Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alterations in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Patients with Bipolar Syndromes

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and lifelong condition. Primary endogenic polygenetic forms are common. Secondary organic forms have received increasing interest recently due to the detection of immunological encephalopathies that mimic various psychiatric syndromes, including BD. However, only limited data about routine findings of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses in BD are available. Therefore, we investigated the frequency of alterations in the CSF in patients with BD and the association with autoantibodies, cerebral magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalography findings. CSF samples of patients with BD collected from January 1998 until December 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Patients with preexisting causes for alterations in the CSF (e.g., patients with obvious past or current neurological disorders) were excluded. In total, 63 patients with BD fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the study. In 1.6% of the patients with BD, an increased white blood cell count was found in the CSF. Increased albumin quotients were found in 12.9% of the patients, oligoclonal bands (OCBs) in 1.6%, and increased immunoglobulin (Ig) G indices in 3.2% (OCBs were not measured in case of increased IgG indices). No significant differences in CSF findings were found between patients with manic and depressive episodes. The main findings of this open uncontrolled study are that alterations in the CSF may be found in a small, but potentially relevant, subgroup of patients with BD. These findings are discussed in light of the new concepts of mild encephalitis and immunological encephalopathy. The detection of patients with possibly secondary organic bipolar syndromes could open up new causal treatment options with immunomodulatory medication.
Mixed image-keyword query adaptive hashing over multilabel images

This article defines a new hashing task motivated by real-world applications in content-based image retrieval, that is, effective data indexing and retrieval given mixed query (query image together with user-provided keywords). Our work is distinguished from state-of-the-art hashing research by two unique features: (1) Unlike conventional image retrieval systems, the input query is a combination of an exemplar image and several descriptive keywords, and (2) the input image data are often associated with multiple labels. It is an assumption that is more consistent with the realistic scenarios. The mixed image-keyword query significantly extends traditional image-based query and better explicates the user intention. Meanwhile it complicates semantics-based indexing on the multilabel data. Though several existing hashing methods can be adapted to solve the indexing task, unfortunately they all prove to suffer from low effectiveness. To enhance the hashing efficiency, we propose a novel scheme “boosted shared hashing”. Unlike prior works that learn the hashing functions on either all image labels or a single label, we observe that the hashing function can be more effective if it is designed to index over an optimal label subset. In other words, the association between labels and hash bits are moderately sparse. The sparsity of the bit-label association indicates greatly reduced computation and storage complexities for indexing a new sample, since only limited number of hashing functions will become active for the specific sample. We develop a Boosting style algorithm for simultaneously optimizing both the optimal label subsets and hashing functions in a unified formulation, and further propose a query-adaptive retrieval mechanism based on hash bit selection for mixed queries, no matter whether or not the query words exist in the training data. Moreover, we show that the proposed method can be easily extended to the case where the data similarity is gauged by nonlinear kernel functions. Extensive experiments are conducted on standard image benchmarks like CIFAR-10, NUS-WIDE and a-TRECVID. The results validate both the sparsity of the bit-label association and the convergence of the proposed algorithm, and demonstrate that the proposed hashing scheme achieves substantially superior performances over state-of-the-art methods under the same hash bit budget.
Rev. Latino-am. Enfermagem Original Article Work Ability and Health of Security Guards at a Public University: a Cross-sectional Study 1

Work ability and health of security guards at a public University: a cross-sectional study Rev. Objective: to evaluate the work ability and health status of security guards at a public University. Methods: a cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study was carried with 119 security guards. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study samples and the Spearman's coefficient correlation was performed to assess the WAI. Significance level was set at 5%. Results: samples were composed by men; the mean age was 54.9 years (SD=5.7); 80% had partners, and 75% had basic education. The majority (95%) had only one job, the average length of service was 24.8 years (SD=11), ranging from 3 to 43 years. 88.9% worked ≤40 hours and 75% did not work at night shift or rotating shifts. The average score given to work ability was good (40.7 points), with significant correlation to social support at work (p-value=0.002), health conditions (p-value=0.094), and depression symptoms (p-value=0.054). Conclusion: this study showed that many characteristics might affect the work ability scores. Considering the results, we note that healthy life habits and a reorganization of work environments should be encouraged. 1 Paper extrated from Master's Thesis " Capacidade para o trabalho dos técnico-administrativos em educação de uma Universidade " , presented
Avoidance Motivation is Resource Depleting

