Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of self-compassion in alcohol use disorders : an exploratory study : a project based on an investigation at ServiceNet, Inc., Northampton, Massachusetts

The goal of this study was to replicate prior research that has examined differences between self-compassion, depression, anxiety and stress in adults with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs). This is the first study that has compared levels of self-compassion by whether or not participants are in sober recovery. A clinical sample of 69 adults, who were currently in sober recovery or in treatment for an AUD, were administered a quantitative survey to assess various characteristics, which included: current depression, anxiety and stress levels; current alcohol use and related problems; and how they treat themselves during difficult times. Major findings were that participants had significantly lower levels of selfcompassion and higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress compared to norms for the general population. In addition, respondents in sober recovery (no longer drinking) were found to be significantly more self-compassionate and less depressed and anxious than those struggling with an active AUD. Such results indicate that interventions designed to enhance self-compassion may be beneficial to incorporate into substance abuse treatment. THE ROLE OF SELF-COMPASSION IN ALCOHOL USE DISORDERS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY A project based upon an investigation at ServiceNet, Inc., Northampton, Massachusetts, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work.
Detecting and Counteracting Statistical Attacks in Cooperative Spectrum Sensing

In this paper we propose a novel Bayesian method to improve the robustness of cooperative spectrum sensing against misbehaving secondary users, which may send wrong sensing reports in order to artificially increase or reduce the throughput of a cognitive network. We adopt a statistical attack model in which every malicious node is characterized by a certain probability of attack. The key features of the proposed method are: (i) combined spectrum sensing, identification of malicious users, and estimation of their attack probabilities; (ii) use of belief propagation on factor graphs to efficiently solve the Bayesian estimation problem. Our analysis shows that the proposed joint estimation approach outperforms traditional cooperation schemes based on exclusion of the unreliable nodes from the spectrum sensing process, and that it nearly achieves the performance of an ideal maximum likelihood estimation if attack probabilities remain constant over a sufficient number of sensing time slots. Results illustrate that belief propagation applied to the considered problem is robust with respect to different network parameters (e.g., numbers of reliable and malicious nodes, attack probability values, sensing duration). Finally, spectrum sensing estimates obtained via belief propagation are proved to be consistent on average for arbitrary graph size.
Academic and general well-being: The relationship with coping

There is an increasing concern with the general health and well-being of youth in educational settings. This paper reviews eleven studies which focus on the relationship between adolescents' coping strategies and various aspects of their general and academic well-being. In each of these studies the measure used to assess students' coping responses was the Adolescent Coping Scale (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993). In one study it was generally found that when it came to young people's depression the use of non-productive coping was a predictor over and above teacher reports of students' well-being. In several other studies it was found that more reported problems, low self-esteem and high perceived academic stress were associated with the use of non productive coping strategies. In a study of gifted young people it was found that those with rigid beliefs about themselves were also likely to use non-productive coping strategies. In the adult community, young women with anorexia nervosa resorted to non productive ways of coping as did university students who were experiencing academic stress. There appears to be general support for the notion that if successful coping is to be increased, it may be helpful to teach ways in which the use of non-productive strategies can be decreased.
PPAR gamma 2 regulates adipose expression of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) is expressed at high levels in liver, kidney, and adipose tissue. This enzyme catalyzes the rate-limiting step in hepatic and renal gluconeogenesis and adipose glyceroneogenesis. The regulatory factors important for adipose expression of the PEPCK gene are not well defined. Previous studies with transgenic mice established that the region between bp -2086 and -888 is required for expression in adipose tissue but not for expression in liver or kidney tissue. We show here that a DNA fragment containing this region can function as an enhancer and direct differentiation-dependent expression of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene from a heterologous promoter in cultured 3T3-F442A preadipocytes and adipocytes. We further demonstrate that the adipocyte-specific transcription factor PPAR gamma 2, previously identified as a regulator of the adipocyte P2 enhancer, binds in a heterodimeric complex with RXR alpha to the PEPCK 5'-flanking region at two sites, termed PCK1 (bp -451 to -439) and PCK2 (bp -999 to -987). Forced expression of PPAR gamma 2 and RXR alpha activates the PEPCK enhancer in non-adipose cells. This activation is potentiated by peroxisome proliferators and fatty acids but not by 9-cis retinoic acid. Mutation of the PPAR gamma 2 binding site (PCK2) abolishes both the activity of the enhancer in adipocytes and its ability to be activated by PPAR gamma 2 and RXR alpha. These results establish a role for PPAR gamma 2 in the adipose expression of the PEPCK gene and suggest that this factor functions as a coordinate regulator of multiple adipocyte-specific genes.
Please Scroll down for Article Visual Cognition Face Adaptation to Gender: Does Adaptation Transfer across Age Categories?

