Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attachment organization and patterns of conflict resolution in friendships predicting adolescents' depressive symptoms over time

The current study examined the moderating effects of observed conflict management styles with friends on the link between adolescents' preoccupied attachment organization and changing levels of depressive symptoms from age 13 to age 18 years. Adolescents and their close friends were observed during a revealed differences task, and friends' behaviors were coded for both conflict avoidance and overpersonalizing attacks. Results indicated that preoccupied adolescents showed greater relative increases in depressive symptoms when their friends demonstrated overpersonalizing behaviors, vs. greater relative decreases in depressive symptoms when their friends avoided conflict by deferring to them. Results suggest the exquisite sensitivity of preoccupied adolescents to qualities of peer relationships as predictors of future levels of psychological functioning.
Mechanical properties of BixSb2−xTe3 nanostructured thermoelectric material

Research on thermoelectric (TE) materials has been focused on their transport properties in order to maximize their overall performance. Mechanical properties, which are crucial for system reliability, are often overlooked. The recent development of a new class of high-performance, low-dimension thermoelectric materials calls for a better understanding of their mechanical behavior to achieve the desired system reliability. In the present study we investigate the mechanical behavior of nanostructure bulk TE material p-type BixSb2−xTe3 by means of nanoindentation and 3D finite element analysis. The Young’s modulus of the material was estimated by the Oliver–Pharr (OP) method and by means of numerically assisted nanoindentation analysis yielding comparable values about 40 GPa. Enhanced hardness and yield strength can be predicted for this nanostructured material. Microstructure is studied and correlation with mechanical properties is discussed.
Content-boosted collaborative filtering for improved recommendations

Most recommender systems use Collaborative Filtering or Content-based methods to predict new items of interest for a user. While both methods have their own advantages, individually they fail to provide good recommendations in many situations. Incorporating components from both methods, a hybrid recommender system can overcome these shortcomings. In this paper, we present an elegant and effective framework for combining content and collaboration. Our approach uses a content-based predictor tc enhance existing user data, and then provides personalized suggestions through collaborative filtering. We present experimental results that show how this approach, <i>Content-Boosted Collaborative Filtering</i>, performs better than a pure content-based predictor, pure collaborative filter, and a naive hybrid approach.
Exploiting a parallel TEXT - DATA corpus

In this paper, we describe SUMTIME-METEO, a parallel corpus of naturally occurring weather forecast texts and their corresponding forecast data; data that the human authors inspected while writing the forecast texts. We have analysed the corpus to acquire knowledge needed to build a text generator for automatically producing textual weather forecasts from numerical weather prediction data. Although parallel corpora are commonly used for the development and evaluation of machine translation technology, it is fairly novel in the text generation community. Our analyses of the corpus, in some cases, produced ambiguous results that are not useful and reflected inconsistencies in the underlying corpus. Despite the internal inconsistencies, the text-data parallel corpus was helpful in generating initial hypotheses, which were then tested with knowledge from other sources. We also describe how we have used the corpus for evaluating our prototype forecast text generator.
Effect of Heat Treatment on Tribological Characteristics of CuAl10Ni5Fe4 Nickel Aluminum Bronze

Al bronze are the choice of material for relatively high wear applications besides appreciable mechanical and corrosion properties. In present work, the effect of different heat treatment processes on tribological characteristics of Ni-Al bronze (CuAl10Ni5Fe4, UNS C63000) has been studied. The hot rolled bar of 30 mm diameter was subjected to annealing, quenching and aging processes separately, consequently their effect on microstructure was studied and co-related with tribological characteristics. The formation and nucleation of various phases due to the thermal treatments were observed using optical microscopy. The wear behavior was studied using ball on disk arrangement with 100Cr6 ball and Ni-Al Bronze samples as disk. The characteristics and mechanism of wear track was studied using scanning electron microscope. It was observed that the water quenched sample followed by aging at 300°C exhibited best tribological characteristics.
Real-time in vivo imaging of retinal cell apoptosis after laser exposure.

