Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Super-resolution time delay estimation in multipath environments

The problem of super-resolution time delay estimation in multipath environments is addressed in this paper. Two cases, active and passive systems, are considered. The time delay estimation is first converted into a sinusoidal parameter estimation problem. Then the sinusoidal parameters are estimated by generalizing the multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm for single-experiment data. The proposed method, referred to as the MUSIC-type algorithm, approximates the Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) in terms of the mean square errors (MSKs) for different signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and separations of multipath components. Simulation results show that the MUSIC-type algorithm performs better than the classical correlation approach and the conventional MUSIC method for the closely spaced components in multipath environments.
Bimusicality and bilingualism: Insights into the nature of complex cognitive faculties

The comparison between music and language has attracted the attention of cognitive scientists from a number of fields for many years. More recently, a concerted interdisciplinary collaboration among investigators has made important advances in a number of directions, including an interesting discussion on the evolutionary emergence of musical and linguistic abilities. The following review of the research proposes a new perspective for studying the faculties of music and language: application of the research framework from the study of bilingualism to cross-cultural aspects of music cognition. The article concludes with an evaluation of two leading proposals in the field: the modular functional architecture for music processing (Peretz and Coltheart 2003) and Patel’s (2008) shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis.
Relationship between Coping with Interpersonal Stressors and Depressive Symptoms in the United States, Australia, and China: A Focus on Reassessing Coping

Objective Reassessing coping involves efforts to wait patiently for an appropriate opportunity to act or for a change or improvement in the situation, and can be observed in individuals encountering a stressful relationship event. It was hypothesized that reassessing coping would be negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Methods A cross-sectional Web-based survey was conducted in order to test this hypothesis by examining relationships between coping strategies including reassessing coping, distancing coping and constructive coping for stressful relationship events and depressive symptoms. Participants were 1,500 individuals recruited from the general populations of the United States, Australia, and China. Results Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that scores on coping strategies predicted depressive symptom scores in the samples from all three countries with medium or large effect sizes. Further, the beta values for reassessing coping scores were negative and significant in all samples, indicating that the hypothesis was supported for each of the population samples surveyed. In addition, distancing coping, which reflects strategies that attempt to actively damage, disrupt, and dissolve a stressful relationship, was associated with high levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusions Reassessing coping for interpersonal stressors was be negatively associated with depressive symptoms in sample from general populations of the United States, Australia, and China.
Effect of counterfactual and factual thinking on causal judgements

The significance of counterfactual thinking in the causal judgement process has been emphasized for nearly two decades, yet no previous research has directly compared the relative effect of thinking counterfactually versus factually on causal judgement. Three experiments examined this comparison by manipulating the task frame used to focus participants' thinking about a target event. Prior to making judgements about causality, preventability, blame, and control, participants were directed to think about a target actor either in counterfactual terms (what the actor could have done to change the outcome) or in factual terms (what the actor had done that led to the outcome). In each experiment, the effect of counterfactual thinking did not differ reliably from the effect of factual thinking on causal judgement. Implications for research on causal judgement and mental representation are discussed.
REWARDING EMPLOYEE LOYALTY : AN ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE APPROACH

Research on commitment has demonstrated that maintaining high levels of commitment is important for organizational success and well-being. However, no research has addressed to what extent organizations recognize and reward those individuals who are highly committed and loyal to an organization. Therefore, the present study presents some data from employees in the US, UK, New Zealand and Germany that investigates the impact of rewarding loyalty on work attitudes. Specifically, a model is tested whereby rewarding loyalty is evaluated in terms of justice, which in turn is related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Using structural equation modelling, general support for the model has been found.
Role of Selective Attention in Illusions of Social Acceptance and Aggression in Children

vii INTRODUCTION 1 METHOD . 19 RESULTS . 27 DISCUSSION . 37 FOOTNOTES . 57 APPENDICES . 59 REFERENCES 69 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH . 78
A Nonneuronal Isoform of Cell Adhesion Molecule L1: Tissue‐Specific Expression and Functional Analysis

