Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stop and Go: Explaining the Timing of Intermittency in Criminal Careers

Few offenders maintain a linear or constant path in their criminal activities; instead, zigzag paths characterize most criminal careers. The present study seeks to understand the dynamics of such intermittent cycles and examines the effect of direct experience with the justice system and offender success in criminal ventures on the likelihood that offenders will interrupt and then restart their illegal activities. Using the method of life history calendars, the study is based on detailed criminal career data from 172 offenders involved in lucrative forms of crime. Results show the relevance and complementarity of sanctions and dimensions of criminal achievement in understanding an offending path. The research design highlights the importance of considering the timing of circumstances in understanding zigzag paths.
Wi-Fi based passive human motion sensing for in-home healthcare applications

This paper introduces a Wi-Fi signal based passive wireless sensing system that has the capability to detect diverse indoor human movements, from whole body motions to limb movements and breathing movements of the chest. The real time signal processing is used for human body motion sensing, and software defined radio demo system are described and verified in practical experiments scenarios, which include detection of through-wall human body movement, hand gesture or tremor, and even respiration. The experiment results offer potential for promising healthcare applications using Wi-Fi passive sensing in the home to monitor daily activities, to gather health data and detect emergency situations.
Eradicating infectious disease using weakly transmissible vaccines

Viral vaccines have had remarkable positive impacts on human health as well as the health of domestic animal populations. Despite impressive vaccine successes, however, many infectious diseases cannot yet be efficiently controlled or eradicated through vaccination, often because it is impossible to vaccinate a sufficient proportion of the population. Recent advances in molecular biology suggest that the centuries-old method of individual-based vaccine delivery may be on the cusp of a major revolution. Specifically, genetic engineering brings to life the possibility of a live, transmissible vaccine. Unfortunately, releasing a highly transmissible vaccine poses substantial evolutionary risks, including reversion to high virulence as has been documented for the oral polio vaccine. An alternative, and far safer approach, is to rely on genetically engineered and weakly transmissible vaccines that have reduced scope for evolutionary reversion. Here, we use mathematical models to evaluate the potential efficacy of such weakly transmissible vaccines. Our results demonstrate that vaccines with even a modest ability to transmit can significantly lower the incidence of infectious disease and facilitate eradication efforts. Consequently, weakly transmissible vaccines could provide an important tool for controlling infectious disease in wild and domestic animal populations and for reducing the risks of emerging infectious disease in humans.
Asian Family Firms Through Corporate Governance and Institutions: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Agenda for Future Research

Although the corporate governance model of Asian family firms has recently gained increased attention, it remains unclear how these firms&#8217; corporate governance mechanisms (and their effectiveness) differ from those of family firms in the western world. Drawing upon a comparative institutional perspective, this paper systematically reviews 148 published articles in peer&#8208;reviewed journals from 1980 to 2015. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of institutional complementarities that constitute informal governance mechanisms adopted by Asian family firms by considering a wider set of institutional factors (i.e. political environment, cultural values and social norms) embedded in the Asian context. The main findings suggest that: (i) given the lack of market&#8208;supporting institutions and the presence of strong political control over Asian economies, family firms tend to cultivate political connections to respond to the failure of legal systems; (ii) Asian family firms still rely heavily on personal networks (e.g. guanxi) to reduce uncertainty, strengthen business ties, and gain access to external resources; and (iii) cultural values and social norms (e.g. &#8216;face&#8217; saving, reputational concerns and adult child adoption) lead to functionally equivalent corporate governance mechanisms in Asian family firms. The downstream effects of such mechanisms are also discussed, and future research avenues are identified.
Prediction of regulatory networks: genome-wide identification of transcription factor targets from gene expression data

MOTIVATION Defining regulatory networks, linking transcription factors (TFs) to their targets, is a central problem in post-genomic biology. One might imagine one could readily determine these networks through inspection of gene expression data. However, the relationship between the expression timecourse of a transcription factor and its target is not obvious (e.g. simple correlation over the timecourse), and current analysis methods, such as hierarchical clustering, have not been very successful in deciphering them. RESULTS Here we introduce an approach based on support vector machines (SVMs) to predict the targets of a transcription factor by identifying subtle relationships between their expression profiles. In particular, we used SVMs to predict the regulatory targets for 36 transcription factors in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome based on the microarray expression data from many different physiological conditions. We trained and tested our SVM on a data set constructed to include a significant number of both positive and negative examples, directly addressing data imbalance issues. This was non-trivial given that most of the known experimental information is only for positives. Overall, we found that 63% of our TF-target relationships were confirmed through cross-validation. We further assessed the performance of our regulatory network identifications by comparing them with the results from two recent genome-wide ChIP-chip experiments. Overall, we find the agreement between our results and these experiments is comparable to the agreement (albeit low) between the two experiments. We find that this network has a delocalized structure with respect to chromosomal positioning, with a given transcription factor having targets spread fairly uniformly across the genome. AVAILABILITY The overall network of the relationships is available on the web at http://bioinfo.mbb. yale.edu/expression/echipchip
The US hospital standardised mortality ratio: Retrospective database study of Massachusetts hospitals

