Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cancer What Makes You Stronger : Age and Cohort Differences in Personal Growth after

Using two waves of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, I compare changes in personal growth over a 10 year period among cancer survivors and individuals without cancer. Moreover, I examine joint effects of age and cohort on personal growth after a cancer diagnosis. The theoretical framework of this study integrates impairment, resilience, and thriving perspectives. Findings reveal that, although personal growth declines with age for all individuals regardless of cohort and cancer status, cancer slows the decline in personal growth with age in 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s birth cohorts, yet accelerates the age-related decline in the 1920s cohort. I argue that a sociological perspective can enhance our understanding of the interplay of developmental and sociocultural influences on psychological adjustment to cancer. Seemingly idiosyncratic psychological reactions to cancer partly reflect macrolevel processes represented by cohort differences.
Effects of Professional Development on Teachers’ Instruction: Results from a Three-year Longitudinal Study

This article examines the effects of professional development on teachers’ instruction. Using a purposefully selected sample of about 207 teachers in 30 schools, in 10 districts in five states, we examine features of teachers’ professional development and its effects on changing teaching practice in mathematics and science from 1996–1999. We found that professional development focused on specific instructional practices increases teachers’ use of those practices in the classroom. Furthermore, we found that specific features, such as active learning opportunities, increase the effect of the professional development on teacher’s instruction.
Inflation and economic activity in a multiple matching model of money

This paper investigates the relationship between money growth, inflation, and productive activity in a general equilibrium model where search frictions motivate the transactions role of money. The use of a multiple matching technique, where search frictions are captured by limited consumption variety, allows us to study price determination in a search-theoretic environment with divisible money and goods. We find that in such a setting, a positive feedback between work and shopping effort decisions create a channel by which inflation can positively influence real activity. This feature also creates the possibility of multiple steady state equilibria. We also analyze the impact of inflation on capital accumulation, the role search frictions play in determining the extent to which inflation distorts relative prices, and the effect of money growth on firm entry on trade friction. In doing so, we demonstrate that a multiple matching model of money is amendable to study a wide range of traditional issues in monetary theory.
Directional Log-spline Distributions

We introduce a new class of distributions to model directional data, based on hyperspherical log-splines. The class is very flexible and can be used to model data that exhibits features that cannot be accommodated by typical parametric distributions, such as asymmetries and multimodality. The distributions are defined on hyperspheres of any dimension and thus, include the most common circular and spherical cases. Due to the flexibility of hyperspherical log-splines, the distributions can approximate well the distribution of any phenomenon and are as smooth as desired. We propose a Bayesian setup for conducting inference with directional log-spline distributions where we pay particular attention to the prior specification and the matching of the priors of the log-splines model and the model constructed through a mixture of von Mises distributions. We compare both models in the context of three data sets: generated data on the circle, a circular application concerning the movement of turtles and a spherical application on the arrival direction of cosmic rays.
Connected digit recognition with class specific word models

This work focuses on efficient use of the training material by selecting the optimal set of model topologies. We do this by training multiple word models of each word class, based on a subclassification according to a priori knowledge of the training material. We will examine classification criteria with respect to duration of the word, gender of the speaker, position of the word in the utterance, pauses in the vicinity of the word, and combinations of these. Comparative experiments were carried out on a corpus consisting of Dutch spoken connected digit strings and isolated digits, which are recorded in a wide variety of acoustic conditions. The results show, that classification based on gender of the speaker, position of the digit in the string, pauses in the vicinity of the training tokens, and models based on a combination of these criteria perform significantly better than the set with single models per digit. keywords: connected digit recognition, acoustic modelling, language modelling
The Role of Inner Speech Instruction in Fostering Visual and Auditory Learners' Reading Ability and Perception

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether inner speech instruction had any significant effect on upper-intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension. To this end, 60 female subjects participated in this study and were assigned to the experimental and control groups each consisting of 30 participants. The same teaching materials comprising twelve reading texts were taught to both groups through a 10-session treatment with a difference in the procedure during which the experimental group underwent an inner speech instruction while the control group did not receive such an instruction. Results of paired samples t-test indicated the effectiveness of inner speech instruction in the experimental group. Moreover, the interview analysis revealed that the visual and auditory learners preferred to visualize and hear voices while completing the task and developing a positive perception towards the use of inner speech as a tool to enhance their reading ability. It is assumed that applying inner mental self-speech instruction in a social context of classroom leads learners to move from inter-psychological to intrapsychological functioning in order to modify their current developed ability to higher cognitive performance.
The Sum of Its Parts—Effects of Gastric Distention, Nutrient Content and Sensory Stimulation on Brain Activation