This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution , reselling , loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
DOES THE BANK’S MONITORING ABILITY MATTER

This study investigates the relationship between the borrowing firm’s abnormal loan announcement return and the lending bank’s monitoring ability. We use new, well-specified proxies for the bank’s monitoring ability to isolate and examine the effect of superior monitoring on the value added to the borrower. A number of recent studies have suggested that bank loan relationships, and hence the related monitoring services, no longer matter. In contrast to these studies we find a strong positive relationship between our proxies and the borrowing firm’s abnormal return in the 1995 to 1999 period, suggesting that superior monitoring banks add more value to the borrower. Corresponding author:
Direct Acting Antivirals for the Treatment of Chronic Viral Hepatitis

The development and evaluation of antiviral agents through carefully designed clinical trials over the last 25 years have heralded a new dawn in the treatment of patients chronically infected with the hepatitis B and C viruses, but not so for the D virus (HBV, HCV, and HDV). The introduction of direct acting antivirals (DDAs) for the treatment of HBV carriers has permitted the long-term use of these compounds for the continuous suppression of viral replication, whilst in the case of HCV in combination with the standard of care [SOC, pegylated interferon (PegIFN), and ribavirin] sustained virological responses (SVRs) have been achieved with increasing frequency. Progress in the case of HDV has been slow and lacking in significant breakthroughs.This paper aims to summarise the current state of play in treatment approaches for chonic viral hepatitis patients and future perspectives.
Portrait of a Teach for All (TFA) teacher: Media narratives of the universal TFA teacher in 12 countries

This article employs narrative analysis to examine how the media in 12 different countries characterize the Teach for All (TFA) teacher. Examining mass media narratives in these 12 countries illustrates that there are some remarkable commonalities in the narratives and character portraits co-constructed and propagated by the media. At the core of these narratives is the notion of a problem in education. This problem justifies the creation and emergence of a character, commonly constructed in opposition to traditionally certified teachers, who embodies the characteristics and attributes of the contemporary neoliberal subject. This article discusses the implications of this character’s widespread representation; namely, how does the character construction influence the broader public perception about education and how is it contributing to the (re)imagination of the role of the teacher?
ASTE Observations of Warm Gas in Low-Mass Protostellar Envelopes: Different Kinematics between Submillimeter and Millimeter Lines

With the ASTE telescope, we have made observations of three low-mass protostellar envelopes around L483, B335, and L723 in the submillimeter CS ($J$=7--6) and HCN ($J$=4--3) lines. We detected both the CS and HCN lines toward all the targets, and the typical CS intensity ($\sim$ 1.0 K in T$_{B}$) is twice higher than that of the HCN line. Mapping observations of L483 in these lines have shown that the submillimeter emissions in the low-mass protostellar envelope are resolved, exhibit a western extension from the central protostar, and that the deconvolved size is $\sim$ 5500 AU $\times$ 3700 AU (P.A. = 78$^{\circ}$) in the HCN emission. The extent of the submillimeter emissions in L483 implies the presence of higher-temperature ($\gtrsim$ 40 K) gas at 4000 AU away from the central protostar, which suggests that we need to take 2-dimensional radiative transfer models with a flattened disklike envelope and bipolar cavity into account to explain the temperature structure inside the low-mass protostellar envelope. The position-velocity diagrams of these submillimeter lines in L483 and B335 exhibit different velocity gradients from those found in the previous millimeter observations. In particular, along the axis of the associated molecular outflow the sense of the velocity gradient traced by the submillimeter lines is opposite to that of the millimeter observations or the associated molecular outflow, both in L483 and B335. We suggest that expanding gas motions at the surface of the flattened disklike envelope around the protostar, which is irradiated from the central star directly, are the origin of the observed submillimeter velocity structure.
Trajectory prediction of cyclists using a physical model and an artificial neural network

This article presents two methods for predicting the trajectories of cyclists at an intersection and compares them to a Kalman Filter (KF) approach. The first method uses a physical model of cyclists to predict their future position. The second method is based on a polynomial least-squares approximation in combination with a multilayer perceptron artificial neural network and is able to predict the future position of cyclists independent of their motion type such as “Starting”, “Stopping”, “Waiting” or “Passing”. To evaluate the performance of the methods, 566 tracks (394 for training, 172 for testing) of uninstructed cyclists were recorded at a public intersection using a wide angle stereo camera system and laser scanners. Using the tracks as input data, the future trajectory was predicted for a time horizon of 2.5 s. For starting motions the prediction using the physical model leads to 27% more accurate positions than the KF approach for a forecast horizon of 2.5 s. The neural network shows a 34% more accurate result for starting and stopping motions and a similar result for waiting and passing motions.
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF SEARCH BEHAVIOR AND NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