Abstract: The cell adhesion molecule L1 is a multifunctional protein in the nervous system characterizing cell adhesion, migration, and neurite outgrowth. In addition to full‐length L1, we found an alternatively spliced variant lacking both the KGHHV sequence in the extracellular part and the RSLE sequence in the cytoplasmic part of L1. This L1 variant was expressed exclusively in nonneuronal cells such as Schwann cells, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, in contrast to the expression of the full‐length L1 in neurons and cells of neuronal origin. To investigate the functions of the L1 variant, we established cell lines transfected with a cytoplasmic short L1 (L1cs) cDNA that lacks only the 12‐bp segment encoding for the RSLE sequence. The promoting activities of homophilic cell adhesion, neurite outgrowth, and neuronal cell migration of L1cs‐transfected cells (L4‐2) were similar to those of full‐length L1‐transfected cells (L3‐1), but the cell migratory activity of L4‐2 itself was clearly lower than that of L3‐1. In conclusion, the short form of L1 is a nonneuronal type, in contrast to the neuronal type of the full‐length L1. Deletion of the four amino acids RSLE in the cytoplasmic region of L1 markedly reduced cell migratory activity, suggesting an importance of the RSLE sequence for the signaling events of neuronal migration mediated by L1.
Ethnography after Antiquity: foreign lands and peoples in Byzantine literature

of research. This hefty tome of almost 1000 pages veers towards the former, with the whole adding up to more than the parts. The parts themselves, however, are often substantial contributions in and of themselves. There are no fewer than 42 chapters, divided into four sections concerned with ‘Objects’, ‘Hoards’, ‘Places’ and the more miscellaneous ‘Style, Symbol, and Meaning’, which range from detailed discussions or re-appraisals of individual objects or hoards, to surveys and reinterpretations of categories of objects – such as hanging bowls, AngloSaxon knives, Viking baking plates, combs, bronze bowls, etc. – to questions of topography, context and less directly object-based early-medieval history. The volume was evidently long in the making, with contributions apparently having been largely concluded in 2007, and, as appears from the preface by the two editors, the book itself having shifted shape from the initial ‘one capacious volume’ to the ‘two volumes’ still mentioned in the editors’ preface even as the volume returned to being one large tome. The fortuitous result, however, is that although some important finds in the intervening years are missing from the book – most notably the hugely important Vale of York and Staffordshire hoards discovered in 2007 and 2009 respectively – the volume does now happily coincide with the British Museum’s large exhibition on The Vikings: Life and Legend (6 March – 22 June), and the re-publication of Graham-Campbell’s own The Viking world in a fourth further revised and updated edition (it first appeared in 1980 and saw revised editions in 1989 and 2001). Although unquestionably first of all directed at a specialist audience of fellow archaeologists and early-medievalists, given the risen interest in material history among cultural historians more broadly, this volume also provides a welcome collection of the various ways in which archaeologists themselves deal with the nitty-gritty of actual objects and their place within larger narratives. While scholars of the early-medieval Northern world will sample its individual contents, historians across the discipline interested in material culture will find it of interest for its large sampling of case studies and approaches to the material world of the past.
USING AUDIO – VIDEO MEDIA TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILL OF GRADE X VOCATIONAL STUDENTS OF SMK PI AMBARRUKMO 1 SLEMAN IN THE ACADEMIC YEAR OF 2013/2014

The objective of this research was to improve the students’ English speaking skill through videos in Class XA of SMK PI Ambarrukmo 1 Sleman in the academic year of 2013/2014. This research was an action research and conducted collaboratively with the English teacher. The subjects of this research were 23 students in Class XA of SMK PI Ambarrukmo 1 Sleman. The research was conducted in two cycles. The data in this research were in the form of interview transcripts, field notes and students’ mean scores. They were obtained by interviewing the English teacher as the collaborator and the students, observing the teaching and learning process, and conducting pre-test and post-test. The instruments of this research were observation sheet, interview guidelines, and speaking scoring rubric. The data were analyzed from field notes, interview transcripts, and students’ mean scores. To meet the validity and reliability, the researcher used time and investigator triangulation. In term of validity, the researcher used democratic, catalytic, process, outcomes, and dialogic validity. The procedure of this research followed five steps of action research. Those were reconnaissance, planning, actions and observations, and reflections. The results of this research showed that the students’ speaking skill improved. The improvements were achieved gradually which covered pronunciation, comprehension, fluency, vocabulary, and grammar as well as the students’ confidence and participation. The improvements could be seen from the scores of pre-test and post-test. It was 2.3 and 3.6 for grammar, 2.5 and 3.9 for comprehension, 2.1 and 3.2 for fluency, 2.5 and 3.9 for pronunciation, and 2.7 and 3.9 for vocabulary. All implemented actions were successful to improve the students’ speaking skill.
Synthesis, Characterization and Antibacterial Studies of N-(Benzothiazol-2-yl)-4-chlorobenzenesulphonamide and Its Neodymium(III) and Thallium(III) Complexes