we examined same set study, but also included Time 1 and Time 2 SWB assessments to allow the following model to be tested: daily avoidance goals  self-regulatory resources  SWB. We assessed participants’ daily avoidance (relative to approach) goals, their perceptions of their self-regulatory resources, and their perceptions of their SWB one month prior to the end of a fall semester (Time 1), and then assessed their perceptions of their self-regulatory resources and SWB again one month later at the end of the semester (and the beginning of the Christmas holiday). We measured avoidance goals with a broad range of thirty-one goal statements that, as in the first study, focused on academics, affiliation, and leisure, but also focused on issues specific to the end of semester and the beginning of the Christmas period (e.g., completing class projects, taking exams, doing Christmas shopping, attending to family responsibilities). The manner of presenting and selecting the goals statements was the same as in the prior study. The measure of self-regulatory resources was the same as that used in the prior study. We assessed SWB with a composite score derived from measures of positive affect, negative affect (reversed), and life satisfaction. As in the prior study, the results revealed a concurrent negative relation between daily avoidance goals and self-regulatory resources ( r = -.40, p < .001); the higher the number of avoidance goals that participants pursued, the lower their perception of their resources. The results also revealed a concurrent negative relation between daily avoidance goals and SWB ( r = -.33, p < .001); the higher the number of avoidance goals that participants pursued, the lower their perceptions of SWB. More importantly, daily avoidance goals were a longitudinal predictor
Self-Control Scale AS-36: Construction and validation study

: This paper presents a validation study of a new questionnaire of self-control as an individual trait. The questionnaire has two parallel versions, one based on self-reports (AS-36) and another one based on informant reports (AS-36-3). Each version consists of three subscales, called Inhibition (12 items), Switching (12 items), and Goal Monitoring (12 items). Eight samples of participants (N = 935 altogether) took part in the validation study. Both versions obtained satisfactory indices of internal consistency, assessed with Cronbach’s alpha and split-half coefficients. Self-control assessed with this scale proved to be entirely independent of general intelligence. However, AS-36 and AS-36-3 scores tended to correlate with other self-report measures of trait self control, such as Tangney, Baumeister, and Boone’s (2004) self-control scale. We conclude that AS-36 is a valid and reliable tool, suitable for assessment of self-control in both research and diagnostic settings.
Cramer-Rao bound on timing recovery of linearly modulated signals with no ISI

A new Cramer-Rao lower bound for symbol timing recovery of linearly modulated (quadrature amplitude modulation) signals is presented. Contrary to some other works on the subject, the transmitted data is assumed to be unknown at the receiver. The bound is derived from a likelihood function that includes the symbol randomness. For large number of symbols, the bound is achievable at any signal-to-noise ratio. The separation of symbol timing recovery and phase recovery schemes is investigated using the new results. It is shown that the separation of these operations causes a degradation of less than 0.3 dB compared to joint phase and timing recovery. The bound is derived for symbol shaping limited to a single symbol length (i.e., no intersymbol interference.) Simulations for longer pulse shapes demonstrate that the new results provide better performance prediction than other known techniques.
Transmission Mode Selection for Downlink Coordinated Multipoint Systems

Coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission has been widely recognized as a spectrally efficient technique in future cellular systems. To exploit the abundant spatial resources provided by the cooperating base stations (BSs), however, considerable training overhead is required to acquire the channel information. To avoid the extra overhead outweighing the cooperative gain, we propose a method that allows each user to select transmission mode between coherent CoMP and non-CoMP. We first analyze the average throughput of each user under CoMP and non-CoMP transmission after taking into account the downlink training overhead. A closed-form mode selection rule is then developed, which depends on the user location and system settings, i.e., the number of cooperating BSs and transmit antennas, training overhead, and cell-edge signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Simulation results show that the proposed downlink transmission mode selection method achieves higher throughput than CoMP for cell-center users and than non-CoMP for cell-edge users after accounting for the overhead. As a by-product, the backhaul load is also significantly reduced.
Interface approximation of Darcy flow in a narrow channel

A mixed formulation is introduced for the singular problem of Darcy flow in a porous medium in a region containing a narrow fracture or channel with width O(ε) and high permeability O1ε . The solution converges as ε → 0 to that of Darcy flow coupled to tangential flow on the lower‐dimensional interface or boundary. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Astroglial Activation of Extracellular-Regulated Kinase in Early Stages of Alzheimer Disease

