Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Culture in the Cockpit

Survey data collected from 9,400 male commercial airline pilots in 19 countries were used in a replication study of Hofstede’s indexes of national culture. The analysis that removed the constraint of item equivalence proved superior, both conceptually and empirically, to the analysis using Hofstede’s items and formulae as prescribed, and rendered significant replication correlations for all indexes (Individualism-Collectivism .96, Power Distance .87, Masculinity-Femininity .75, and Uncertainty Avoidance .68). The successful replication confirms that national culture exerts an influence on cockpit behavior over and above the professional culture of pilots, and that “one size fits all” training is inappropriate.
Comorbid anxiety as a suicide risk factor among depressed veterans

Background: Depressive disorders greatly increase suicide risk; however, little is known about the contribution of comorbid anxiety disorders or anxiety symptoms to the risk of suicide death among depressed patients. We examined whether depressed veterans with comorbid anxiety had higher risks of suicide death. Methods: Using VA administrative databases we identified 887,859 patients with depression. We then used univariate and multivariate logistic regression, controlling for demographics and substance use disorders, to determine the odds ratios of completed suicide associated with individual comorbid anxiety disorders, the presence of any comorbid anxiety disorder, the prescription of an antianxiety medication, or the prescription of a high dose of an antianxiety medication. Results: In multivariate analyses, the odds of completed suicide were significantly increased for patients with panic disorder (OR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.04–1.53), generalized anxiety disorder (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.09–1.47), and anxiety disorder, not otherwise specified (OR 1.25, 95% CI: 1.12–1.38). The odds of completed suicide were also greater among patients who received any antianxiety medication (OR 1.71, 95% CI: 1.55–1.88), and were further increased among those who received high dose treatment (OR 2.26, 95% CI: 1.98–2.57). Odds of completed suicide were decreased among patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (OR 0.87, 95% CI: 0.77–0.97), and there was no statistically significant relationship between social phobia, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and all other anxiety disorders and suicide. Conclusions: These findings emphasize the importance of comorbid anxiety disorders and symptoms in increasing suicide risk among depressed patients and may inform suicide prevention efforts among these patients. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Hydrology, Soil Carbon Sequestration and Water Retention along a Coastal Wetland Gradient in the Alvarado Lagoon System, Veracruz, Mexico

ABSTRACT Moreno-Casasola, P.; Hernández, M.E. , and Campos C. , A. , 2017. Hydrology, soil carbon sequestration and water retention along a coastal wetland gradient in the Alvarado Lagoon System, Veracruz, Mexico. In: Martinez, M.L. ; Taramelli, A. , and Silva, R. (eds.), Coastal Resilience: Exploring the Many Challenges from Different Viewpoints. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 77, pp. 104–115. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The Alvarado Lagoon System (ALS) is a wetland complex in the Gulf of Mexico, with different types of wetlands. We studied six wetland types that differ in species composition and dominant life forms: Rhizophora-Avicennia mangrove, Pachira aquatica freshwater forested wetland, Sabal mexicana flooded palm forest, two broad-leaved marshes (Pontederia sagittata marsh in Rio Blanco; Pithecellobium-Spartina marsh in Popoyeca) and a cattail (Typha domingensis) marsh. The hydroperiod data indicate that all wetland types are flooded for several months of the year, the palm forest having the longest period of time without inundation. Significantly higher (p≤0.05) carbon stocks at a depth of 1 m and soil water storage were recorded for the forested wetlands (60 ± 6 kg C m−2, 889 L m−3 respectively) and P. sagittata broad-leaved marshes (67 ± 9 kg C m−2, 882 L m−3). The lowest values were recorded for the flooded palm forest (16 ± 5 kg C m−2, 533 L m−3) and the mangrove (16 ± 2 kg C m−2, 463 L m−3). This makes the ALS an important provider of ecosystem services, most notably via its freshwater forested wetlands and marshes. Draining these wetlands for agricultural purposes could lead to differing degrees of change in the soil's hydraulic characteristics, such as a decrease in its capacity to retain water and the loss of organic matter, and therefore a reduced capacity for carbon storage.
Protective effects of alpha lipoic acid on radiation-induced salivary gland injury in rats