N-(Benzothiazol-2-yl)-4-chlorobenzenesulphonamide (NBTCS) was synthesized by condensation reaction of 4-chlorobenzenesulphonyl chloride and 2-aminobenzothiazole in acetone under reflux. Neodymium(III) and thallium(III) complexes of the ligand were also synthesized. Both ligand and metal complexes were characterized using UV-Vis, IR, 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopies, elemental analysis and molar conductance measurement. IR studies revealed that the ligand is tridentate and coordinates to the metal ions through nitrogen and oxygen atoms of the sulphonamide group and nitrogen atom attached to benzothiazole ring. The neodymium(III) complex displays a coordination number of eight while thallium(III) complex displays a coordination number of six. The ligand and its complexes were screened in vitro for their antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli strains (E. coli 6 and E. coli 13), Proteus species, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using the agar well diffusion technique. The synthesized compounds were found to be more active against the microorganisms screened relative to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin and co-trimoxazole.
The mTOR Inhibitor Rapamycin Has Limited Acute Anticonvulsant Effects in Mice

Objective The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway integrates signals from different nutrient sources, including amino acids and glucose. Compounds that inhibit mTOR kinase activity such as rapamycin and everolimus can suppress seizures in some chronic animal models and in patients with tuberous sclerosis. However, it is not known whether mTOR inhibitors exert acute anticonvulsant effects in addition to their longer term antiepileptogenic effects. To gain insights into how rapamycin suppresses seizures, we investigated the anticonvulsant activity of rapamycin using acute seizure tests in mice. Methods Following intraperitoneal injection of rapamycin, normal four-week-old male NIH Swiss mice were evaluated for susceptibility to a battery of acute seizure tests similar to those currently used to screen potential therapeutics by the US NIH Anticonvulsant Screening Program. To assess the short term effects of rapamycin, mice were seizure tested in ≤6 hours of a single dose of rapamycin, and for longer term effects of rapamycin, mice were tested after 3 or more daily doses of rapamycin. Results The only seizure test where short-term rapamycin treatment protected mice was against tonic hindlimb extension in the MES threshold test, though this protection waned with longer rapamycin treatment. Longer term rapamycin treatment protected against kainic acid-induced seizure activity, but only at late times after seizure onset. Rapamycin was not protective in the 6 Hz or PTZ seizure tests after short or longer rapamycin treatment times. In contrast to other metabolism-based therapies that protect in acute seizure tests, rapamycin has limited acute anticonvulsant effects in normal mice. Significance The efficacy of rapamycin as an acute anticonvulsant agent may be limited. Furthermore, the combined pattern of acute seizure test results places rapamycin in a third category distinct from both fasting and the ketogenic diet, and which is more similar to drugs acting on sodium channels.
Cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy for cluster B personality disorders

Background Recommendations on current clinical guidelines are informed by limited economic evidence. Aims A formal economic evaluation of three modalities of psychotherapy for patients with cluster B personality disorders. Method A probabilistic decision-analytic model to assess the cost-effectiveness of out-patient, day hospital and in-patient psychotherapy over 5 years in terms of cost per recovered patient-year and cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Analyses were conducted from both societal and payer perspectives. Results From the societal perspective, the most cost-effective choice switched from out-patient to day hospital psychotherapy at a threshold of €12 274 per recovered patient-year; and from day hospital to in-patient psychotherapy at €113 298. In terms of cost per QALY, the optimal strategy changed at €56 325 and €286 493 per QALY respectively. From the payer perspective, the switch points were at €9895 and €155 797 per recovered patient-year, and €43 427 and €561 188 per QALY. Conclusions Out-patient psychotherapy and day hospital psychotherapy are the optimal treatments for patients with cluster B personality disorders in terms of cost per recovered patient-year and cost per QALY.
Novel Roles for Protein Kinase Cδ-dependent Signaling Pathways in Acute Hypoxic Stress-induced Autophagy*

Macroautophagy, a tightly orchestrated intracellular process for bulk degradation of cytoplasmic proteins or organelles, is believed to be essential for cell survival or death in response to stress conditions. Recent observations indicate that autophagy is an adaptive response in cells subjected to prolonged hypoxia. However, the signaling mechanisms that activate autophagy under acute hypoxic stress are not clearly understood. In this study, we show that acute hypoxic stress by treatment with 1% O2 or desferroxamine, a hypoxia-mimetic agent, of cells renders a rapid induction of LC3-II level changes and green fluorescent protein-LC3 puncta accumulation, hallmarks of autophagic processing, and that this process involves protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ), and occurs prior to the induction of BNIP3 (Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19-kDa interacting protein 3). Interestingly, hypoxic stress leads to a rapid and transient activation of JNK in Pa-4 or mouse embryo fibroblast cells. Acute hypoxic stress-induced changes in LC3-II level and JNK activation are attenuated in Pa-4 cells by dominant negative PKCδKD or in mouse embryo fibroblast/PKCδ-null cells. Intriguingly, the requirement of PKCδ is not apparent for starvation-induced autophagy. The importance of PKCδ in hypoxic stress-induced adaptive responses is further supported by our findings that inhibition of PKCδ-facilitated autophagy by 3-methyladenine or Atg5 knock-out renders a greater prevalence of cell death following prolonged desferroxamine treatment, whereas PKCδ- or JNK1-deficient cells exhibit resistance to extended hypoxic exposure. These results uncover dual roles of PKCδ-dependent signaling in the cell fate determination upon hypoxic exposure.
Oleic acid inhibits stearic acid-induced inhibition of cell growth and pro-inflammatory responses in human aortic endothelial cells