During food consumption the brain integrates multiple interrelated neural and hormonal signals involved in the regulation of food intake. Factors influencing the decision to stop eating include the foods' sensory properties, macronutrient content, and volume, which in turn affect gastric distention and appetite hormone responses. So far, the contributions of gastric distention and oral stimulation by food on brain activation have not been studied. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effect of gastric distention with an intra-gastric load and the additional effect of oral stimulation on brain activity after food administration. Our secondary objective was to study the correlations between hormone responses and appetite-related ratings and brain activation. Fourteen men completed three functional magnetic resonance imaging sessions during which they either received a naso-gastric infusion of water (stomach distention), naso-gastric infusion of chocolate milk (stomach distention + nutrients), or ingested chocolate-milk (stomach distention + nutrients + oral exposure). Appetite ratings and blood parameters were measured at several time points. During gastric infusion, brain activation was observed in the midbrain, amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus for both chocolate milk and water, i.e., irrespective of nutrient content. The thalamus, amygdala, putamen and precuneus were activated more after ingestion than after gastric infusion of chocolate milk, whereas infusion evoked greater activation in the hippocampus and anterior cingulate. Moreover, areas involved in gustation and reward were activated more after oral stimulation. Only insulin responses following naso-gastric infusion of chocolate milk correlated with brain activation, namely in the putamen and insula. In conclusion, we show that normal (oral) food ingestion evokes greater activation than gastric infusion in stomach distention and food intake-related brain areas. This provides neural evidence for the importance of sensory stimulation in the process of satiation. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01644539.
A metric approach to a class of doubly nonlinear evolution equations and applications

E Abstract. This paper deals with the analysis of a class of doubly nonlinear evo- lution equations in the framework of a general metric space. We propose for such equations a suitable metric formulation (which in fact extends the notion of Curve of Maximal Slope for gradient flows in metric spaces, see (5)), and prove the exis- tence of solutions for the related Cauchy problem by means of an approximation scheme by time discretization. Then, we apply our results to obtain the existence of solutions to abstract doubly nonlinear equations in reflexive Banach spaces. The metric approach is also exploited to analyze a class of evolution equations in L 1 spaces.
A Modest Protective Effect of Thyrotropin against Bone Loss Is Associated with Plasma Triiodothyronine Levels

Background The independent skeletal effect of thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH) has been suggested in animal studies. However, clinical data on the association between bone loss and variations in TSH levels is inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between TSH levels and bone mineral density (BMD). Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study with 37,431 subjects (33,052 cases with euthyroidism and 4,379 cases with subclinical thyroid dysfunction) aged over 35 years. We performed thyroid function tests and measured BMD at the lumbar spine, femur neck, and total hip. Results Levels of TSH and T3 were positively correlated in women (r = 0.076, P = 0.001) and uncorrelated in men. In both men and women, TSH levels correlated positively and T3 levels correlated negatively with BMD at all skeletal sites in age and body mass index adjusted analyses. BMD increased steadily with TSH levels from the subclinical hyperthyroid to subclinical hypothyroid range in subjects with T3 levels in the highest tertile (119.5–200.0 ng/dL), but was no longer significant in subjects with lower plasma T3 levels. Conclusions The variations in TSH levels within the euthyroid and subclinical range were positively correlated with BMD in healthy men and women. The negative effect of T3 on BMD appears to be compensated for by increased TSH in subjects with plasma T3 levels in the upper normal range.
Towards accurate hardware stereo correspondence: A real-time FPGA implementation of a segmentation-based adaptive support weight algorithm

Disparity estimation in stereoscopic vision is a vital step for the extraction of depth information from stereo images. This paper presents the hardware implementation of a disparity estimation system that enables good performance in both accuracy and speed. The architecture implements an adaptive support weight stereo correspondence algorithm, which integrates information obtained from image segmentation, in an attempt to increase the robustness of the matching process. The proposed system integrates optimization techniques that make the algorithm hardware-friendly and suitable for embedded vision systems. A prototype of the architecture was implemented on an FPGA, achieving 30 fps for 640×480 image sizes. The quality of the disparity maps generated by the proposed system is also better than other existing hardware implementations featuring fixed support local correspondence methods.
Simulation and rendering for millions of grass blades

We provide detailed simulated response for individual blades of grass in fields of millions of blades. The field is divided into tiles whose blade data are instanced from a small patch of blades on the GPU to limit memory and bandwidth requirements. We only instantiate simulation state and compute simulation for tiles interacting with objects. The simulation does not stop immediately when objects leave the tile but with a smooth transition to the original GPU-instanced state. Grass motion is solved with collision, length, bending and twisting constraints. Global animation from wind is still handled through conventional, procedural methods in the vertex shader. Our method is also compatible with a rendering level-of-detail (LOD) system. With 128 objects moving in a field with over a million blades of grass, the frame rate is less than 20 ms, with only a few milliseconds of that time for simulation.
Neuroanatomical correlates of cognitive functioning in prodromal Huntington disease

