elise Boulding building community - moral exclusion and injustice, Susan Optow the true meaning of community, M. Scott Peck transforming American culture, Robert N. Bellah, Richard Madsen, William M. Sullivan, Ann Swidler and Steven M Tipton.
Self-duality and a Hall-insulator phase near the superconductor-to-insulator transition in indium-oxide films

Significance The magnetic-field tuned superconductor-to-insulator transition (H-SIT) is a paradigmatic quantum phase transition and, along with the quantum-Hall liquid-to-insulator transitions (QHIT), is among the best experimentally studied ones. However, in the transition and the proximate ground-state phases, it has consistently exhibited features that are seemingly at odds with the generally accepted theoretical “story. ” The clear evidence we have found of particle–vortex duality at the H-SIT is one such example, as is the associated evidence that the proximate insulating phase is fundamentally distinct from a conventional “Anderson insulator” in that ρxy, rather than diverging, tends to a finite value as T→0. That these features are analogous to behaviors previously documented near the QHIT supports the existence of the correspondence between the two problems implied by the composite boson theory. We combine measurements of the longitudinal (ρxx) and Hall (ρxy) resistivities of disordered 2D amorphous indium-oxide films to study the magnetic-field tuned superconductor-to-insulator transition (H-SIT) in the T→0 limit. At the critical field, Hc, the full resistivity tensor is T independent with ρxx(Hc)=h/4e2 and ρxy(Hc)=0 within experimental uncertainty in all films (i.e., these appear to be “universal” values); this is strongly suggestive that there is a particle–vortex self-duality at H=Hc. The transition separates the (presumably) superconducting state at HHc, at which the Hall resistance is T independent and roughly equal to its classical value, ρxy≈H/nec, marks an additional crossover to a high-field regime (probably to a Fermi insulator) in which ρxy>H/nec and possibly diverges as T→0. We also highlight a profound analogy between the H-SIT and quantum-Hall liquid-to-insulator transitions (QHIT).
State of the Union: A Century of American Labor

State of the Union: A Century of American Labor. By Nelson Lichtenstein. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002. Pp. ix, 337. Preface, acknowledgments, introduction, notes, index. $29.95.) Nelson Lichtenstein's latest book is both a history of the American labor movement over the past seventy years and a plea for its revival. Lichtenstein, who teaches in the history department at the University of California at Santa Barbara, is probably the leading New Left historian studying American labor since the 1930s. State of the Union is a work of synthesis that is most interesting for what it says about how New Left scholarship on American labor has evolved over the past three decades. Lichtenstein makes clear in his book's introduction that, rather than a history of American workers in general, he has written a study of labor unions and their relationship to what reformers used to call "the labor question. " State of the Union s first two chapters trace the upsurge in American unions during the Great Depression and World War II. Lichtenstein explains very clearly the various rationales New Dealers developed to support the expansion of trade unionism, such as the need to increase consumer purchasing power, promote employment (and thus economic) security, and provide a measure of democracy in the modern workplace. This was the logic behind the creation of the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act of 1935, which gave American unions strong legal protections for the first time. Unlike other New Left scholars, such as Thomas Ferguson and Colin Gordon, Lichtenstein gives most of the credit for the Wagner Act's passage to New Deal liberals and more radical leftists, not enlightened employers and financiers. Lichtenstein is quick to point out that worker militancy, not new laws, were the most important reason why unions grew during the mid-1930s. His account differs somewhat from older ones by emphasizing that the split between the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) grew out of differing attitudes toward the "new immigrants" from southern and eastern Europe, and not just the question of craft versus industrial organization. The CIO's leaders and organizers were more open to recruiting members from recently arrived immigrant groups, Lichtenstein argues, than the trade unionists of northern European ancestry who dominated the AFL. Lichtenstein's account of labor's rise also differs from New Left orthodoxy by recognizing the important contributions made by Democratic governors in major industrial states and the Roosevelt administration. …
Real-Time Fine-Tuned Adjustment of Fiber Tracking Parameters

Fiber tracking is a mature technique that aids neurosurgeons by providing the location of neuronal fibers in a patient's brain. Although the interactivity of tools have been typically limited, the exploitation of the parallel nature of fiber tracking is rapidly changing this landscape. The parallel environment offered by GPUs and modern CPUs enables fiber tracking to be executed very quickly on consumer-grade computers. The adjustment of fiber tracking parameters can currently be made on the fly, and the new results can be both computed and displayed in real-time on the screen. In order to further improve the interactivity of fiber tracking tools, this article proposes the application of histogram equalization, a traditional digital image processing procedure, to the fiber tracking parameters. The non-linear scale obtained by this process allows the user to interactively explore sensitive regions of the parameter space. Results show that this scale can be computed in real-time and that it can be cleanly integrated into fiber tracking tools.
Electroencephalogram Approximate Entropy Correctly Classifies the Occurrence of Burst Suppression Pattern as Increasing Anesthetic Drug Effect

BackgroundApproximate entropy, a measure of signal complexity and regularity, quantifies electroencephalogram changes during anesthesia. With increasing doses of anesthetics, burst–suppression patterns occur. Because of the high-frequency bursts, spectrally based parameters such as median electroencephalogram frequency and spectral edge frequency 95 do not decrease, incorrectly suggesting lightening of anesthesia. The authors investigated whether the approximate entropy algorithm correctly classifies the occurrence of burst suppression as deepening of anesthesia. MethodsEleven female patients scheduled for elective major surgery were studied. After propofol induction, anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane only. Before surgery, the end-tidal isoflurane concentration was varied between 0.6 and 1.3 minimum alveolar concentration. The raw electroencephalogram was continuously recorded and sampled at 128 Hz. Approximate entropy, electroencephalogram median frequency, spectral edge frequency 95, burst–suppression ratio, and burst–compensated spectral edge frequency 95 were calculated offline from 8-s epochs. The relation between burst–suppression ratio and approximate entropy, electroencephalogram median frequency, spectral edge frequency 95, and burst–compensated spectral edge frequency 95 was analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient. ResultsHigher isoflurane concentrations were associated with higher burst–suppression ratios. Electroencephalogram median frequency (r = 0.34) and spectral edge frequency 95 (r = 0.29) increased, approximate entropy (r = −0.94) and burst–compensated spectral edge frequency 95 (r = −0.88) decreased with increasing burst–suppression ratio. ConclusionElectroencephalogram approximate entropy, but not electroencephalogram median frequency or spectral edge frequency 95 without burst compensation, correctly classifies the occurrence of burst–suppression pattern as increasing anesthetic drug effect.