Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Simplicity and Perceived Control on Perceived Ease of Use

As the complexity dramatically increases with technological development, the ease of use of technology has been regarded as a critical factor to adpot. This study extends existing Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) proposed by Moon and Kim (2001) by introducing simplicity and perceived control. Simplicity has recently been suggested as an important concept for a successful user interface design by John Maeda (2004; 2006) of the MIT Media Lab. The concept of simplicity not only refers to a simple layout, as stated in previous studies, but also embraces interface organization, functionality, structure, work flow and framework. From the literature review, we define simplicity as the antecedent to perceived ease of use and classify it into four sub-dimensions: Reduction, Organization, Integration, and Prioritizing. In addition to simplicity, we also bring in control as an important antecedent to perceived ease of use. Control theory explains that control is conceptually related to the direct manipulation of an object and also related to users’ psychological status when they use the object. In this study we demonstrate the role of simplicity and perceived control in the existing TAM. We then apply the extended TAM to the blog service. A survey was conducted for a pilot test (n=59). The results indicate that both perceived control and simplicity influence ease of use in the TAM. This finding asserts the importance of the simplicity and Corresponding Author Lee et al. / The Effect of Simplicity and Perceived Control on Perceived Ease of Use -2perceived control for the web interface design.
Support for an independent familial segregation of executive and intelligence endophenotypes in ADHD families

Background Impairments in executive functioning (EF) and intelligence quotient (IQ) are frequently observed in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The aim of this paper was twofold: first, to examine whether both domains are viable endophenotypic candidates for ADHD and second to investigate whether deficits in both domains tend to co-segregate within families. Method A large family-based design was used, including 238 ADHD families (545 children) and 147 control families (271 children). Inhibition, visuospatial and verbal working memory, and performance and verbal IQ were analysed. Results Children with ADHD, and their affected and non-affected siblings were all impaired on the EF measures and verbal IQ (though unimpaired on performance IQ) and all measures correlated between siblings. Correlations and sibling cross-correlations were not significant between EF and IQ, though they were significant between the measures of one domain. Group differences on EF were not explained by group differences on IQ and vice versa. The discrepancy score between EF and IQ correlated between siblings, indicating that siblings resembled each other in their EF–IQ discrepancy instead of having generalized impairments across both domains. Siblings of probands who had an EF but not IQ impairment, showed a comparable disproportionate lower EF score in relation to IQ score. The opposite pattern was not significant. Conclusions The results supported the viability of EF and IQ as endophenotypic candidates for ADHD. Most findings support an independent familial segregation of both domains. Within EF, similar familial factors influenced inhibition and working memory. Within IQ, similar familial factors influenced verbal and performance IQ.
Gait Phases Recognition from Accelerations and Ground Reaction Forces : Application of Neural Networks

— The goal of this study was to test the applicability of accelerometer as the sensor for assessment of the walking. We present here the comparison of gait phases detected from the data recorded by force sensing resistors mounted in the shoe insoles, non-processed acceleration and processed acceleration perpendicular to the direction of the foot. The gait phases in all three cases were detected by means of a neural network. The output from the neural network was the gait phase, while the inputs were data from the sensors. The results show that the errors were in the ranges: 30 ms (2.7%) – force sensors; 150 ms (13.6%) – non-processed acceleration, and 120 ms (11%) – processed acceleration data. This result suggests that it is possible to use the accelerometer as the gait phase detector, however, with the knowledge that the gait phases are time shifted for about 100 ms with respect the neural network predicted times.
THE HETEROTIC LIFE OF THE D-PARTICLE

We study the dynamics of D-particles (D0-branes) in type I' string theory and of the corresponding states in the dual heterotic description. We account for the presence of the two eight-orientifolds (eight-dimensional orientifold planes) and sixteen D8-branes by deriving the appropriate quantum mechanical system. We recover the familiar condition of eight D8-branes for each eight-orientifold. We investigate bound states and compute the phase shifts for the scattering of such states and find that they agree with the expectations from the supergravity action. In the type I' regime we study the motion transverse to the eight-orientifold and find an interesting cancellation effect.
Battle Space Sensornets made Intelligent against Adversaries