Summary Objectives To present a case-mix adjustment model that can be used to calculate Massachusetts hospital standardised mortality ratios and can be further adapted for other state-wide data-sets. Design We used binary logistic regression models to predict the probability of death and to calculate the hospital standardised mortality ratios. Independent variables were patient sociodemographic characteristics (such as age, gender) and healthcare details (such as admission source). Statistical performance was evaluated using c statistics, Brier score and the Hosmer–Lemeshow test. Setting Massachusetts hospitals providing care to patients over financial years 2005/6 to 2007/8. Patients 1,073,122 patients admitted to Massachusetts hospitals corresponding to 36 hospital standardised mortality ratio diagnosis groups that account for 80% of in-hospital deaths nationally. Main outcome measures Adjusted in-hospital mortality rates and hospital standardised mortality ratios. Results The significant factors determining in-hospital mortality included age, admission type, primary diagnosis, the Charlson index and do-not-resuscitate status. The Massachusetts hospital standardised mortality ratios for acute (non-specialist) hospitals ranged from 60.3 (95% confidence limits 52.7–68.6) to 130.3 (116.1–145.8). The reference standard hospital standardised mortality ratio is 100 with the values below and above 100 suggesting either random or special cause variation. The model was characterised by excellent discrimination (c statistic 0.87), high accuracy (Brier statistics 0.03) and close agreement between predicted and observed mortality rates. Conclusions We have developed a case-mix model to give insight into mortality rates for patients served by hospitals in Massachusetts. Our analysis indicates that this technique would be applicable and relevant to Massachusetts hospital care as well as to other US hospitals.
Transformational Leadership and Meaningful Work: Building A Conceptual Model of Indirect and Direct Paths*

إن الهدف الأساسي من القيام بهذه الورقة البحثية هو بناء وتطوير نموذج مفاهيمي لبيان العلاقة بين القيادة التحويلية، المعنى في العمل، التشاركيه في العمل وتأثيرها على الرضا الوظيفي والنية في ترك العمل وفهم طبيعة هذه العلاقة المباشرة ومقارنتها مع العلاقات غير المباشرة. ولغايات تحقيق هذا الهدف، قام الباحث بمراجعة الأدبيات السابقة حول القيادة التحويلية بطريقة علمية ومقننه، والأدبيات المتعلقة بالمعنى داخل العمل لإصدار أحكام نظرية لفهم الدور الذي تلعبه تشاركيه العمال في العمل. بمعنى أكثر دقة، إن الجدل الأساسي الذي استدعى الباحث للقيام بهذه الورقة المفاهيمية جاء لفهم علاقة القيادة التحويلية وأثرها على الرضا الوظيفي والنية في ترك العمل بشكل غير مباشر من خلال العلاقة التكاملية والإرتباطية بين مفهومي إيجاد المعنى في العمل و وأبعاد التشاركية في العمل (الحيوية، الإتقان، والاستيعاب). دعما لهذا الجدل فإن هذا البحث جاء لتعبئة النقص الوارد في الأدبيات السابقة والمقترحة من قبل (Zhu et al., 2009; Yukl, 1999; Avolio et al., 2004; Piccolo & Colquitt, 2006). ، وقد جدت هذه الورقة البحثية من خلال تطوير النموذج المفاهيمي بأن القيادة التحويلية ترتبط بالرضا الوظيفي والنية في ترك العمل بشكل مباشر وغير مباشر من خلال العلاقة التكاملية والإرتباطية التي تحصل بين تصورات العمال لأنفسهم (التشاركيه في العمل)،تصوراتهم للأعمال التي يقومون بها (المعنى في العمل). وعليه فإن هذه الدراسة توصي الدراسات المستقبلية بالقيام باختبار هذا النموذج بشكل تجريبي وتطبيقي على عينات مختلفة للتأكد من مدى متانته وصلاحيته.
The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Baldey: a Database of Auditory Lexical Decisions

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A Photometrically Calibrated Benchmark For Monocular Visual Odometry

