Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cognitive Mechanisms of False Facial Recognition

Face recognition involves a number of complex cognitive processes, including memory, executive functioning, and perception. A breakdown of one or more of these processes may result in false facial recognition, a memory distortion in which one mistakenly believes that novel faces are familiar. This study examined the cognitive mechanisms underlying false facial recognition in healthy older and younger adults, patients with frontotemporal dementia, and individuals with congenital prosopagnosia. Participants completed face recognition memory tests that included several different types of lures, as well as tests of face perception. Older adults demonstrated a familiaritybased response strategy, reflecting a deficit in source monitoring and impaired recollection of context, as they could not reliably discriminate between study faces and highly familiar lures. In patients with frontotemporal dementia, temporal lobe atrophy alone was associated with a reduction of true facial recognition, while concurrent frontal lobe damage was associated with increased false recognition, a liberal response bias, and an overreliance on “gist” memory when making recognition decisions. Individuals with congenital prosopagnosia demonstrated deficits in configural processing of faces and a reliance on feature-based processing, leading to false recognition of lures that had features in common from study to test. These findings may have important implications for the development of training programs that could serve to help individuals improve their ability to accurately recognize faces.
Relationship of changes in physical activity and mortality among older women.

CONTEXT Physical activity has been related to reduced mortality, but it is not clear whether changes in physical activity affect mortality among older women. OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship of changes in physical activity and mortality among older women. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective cohort study conducted at 4 US research centers (Baltimore, Md; Portland, Ore; Minneapolis, Minn; and Monongahela Valley, Pa) among 9518 community-dwelling white women aged 65 years or older who were assessed at baseline (1986-1988), 7553 of whom were reassessed at a follow-up visit (1992-1994; median, 5.7 years later). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Walking and other physical activities at baseline and follow-up; vital status, with cause of death confirmed by death certificates/discharge summaries, tracked for up to 12.5 years after baseline (up to 6.7 years after the follow-up visit). RESULTS Compared with continually sedentary women, those who increased physical activity levels between baseline and follow-up had lower mortality from all causes (hazard rate ratio [HRR], 0.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.40-0.69), cardiovascular disease (HRR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.42-0.97), and cancer (HRR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.29-0.84), independent of age, smoking, body mass index, comorbid conditions, and baseline physical activity level. Associations between changes in physical activity and reduced mortality were similar in women with and without chronic diseases but tended to be weaker among women aged at least 75 years and among those with poor health status. Women who were physically active at both visits also had lower all-cause mortality (HRR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.56-0.82) and cardiovascular mortality (HRR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44-0.88) than sedentary women. CONCLUSION Increasing and maintaining physical activity levels could lengthen life for older women but appears to provide less benefit for women aged at least 75 years and those with poor health status.
Regret Bounds for Lifelong Learning

We consider the problem of transfer learning in an online setting. Different tasks are presented sequentially and processed by a within-task algorithm. We propose a lifelong learning strategy which refines the underlying data representation used by the within-task algorithm, thereby transferring information from one task to the next. We show that when the within-task algorithm comes with some regret bound, our strategy inherits this good property. Our bounds are in expectation for a general loss function, and uniform for a convex loss. We discuss applications to dictionary learning and finite set of predictors. In the latter case, we improve previous $O(1/\sqrt{m})$ bounds to $O(1/m)$ where $m$ is the per task sample size.
Studying the Effects of Professional Development: The Case of the NSF's Local Systemic Change through Teacher Enhancement Initiative.

Enacting the vision of NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics depends on effective teacher professional development. This 7-year study of 48 projects in the National Science Foundation�s Local Systemic Change Through Teacher Enhancement Initiative investigates the relationship between professional development and teachers� attitudes, preparedness, and classroom practices in mathematics.
Regional Assessment of Openness and Productivity Spillovers in China from 1979 to 2006: A Space-Time Model