We examine how firms search , i.e., solve problems, to create new products. Organizational learning research argues that firms position themselves on a uni-dimensional search space that spans a spectrum from local to distant search. Our findings in the global robotics industry suggest that firms’ search efforts actually vary across two distinct dimensions: s earch depth or how frequently the firm re-uses its existing knowledge, and search scope or how widely the firm explores new knowledge.
Insig-dependent Ubiquitination and Degradation of Mammalian 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Stimulated by Sterols and Geranylgeraniol*

The endoplasmic reticulum enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase produces mevalonate, which is converted to sterols and to other products, including geranylgeraniol groups attached to proteins. The enzyme is known to be ubiquitinated and rapidly degraded when sterols and nonsterol end products of mevalonate metabolism accumulate in cells. Here, we use RNA interference to show that sterol-accelerated ubiquitination of reductase requires Insig-1 and Insig-2, membrane-bound proteins of the endoplasmic reticulum that were shown previously to accelerate degradation of reductase when overexpressed by transfection. Alanine substitution experiments reveal that binding of reductase to Insigs and subsequent ubiquitination require the tetrapeptide sequence YIYF in the second membrane-spanning helix of reductase. The YIYF peptide is also found in the sterol-sensing domain of SCAP, another protein that binds to Insigs in a sterol-stimulated fashion. When lysine 248 of reductase is substituted with arginine, Insig binding persists, but the reductase is no longer ubiquitinated and degradation is markedly slowed. Lysine 248 is predicted to lie immediately adjacent to a membrane-spanning helix, suggesting that a membrane-bound ubiquitin transferase is responsible. Finally, we show that Insig-dependent, sterol-stimulated degradation of reductase is further accelerated when cells are also supplied with the 20-carbon isoprenoid geranylgeraniol, but not the 15-carbon farnesol, raising the possibility that the nonsterol potentiator of reductase regulation is a geranylgeranylated protein.
Compact Tunable Phase Shifters on Screen-Printed BST for Balanced Phased Arrays

Two designs for compact continuously tunable phase shifters are presented employing integrated ferroelectric varactors based on screen-printed barium-strontium-titanate thick film. The circuits are based on left-handed transmission-line topologies that allow to realize very compact modules. The proposed designs have total lengths of 2.1 and 3.8 mm and provide a differential phase shift of more than 360° and a figure of merit of 51°/dB at 10 GHz. Furthermore, the phase shifters are in coplanar strip configuration, making them attractive for systems composed of balanced components.
Competition, Growth, and Performance in the Banking Industry

This paper analyzes competition, growth, and performance in the banking industry. First, we analyze the relationship between market structure and the performance of the banking industry. Furthermore, we test hypotheses on whether size matters for individual banks' profit performance. As such, we use extreme bounds stability analysis and a stability analysis in line with Sala-i-Martin (1997) to test for the reliability of the regression outcomes. It turns out that bank profits are inversely related to the amount of bank assets and are positively associated with the amount of tier-one bank capital.
Evidence-based Policy for Controlling HPAI in Poultry: Bio-security Revisited

1. Abstract There is considerable global concern over the newly emergent H5N1 strain of avian influenza that has affected millions of domestic poultry flocks and resulted in 256 human cases and 152 deaths in humans. There has been little analysis of the general assumption that smallholder backyard poultry flocks are inherently at higher risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) than confined and commercial scale operations. We utilized data from Thailand, collected in 2004, to test the relative risks of HPAI infection in poultry flocks, by species, type of operation, and geographic location. The results indicate that backyard flocks are at significantly lower risk of HPAI infection compared to commercial scale operations of broiler or layer chickens or quail. These results are plausible in terms of the opportunities for breach of bio-security in commercial scale operations. Both experimental and observational studies in developed country settings have demonstrated the capacity of microbes to enter and leave these larger operations despite the implementation of standard bio-security measures. The results of this study should be considered by policy makers and public health officials when developing plans to control or prevent HPAI while aiming to limit adverse effects on the livelihood of smallholder poultry producers in developing countries.
Performance analysis of the connection machine