PURPOSE To investigate whether the detection of apoptosing retinal cells (DARC) could detect cells undergoing apoptosis in a laser model of retinal damage. METHODS Laser lesions were placed, with the use of a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser, on the retina in 34 eyes of anesthetized Dark Agouti rats. Lesion size and laser-induced retinal elevation were analyzed using in vivo reflectance imaging. Development of retinal cell apoptosis was assessed using intravitreal fluorescence-labeled annexin 5 in vivo with DARC technology from baseline until 90 minutes after laser application. Histologic analysis of retinal flat mounts and cross-sections was performed. RESULTS The lateral and anteroposterior depth extension of the zone of laser damage was significantly larger for higher exposure settings. A strong diffuse signal, concentrated at the outer retina, was seen with DARC for low exposures (<300 ms and <300 mW). In comparison, higher exposures (>300 ms and >300 mW) resulted in detectable hyperfluorescent spots, mainly at the level of the inner retinal layers. Dose-dependent effects on spot density and positive correlation of spot density between lesion size (P < 0.0001) and retinal elevation (P < 0.0001) were demonstrated. Histology confirmed the presence of apoptosing retinal cells in the inner nuclear and the ganglion cell layers. CONCLUSIONS This is the first time that DARC has been used to determine apoptotic effects in the inner nuclear layer. The ability to monitor changes spatially and temporally in vivo promises to be a major advance in the real-time assessment of retinal diseases and treatment effects.
Bistability in a Metabolic Network Underpins the De Novo Evolution of Colony Switching in Pseudomonas fluorescens

Phenotype switching is commonly observed in nature. This prevalence has allowed the elucidation of a number of underlying molecular mechanisms. However, little is known about how phenotypic switches arise and function in their early evolutionary stages. The first opportunity to provide empirical insight was delivered by an experiment in which populations of the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 evolved, de novo, the ability to switch between two colony phenotypes. Here we unravel the molecular mechanism behind colony switching, revealing how a single nucleotide change in a gene enmeshed in central metabolism (carB) generates such a striking phenotype. We show that colony switching is underpinned by ON/OFF expression of capsules consisting of a colanic acid-like polymer. We use molecular genetics, biochemical analyses, and experimental evolution to establish that capsule switching results from perturbation of the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway. Of central importance is a bifurcation point at which uracil triphosphate is partitioned towards either nucleotide metabolism or polymer production. This bifurcation marks a cell-fate decision point whereby cells with relatively high pyrimidine levels favour nucleotide metabolism (capsule OFF), while cells with lower pyrimidine levels divert resources towards polymer biosynthesis (capsule ON). This decision point is present and functional in the wild-type strain. Finally, we present a simple mathematical model demonstrating that the molecular components of the decision point are capable of producing switching. Despite its simple mutational cause, the connection between genotype and phenotype is complex and multidimensional, offering a rare glimpse of how noise in regulatory networks can provide opportunity for evolution.
Role of GPR55 during Axon Growth and Target Innervation

Abstract Guidance molecules regulate the navigation of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) projections toward targets in the visual thalamus. In this study, we demonstrate that the G-protein-coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) is expressed in the retina during development, and regulates growth cone (GC) morphology and axon growth. In vitro, neurons obtained from gpr55 knock-out (gpr55-/- ) mouse embryos have smaller GCs, less GC filopodia, and have a decreased outgrowth compared with gpr55+/+ neurons. When gpr55+/+ neurons were treated with GPR55 agonists, lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) and O-1602, we observed a chemo-attractive effect and an increase in GC size and filopodia number. In contrast, cannabidiol (CBD) decreased the GC size and filopodia number inducing chemo-repulsion. In absence of the receptor (gpr55-/- ), no pharmacologic effects of the GPR55 ligands were observed. In vivo, compared to their wild-type (WT) littermates, gpr55-/- mice revealed a decreased branching in the dorsal terminal nucleus (DTN) and a lower level of eye-specific segregation of retinal projections in the superior colliculus (SC) and in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). Moreover, a single intraocular injection of LPI increased branching in the DTN, whereas treatment with CBD, an antagonist of GPR55, decreased it. These results indicate that GPR55 modulates the growth rate and the targets innervation of retinal projections and highlight, for the first time, an important role of GPR55 in axon refinement during development.
Effect of pin-profiles on thermal cycle, mechanical and metallurgical properties of friction stir–welded aviation-grade aluminum alloy

Current research is an attempt to choose suitable pin-profile for friction stir welding of aviation-grade aluminum alloy (AA6082). Six tool pin-geometries (T1–T6), that is, threaded cylindrical, taper cylindrical, four slotted, square, triangular and inverted tapered with two flat faces are used to fabricate joints. Mechanical and metallurgical properties of the joints are assessed and allied with nugget zone grain size and thermal properties. The swept volume ratio and pulsating-stirring action of pin-profiles are also quantified. It is observed that square pin-profile provides joint with superior mechanical and metallurgical properties owing to higher pulsating-stirring action and sufficient swept volume ratio. The maximum tensile strength of 300 MPa is obtained by employing square pin-profile tool. Beside this, electron backscatter diffraction analysis has been conducted to critically examine the effect of pin-profiles on grains distribution of nugget zone of friction stir–welded joints. The minimum grain size of 5.48 μm is obtained using square pin-profile.
Monte Carlo simulations of Sznajd models