Sensornets are being popularly deployed within a battle field for exchanging information between sensitive hideouts of soldiers and their ammunition camps. Battlefields are spread over a vast expanse and thus cannot be physically secured from eavesdropping intruders. Under these circumstances, the origin of sensed events becomes important as the wireless hop by hop route taken by these messages leave a trail to the source, for adversaries. Enemies can use traffic analysis attacks to localize the source and thereby undermine the security of the battle space. The context of the sensed information can be protected by using spatial obfuscation techniques. However, these techniques are communication intensive and results in a higher drainage of battery power. Our complementary techniques involve lazyreporting (coalescing) of the source data prior to encryption. Data coalescing not only hides the temporal pattern of the source events, but also saves valuable battery power by reducing wireless transmissions. We simulate these obfuscation techniques against two adversarial scenarios. Adversaries can be defined as mobile sensor nodes with compatible hardware to any other sensor node in sensornet. The adversary tries to localize the source and time of the occurrence of event. We contemplate adversarial network scenario that is more powerful and practical in a battle space. We create a network of adversaries that can conspire to localize the source. We perform an extensive protocol simulation using an event driven simulator. The main challenges in this simulation were to implement a non-traditional phantom flooding used for preserving contextual privacy in sensornets and create an intelligent adversarial protocol which reacts to the traffic in the network. The adversarial network is simulated as virtual network embedded into the sensornet which does not interfere with the operation of sensornet but converges towards the source by conspiring with each other. Simulation experiments have been performed over the existing spatial obfuscating techniques. The results show good performance of these techniques against a single adversary,
Prostate-Specific Antigen

(PSA) is a glycoprotein produced by the prostate gland to liquify semen, and low concentrations are normally detected in male serum. Measurement of PSA in serum is widely used as a tumour marker in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer. Immunoreactive prostate-specific antigen (IR-PSA) has also been detected in other tissues including normal breast, breast cancer (BC) and benign breast disease (BBD) using immunofluorometric (Diamandis et al, 1994; Yu et al, 1995a; Yu et al, 1996) and immunohistochemical techniques (Howarth et al, 1997). A high IR-PSA content has been associated with early disease stage (Yu et al, 1996), small tumours (Yu et al, 1995a; Yu et al, 1998) and oestrogen and/or progesterone receptor-positive breast tumours (Diamandis et al, 1994). Major expression of PSA has also been detected in BBD tissue (Yu et al, 1996). IR-PSA-positivity has been suggested as a favourable prognostic indicator for women with BC (Yu et al, 1995a; Yu et al, 1998) and a marker of steroid hormone action in normal and diseased female breast (Yu et al, 1996). Sera from healthy women contain small amounts of PSA that is mostly complexed with α 1-antichymotrypsin (PSA-ACT) (Diamandis et al, 1996; Melegos and Diamandis, 1996). About half of the patients with BC and BBD have been reported to have free PSA as the major molecular form in their serum (Borchert et al, 1997a; Melegos and Diamandis, 1996). Giai et al (1995) have reported that serum PSA in women with BC was not associated with tumour PSA levels and that for women ≥50 years, there was no difference in serum PSA between normal and BC patients. Recently, Borchert et al (1997b) reported that serum total PSA levels in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ are higher than in patients with ductal carcinoma or other types of breast carcinoma. It is also higher in serum of patients with poorly differentiated carcinomas (grade 3) compared with grade 1 or 2 tumours (Borchert et al, 1997b). Women with BBD seemed to have significantly higher serum total PSA levels than female blood donors or cancer patients (Borchert et al, 1997b). Exceptionally high serum PSA levels have been observed in subjects with fibroadenomas and breast cysts (Borchert et al, 1997a). These findings suggest that high serum levels of PSA in women might be a valuable diagnostic and prognostic marker for BC, fibroadenomas and breast cysts (Borchert et al, 1997a; Melegos and Diamandis, 1996; …
Wireless control of mobile robot squad with link failure

This paper deals with control during breaking communications. We specifically examine the breaks of communication due to mobility in a wireless multihop robot control system. We compare the applicability of single path and multipath routing protocols without and with priorization for control of mobile robots. We investigate the performance and recovery of a wireless network with high mobility. The issue is also looked at from the control point, where two packet-loss-robust control methods are employed. The issue of control during link break with long recovery is considered. The matters are demonstrated with a joint control and communication simulator, PiccSIM, as a scenario of a mobile robot squad is demonstrated.
An assessment on DNA microarray and sequence-based methods for the characterization of methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus from Nigeria