This study investigates the impact of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and international trade on labour productivity in 30 Chinese provinces over the period 1979-2006. Since China launched the “open door” policy in 1978, the country has been attracting a growing share of FDI flows and its international trade has been expanding considerably. China’s accession into the WTO in 2001 has also started a new era in its integration into the world economy. In this paper, we model labour productivity as dependent on FDI, foreign trade and other traditional variables such as capital intensity, infrastructure and human capital development. Our empirical analysis improves the existing wide literature by taking into account spatial effects and potential econometric issues they imply. Using recently developed spatial data analysis tools, we explore the pattern, (weather it be negative or positive) and the extent of spatial interaction of labour productivity between regions. Thereby, we extend previous research by testing the explanatory power of additional variables such as spatially lagged independent and dependent variables. The explicit consideration of spatial dependence in the modelling scheme provides us a better understanding of the regional spillovers process. Our results indicate a general trend of spatial autocorrelation in labour productivity during the study period. Put differently, in China, the productivity of a given region is highly determined by those of surrounding regions. In addition, our empirical outcomes yield support for positive and significant impacts of FDI and foreign trade on labour productivity. Furthermore, in China, FDI and trade exhibit a positive spatial pattern and give rise to interregional productivity spillovers among provinces. These findings are robust to a number of alternative spatial weighting matrix specifications.
Countdown to 2015: an analysis of donor funding for prenatal and neonatal health, 2003–2013

Background In 2015, 5.3 million babies died in the third trimester of pregnancy and first month following birth. Progress in reducing neonatal mortality and stillbirth rates has lagged behind the substantial progress in reducing postneonatal and maternal mortality rates. The benefits to prenatal and neonatal health (PNH) from maternal and child health investments cannot be assumed. Methods We analysed donor funding for PNH over the period 2003–2013. We used an exhaustive key term search followed by manual review and classification to identify official development assistance and private grant (ODA+) disbursement records in the Countdown to 2015 ODA+ Database. Results The value of ODA+ mentioning PNH or an activity that would directly benefit PNH increased from $105 million in 2003 to $1465 million in 2013, but this included a 3% decline between 2012 and 2013. Projects exclusively benefitting PNH reached just $6 million in 2013. Records mentioning PNH accounted for 3% of the $2708 million disbursed in 2003 for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and increased to 13% of the $9287 million disbursed for MNCH in 2013. In 11 years, only nine records ($6 million) mentioned stillbirth, miscarriage, or the fetus, although the two leading infectious causes of stillbirth were mentioned in records worth $832 million. The USA disbursed the most ODA+ mentioning PNH ($2848 million, 40% of the total) and Unicef disbursed the most ODA+ exclusively benefitting PNH ($18 million, 30%). We found evidence that funding mentioning and exclusively benefitting PNH was targeted to countries with greater economic needs, but the evidence of targeting to health needs was weak and inconsistent. Conclusions Newborn health rose substantially on the global agenda between 2003 and 2013, but prenatal health received minimal attention in donor funding decisions. Declines in 2013 and persistently low funding exclusively benefitting PNH indicate a need for caution and continued monitoring of donors' support for newborn health.
Design and Optimization of Uniplanar EBG Structures for Low Profile Antenna Applications and Mutual Coupling Reduction

We present a series of designs for uniplanar electromagnetic bandgap structures for antennas and microwave circuits. The proposed, easy to fabricate configurations, are based solely on metallic surfaces on layer interfaces, without the use of vias or other kinds of vertical connections. Their use in low profile antenna applications and mutual coupling reduction of planar radiating elements is investigated through an efficient and versatile technique, since the only information needed is the reflection phase and the dispersion diagram of the unit cell.
A labile form of hemoglobin A1c is higher in African‐American youth with type 1 diabetes compared to Caucasian patients at similar glucose levels

Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels are higher in African‐American (AA) individuals compared to Caucasians (EA) even after adjustment for blood glucose levels. To better understand the mechanism of this disparity we examined the relationship of an unstable (labile) form of HbA1c (L‐HbA1c) with race and glucose.
DHS maternal mortality indicators: an assessment of data quality and implications for data use.

This report presents an assessment of the quality of sibling history data used to derive maternal mortality data for internal characteristics mothers parity and time of death. The report includes a compilation of maternal mortality data from 14 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) provides a documentation of DHS procedures and discusses the appropriate use and interpretation of DHS maternal mortality estimates. The two estimation methods include the sisterhood method for indirect calculations and the sibling history method for direct calculations. A comparison is made of direct and indirect estimates. The report compares questionnaire modules. Data quality is checked for completeness of reported events omission in reporting of events and plausibility of the patterns of sibling births and deaths. The sibling data are relatively complete for vital status sex age of living siblings and age at death of deceased siblings. Incomplete data appear for the number of years since the occurrence of a siblings death and the timing of death relative to pregnancy childbirth and the postpartum period for adult female deaths. The data are adjusted to account for the incompleteness. It is reckoned that sibling data are probably underestimates due to the large gap between estimates in different reporting periods before the survey. Underestimates are probably greater for females than males. Most countries showed unlikely increases in maternal mortality indicators for the time periods of 7-13 years before the survey and 0-6 years before the survey. These data are not suitable for trend analysis. Maternal mortality ratios provide only approximate levels. Although international conferences call for a 50% reduction in maternal mortality by the year 2000 meaningful monitoring over time is not possible. Three efforts are underway to improve measurement.
A NEW METHOD FOR NUMERICAL TREATMENT OF DIFFUSION COEFFICIENTS AT CONTROL-VOLUME SURFACES