The Sznajd model in less than a year has found several followers. An isolated person does not convince others; a group of people sharing the same opinions influences the neighbours much more easily. Thus on a square lattice, with variables +1 (Democrats) and --1 (Republicans) on every lattice site, a pair (or plaquette) of neighbours convinces its six (eight) nearest neighbours of its own opinion if and only if all members of the pair (plaquette) share the same opinion. The generalization to many possible states is used to explain the distribution of votes among candidates in Brazilian local elections. Review; published in Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 5, No. 1, paper 4 (2002), available only electronically
Sentiment Analysis using Support Vector Machines with Diverse Information Sources

This paper introduces an approach to sentiment analysis which uses support vector machines (SVMs) to bring together diverse sources of potentially pertinent information, including several fa-vorability measures for phrases and adjectives and, where available, knowledge of the topic of the text. Models using the features introduced are further combined with unigram models which have been shown to be effective in the past (Pang et al., 2002) and lemmatized versions of the unigram models. Experiments on movie review data from the Internet Movie Database demonstrate that hybrid SVMs which combine unigram-style feature-based SVMs with those based on real-valued favorability measures obtain superior performance, producing the best results yet published using this data. Further experiments using a feature set enriched with topic information on a smaller dataset of music reviews hand-annotated for topic are also reported, the re-sults of which suggest that incorporating topic information into such models may also yield improvement.
Competence-impeding electronic games and players' aggressive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 106(3) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2014-07574-006). In the article, the name of author Edward Deci was missing his middle name initial and should have read as Edward L. Deci. In addition, an incorrect version of figure 1 was published. ] Recent studies have examined whether electronic games foster aggression. At present, the extent to which games contribute to aggression and the mechanisms through which such links may exist are hotly debated points. In current research we tested a motivational hypothesis derived from self-determination theory-that gaming would be associated with indicators of human aggression to the degree that the interactive elements of games serve to impede players' fundamental psychological need for competence. Seven studies, using multiple methods to manipulate player competence and a range of approaches for evaluating aggression, indicated that competence-impeding play led to higher levels of aggressive feelings, easier access to aggressive thoughts, and a greater likelihood of enacting aggressive behavior. Results indicated that player perceived competence was positively related to gaming motivation, a factor that was, in turn, negatively associated with player aggression. Overall, this pattern of effects was found to be independent of the presence or absence of violent game contents. We discuss the results in respect to research focused on psychological need frustration and satisfaction and as they regard gaming-related aggression literature.
Conjugated Equine Estrogens and Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Survival: The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: In separate Women's Health Initiative randomized trials, combined hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin reduced colorectal cancer incidence but estrogen alone in women with hysterectomy did not. We now analyze features of the colorectal cancers that developed and examine the survival of women following colorectal cancer diagnosis in the latter trial. Participants and Methods: 10,739 postmenopausal women who were 50 to 79 years of age and had undergone hysterectomy were randomized to conjugated equine estrogens (0.625 mg/d) or matching placebo. Colorectal cancer incidence was a component of the monitoring global index of the study but was not a primary study endpoint. Colorectal cancers were verified by central medical record and pathology report review. Bowel exam frequency was not protocol defined, but information on their use was collected. Results: After a median 7.1 years, there were 58 invasive colorectal cancers in the hormone group and 53 in the placebo group [hazard ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.77-1.63]. Tumor size, stage, and grade were comparable in the two randomization groups. Bowel exam frequency was also comparable in the two groups. The cumulative mortality following colorectal cancer diagnosis among women in the conjugated equine estrogen group was 34% compared with 30% in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 1.34; 95% CI, 0.58-3.19). Conclusions: In contrast to the preponderance of observational studies, conjugated equine estrogens in a randomized clinical trial did not reduce colorectal cancer incidence nor improve survival after diagnosis. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(10):2609–18)
New encoding schemes for quantum authentication

We study the potential of general quantum operations, Trace-Preserving Completely-Positive Maps (TPCPs), as encoding and decoding mechanisms in quantum authentication protocols. The study shows that these general operations do not offer significant advantage over unitary encodings. We also propose a practical authentication protocol based on the use of two successive unitary encodings.
Brain metastasis from pancreatic cancer: A case report and literature review

A 68-year-old man presented to our hospital with a 1-month history of slowly progressing altered mental status and gait disturbance. Magnetic resonance imaging and abdominal computed tomography revealed advanced pancreatic cancer (PC) with brain and para-aortic lymph node metastases. Gross total resection of the brain metastatic tumor was performed. Although symptoms improved, the patient died 3 months postoperatively. In general, the prognosis for PC patients with brain metastasis is very poor. Surgical resection of brain metastasis may play a very limited role in allowing long-term survival of patients for whom the primary PC is controlled or with particular oncocytic-type tumors.
Optimal UAV localisation in vision based navigation systems