Saturated fatty acids (SFAs), significant components of both enteral/parenteral nutritional formulations (including diet), are linked to cardiovascular disease complications, such as atherosclerosis. We investigated whether oleic acid (C18:1n-9) reduces the growth inhibitory and pro-inflammatory effects of the stearic acid (C18:0) in human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC). Stearic acid induced growth inhibition at concentrations less than 50 μM, whereas higher concentrations invoked cytotoxicity. Stearic acid-induced growth inhibition and cytotoxic effects were eradicated upon cosupplementation with oleic acid (25 μM). Oleic acid (as low as 5 μM) also inhibited the stearic acid-induced increase in intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expression. Stearic acid-induced phosphorylation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), a transcriptional regulator of ICAM-1, was also reduced by oleic acid. HAECs supplemented with either stearic or oleic acid resulted in cellular incorporation of C18:0 and C18:1n-9, respectively. Stearic acid primarily incorporated into phospholipids without increasing the total fatty acid content in HAECs. In contrast, oleic acid, with or without stearic acid, incorporated into both phospholipids and triglycerides, with a significant increase in total fatty acid amounts in triglycerides. Our data suggest that oleic acid has the ability to reduce the inflammatory effects of long-chain SFAs in HAECs through reducing cellular stearic acid incorporation and NF-κB activation.
Co‐twin Control Methods

The co-twin control method is an elegant research design that uses differences within twin pairs to examine the association between a putative environmental risk factor and an outcome variable. The design is extremely efficient for examining risk factor–outcome associations compared to unmatched designs. This is especially true when using monozygotic (MZ) twins who share 100% of their genetic material. Co-twin control studies can be used in both the experimental and observational settings. Statistical analysis for continuously distributed outcome variables focuses on the within-pair mean difference, while for dichotomous outcomes, the matched pair odds ratio is used. Whenever possible, it is informative to examine differences in the relationship between the risk factor–outcome association by zygosity; findings that are only present in dizygotic (DZ) pairs suggest that the observed association may be due to genetic influence on both the risk factor and outcome. We present an illustration of the analysis of a co-twin control study, looking at the association between military service in Vietnam and posttraumatic stress disorder, with data from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. A wide range of new regression modeling methods, which account for nonindependent observations, can be readily adapted for co-twin control studies. Keywords: matched pair; confounding; odds ratio; within-pair difference
Efficient Multi-robot Search for a Moving Target

This paper examines the problem of locating a mobile, non-adversarial target in an indoor environment using multiple robotic searchers. One way to formulate this problem is to assume a known environment and choose searcher paths most likely to intersect with the path taken by the target. We refer to this as the multi-robot efficient search path planning (MESPP) problem. Such path planning problems are NP-hard, and optimal solutions typically scale exponentially in the number of searchers. We present an approximation algorithm that utilizes finite-horizon planning and implicit coordination to achieve linear scalability in the number of searchers. We prove that solving the MESPP problem requires maximizing a non-decreasing, submodular objective function, which leads to theoretical bounds on the performance of our approximation algorithm. We extend our analysis by considering the scenario where searchers are given noisy non-line-of-sight ranging measurements to the target. For this scenario, we derive and integrate online Bayesian measurement updating into our framework. We demonstrate the performance of our framework in two large-scale simulated environments, and we further validate our results using data from a novel ultra-wideband ranging sensor. Finally, we provide an analysis that demonstrates the relationship between MESPP and the intuitive average capture time metric. Results show that our proposed linearly scalable approximation algorithm generates searcher paths that are competitive with those generated by exponential algorithms.
A coplanar ring power divider with high isolation for V-band and W-band applications

We present the design, fabrication and measurement of an in-phase equal power ring divider exhibiting ultra wideband isolation, transmission and port matching. The design uses coplanar techniques to achieve a compact and uniplanar design. The device has been fabricated using a single metal level GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) process with electron beam airbridge technology. The device has a dimension of 0.6 mm×0.6 mm including test pads. The measured in-band insertion loss is 1.3 dB and the port match is better than 18 dB over the frequency range from 44 GHz to 110 GHz. The output port-to-port isolation is better than 20 dB over the entire measured frequency range from 10 MHz to 110 GHz. Full-wave simulation results show this performance up to 118 GHz.