We present a dataset for evaluating the tracking accuracy of monocular visual odometry and SLAM methods. It contains 50 real-world sequences comprising more than 100 minutes of video, recorded across dozens of different environments -- ranging from narrow indoor corridors to wide outdoor scenes. All sequences contain mostly exploring camera motion, starting and ending at the same position. This allows to evaluate tracking accuracy via the accumulated drift from start to end, without requiring ground truth for the full sequence. In contrast to existing datasets, all sequences are photometrically calibrated. We provide exposure times for each frame as reported by the sensor, the camera response function, and dense lens attenuation factors. We also propose a novel, simple approach to non-parametric vignette calibration, which requires minimal set-up and is easy to reproduce. Finally, we thoroughly evaluate two existing methods (ORB-SLAM and DSO) on the dataset, including an analysis of the effect of image resolution, camera field of view, and the camera motion direction.
Cooperative Output Regulation of Multi-Agent Systems Coupled by Dynamic Edges

Abstract This paper investigates a new class of linear multi-agent systems, in which nodes are coupled by dynamic edges in the sense that each edge has a dynamic system attached. The outputs of the edge dynamic systems combine to form the external input of the node dynamic system, which is called neighboring input; while the outputs of the node dynamic systems are inputs of the edge dynamic systems that therefore can not be directly controlled. Distributed controllers for nodes are presented to realize output synchronization and output cooperation. Output cooperation makes the outputs of nodes realize some cooperation that here is specified as making the neighboring input track a predefined trajectory. The controllers depending on local state and neighboring inputs are designed by combining the feedback passivity theory and the internal model principle. A simulation example on the cooperated current control of an electrical network illustrates the potential applications of the analytic results.
Participation of the Hypothalamus-Hypophysis Axis in the Sympathetic Activation of Human Obesity

Previous studies have shown that hypothalamic and hypophyseal factors are involved in the acute sympathoexcitation induced by a variety of laboratory stimuli. Whether a chronic condition of sympathetic activation, such as that characterizing human obesity, is also dependent on these factors has never been investigated. In 40 normotensive obese subjects ([mean±SEM] age, 39.1±0.8 years) we measured blood pressure (Finapres), heart rate (ECG), and postganglionic muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) (microneurography). In 20 subjects measurements were repeated, according to a double-blind randomized sequence, after a midnight oral dose of dexamethasone (1 mg) (n=10) or placebo (n=10), while in the remaining subjects they were performed again after 1 week of a daily evening oral administration of 1 mg of dexamethasone (n=10) or placebo (n=10). The same protocol was performed in 16 age-matched lean normotensives. In both groups acute dexamethasone administration markedly reduced plasma cortisol (radioimmunoassay), without affecting hemodynamic and neural variables. In contrast to the acute administration, in obese subjects prolonged dexamethasone administration, although not affecting blood pressure and heart rate, significantly reduced both plasma cortisol (from 16.0±1.3 to 0.7±0.1 &mgr;g/dL;P <0.01) and MSNA (from 59.5±2.8 to 39.6±2.9 bursts per 100 heartbeats;P <0.02; −33.1±4.1%). This was not the case in lean subjects, in which the dexamethasone-induced reduction in plasma cortisol was associated with a slight and nonsignificant MSNA decrease. In both lean and obese subjects, placebo administration caused no change in any variable. Thus, prolonged dexamethasone administration exerts in obese subjects marked sympathoinhibitory effects that are not detectable in lean individuals. This suggests that hypothalamic and hypophyseal factors substantially contribute to the sympathoexcitation of obesity.
Paraneoplastic vasculitis associated to pelvic chondrosarcoma: a case report

Vasculopathic syndromes have been associated with hematological and solid organ malignancies. The pathogenesis of these syndromes remains largely unknown and there are no biologic markers identified. Whether it is or is not a paraneoplastic syndrome is under discussion, the close temporal relationship of cancer and vasculitis suggests that these vasculitides are a paraneoplastic condition. We report a case of a 45-year-old female patient with pelvic chondrosarcoma who underwent surgical treatment and started to present visual loss, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SRIS), cardiac insufficiency, hepatosplenomegaly, cholestasis as well as pulmonary bleeding suggesting a sarcoma-associated vasculitis. All antibodies were negative as in secondary vasculitis. After corticoideal therapy the vasculitis resolved and at 3-year follow-up the patient had not showed any further medical complications or recurrences of the vasculitis. The parallel evolution of the vasculitis and the solid tumor combined with the resolution of the vasculitis after corticotherapy enhances the likelihood of a paraneoplastic vasculitis associated with a chondrosarcoma according to literature review.
Prevalence and molecular characterization of staphylococci isolated from sheep with subclinical mastitis in West-Azerbaijan province, Iran