Optimal determination of a UAV using a vision-based system to match images against a database is an important problem. It can be reformulated to the problem of using multiregion scene registration to match areas of a noisy and distorted image to a geo-referenced image. Under the assumptions that the mapping between sensed and geo-referenced images preserves gradients of straight lines cross mapping points on images and registration errors are all Gaussian distributed, we derive a two-stage weighted linear least square algorithm which localises the UAV optimally. Performance of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated via Monte Carlo multiple runs along with those available in literature.
Can Left-Handedness be Switched? Insights from an Early Switch of Handwriting

“Converted” left-handers are innately left-handed individuals forced as children to write with the right nondominant hand. We asked how a left-to-right handwriting switch shapes cortical sensorimotor representations of finger movements. In 16 adult converted left-handers and age-matched groups of 16 consistent right-handers and 16 left-handers, we studied movement-related neuronal activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants performed simple unimanual and bimanual movements with right and left index fingers. In converted left-handers, movement-related activity in the primary sensorimotor hand area (SM1) and caudal dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) of the nondominant left hemisphere correlated with the left-to-right shift in handedness. The more right-handed converted left-handers had become, the greater the sensorimotor activation in these areas. Between-group comparisons showed that the switch from left to right hand also reinforced movement representations in the dominant right hemisphere. In converted left-handers, the right inferior parietal cortex and lateral PMd were more active relative to consistent right or left-handers in all motor tasks. These results suggest two distinct neuronal correlates of handedness in human sensorimotor cortex. Although those in executive sensorimotor cortex (i.e., SM1 and adjacent PMd) depend on the hand used throughout life, those in higher-order sensorimotor areas (i.e., inferior parietal cortex and rostrolateral PMd) are invariant and thus cannot be switched to the nondominant hemisphere by educational training.
Inexperienced Sport Climbers Might Perceive and Utilize New Opportunities for Action by Merely Observing a Model

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether observing an expert climber would enable inexperienced climbers to perceive and accomplish new possibilities for action and whether this would facilitate their climbing performance. The focus was on what information is obtained during observation of a motor action. Three groups of inexperienced male participants (N=24) observed either a video model of an expert method of climbing, a video model of a novice method of climbing, or the climbing wall on video without a model. Participants subsequently climbed the wall. This procedure of observation followed by climbing was repeated five times. Analysis showed participants perceived and subsequently utilized information from the videotapes and that this resulted in faster and more fluent climbing (as assessed by the geometric entropy of the body center of gravity). The results are discussed in terms of perceiving and accomplishing opportunities For action or affordances.
The Effect of Performing Preoperative Preparation Program on School Age Children's Anxiety

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine effects of performing preoperative preparation program on children's anxiety. Methods This study was performed in Amirkola Pediatrics Hospital, Mazandaran. A randomized controlled trail was performed on 122 children (7–12 years of age) admitted for elective surgery during 15 months. The researcher randomly assigned eligible participants in to the experimental and control groups, after pre-test baseline measurement had been taken. Analyzing was performed through independent t-test and χ2 test. P<0.005 was considered statistically significant. The experimental group received therapeutic play and the control group received routine preoperative information preparation. Findings The mean and standard deviation of the state anxiety scores of children in experimental and control groups before intervention were 35.52±6.99 and 34.98±6.78, after intervention 31.44±5.87 and 38.31±7.44 respectively. The state anxiety score was lower significantly in the experimental group prior to preoperative surgery than in the control group (P=0.000). Conclusion Performing preoperative program with using therapeutic play intervention is effective for preparing children before surgery and decreases their anxiety.
A characterization of the critical value for Kalman filtering with intermittent observations

In Sinopoli et al. analyzed the problem of optimal estimation for linear Gaussian systems where packets containing observations are dropped according to an i.i. d. Bernoulli process, modeling a memoryless erasure channel. In this case the authors showed that the Kalman Filter is still the optimal estimator, although boundedness of the error depends directly upon the channel arrival probability, p. In particular they also proved the existence of a critical value, pc, for such probability, below which the Kalman filter will diverge. The authors were not able to compute the actual value of this critical probability for general linear systems, but provided upper and lower bounds. They were able to show that for special cases, i.e. C invertible, such critical value coincides with the lower bound. This paper computes the value of the critical arrival probability, under minimally restrictive conditions on the matrices A and C. This paper also gives an example to illustrate that the lower bound is not always tight.