ABSTRACT Diffusion coefficients at control-volume surfaces are required for numerical simulation of convection-diffusion equations. Various interpolation methods for these diffusion coefficients are briefly discussed and compared with the analytical solutions of both pure diffusion and convection-diffusion problems. It is found that the harmonic mean method is not as accurate and reliable as is supposed. A new method is thus developed. Extensive numerical comparisons are given for both the harmonic mean and the present method, and the results show that the method proposed is accurate, reliable, and easy to use.
Group Communication During Resource Dilemmas

A resource dilemma is a circumstance in which an aggregate of people share a slowly replenishing resource pool out of which each person can harvest a significant amount. Resource dilemmas normally make salient an allocation norm of equality in harvests among aggregate members. When asymmetry among aggregate members exists in terms of either access to the resource pool or reward for harvest, the equity allocation norm becomes equally relevant. In this study, groups experienced an experimental simulation of a resource dilemma under either symmetric, asymmetric harvest limit, or asymmetric reward conditions. Groups in the asymmetric conditions were more likely to choose explicitly to follow an allocation norm, and groups that chose to follow a norm had a far more task-oriented discussion and positive perceptions of their experience than groups that did not make an explicit choice. Neither experimental condition nor explicit norm choice revealed a discernible impact on harvesting.
Gambling as an Addictive Behaviour

“If thinking about addiction is going to change, the study of excessive gambling is likely to be one of the richest sources of new ideas” (Jim Orford). In this book, the authors present the most recent and evolving research into gambling, showing the psychological variables that govern the erosion or maintenance of self-control over gambling behaviour. These studies provide an empirical basis for a model of impaired control of gambling. Impaired control, in its broadest sense, is considered to be the defining psychological construct of all the addictive behaviours and occupies a central position in conceptualising the addictive aspects of gambling.
Psychomotor speed and functional brain MRI 2 years after completing a physical activity treatment.

BACKGROUND Short-term adherence to physical activity (PA) in older adults improves psychomotor processing abilities and is associated with greater brain activation. It is not known whether these associations are also significant for longer-term adherence to moderate-intensity activities. METHODS We measured the cross-sectional association of regular walking with brain activation while performing the digit symbol substitution test (DSST). Participants of the lifestyle interventions and independence for elders-pilot study were examined 2 years after completing a 1-year treatment, consisting of either PA or education in successful aging (SA). Data were obtained from 20 PA participants who reported having remained active for 2 years after the end of the treatment and from 10 SA participants who reported having remained sedentary during the same period (mean age: 81.5 and 80.8 years). Complete brain activation and behavioral data were available for 17 PA and 10 SA participants. RESULTS Two years after the formal intervention had ended, the PA group engaged in more minutes of moderate activity and had significantly greater DSST score and higher brain activation within regions important for processing speed (left dorsolateral prefrontal, posterior parietal, and anterior cingulate cortices). Associations were independent of self-reported health, blood pressure, cognition, medication records, gray matter atrophy, and white matter hyperintensities. CONCLUSIONS Persistent engagement in PA may have beneficial effects on psychomotor processing speed and brain activation, even for moderate levels and even when started late in life. Future studies are warranted to assess whether these beneficial effects are explained by delayed neuronal degeneration and/or new neurogenesis.
Two Different Aspects of Pleuroparenchymal Fibroelastosis: A Disease of Pulmonary Fibrosis, and of the Chest Wall

The essential histology of PPFE is subpleural fibroelastosis in the upper lobes, which is different from that of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). However, PPFE might share a pathologic process leading to end-stage fibrosis with UIP: it might have an antecedent inflammatory or acute lung injury process prior to the development of the thick subleural bands of fibroelastosis, possibly corresponding to a honeycomb lung in UIP. Fibroblastic foci are found in the leading edge of fibroelastosis, and acute exacerbation occurs in patients with PPFE. The numbers of fibroblastic foci might be correlated with acute exacerbation or poor prognosis in patients with PPFE, as in those with UIP. Flattened thoracic cage and increased ratio of reserve volume/total lung capacity (RV/TLC) are distinctive characteristics seen in patients with PPFE, but not seen in those with UIP. Flattened thoracic cage that occurs secondary to the fibrotic shrinkage of bilateral upper lobes further decreases the distensibility of thoracic cage, restricting the expansion of the lungs and enhancing the atelectatic shrinkage of upper lobes. Such pathophysiology is similar to that of kyphoscoliosis and ankylosing spondylitis. Therapeutic interventions including the use of steroids and antifibrotic agents for patients with PPFE have disappointing results to date. Chest wall mechanics need to be given more attention in the treatment of patients with PPFE. Heterogeneous clinical background and clinical course of PPFE remind us that PPFE might need to be named “PPFE syndrome” rather than a single disease.
Improved Binding Activity of Antibodies against Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Chain-Related Gene A by Phage Display Technology for Cancer-Targeted Therapy