The brain mechanisms of cognitive impairment in prodromal Huntington disease (prHD) are not well understood. Although striatal atrophy correlates with some cognitive abilities, few studies of prHD have investigated whether cortical gray matter morphometry correlates in a regionally specific manner with functioning in different cognitive domains. This knowledge would inform the selection of cognitive measures for clinical trials that would be most sensitive to the target of a treatment intervention.
The Benefits of Boredom: an Exploration in Developmental Robotics

Self-directed learning is an essential component of artificial and biological intelligent systems that are required to interact with and adapt to complex real world environments. Inspired by psychological and neuroscientific data, many algorithms and architectures have been proposed in the field of developmental robotics that use novelty as a training signal. Such approaches are aimed at motivating the exploration of sensory-motor contingencies for which mental models have not yet been accurately formed, driving the agent to develop task-independent competencies (such as understanding object affordances) without the need for explicit teaching. However, novelty-driven exploration on its own leads to a number of well-known problems that impede competence acquisition such as the attraction of agents to chaotic or unlearnable tasks and the temporary oversampling of aspects of the environment until they are no longer novel. This paper contributes to the field, taking insight from neuroscientific data on selective attention (particularly the temporary "boredom" associated with recently seen stimuli and a counter preference for the familiar), to propose mechanisms that may help address the noted problems relating to developmental learning in robots. Experiments conducted on an AIBO ERS-7 robotic dog demonstrate the potential of the approach
An Optimality Theoretic Perspective on Perfective Imbrication in siSwati

Imbrication is a morphophonological change in many Bantu languages in which a morpheme -il-/-ir-, which may be glossed as perfective, stative or past (Hyman 1995), fuses with the verb stem through CV metathesis, consonant deletion and vowel coalescence, subject to varying requirements and degrees of productivity (Bastin 1983). This paper examines imbrication of the perfective suffix -il- in siSwati from the perspective of Optimality Theory (McCarthy and Prince 1996, Prince and Smolensky 2004), in which the realisations of input forms are selected through competing requirements of faithfulness to input forms and elimination of marked configurations. Drawing on Kayne’s (1995) theory of the antisymmetry of syntax, it is proposed that the perfective suffix in siSwati is right-adjoined to the verb stem, in violation of this theory. Recasting the prohibition against right adjunction as a violable Optimality- Theoretic constraint, metathesis is motivated as a strategy to conceal the violation by fusing morphemes at the adjunction site.
Holocene pollen records from the central Arctic Foothills, northern Alaska: testing the role of substrate in the response of tundra to climate change

1 To explore the role of edaphic controls in the response of arctic tundra to climate change, we analysed Holocene pollen records from lakes in northern Alaska located on glaciated surfaces with contrasting soil texture, topography and tundra communities. Using indicator taxa, pollen accumulation rates (PARs) and multivariate comparison of fossil and modern pollen assemblages, we reconstructed the vegetational changes at Upper Capsule Lake (Sagavanirktok surface) and Red Green Lake (Itkillik II surface) in response to increased effective moisture between the early and middle Holocene. 2 In the Red Green record, low PARs and the continuous presence of taxa indicative of prostrate‐shrub tundra (PST; Equisetum, Polypodiaceae, Thalictrum and Rosaceae) indicate that the vegetation resembled PST throughout the Holocene. During the warm, dry early Holocene (11 300–10 000 cal years BP), PST also occurred on Sagavanirktok surfaces, as evidenced by PST indicators (Bryidae, Polypodiaceae, Equisetum and Rosaceae) in this interval of the Upper Capsule record. However, PARs increased, suggesting increased vegetation cover, PST taxa declined and taxa indicative of dwarf‐shrub tundra (DST; Rubus chamaemorus and Lycopodium annotinum) increased between 10 000 and 7500 cal years BP. 3 We hypothesize that between the early and middle Holocene the fine‐textured soils and smooth topography of Sagavanirktok surfaces led to increased soil moisture, greater vegetation cover, permafrost aggradation, anoxic and acidic soil conditions, slower decomposition and the development of a thick organic layer. In contrast, soil moisture remained low on the better‐drained Itkillik II surface, and vegetational changes were minor. 4 Landscape‐scale substrate variations have an effect on how tundra responds to climate change, suggesting that the response of arctic ecosystems to future variability may be spatially heterogeneous.
A new method of hardware firewall implementation on SOC