Purpose Radiation therapy is a treatment for patients with head and neck (HN) cancer. However, radiation exposure to the HN often induces salivary gland (SG) dysfunction. We investigated the effect of α-lipoic acid (ALA) on radiation-induced SG injury in rats. Results ALA preserved acinoductal integrity and acinar cell secretary function following irradiation. These results are related to the mechanisms by which ALA inhibits oxidative stress by inhibiting gp91 mRNA and 8-OHdG expression and apoptosis of acinar cells and ductal cells by inactivating MAPKs in the early period and expression of inflammation-related factors including NF-κB, IκB-α, and TGF-β1 and fibrosis in late irradiated SG. ALA effects began in the acute phase and persisted for at least 56 days after irradiation. Materials and Methods Rats were assigned to followings: control, ALA only (100 mg/kg, i.p.), irradiated, and ALA administered 24 h and 30 min prior to irradiation. The neck area including the SG was evenly irradiated with 2 Gy per minute (total dose, 18 Gy) using a photon 6-MV linear accelerator. Rats were killed at 4, 7, 28, and 56 days after radiation. Conclusions Our results show that ALA could be used to ameliorate radiation-induced SG injury in patients with HN cancer.
Oxidative Stress and Cardiomyocyte Necrosis With Elevated Serum Troponins: Pathophysiologic Mechanisms

The progressive nature of heart failure is linked to multiple factors, including an ongoing loss of cardiomyocytes and necrosis. Necrotic cardiomyocytes leave behind several footprints: the spillage of their contents leading to elevations in serum troponins; and morphologic evidence of tissue repair with scarring. The pathophysiologic origins of cardiomyocyte necrosis relates to neurohormonal activation, including the adrenergic nervous system. Catecholamine-initiated excessive intracellular Ca2+ accumulation and mitochondria Ca2+ overloading in particular initiate a mitochondriocentric signal-transducer-effector pathway to necrosis and which includes the induction of oxidative stress and opening of their inner membrane permeability transition pore. Hypokalemia, ionized hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia, where consequent elevations in parathyroid hormone further account for excessive intracellular Ca2+ accumulation, hypozincemia and hyposelenemia each compromise metalloenzyme-based antioxidant defenses. The necrotic loss of cardiomyocytes and adverse structural remodeling of myocardium is related to the central role played by a mitochondriocentric pathway initiated by neurohormonal activation.
Oxidative Indices Correlate with Dyslipidemia and Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Levels in Fluoride-Exposed Rats

Abstract The aim of this study was to establish the effects of fluoride on lipid metabolism and attendant inflammatory response by exposing rats to 50 mg L-1 and 100 mg L-1 of fluoride through drinking water for seven weeks. Both concentrations led to hypercholesterolemia while the 100 mg L-1 concentration induced hypertriglyceridaemia. High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels dropped in the exposed rats while interleukin 2 (IL-2) increased more than 1.5-fold (p<0.05) and IL-6 and plasma TNF-α more than 2.5 fold (p<0.05). Fluoride-exposed rats also had significantly higher levels of liver malondialdehyde (MDA) and plasma lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH) but lower plasma paraoxonase (PON1) activity. Oxidative stress indices correlated with pro-inflammatory cytokines and plasma cholesterol. In contrast, proinflammatory cytokines inversely correlated with plasma triglyceride, HDL cholesterol and PON1. Our results suggest that the association between fluoride exposure with cardiovascular diseases may be related to its ability to disturb lipid homeostasis, and trigger pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress. Sažetak Svrha je ovog istraživanja bila utvrditi djelovanje fluorida na metabolizam lipida i upalni odgovor tako što smo štakore izložili fluoridu u pitkoj vodi u koncentracijama od 50 mg L-1 i 100 mg L-1 sedam tjedana. Obje su koncentracije dovele do hiperkolesterolemije, a viša je koncentracija inducirala i hipertrigliceridemiju. U odnosu na kontrolnu skupinu, u izloženih su se štakora razine lipoproteina visoke gustoće (HDL-a) smanjile, a interleukin 2 (IL-2) se povećao više od 1,5 put (p<0,05), kao i IL-6 i čimbenik tumorske nekroze alfa (TNF-α) u plazmi, i to više od 2,5 puta (p<0,05). Usto su izloženi štakori iskazali značajno više razine malondialdehida (MDA) u jetrima te lipidnog hidroperoksida (LOOH) u plazmi, odnosno sniženu aktivnost paraoksonaze (PON1) u plazmi. Indikatori oksidacijskog stresa korelirali su s upalnim citokinima i kolesterolom u plazmi, a upalni citokini inverzno su korelirali s trigliceridima, HDL kolesterolom i PON1 u plazmi. Rezultati istraživanja upućuju na to da povezanost između izloženosti fluoridu i bolesti srca i krvožilja možda potječe od toga što fluorid remeti lipidnu homeostazu te pokreće upalne citokine i, posljedično, oksidacijski stres.
An assessment of the total population approach for evaluating disease management program effectiveness.

