Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physical Activity During Daily Life and Functional Decline in Peripheral Arterial Disease

Background— Few modifiable behaviors have been identified that are associated with slower rates of functional decline in persons with lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease. We determined whether higher levels of physical activity during daily life are associated with less functional decline in persons with peripheral arterial disease. Methods and Results— The study population included 203 peripheral arterial disease participants who underwent vertical accelerometer–measured physical activity continuously over 7 days and were followed up annually for up to 4 years (mean, 33.6 months). Outcomes were average annual changes in 6-minute walk performance, usual-paced and fast-paced 4-m walking velocity, and the short performance physical battery. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, race, comorbidities, body mass index, ankle brachial index, smoking, and walking exercise frequency. Higher baseline physical activity levels measured by a vertical accelerometer were associated with significantly less average annual decline in 6-minute walk performance (P for trend=0.010), fast-paced 4-m walking velocity (P for trend=0.002), and the short performance physical battery (P for trend=0.001). Compared with the lowest baseline quartile, those in the highest baseline quartile of physical activity had less annual decline in 6-minute walk performance (−50.82 versus −107.0 ft/y; P=0.019), fast-paced 4-m walking speed (−0.0034 versus −0.111 m · s−1 · y−1; P=0.002), and the short performance physical battery (−0.074 versus −0.829; P=0.005). Conclusions— Higher physical activity levels during daily life are associated with less functional decline among people with peripheral arterial disease. These findings may be particularly important for the large number of peripheral arterial disease persons without access to supervised walking exercise programs.
Modeling Users' Preferences and Social Links in Social Networking Services: A Joint-Evolving Perspective

Researchers have long converged that the evolution of a Social Networking Service (SNS) platform is driven by the interplay between users' preferences (reflected in user-item consumption behavior) and the social network structure (reflected in user-user interaction behavior), with both kinds of users' behaviors change from time to time. However, traditional approaches either modeled these two kinds of behaviors in an isolated way or relied on a static assumption of a SNS. Thus, it is still unclear how do the roles of users' historical preferences and the dynamic social network structure affect the evolution of SNSs. Furthermore, can jointly modeling users' temporal behaviors in SNSs benefit both behavior prediction tasks? In this paper, we leverage the underlying social theories(i.e., social influence and the homophily effect) to investigate the interplay and evolution of SNSs. We propose a probabilistic approach to fuse these social theories for jointly modeling users' temporal behaviors in SNSs. Thus our proposed model has both the explanatory ability and predictive power. Experimental results on two real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model.
Neural alterations influencing skilled reading in ADHD: A taskbased fMRI study

NEURAL ALTERATIONS INFLUENCING SKILLED READING IN ADHD: A TASKBASED FMRI STUDY by BRIANNE MOHL MAY 2015 ADVISOR: Dr. Jeffrey A. Stanley MAJOR: Translational Neuroscience DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a heterogeneous, neurodevelopmental disorder which co-occurs often with Reading Disability (RD). ADHD with and without RD consistently have higher inattentive ratings compared with typically developing controls, with co-occurring ADHD and RD (ADHD/+RD) also demonstrating impaired phonological processing. Accordingly, inattention has been associated with greater phonological impairment, though neither the neural correlates of the co-occurring disorders nor the association are well understood from a functional neuroimaging perspective. The goal was to assess to what extent ADHD/+RD differ from ADHD without RD (ADHD/-RD) and typically developing controls (TDC) in functional activation of attentionand reading-related areas during various tasks. The general hypothesis was that ADHD/+RD would show more extensive alterations in attention-related areas and unique alterations in reading-related areas compared with the other two groups. 163
Suicide Note Classification Using Natural Language Processing: A Content Analysis

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 25–34 year olds and the third leading cause of death among 15–25 year olds in the United States. In the Emergency Department, where suicidal patients often present, estimating the risk of repeated attempts is generally left to clinical judgment. This paper presents our second attempt to determine the role of computational algorithms in understanding a suicidal patient's thoughts, as represented by suicide notes. We focus on developing methods of natural language processing that distinguish between genuine and elicited suicide notes. We hypothesize that machine learning algorithms can categorize suicide notes as well as mental health professionals and psychiatric physician trainees do. The data used are comprised of suicide notes from 33 suicide completers and matched to 33 elicited notes from healthy control group members. Eleven mental health professionals and 31 psychiatric trainees were asked to decide if a note was genuine or elicited. Their decisions were compared to nine different machine-learning algorithms. The results indicate that trainees accurately classified notes 49% of the time, mental health professionals accurately classified notes 63% of the time, and the best machine learning algorithm accurately classified the notes 78% of the time. This is an important step in developing an evidence-based predictor of repeated suicide attempts because it shows that natural language processing can aid in distinguishing between classes of suicidal notes.
Creating a Culture of Meaningful Evaluation in Public Libraries