Major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene A (MICA) is an NKG2D ligand that is over-expressed under cellular stress including cancer transformation and viral infection. High expression of MICA in cancer tissues or patients' sera is useful for prognostic or follow-up markers in cancer patients. In this study, phage display technology was employed to improve antigen-binding activities of anti-MICA monoclonal antibodies (WW2G8, WW6B7, and WW9B8). The 12 amino acid residues in the complementarity determining regions (CDRs) on the V domain of the heavy chain CDR3 (HCDR3) of these anti-MICA antibodies were modified by PCR-random mutagenesis, and phages displaying mutated anti-MICA Fab were constructed. After seven rounds of panning, five clones of phages displaying mutant anti-MICA Fab which exhibited 3–7-folds higher antigen-binding activities were isolated. Two clones of the mutants (phage-displayed mutant Fab WW9B8.1 and phage-displayed mutant Fab WW9B8.21) were confirmed to have antigen-binding specificity for cell surface MICA proteins by flow cytometry. These phage clones are able to recognize MICA in a native form according to positive results obtained by indirect ELISA and flow cytometry. Thus, these phage particles could be potentially used for further development of nanomedicine specifically targeting cancer cells expressing MICA proteins.
Adaptive numerical integration and control variates for pricing Basket Options

We develop a numerical method for pricing multidimensional vanilla options in the Black-Scholes framework. In low dimensions, we improve an adaptive integration algorithm proposed by two of the authors by introducing a new splitting strategy based on a geometrical criterion. In higher dimensions, this new algorithm is used as a control variate after a dimension reduction based on principal component analysis. Numerical tests are performed on the pricing of basket, put on minimum and digital options in dimensions up to ten.
Saturation-preserving specular reflection separation

Specular reflection generally decreases the saturation of surface colors, which will be possibly confused with other colors that have the same hue but lower saturation. Traditional methods for specular reflection separation suffer this problem of hue-saturation ambiguity, producing over-saturated specular-free images quite often. We proposed a two-step approach to solve this problem. In the first step, we produce an over-saturated specular-free image by global chromaticity propagation from specular-free pixels to highlighted ones. Then we recover the saturation based on priors of the piecewise constancy of diffuse chromaticity as well as the spatial sparsity and smoothness of specular reflection. We achieve this through increasing the achromatic component of diffuse chromaticity, while the magnitudes of increments are determined by linear programming under the constraints derived from the priors. Experiments on both laboratory and natural images show that our method can separate the specular reflection while preserving the saturation of the underlying surface colors.
Specific Electromagnetic Effects of Microwave Radiation on Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the effects of microwave (MW) radiation applied under a sublethal temperature on Escherichia coli. The experiments were conducted at a frequency of 18 GHz and at a temperature below 40°C to avoid the thermal degradation of bacterial cells during exposure. The absorbed power was calculated to be 1,500 kW/m3, and the electric field was determined to be 300 V/m. Both values were theoretically confirmed using CST Microwave Studio 3D Electromagnetic Simulation Software. As a negative control, E. coli cells were also thermally heated to temperatures up to 40°C using Peltier plate heating. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis performed immediately after MW exposure revealed that the E. coli cells exhibited a cell morphology significantly different from that of the negative controls. This MW effect, however, appeared to be temporary, as following a further 10-min elapsed period, the cell morphology appeared to revert to a state that was identical to that of the untreated controls. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) revealed that fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated dextran (150 kDa) was taken up by the MW-treated cells, suggesting that pores had formed within the cell membrane. Cell viability experiments revealed that the MW treatment was not bactericidal, since 88% of the cells were recovered after radiation. It is proposed that one of the effects of exposing E. coli cells to MW radiation under sublethal temperature conditions is that the cell surface undergoes a modification that is electrokinetic in nature, resulting in a reversible MW-induced poration of the cell membrane.