This paper presents an analysis of the performance of the Connection Machine, with special emphasis on estimating the effect of its interprocessor communication architecture. A queueing model of the network architecture, including the NEWS and ROUTER networks, is used to compute the slow-down induced by message exchange between processors. Locality of the message exchanges is modelled by message sending probabilities which depend on whether a message is sent by a processor to another processor placed on the same NEWS network, or on the same ROUTER, or at a “remote” location which is only accessible via the ROUTER network. The specific slotted TDMA structure of the ROUTER Network communications is taken into account. The performance degradation of the Connection Machine as a function of the communication and architecture parameters is derived.
New Paradigms for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research in Electronic Medical Records: An Example of Detecting Urinary Incontinence Following Prostatectomy

Introduction: National initiatives to develop quality metrics emphasize the need to include patient-centered outcomes. Patient-centered outcomes are complex, require documentation of patient communications, and have not been routinely collected by healthcare providers. The widespread implementation of electronic medical records (EHR) offers opportunities to assess patient-centered outcomes within the routine healthcare delivery system. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility and accuracy of identifying patient centered outcomes within the EHR. Methods: Data from patients with localized prostate cancer undergoing prostatectomy were used to develop and test algorithms to accurately identify patient-centered outcomes in post-operative EHRs – we used urinary incontinence as the use case. Standard data mining techniques were used to extract and annotate free text and structured data to assess urinary incontinence recorded within the EHRs. Results A total 5,349 prostate cancer patients were identified in our EHR-system between 1998–2013. Among these EHRs, 30.3% had a text mention of urinary incontinence within 90 days post-operative compared to less than 1.0% with a structured data field for urinary incontinence (i.e. ICD-9 code). Our workflow had good precision and recall for urinary incontinence (positive predictive value: 0.73 and sensitivity: 0.84). Discussion. Our data indicate that important patient-centered outcomes, such as urinary incontinence, are being captured in EHRs as free text and highlight the long-standing importance of accurate clinician documentation. Standard data mining algorithms can accurately and efficiently identify these outcomes in existing EHRs; the complete assessment of these outcomes is essential to move practice into the patient-centered realm of healthcare.
Determinant Factors in the Production of a Co-Occluded Binary Mixture of Helicoverpa armigera Alphabaculovirus (HearNPV) Genotypes with Desirable Insecticidal Characteristics

A co-occluded binary mixture of Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus genotypes HearSP1B and HearLB6 at a 1:1 ratio (HearSP1B+HearLB6) was selected for the development of a virus-based biological insecticide, which requires an efficient large-scale production system. In vivo production systems require optimization studies in each host-virus pathosystem. In the present study, the effects of larval instar, rearing density, timing of inoculation, inoculum concentration and temperature on the production of HearSP1B+HearLB6 in its homologous host were evaluated. The high prevalence of cannibalism in infected larvae (40–87%) indicated that insects require individual rearing to avoid major losses in OB production. The OB production of recently molted fifth instars (7.0 x 109 OBs/larva), combined with a high prevalence of mortality (85.7%), resulted in the highest overall OB yield (6.0 x 1011 OBs/100 inoculated larvae), compared to those of third or fourth instars. However, as inoculum concentration did not influence final OB yield, the lowest concentration, LC80 (5.5 x 106 OBs/ml), was selected. Incubation temperature did not significantly influence OB yield, although larvae maintained at 30°C died 13 and 34 hours earlier than those incubated at 26°C and 23°C, respectively. We conclude that the efficient production of HearSP1B+HearLB6 OBs involves inoculation of recently molted fifth instars with a LC80 concentration of OBs followed by individual rearing at 30°C.
The association between weight loss in caregivers and adolescents in a treatment trial of adolescents with obesity.

OBJECTIVE The relationship between weight change in caregivers and their adolescents was evaluated following a randomized trial of lifestyle modification for adolescents, which included either a conventional diet or meal replacements. METHODS Adolescents (N = 113) had an M ± SD age of 15.0 ± 1.3 years (62% African American; 26% Caucasian, 12% other; 81% female) and body mass index of 37.1 ± 5.1 kg/m(2). RESULTS Mixed effects models yielded a significant association between percentage change in body mass index of caregivers and adolescents from baseline to months 4 and 12 (p = .01). When caregivers lost above the median (-1.67%) at month 4, their adolescents achieved a significantly greater loss at month 12 (-9.1 ± 1.3%) compared with adolescents whose caregivers lost less than the median (-4.3 ± 1.3%) (p = .003). CONCLUSION Engaging caregivers in their own weight loss efforts during adolescent weight loss treatment may improve adolescent weight loss.