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of subclinical mastitis caused by Staphylococcus spp. in ewes in West-Azerbaijan province of Iran. Molecular characterization of isolated Staphylococcus spp. from diseased ewes were performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and DNA sequencing of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gap) gene. Also, antibiotic resistance of staphylococcal isolates against different antibiotics was investigated. A total number of 900 milk samples from 450 native ewes in their mid-lactation period were examined by the California mastitis test (CMT). The CMT positive samples were cultured and bacteria were isolated from 86 (9.50%) glands and 74 (16.40%) ewes. The prevalence of subclinical mastitis in the examined ewes was 16.40%. Microbiological analysis of milk samples revealed that 27 out of 74 sheep with subclinical mastitis were infected with Staphylococcus spp. Amplification of gap gene of 27 Staphylococcus isolates generated a single amplicon of 933 bp in size confirming that isolates were belonged to Staphylococcus genus. Digestion of PCR products by AluI endonuclease generated different RFLP patterns for each species. Nucleotide sequencing of gap gene followed by phylogenetic analysis showed that the most dominant Staphylococcus species were S. epidermidis, S. xylosus and S. chromogenes. Staphylococcal isolates showed the highest resistance to penicillin and ampicillin. In conclusion, Staphylococcus species, except for the southern parts of the province, play an important role in the development of subclinical mastitis in sheep in West-Azerbaijan province of Iran. Also, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin and neomycin are the most effective antibiotics for treatment of this disease.
A Unified Approach to Mapping and Routing on a Network-on-Chip for Both Best-Effort and Guaranteed Service Traffic

One of the key steps in Network-on-Chip-based design is spatial mapping of cores and routing of the communication between those cores. Known solutions to the mapping and routing problems first map cores onto a topology and then route communication, using separate and possibly conflicting objective functions. In this paper, we present a unified single-objective algorithm, called Unified MApping, Routing, and Slot allocation (UMARS+). As the main contribution, we show how to couple path selection, mapping of cores, and channel time-slot allocation to minimize the network required to meet the constraints of the application. The time-complexity of UMARS+ is low and experimental results indicate a run-time only 20% higher than that of path selection alone. We apply the algorithm to an MPEG decoder System-on-Chip, reducing area by 33%, power dissipation by 35%, and worst-case latency by a factor four over a traditional waterfall approach.
A class of microstructures for scalable collective actuation of Programmable Matter

The term Programmable Matter (PM) describes the class of future meta-materials of programmable and controllable properties and behavior, e.g., able to autonomously transform into an arbitrary shape. The robotic approaches towards PM are based on the concept of cooperation of millions of micro-robots (modules), acting at a very fine length-scale and collectively imitating deformation of a macroscopically continuous material. Recent ideas about reconfiguration of a collective of modules to obtain a desired overall mechanical response are promising. However, they are limited by the strength of individual connections between modules. In the present work, we propose a way of arranging spherical modules into microstructures, in which some connections are fixed and mechanically stronger, and the rest are active (reconfigurable) but weaker. If the fixed connections are sufficiently strong, the proposed microstructures perform the function of collective actuation by exerting forces proportional to their volumes. Two variants of a linear-actuator microstructure are presented and studied in more detail. A rotary-actuator microstructure is also introduced.
Cholinergic Neuronal Modulation Alters Dopamine D2Receptor Availability In Vivo by Regulating Receptor Affinity Induced by Facilitated Synaptic Dopamine Turnover: Positron Emission Tomography Studies with Microdialysis in the Conscious Monkey Brain

To evaluate the cholinergic and dopaminergic neuronal interaction in the striatum, the effects of scopolamine, a muscarinic cholinergic antagonist, on the striatal dopaminergic system were evaluated multi-parametrically in the conscious monkey brain using high-resolution positron emission tomography in combination with microdialysis.l-3,4-Dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-[β-11C]DOPA) and 2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-fluorophenyl)tropane ([β-11C]CFT) were used to measure dopamine synthesis rate and dopamine transporter (DAT) availability, respectively. For assessment of dopamine D2 receptor binding in vivo, [11C]raclopride was applied because this labeled compound, which has relatively low affinity to dopamine D2 receptors, was hypothesized to be sensitive to the striatal synaptic dopamine concentration. Systemic administration of scopolamine at doses of 10 and 100 μg/kg dose-dependently increased both dopamine synthesis and DAT availability as measured byl-[β-11C]DOPA and [β-11C]CFT, respectively. Scopolamine decreased the binding of [11C]raclopride in a dose-dependent manner. Scopolamine induced no significant changes in dopamine concentration in the striatal extracellular fluid (ECF) as determined by microdialysis. However, scopolamine dose-dependently facilitated the striatal ECF dopamine induced by the DAT inhibitor GBR12909 at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg. Scatchard plot analysis in vivo of [11C]raclopride revealed that scopolamine reduced the apparent affinity of dopamine D2 receptors. These results suggested that the inhibition of muscarinic cholinergic neuronal activity modulates dopamine turnover in the striatum by simultaneous enhancement of the dynamics of dopamine synthesis and DAT availability, resulting in no significant changes in apparent “static” ECF dopamine level but showing a decrease in [11C]raclopride binding in vivoattributable to the reduction of affinity of dopamine D2 receptors.