The current state of practice sees public libraries, like all public institutions, enduring funding challenges within the dominant political-economic environment, which is shaped by the tenets of new public management and the neoliberal audit society. Libraries, feeling threatened and unsure about their future stability, seek new ways to demonstrate their value. However, they face institutional cultural constraints when attempting to introduce new assessment methods to meet this challenge. The new dynamics require them to go beyond output measures (counts). With research findings supported by survey and interview data from Ontario public libraries, and in agreement with the current literature on the subject, we propose a new model to address this phenomenon, serving two purposes: demonstrating a library’s present state of cultural readiness to introduce new systems of outcome assessment and charting a path toward creating a culture of meaningful evaluation.
Chandra X-Ray Analysis of the Massive High-Redshift Galaxy Clusters Cl J1113.1–2615 and Cl J0152.7–1357

We present an analysis of Chandra observations of two high-redshift clusters of galaxies, Cl J1113.1-2615 at z = 0.725 and Cl J0152.7-1357 at z = 0.833. We find Cl J1113.1-2615 to be morphologically relaxed with a temperature of kT = 4.3 keV and a mass (within the virial radius) of 4.3 × 1014 M☉. Cl J0152.7-1357, by contrast, is resolved into a northern and southern subcluster, each massive and X-ray-luminous, in the process of merging. The temperatures of the subclusters are found to be 5.5 and 5.2 keV, respectively, and we estimate their respective masses to be 6.1 × 1014 and 5.2 × 1014 M☉ within the virial radii. A dynamical analysis of the system shows that the subclusters are likely to be gravitationally bound. If the subclusters merge, they will form a system with a mass similar to that of the Coma Cluster. Two-dimensional modeling of the X-ray surface brightness reveals excess emission between the subclusters, suggestive, but not conclusive, evidence of a shock front. We make a first attempt at measuring the cluster M-T relation at z ≈ 0.8 and find no evolution in its normalization, supporting the previous assumption of an unevolving M-T relation when constraining cosmological parameters from cluster evolution studies. A comparison of the cluster properties with those of nearby systems also finds little or no evolution in the L-T relation, the gas fraction-T relation, the β-T relation, or the metallicity. These results suggest that, in at least some massive clusters, the hot gas was in place, and containing its metals, at z ≈ 0.8 and thus that the clusters were assembled at redshifts significantly higher than z = 0.8, as predicted in low-ΩM models. We also highlight the need to correct for the degradation of the Chandra ACIS low-energy quantum efficiency in high-redshift cluster studies when the low-energy absorption is often assumed to be the Galactic value, rather than measured.
The mental health of nurses in the UK

The recruitment and retention crisis in UK nursing puts many reforms outlined in recent health policies at risk. Increasing bureaucratisation of health care, unattractive working conditions, poor pay and the emotionally exhausting nature of the work are associated with high rates of burnout and workplace violence. Some nurses prefer agency work, some leave because they cannot reconcile a caring role with working in the NHS. It seems that health care has become emotionally distant and the profession’s long-standing attachment to caring through interpersonal relationships has been overridden by a high-technology, fast-track system of care management. To retain the principles and ethos of nursing at the centre of health developments, attention must be given to the micro-environments in which nurses work.
Orofacial Dyskinesia in Down's Syndrome

Of 54 patients aged 30–60 years with a diagnosis of Down's syndrome, 38 had evidence of orofacial dyskinesia, assessed using the AIMS. There was a strong relationship between the presence of such movements and the severity of mental handicap. No relationship was found between abnormal movements and age. None of the patients had previously taken neuroleptic medication.
The Unchosen Me: Race, Gender, and Identity among Black Women in College

Racial and gender inequities persist among college students, despite ongoing efforts to combat them. Students of color face alienation, stereotyping, low expectations, and lingering racism even as they actively engage in the academic and social worlds of college life. The Unchosen Me examines the experiences of African American collegiate women and the identity-related pressures they encounter both on and off campus. Rachelle Winkle-Wagner finds that the predominantly white college environment often denies African American students the chance to determine their own sense of self. Even the very programs and policies developed to promote racial equality may effectively impose "unchosen" identities on underrepresented students. She offers clear evidence of this interactive process, showing how race, gender, and identity are created through interactions among one's self, others, and society. At the heart of this book are the voices of women who struggle to define and maintain their identities during college. In a unique series of focus groups called "sister circles," these women could speak freely and openly about the pressures and tensions they faced in school. The Unchosen Me is a rich examination of the underrepresented student experience, offering a new approach to studying identity, race, and gender in higher education.
Transformational and active transactional leadership in the Canadian military