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen causing nosocomial and community-acquired infections worldwide. In the characterization of this opportunistic pathogen, DNA microarray hybridization technique is used as an alternative to sequence based genotyping to obtain a comprehensive assessment on the virulence, resistance determinants, and population structure. The objective of this study was to characterize a defined collection of S. aureus isolates from Nigeria using the microarray technique, and to assess the extent that it correlates with sequence-based genotyping methods. The clonal diversity and genomic content of 52 methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) were investigated by spa typing, MLST and DNA microarray hybridization. More than half (55.8%) of these isolates were associated with clonal complexes (CCs) typically associated with methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) clones i.e., CC1, CC5, CC8, CC30, and CC45. Certain genes linked with virulence (hlgA and clfA) and adherence (ebpS, fnbA, sspA, sspB, and sspP) were detected in all isolates. A number of genes or gene clusters were associated with distinct clonal types. The enterotoxin gene cluster (egc) was linked with CC5, CC25, CC30, CC45, and CC121, enterotoxin H gene (seh) with CC1, exfoliative toxin D gene (etd) with CC25 and CC80, and the epidermal cell differentiation inhibitor B gene (edinB) with CC25, CC80, and CC152. The excellent agreement between data from DNA microarray and MLST in the delineation of Nigerian MSSA isolates indicates that the microarray technique is a useful tool to provide information on antibiotic resistance, clonal diversity and virulence factors associated with infection and disease.
Augmenting the Sense of Attachment Security in Group Contexts: The Effects of a Responsive Leader and a Cohesive Group

ABSTRACT According to attachment theory, the availability of caring, supportive relationship partners, beginning in infancy, is important to developing a sense of attachment security, which in turn fosters the development of stable self-esteem, constructive coping strategies, maintenance of mental health, and formation of mutually satisfying relationships throughout life. In this article, we move beyond the well-researched correlates of attachment security and the laboratory priming of security-enhancing mental representations to propose a broader group-related model of psychological change. According to this model, repeated interactions with responsive and supportive leaders and cohesive groups beneficially alter a person’s attachment patterns and psychological functioning. We review prospective longitudinal findings showing that being involved in a relationship with a responsive and supportive leader or a cohesive and supportive group creates long-term beneficial changes in attachment-related cognitions and feelings and in broader psychological functioning. The findings provide strong support for Bowlby’s ideas about the plasticity of the attachment system across the life span and the growth-enhancing consequences of responsive leaders and cohesive groups.
SLE Thrombocytopenia: From Peripheral Platelet Destruction to Central Hemopoietic Defect

Thrombocytopenia in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a common clinical manifestation affecting up to one third of patients in published cohorts. Antiplatelet antibodies, antithrombopoietin antibodies and faulty hemopoiesis have been implicated among other immunologic and non-immunologic causes. This mini review is an uptodate summary of these immunologic phenomena.
A kinematic study of the Taurus-Auriga T association

Aims. This is the first paper in a series dedicated to investigating the kinematic properties of nearby associations of young stellar objects. Here we study the Taurus-Auriga association, with the primary objective of deriving kinematic parallaxes for individual members of this low-mass star-forming region. Methods. We took advantage of a recently published catalog of proper motions for pre-main sequence stars, which we supplemented with radial velocities from various sources found in the CDS databases. We searched for stars of the Taurus-Auriga region that share the same space velocity, using a modified convergent point method that we tested with extensive Monte Carlo simulations. Results. Among the sample of 217 Taurus-Auriga stars with known proper motions, we identify 94 pre-main sequence stars that are probable members of the same moving group and several additional candidates whose pre-main sequence evolutionary status needs to be confirmed. We derive individual parallaxes for the 67 moving group members with known radial velocities and give tentative parallaxes for other members based on the average spatial velocity of the group. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for the moving group members and a discussion of their masses and ages are presented in a companion paper.
Individual vs. Relative Performance Pay with Envious Workers and Non-Verifiable Performance

In a moral-hazard environment, I compare the profitabilities of a rank-order tournament and independent bonus contracts when a firm employs two envious workers whose individual performances are not verifiable. Whereas the bonus scheme must then be self-enforcing, the tournament is contractible. Yet the former incentive regime outperforms the latter as long as credibility problems are not too severe. This is due the fact that the tournament requires unequal pay across peers with certainty, thereby imposing large inequity premium costs on the firm. For a simple example, I show that the more envious the agents are, the larger is the range of interest rates for which the bonus scheme dominates the tournament.
Secure computations in minimal model using simple ESCT decomposition

This paper deals with the use of a minimal model for performing secure computations. The communication is based on a protocol which makes use of minimal ESCT (exclusive-or sum of complex terms) expressions in order to perform a secure computation. The complexity of this protocol is directly proportional to the size of the ESCT expression in use, which is much smaller in comparison to other proposed minimal models (e.g. ESOP). Hence, this paper provides a very usefully application of the ESCT expressions in the field of cryptographic protocols.
Levels of CD105+ cells increase and cell proliferation decreases during S-phase arrest of amniotic fluid cells in long-term culture