A key challenge currently facing the disease management industry is accurately demonstrating program effectiveness at controlling utilization of services and medical costs of populations with chronic disease. The most common method used in the disease management industry to date for determining financial outcomes is referred to as the "total population approach. " This model is a pretest-posttest design, which is a relatively weak research and evaluation technique. This paper describes the "total population approach," details many of the biases and confounding factors that may influence outcomes using this method, and illustrates the potential consequences of these factors.
Anonymity in Location-Based Services: Towards a General Framework

A general consensus is that the proliferation of location- aware devices will result in a diffusion of location-based services. Privacy preservation is a challenging research issue for this kind of service. A possible solution consists of ensuring users' anonymity, i.e., ensuring that the user issuing a request is indistinguishable, among a group of users, by any attacker who has access to the service requests. In this paper we propose a formal framework to model the problem of guaranteeing anonymity when requiring location-based services. The proposed framework extends existing approaches by allowing to model different kinds of knowledge that may be available to the attacker. We show application examples of our framework, modeling both known scenarios and new ones. From a practical point of view, the framework makes it possible to define anonymity-preserving techniques that best suite the system assumptions as derived from the applicative context, and the level of privacy protection defined by the user.
Social Status Controls Somatostatin Neuron Size and Growth

Many animal species show flexible behavioral responses to environmental and social changes. Such responses typically require changes in the neural substrate responsible for particular behavioral states. We have shown previously in the African cichlid fish,Haplochromis burtoni, that changes in social status, including events such as losing or winning a territorial encounter, result in changes in somatic growth rate. Here we demonstrate for the first time that changes in social status cause changes in the size of neurons involved in the control of growth. Specifically, somatostatin-containing neurons in the hypothalamus of H. burtoni increase up to threefold in volume in dominant and socially descending animals compared with cell sizes in subordinate and socially ascending fish. Because somatostatin is known to be an inhibitor of growth hormone release, the differences in cell size suggest a possible mechanism to account for the more rapid growth rates of subordinate and socially ascending animals compared with those of dominant or socially descending fish. These results reveal possible mechanisms responsible for socially induced physiological plasticity that allow animals to shift resources from reproduction to growth or vice versa depending on the social context.
Battery-driven system design: a new frontier in low power design

As an increasing number of electronic systems are powered by batteries, battery life becomes a primary design consideration. Maximizing battery life requires system designers to develop an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the batteries that power such systems, and to incorporate battery considerations into the system design process. Recent research has shown that the amount of energy that can be supplied by a given battery varies significantly, depending on how the energy is drawn. Consequently, researchers are attempting to develop new battery-driven approaches to system design, which deliver battery life improvements over and beyond what can be achieved through conventional low-power design techniques. This paper presents an introduction to this emerging area, surveys promising technologies that have been developed for battery modeling and battery-efficient system design, and outlines emerging industry standards for smart battery systems.
Family bereavement program (FBP) approach to promoting resilience following the death of a parent

This article describes a research-based program designed to promote resilience of parentally bereaved children and their bereaved surviving parent. A contextual resilience model is described as the conceptual foundation of the program. The program is designed to enhance specific parenting and coping skills and to help caregivers and children accomplish goals they set for themselves at the outset of the program. The content of the 12 sessions and the approach to teaching and supporting parents work on their program and personal goals are described. Evaluation of the program using a randomized experimental design indicates that the program is effective in promoting resilient outcomes of children and of the bereaved parent 6 years following their participation in the program.
Locally Parallel Texture Modeling

This article presents a new adaptive framework for locally parallel texture modeling. Oscillating patterns are modeled with functionals that constrain the local Fourier decomposition of the texture. We first introduce a texture functional which is a weighted Hilbert norm. The weights on the local Fourier atoms are optimized to match the local orientation and frequency of the texture. This adaptive model is used to solve image processing inverse problems, such as image decomposition and inpainting. The local orientation and frequency of the texture component are adaptively estimated during the minimization process. To improve inpainting performances over large missing regions, we introduce a highly nonconvex generalization of our texture model. This new model constrains the amplitude of the texture and allows one to impose an arbitrary oscillation profile. Numerical results illustrate the effectiveness of the method.
Performance evaluation of a new parallel preconditioner

The linear systems associated with large, sparse, symmetric, positive definite matrices are often solved iteratively using the preconditioned conjugate gradient method. We have developed a new class of preconditioners, support tree preconditioners, that are based on the connectivity of the graphs corresponding to the matrices and are well-structured for parallel implementation. We evaluate the performance of support tree preconditioners by comparing them against two common types of preconditioners: diagonal scaling and incomplete Cholesky. Support tree preconditioners require less overall storage and less work per iteration than incomplete Cholesky preconditioners. In terms of total execution time, support tree preconditioners outperform both diagonal scaling and incomplete Cholesky preconditioners. <<ETX>>
Reliable and Secure Memories Based on Algebraic Manipulation Detection Codes and Robust Error Correction