Purpose – This study seeks to examine the manifestation and effects of transformational, contingent reward, and active management‐by‐exception leadership across ranks in the Canadian military. It also aims to investigate whether or not the relationships between perceived leadership behaviors and effective leadership outcomes are moderated by hierarchical level and followers' expectations.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 704 military officers and enlisted members rated their leaders' behaviors and the behaviors they expect of their leaders.Findings – Frequency of transformational leadership behaviors increased with rank, but frequencies of perceived and expected contingent reward and active management‐by‐exception leadership behaviors did not. Transformational and contingent reward leadership effects were not moderated by rank or by followers' expectations. The effects of perceived active management‐by‐exception leadership were moderated by followers' expectations.Research limitations/implications .
The Generalized Lasso With Non-Linear Observations

We study the problem of signal estimation from non-linear observations when the signal belongs to a low-dimensional set buried in a high-dimensional space. A rough heuristic often used in practice postulates that the non-linear observations may be treated as noisy linear observations, and thus, the signal may be estimated using the generalized Lasso. This is appealing because of the abundance of efficient, specialized solvers for this program. Just as noise may be diminished by projecting onto the lower dimensional space, the error from modeling non-linear observations with linear observations will be greatly reduced when using the signal structure in the reconstruction. We allow general signal structure, only assuming that the signal belongs to some set K ⊂ Rn. We consider the single-index model of non-linearity. Our theory allows the non-linearity to be discontinuous, not one-to-one and even unknown. We assume a random Gaussian model for the measurement matrix, but allow the rows to have an unknown covariance matrix. As special cases of our results, we recover near-optimal theory for noisy linear observations, and also give the first theoretical accuracy guarantee for 1-b compressed sensing with unknown covariance matrix of the measurement vectors.
Large-scale uniform bilayer graphene prepared by vacuum graphitization of 6H-SiC(0001) substrates

We report on the preparation of large-scale uniform bilayer graphenes on nominally flat Si-polar 6H-SiC(0001) substrates by flash annealing in ultrahigh vacuum. The resulting graphenes have a single thickness of one bilayer and consist of regular terraces separated by the triple SiC bilayer steps on the 6H-SiC(0001) substrates. In situ scanning tunneling microscopy reveals that suppression of pit formation on terraces and uniformity of SiC decomposition at step edges are the key factors to the uniform thickness. By studying the surface morphologies prepared under different annealing rates, it is found that the annealing rate is directly related to SiC decomposition, diffusion of the released Si/C atoms and strain relaxation, which together determine the final step structure and density of defects.
A Tractable Approach to Finding Closest Truncated-commute-time Neighbors in Large Graphs

Recently there has been much interest in graph-based learning, with applications in collaborative filtering for recommender networks, link prediction for social networks and fraud detection. These networks can consist of millions of entities, and so it is very important to develop highly efficient techniques. We are especially interested in accelerating random walk approaches to compute some very interesting proximity measures of these kinds of graphs. These measures have been shown to do well empirically (Liben-Nowell & Kleinberg, 2003; Brand, 2005). We introduce a truncated variation on a well-known measure, namely commute times arising from random walks on graphs. We present a very novel algorithm to compute all interesting pairs of approximate nearest neighbors in truncated commute times, without computing it between all pairs. We show results on both simulated and real graphs of size up to 100; 000 entities, which indicate near-linear scaling in computation time.
The Genetic and Epigenetic Journey of Embryonic Stem Cells into Mature Neural Cells

Epigenetic changes occur throughout life from embryonic development into adulthood. This results in the timely expression of developmentally important genes, determining the morphology and identity of different cell types and tissues within the body. Epigenetics regulate gene expression and cellular morphology through multiple mechanisms without alteration in the underlying DNA sequences. Different epigenetic mechanisms include chromatin condensation, post-translational modification of histone proteins, DNA cytosine marks, and the activity of non-coding RNA molecules. Epigenetics play key roles in development, stem cell differentiation, and have high impact in human disease. In this review, we will discuss our current knowledge about these epigenetic mechanisms, with a focus on histone and DNA marks. We will then talk about the genetics and epigenetics of embryonic stem cell self-renewal and differentiation into neural stem cells, and further into specific neuronal cell types.
Chronic Jet Lag Produces Cognitive Deficits