The present study aimed to improve the characterization of amniotic fluid cells (AFCs) in order to optimize their use in chromosomal prenatal diagnosis and as seed or stem cells for tissue engineering. The AFCs used in the current study were obtained from three females in their second trimester of pregnancy. The cells were cultured independently and characterized by cell morphology, cell markers, cell cycle distribution and chromosome Giemsa banding in an early- and late-passage. The AFCs remained homogeneous in culture and expressed mesenchymal markers, but not endothelial markers along the culture process. In addition, compared with the early-passage cells, the late-passage cells exhibit an increase in CD105 expression, a decrease in cell division and a delay in the cell cycle, and a number of cells underwent cell cycle arrest. However, the cells retained a normal karyotype. Therefore, the current study characterized AFCs in a clinical culture and confirmed that AFCs are mesenchymal precursors. The results obtained may be useful for the application of AFCs in prenatal diagnosis.
Legitimizing Paltry Contributions: Testing Indirect Effects

This study was conducted to determine the mechanisms through which legitimizing paltry contributions (LPC) indirectly influences individuals’ likelihood of donating to charitable organizations. Three potential mediators were considered. After being solicited online, 1,035 participants reacted to one of four hypothetical scenarios distributed at random. Results indicated that LPC requests indirectly influenced individuals’ self-reported likelihood of donating largely through general affective evaluations of the request, their likelihood of experiencing self-conscious moral emotions, and to a lesser extent, the perceived need of the requestor.
A product-to-sum formula for the quantum group of SL(2,C)

The paper exhibits a product-to-sum formula for the observables of a certain quantization of the moduli space of flat SU(2)-connections on the torus. This quantization was defined using the topological quantum field theory that was developed by Reshetikhin and Turaev from the quantum group of SL(2,C) at roots of unity. As a corollary it is shown that the algebra of quantum observables is a subalgebra of the noncommutative torus with rational rotation angle. The proof uses topological quantum field theory with corners, and is based on the description of the matrices of the observables in a canonical basis of the Hilbert space of the quantization.
Hemostatic Parameters according to Renal Function and Time after Transplantation in Brazilian Renal Transplanted Patients

Kidney transplantation is the key for patients with end-stage renal disease, improving quality of life and longer survival. However, kidney transplant triggers an intense inflammatory response and alters the hemostatic system, but the pathophysiological mechanisms of these changes are not completely understood. The aim of this cross-sectional cohort study was to investigate hemostatic biomarkers in Brazilian renal transplanted patients according to renal function and time after transplantation. A total of 159 renal transplanted patients were enrolled and D-Dimer (D-Di), Thrombomodulin (TM), von Willebrand Factor (VWF), and ADAMTS13 plasma levels were assessed by ELISA. An increase of D-Di was observed in patients with higher levels of creatinine. ADAMTS13 levels were associated with creatinine plasma levels and D-Di levels with Glomerular Filtration Rate. These results suggested that D-Di and ADAMTS13 can be promising markers to estimate renal function. ADAMTS13 should be investigated throughout the posttransplant time to clarify the participation of this enzyme in glomerular filtration and acceptance or rejection of the graft in Brazilian transplanted patients.
Immigration, dynamiques socio-économiques territoriales et mouvements résidentiels. Quelles perspectives pour les résidents du Luxembourg ? Immigration, socio-economic territorial dynamics and residential mouvements. What perspectives for the residents of Luxembourg ?

L’immigration est au centre de la croissance economique et du developpement social du Luxembourg. On retrouve dans le pays d’importants ecarts entre certains sous-groupes d’etrangers hautement qualifies opposes a d’autres moins formes, s’ajoutant aux inegalites socio-economiques deja presentes dans la population nationale. Dans cet article, nous nous interessons a l’evolution des inegalites sociales dans un contexte d’immigration, en nous focalisant sur la dimension longitudinale. Nous explorons, avec le dernier recensement national exhaustif, l’evolution des territoires communaux luxembourgeois du point de vue socio-economique pour voir comment les mouvements residentiels des populations nationales et etrangeres ont, dans l’espace social et spatial, suivi ou non la tendance de prosperite qui a marque le pays dans les dernieres decennies. Dans un premier temps, nous construisons une serie de portraits descriptifs sur l’evolution des communes a la lumiere de la mobilite residentielle et de l’immigration. Ces portraits montrent que les inegalites sociales et spatiales se sont principalement structurees autour de la capitale et ses communes periurbaines en tant que territoires privilegies, et le sud comme territoire plus precarise. Dans un deuxieme temps, a travers une serie de modeles probabilistes, notre exploration permet d’isoler de maniere dynamique l’implication explicite de l’immigration qualifiee et moins qualifiee dans l’evolution des territoires. L’arrivee d’etrangers marque ainsi fortement la structure socio-spatiale du territoire luxembourgeois.