—The reliability and security of memories are crucial considerations in the modern digital system design. Traditional codes concentrate on detecting and correcting errors of certain types, e.g., errors with small multiplicities or byte errors, and cannot detect or correct unanticipated errors. Thereby, they may not be sufﬁcient to protect memories against malicious attackers with strong fault injection capabilities and cannot correct unexpected errors with high multiplicities. The contribution of this paper is that we construct a new reliable and secure memory architecture based on robust Algebraic Manipulation Correction (AMC) codes. These codes can be used for correction of random errors and for detection of fault injection attacks. These codes can provide a guaranteed error detection probability for all errors even if both the user deﬁned messages (data stored in the memory) and the error patterns are controllable by an attacker. The presented code can correct all single-bit errors in the information bits of the code. Moreover, these codes can be used to correct double-bit errors with high probabilities. The construction and the error correction procedures for the code will be described. The probability that an error can be successfully detected and/or corrected and the hardware overheads for the proposed memory architecture will be estimated. The presented approach is efﬁcient for protecting security/reliability critical memories used to store the important information on the chip (e.g., a secret key in a cryptographic device).
Goal-oriented methods and meta methods for document classification and their parameter tuning

Automatic text classification methods come with various calibration parameters such as thresholds for probabilities in Bayesian classifiers or for hyperplane distances in SVM classifiers. In a given application context these parameters should be set so as to meet the relative importance of various result quality metrics such as precision versus recall. In this paper we consider classifiers that can accept a document for a topic, reject it, or abstain. We aim to meet the application's goals in terms of accuracy (i.e., avoid false acceptances or rejections) and loss (i.e., limit the fraction of documents for which no decision is made). To this end we investigate restrictive forms of Support Vector Machine classifiers and we develop meta methods that split the training data into subsets for independently trained classifiers and then combine the results of these classifiers. These techniques tend to improve accuracy at the expense of document loss. We develop estimators that help to predict the accuracy and loss for a given setting of the methods' tuning parameters, and a methodology for efficiently deriving a setting that meets the application's goals. Our experiments confirm the practical viability of the approach.
Cholinergic modulation of the CAN current may adjust neural dynamics for active memory maintenance, spatial navigation and time-compressed replay

Suppression of cholinergic receptors and inactivation of the septum impair short-term memory, and disrupt place cell and grid cell activity in the medial temporal lobe (MTL). Location-dependent hippocampal place cell firing during active waking, when the acetylcholine level is high, switches to time-compressed replay activity during quiet waking and slow-wave-sleep (SWS), when the acetylcholine level is low. However, it remains largely unknown how acetylcholine supports short-term memory, spatial navigation, and the functional switch to replay mode in the MTL. In this paper, we focus on the role of the calcium-activated non-specific cationic (CAN) current which is activated by acetylcholine. The CAN current is known to underlie persistent firing, which could serve as a memory trace in many neurons in the MTL. Here, we review the CAN current and discuss possible roles of the CAN current in short-term memory and spatial navigation. We further propose a novel theoretical model where the CAN current switches the hippocampal place cell activity between real-time and time-compressed sequential activity during encoding and consolidation, respectively.
Perforin and serine esterase gene expression in stimulated human T cells. Kinetics, mitogen requirements, and effects of cyclosporin A

A pore-forming protein (PFP; perforin) and various serine esterases (SE) have been identified in the cytoplasmic granules of CTL and NK cells. Perforin and several SE have recently been cloned. Northern blotting analysis was performed here using cDNA probes specific for human perforin and two SE (SE 1/HS and SE 2/GB) to monitor the levels of specific mRNAs in mitogen-stimulated primary human T cells. These mRNAs were rapidly induced by IL-2 with optimal responses at 300 U/ml. After IL-2 treatment, mRNAs for perforin, SE 1, and SE 2 peaked at 12- 24 h and decreased after 48 h. The three mRNAs were also induced in T cells treated with a combination of PMA plus lectin, OKT3 mAb, or plastic-adherent accessory cells. However, the induction induced by PMA/mitogen followed a slower kinetics, peaking at 48 h. In general, we found that SE 1 mRNA was more readily induced by IL-2, while SE 2 responded better to PMA/mitogen. Similar patterns of mRNA expression were observed for both unprimed T cells and PHA-primed T blasts. After stimulation with IL-2 and PMA/mitogen, the T8+ subset was shown to be the main producer of perforin, SE 1, and SE 2. Low levels of all three mRNAs, however, were also detected in the T4+ subset. The induction of all three mRNAs by either IL-2 or PMA/mitogen was partially blocked by the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A (CsA), but not by the biologically inactive analogue cyclosporin H. Together, these results point to some similarities and differences with upregulation of granule mediator mRNAs relative to lymphokine mRNAs. Both sets of genes require two signals for their induction by mitogens. In contrast to lymphokines, there is a strong response of granule mRNAs to IL-2, and the induction of these transcripts is only partially blocked by CsA.