Traveling across time zones causes disruption to the normal circadian rhythms and social schedules because of travelers' shift in time. As the endogenous circadian timing system adapts slowly to new time cues, the phase relationship between biological rhythms and external time cues are out of synchronization for a period of time. This disturbance of circadian rhythms has been shown to impair physical and psychological health (Winget et al., 1984). To test the effects of repeated jet lag on mental abilities, airline cabin crew were compared with ground crew. Salivary cortisol was used as a physiological marker for circadian disruption. The cabin crew group, who had a history of repeated jet lag, had significantly higher salivary cortisol levels in an average working day. In addition, this elevated level of cortisol was only seen in the same subjects when the cabin crew were on transmeridian flights but not domestic flights. Cabin crew also exhibited cognitive deficits, possibly in working memory, that became apparent after several years of chronic disruption of circadian rhythms.
On Motion Control and Machine Learning for Robotic Assembly

Industrial robots typically require very structured and predictable working environments, and explicit programming, in order to perform well. Therefore, expensive and time-consuming engineering work is a major obstruction when mediating tasks to robots. This thesis presents methods that decrease the amount of engineering work required for robot programming, and increase the ability of robots to handle unforeseen events. This has two main benefits: Firstly, the programming can be done faster, and secondly, it becomes accessible to users without engineering experience. Even though these methods could be used for various types of robot applications, this thesis is focused on robotic assembly tasks.
A Systematic Meta-ethnographic Review of the Beneficial Outcomes of International Internships to Student Pharmacists

Objective. To describe the benefits that pharmacy students gain by completing international internships as a part of their pharmacy education. Methods. A systematic literature search was conducted from database inception to November 2016. Articles that reported on any measure of outcome or impact on student learning were included in the study. A meta-ethnographic approach was used to translate and synthesize findings. Results. Analysis of the reported outcomes produced nine distinct themes: cultural awareness, collaboration, communication, clinical skills, knowledge, adaptability, compassion, confidence, and personal growth. Conclusion. Pharmacy students experienced many benefits that align with program competencies. The most frequently described benefits were development of clinical skills and compassion.
Reading Literacy in Primary Schools in South Africa: Educator Perspectives on Factors Affecting Reading Literacy and Strategies for Improvement

Abstract As a developing country, South Africa is faced with challenges in the sphere of education which have a direct impact on the literacy level of learners. Learners are taught in a language (English) which is not their home language. The socio-economic challenges, particularly of having little or no parental support, as well as the challenges of educators who are not proficient in English as a medium of instruction, and large class sizes, also contribute to the low literacy levels. South Africa’s performance in terms of the international reading tests, as well as the national literacy tests, has confirmed the seriousness of the problem and the urgency of finding solutions. This paper seeks to investigate the factors that impact on reading literacy as a preliminary step to finding measures to improve the quality of reading. Through an empirical study using a survey, data has been gathered from the perspective of educators from 40 schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The study will be beneficial to educators in the inter-mediate phase of primary schools; curriculum development specialists and national policy makers.
TOWARD A THEORY OF CULTURE AND ADAPTIVE POTENTIAL

Author(s): Colby, Benjamin N | Abstract: The theory of culture commonly used in science and lay writings alike is inadequate for interdisciplinary research and cannot incorporate recent findings in the biological and behavioral sciences. Nor can the commonly used theory deal adequately with questions of cultural well-being and cultural pathology. Attempts to develop new theories of culture with epidemiological models and notions like memes have been limited in their usefulness. This paper suggests a new evolutionary approach that spans both the phenomenal and ideational worlds and speaks to questions of agency in cultural transmission. The main emphasis of the theory concerns adaptive potential with some preliminary measures of cultural well-being that predict physical and mental health. Adaptive potential theory can also be used to define modalities of interpersonal relationships. This latter application of the theory suggests areas of theoretical development and testing for future work.
An Analysis of Exercising Behavior in Online Populations

Exercise plays a central role in many peoples' fitness goals. While prior work has examined how individuals pursue these health and fitness goals on general purpose platforms such as Twitter, the lack of precise activity recording has limited detailed analyses of individual and group behaviors. In this study, we explore a recent social media platform dedicated to exercise and use nearly four years of longitudinal exercising history of over 188,000 users to discover large-scale exercising patterns corresponding to different motivations such as sports or general fitness.