Abstract Characterization of the earliest neuropathologic features of Alzheimer disease (AD) indicates that synaptic degeneration accompanied by tau hyperphosphorylation and amyloid deposition might be an important feature. The mechanisms involved are unclear; however, dysregulation of signaling cascades such as the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway might play a role. In this context, the main objective of this study was to determine whether ERK hyperactivation occurs in early stages of AD. We compared the patterns of total and phosphorylated ERK (pERK) expression in the midfrontal cortex of patients clinically and neuropathologically characterized with early, intermediate, or advanced AD. Immunocytochemical and Western blot analysis showed that in early AD, there was extensive activation of ERK in astroglial cells in the white matter accompanied by intense astrogliosis. In contrast, in patients with more advanced AD, pERK immunoreactivity was associated with neuronal cell bodies and dystrophic neurites around plaques. Levels of astroglial pERK immunoreactivity in the white matter were strongly correlated with scores of cognitive performance (Blessed, Mini-Mental Status Examination, and Clinical Dementia Rating) and with the severity of AD neuropathology (Braak stage). These findings suggest that astroglial ERK activation may be an important early response to the onset of AD pathology. Identification of cell signaling events unique to early AD may provide therapeutic targets for the prevention or delay of dementia.
Weight changes : the meaning of food and eating behaviours amongst women in recovery from substance addiction

During the period of recovery from drug and alcohol misuse the individual starts to move gradually away from former habits and patterns of thinking whilst learning new skills, however returning to a normal diet can be challenging for many recovering substance misusers. Studies involving substance misuse have mainly focused on weight changes and eating behaviours during active substance addiction, whilst research on how substance misusers experience weight changes and how they describe the functions and meaning of food and eating behaviours in recovery from substance addiction is scarce. This is a qualitative study using a constructivist grounded theory approach which aimed to explicate the experiences of food, eating and weight changes from eight women in different stages of recovery (ranging from early, mid and late recovery) from drug and alcohol addiction. The areas identified from ‘the meaning of food’ included: substituting alcohol with food, structure and social benefits. The areas identified from ‘weight changes’ included: weight gain and weight loss, and the areas identified from ‘eating behaviours’ included: distorted eating and dieting. The findings lead to an emerging theory that indicated: ‘Food during recovery involved providing structure to the day, enjoyment of social eating and substituting alcohol with food, particularly sugar rich foods during early recovery to 1. Replace the substances by filling a void, 2. Satisfy the cravings and urges experienced from the substances and 3. Experience a change in mood. The excessive intake of sugar rich food caused weight gain and in turn resulted in dieting and distorted eating behaviours later in recovery’. The theory that emerged from this research should prove useful to substance misuse facilities in order to enhance and incorporate nutrition education into treatment programmes to address food, eating and weight issues faced by women in recovery from substance addiction.
Requalificação e gentrificação no centro historico do Porto

Este artigo procura testar a hipotese de gentrificacao residencial do centro historico do Porto, no contexto das transformacoes observadas nas estruturas economica, social e de habitacao da cidade ao longo das ultimas decadas. A hipotese de substituicao de familias de baixo rendimento por uma populacao da classe media-alta e testada atraves de uma metodologia que combina tecnicas de analise qualitativa (entrevistas a moradores/ ex-moradores e a atores institucionais locais) e de analise quantitativa (dados dos censos a populacao e habitacao). Os resultados empiricos indicam que o afastamento da populacao de baixos rendimentos se deveu mais a degradacao do que a requalificacao habitacional. Indicam ainda que na atual fase de politicas neoliberais, que favorecem processos de especulacao imobiliaria e de gentrificacao comercial, se aprofunda a ameaca de desertificacao residencial do centro historico do Porto.
How Many Peas in a Pod? Legume Genes Responsible for Mutualistic Symbioses Underground

The nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between legume plants and Rhizobium bacteria is the most prominent plant–microbe endosymbiotic system and, together with mycorrhizal fungi, has critical importance in agriculture. The introduction of two model legume species, Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula, has enabled us to identify a number of host legume genes required for symbiosis. A total of 26 genes have so far been cloned from various symbiotic mutants of these model legumes, which are involved in recognition of rhizobial nodulation signals, early symbiotic signaling cascades, infection and nodulation processes, and regulation of nitrogen fixation. These accomplishments during the past decade provide important clues to understanding not only the molecular mechanisms underlying plant–microbe endosymbiotic associations but also the evolutionary aspects of nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between legume plants and Rhizobium bacteria. In this review we survey recent progress in molecular genetic studies using these model legumes.
Intrasubject reproducibility of presurgical language lateralization and mapping using fMRI