A firewall's complexity and processing time is known to increase with the size of its rule set. Empirical studies show that as the rule set grows larger, power consumption and delay time for processing IP Packets particularly on Hardware firewalls increases extremely, and, therefore the performance of the firewall decreases proportionally. This paper present a new FPGA (field programmable gate arrays) based firewall with high performance, high processing speed, low power consumption, and low space utilization in contrast with early submitted paper in some of credible international conferences. First of all, we use Embedded Memories of FPGA instead of external memories, to increase the processing speed and to decrease the mass of signaling and noise creation in connection between FPGA and external memories. Moreover, we have applied pipeline technique to the architecture, and so we achieved high processing speed in addition to low power consumption. Based on this model, only the security rules are updated by admin during the configuration process while other hardware part would remain unchanged. The proposed architecture is written in VHDL standard language and it is simulated and synthesized with ALTERA QUARTUS II software. Finally, for validation of proposed architecture, we implemented the synthesized code on 3 of ALTERA FPGAs families (STRATIX III, CYCLONE III, CYCLONE II), and then results have been compared with earlier results.
Analysis and Design of a 220-GHz Wideband SiGe BiCMOS Distributed Active Combiner

This paper presents the first active power combiner designed for ultrawideband applications covering a bandwidth of operation from 1 to 220 GHz. The circuit is implemented in a high-performance 0.13-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology (fmax = 450 GHz) and based on an innovative dual-stage distributed architecture. The input stage realizes the power combination with a traveling-wave architecture. The output stage is a cascaded single-stage distributed amplifier, and it is employed to increase the overall gain. The circuit analysis necessary for circuit design is given, and its predictions are compared with the measurements in the time and frequency domains. The system requires 203 mW of dc power to provide a signal amplification of 20 dB from 1 to 170 GHz, which decreases to 15 dB at 220 GHz. Independent bias networks for the combining paths also enable a gain tuning range of 20 dB. The presented circuit improves by a factor 16 the state of the art for frequency of operation of distributed power combiners implemented in silicon and by a factor 20 the bandwidth. Compared with III-V implementations, the improvement factors are 4.5 and 5.5, respectively.
Galicia : an open platform for lattices

Formal concept analysis (FCA) has proved helpful in the resolution of practical problems from fields such software engineering, knowledge engineering and data mining. Recently, a substantial push has been done toward the design of efficient procedures for lattice construction, with a variety of novel algorithms proposed in the literature. However, the FCA community has created only few effective tools for manipulating lattices so far and what is still missing is an integrated environment for constructing, visualizing, exploring and maintaining lattices. We present the Galicia project aimed at the construction of an open platform for lattice manipulation which follows the complete life-cycle of a lattice. More than just a lattice tool, the platform provides the necessary services for quick development and test of new lattice algorithms.
Random Drift Particle Swarm Optimization

The random drift particle swarm optimization (RDPSO) algorithm, inspired by the free electron model in metal conductors placed in an external electric field, is presented, systematically analyzed and empirically studied in this paper. The free electron model considers that electrons have both a thermal and a drift motion in a conductor that is placed in an external electric field. The motivation of the RDPSO algorithm is described first, and the velocity equation of the particle is designed by simulating the thermal motion as well as the drift motion of the electrons, both of which lead the electrons to a location with minimum potential energy in the external electric field. Then, a comprehensive analysis of the algorithm is made, in order to provide a deep insight into how the RDPSO algorithm works. It involves a theoretical analysis and the simulation of the stochastic dynamical behavior of a single particle in the RDPSO algorithm. The search behavior of the algorithm itself is also investigated in detail, by analyzing the interaction between the particles. Some variants of the RDPSO algorithm are proposed by incorporating different random velocity components with different neighborhood topologies. Finally, empirical studies on the RDPSO algorithm are performed by using a set of benchmark functions from the CEC2005 benchmark suite. Based on the theoretical analysis of the particle's behavior, two methods of controlling the algorithmic parameters are employed, followed by an experimental analysis on how to select the parameter values, in order to obtain a good overall performance of the RDPSO algorithm and its variants in real-world applications. A further performance comparison between the RDPSO algorithms and other variants of PSO is made to prove the efficiency of the RDPSO algorithms.
Evaluating Animation in the Periphery as a Mechanism for Maintaining Awarness

Small animated displays such as tickers and faders are increasingly being used to convey information on computer screens. Relatively little is understood, however, about their use as peripheral displays, that is, tools for communicating lower-priority awareness information to people. This article describes two experiments that examine the tradeoff of communication capability versus distraction in peripheral displays. We found that the presence of animated textual peripheral displays did not distract people from a central information browsing task, and we identified particular animation and display characteristics that facilitate different information-centric tasks.