Background: fMRI is becoming a standard tool for the presurgical lateralization and mapping of brain areas involved in language processing. However, its within-subject reproducibility has yet to be fully explored. Objective: To evaluate within-test and test–retest reliability of language fMRI in consecutive patients undergoing evaluation for epilepsy surgery. Methods: Thirty-four unselected patients were investigated once (within-test reliability) and 12 patients twice (test–retest reliability). The imaging series consisted of an alternating 25-second synonym judgment condition with a 25-second letter-matching condition repeated 15 times. Reproducibility of activation maps of the first and second half of session 1 or activation maps of sessions 1 and 2 was evaluated by comparing one global and three regional lateralization indexes (Broca’s area, remaining prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal area) and on a voxel-by-voxel basis (intraclass correlation coefficient, percentage overlap, correlation of t-values). Results: Global and regional language lateralization was achieved with high reliability within and across sessions. Reproducibility was evenly distributed across both hemispheres but not within each hemisphere. Frontal activations were more reliable than temporoparietal ones. Depending on the statistical threshold chosen, the voxel-by-voxel analysis revealed a mean overlap of activations derived from the first and second investigation of up to 48.9%. Conclusion: Language fMRI proved sufficiently reliable for the determination of global and regional lateralization of language representation in individual unselected patients with epilepsy.
Organizational adoption and diffusion of electronic meeting systems: a case study

The obvious benefits for team collaboration achieved through the use of Electronic Meeting Systems (EMS), do not appear to be so obvious on an organizational scale. After years of trying, there are relatively few published reports of rapid and broad adoption and diffusion of this technology. The broader class of Group Support System (GSS) technologies, that include highly successful products such as Lotus Notes and NetMeeting, has fared substantially better. This case study is of one large company that has been relatively successful in diffusing Lotus Notes and NetMeeting, while only slowly winning an uphill battle implementing GroupSystems, a popular EMS.
Inferring Genome Trees by Using a Filter To Eliminate Phylogenetically Discordant Sequences and a Distance Matrix Based on Mean Normalized BLASTP Scores

ABSTRACT Darwin's paradigm holds that the diversity of present-day organisms has arisen via a process of genetic descent with modification, as on a bifurcating tree. Evidence is accumulating that genes are sometimes transferred not along lineages but rather across lineages. To the extent that this is so, Darwin's paradigm can apply only imperfectly to genomes, potentially complicating or perhaps undermining attempts to reconstruct historical relationships among genomes (i.e., a genome tree). Whether most genes in a genome have arisen via treelike (vertical) descent or by lateral transfer across lineages can be tested if enough complete genome sequences are used. We define a phylogenetically discordant sequence (PDS) as an open reading frame (ORF) that exhibits patterns of similarity relationships statistically distinguishable from those of most other ORFs in the same genome. PDSs represent between 6.0 and 16.8% (mean, 10.8%) of the analyzable ORFs in the genomes of 28 bacteria, eight archaea, and one eukaryote (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). In this study we developed and assessed a distance-based approach, based on mean pairwise sequence similarity, for generating genome trees. Exclusion of PDSs improved bootstrap support for basal nodes but altered few topological features, indicating that there is little systematic bias among PDSs. Many but not all features of the genome tree from which PDSs were excluded are consistent with the 16S rRNA tree.
Speech recognition using hidden Markov models with polynomial regression functions as nonstationary states

Proposes, implements, and evaluates a class of nonstationary-state hidden Markov models (HMMs) having each state associated with a distinct polynomial regression function of time plus white Gaussian noise. The model represents the transitional acoustic trajectories of speech in a parametric manner, and includes the standard stationary-state HMM as a special, degenerated case. The authors develop an efficient dynamic programming technique which includes the state sojourn time as an optimization variable, in conjunction with a state-dependent orthogonal polynomial regression method, for estimating the model parameters. Experiments on fitting models to speech data and on limited-vocabulary speech recognition demonstrate consistent superiority of these nonstationary-state HMMs over the traditional stationary-state HMMs. >
Joint Call Admission Control Algorithm for Fair Radio Resource Allocation in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks Supporting Heterogeneous Mobile Terminals

There is a problem of unfairness in allocation of radio resources among heterogeneous mobile terminals in heterogeneous wireless networks. Low-capability mobile terminals (such as single-mode terminals) sutTer high call blocking probability whereas high-capability mobile terminals (such as quad-mode terminals) experience very low call blocking probability, in the same heterogeneous wireless network. This paper proposes a joint call admission control (JCAC) algorithm to reduce this problem of unfairness. The proposed JCAC algorithm makes call admission decisions based on mobile terminal modality (capability), network load, and radio access technology (RAT) terminal support index. The objectives of the proposed JCAC algorithm are to reduce call blocking/ dropping probability, and ensure fairness in allocation of radio resources among heterogeneous mobile terminals in heterogeneous networks. We develop an analytical model to evaluate the performance of the proposed JCAC scheme in heterogeneous wireless networks and derive expression for call blocking/ dropping probability. The performance of the proposed JCAC algorithm is compared with that of other JCAC algorithm. Results show the proposed algorithm reduces call blocking/ dropping probability in the networks, and ensure fairness in allocation of radio resources among heterogeneous terminals.