Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
' s personal copy Sleep and Emotional Memory Processing

The ability of the human brain to generate, regulate, and be guided by emotions represents a fundamental process governing not only our personal lives but also our mental health and societal structure. The recent emergence of cognitive neuroscience has ushered in a new era of research connecting affective behavior with human brain function and has provided a systems-level view of emotional information processing, translationally bridging animal models of affective regulation and relevant clinical disorders. Independent of this research area, a recent resurgence has also taken place within the basic sciences, focusing on the functional effect of sleep on neurocognitive processes. However, surprisingly less research attention has been given to the interaction between sleep and affective brain function, considering the remarkable overlap between the known physiology of sleep, especially rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and the associated neurochemistry and network anatomy that modulate emotions, as well as the prominent co-occurrence of abnormal sleep (including REM sleep) in almost all affective psychiatric and mood disorders. Despite the relative historical paucity of research, recent work has begun to describe a consistent and clarifying role of sleep in the selective modulation of emotional memory and affective regulation. This review provides a synthesis of these findings, describing an intimate relationship between sleep, emotional brain function, and clinical mood disorders and offers a tentative first theoretical framework that may account for these observed interactions. SLEEP
On the Importance of Parental Participation for Student Achievement in Reading Literacy

The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of home and school interplay on students’ reading achievement at both individual and class level. While previous research has shown that interplay between home and school may be of importance for student achievement, no consistent pattern has been found. The analyses presented here are based on data from PIRLS 2001, using variables from both the teachers’, the schools’, students’ and the parents’ reports of communication and collaboration between home and school. A series of theoretically based structural equation models was fitted to these data. In the first stage, measurement models of broad constructs such as “parental participation” was identified and later included in a two-level structural model. These latent variables were related to achievement both at the individual and at the class level. The results indicate that the homeschool relationships play an important role in explaining differences between classes in reading achievement, whilst the effect at the individual level is almost negligible. In the final analysis the relationships are investigated in a model where both teacher competence and student SES in terms of general capital is included. It is shown that the positive effect of parental participation on achievement was dependent on student home background and teacher competence. The results also showed that teacher competence and student home background to a certain degree was mediated through the parental participation factors.
Canonical gravity, diffeomorphisms and objective histories

This paper discusses the implementation of diffeomorphism invariance in purely Hamiltonian formulations of general relativity. We observe that, if a constrained Hamiltonian formulation derives from a manifestly covariant Lagrangian, the diffeomorphism invariance of the Lagrangian results in the following properties of the constrained Hamiltonian theory: the diffeomorphisms are generated by constraints on the phase space so that: (a) the algebra of the generators reflects the algebra of the diffeomorphism group; (b) the Poisson brackets of the basic fields with the generators reflects the spacetime transformation properties of these basic fields. This suggests that in a purely Hamiltonian approach the requirement of diffeomorphism invariance should be interpreted to include (b) and not just (a) as one might naively suppose. Giving up (b) amounts to giving up objective histories, even at the classical level. This observation has implications for loop quantum gravity which are spelled out in a companion paper. We also describe an analogy between canonical gravity and relativistic particle dynamics to illustrate our main point.
Interactive Effects of Commitment to Future Interaction and Threat to Attitudinal Freedom.

The present research investigated the attitudinal effect of two variables, commitment to future interaction and threat to attitudinal freedom. Threat to attitudinal freedom was manipulated via a note from the subject's partner which either arbitrarily assigned the subject an attitudinal position (high threat) or solicited the subject's attitudinal preference (low threat). With no expectation of future interaction with the partner (low commitment), we expected greater negative, or "boomerang," attitude change under high threat than under low threat. However, with expectation of future interaction with the partner (high commitment), we expected an attenuation of this effect, presumably because commitment to future interaction with the partner would forestall restoration of attitudinal freedom via negative attitude change. The significant Commitment X Threat interaction on the attitude change measure confirmed the prediction. In addition, only under high commitment, subjects covertly derogated the partner, in line with previous results. Theoretically, reactance is aroused when an individual's freedom to adopt or change an attitudinal position is threatened with elimination (Brehm, 1968). The theory assumes that an individual is free to select his own position, and that this freedom may be threatened by attempts to influence that position (Brehm, 1968), Reactance arousal motivates the individual to restore the threatened freedom either by rejecting the influence attempt (Brehm & Sensenig, 1966) or by rejecting the position advocated by the influence attempt, leading to negative, or "boomerang," attitude change (Sensenig & Brehm, 1968). The greater the perceived threat to attitudinal freedom, the greater the reactance aroused and the greater the attitude change away from the position advocated b}T the influence attempt.
Parameters of variable reward distributions that affect risk sensitivity of honey bees

SUMMARY We investigated risk sensitivity with harnessed honey bees in a proboscis-extension conditioning paradigm. We conditioned each subject to turn its head and extend its proboscis towards one of two presented odors; one odor was associated with a constant reward and the other with a variable reward that was either low or high, with probabilities P and (1-P), respectively. Reward values and probabilities were set so that the expected value of the variable alternative was equal to that of the constant one. We performed six experimental conditions in which variability was in reward volume and three conditions in which variability was in reward concentration. The experiments were designed to systematically test the effect of various parameters that describe the reward distributions on levels of risk sensitivity. Risk aversion was greatest when variability was in reward volume, and the variable distribution included zero rewards and had a high coefficient of variation (CV=s.d./mean). The variance itself did not affect risk sensitivity. Subjects were risk indifferent when the variable distribution did not include zero rewards, however these distributions were positively skewed. The independent effects of zero rewards and distribution skew remain to be tested. Subjects were risk indifferent in conditions where variability was in reward concentration, but concentration range was limited and these distributions did not include zero rewards and were skewed. We conclude that risk aversion to variability in reward amount is a robust phenomenon for some reward distributions. A systematic evaluation of the effect of various reward distribution parameters on choice behavior should complement functional and mechanistic approaches.
The Economic Value of Realized Volatility: Using High-Frequency Returns for Option Valuation

Abstract Many studies have documented that daily realized volatility estimates based on intraday returns provide volatility forecasts that are superior to forecasts constructed from daily returns only. We investigate whether these forecasting improvements translate into economic value added. To do so, we develop a new class of affine discrete-time option valuation models that use daily returns as well as realized volatility. We derive convenient closed-form option valuation formulas, and we assess the option valuation properties using Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 return and option data. We find that realized volatility reduces the pricing errors of the benchmark model significantly across moneyness, maturity, and volatility levels.
An O(VE) algorithm for ear decompositions of matching-covered graphs

Our main result is an O(nm)-time (deterministic) algorithm for constructing an ear decomposition of a matching-covered graph, improving on the previous best running time of O(nm2). where n and m denote the number of nodes and edges. The improvement in the running time comes from new structural results that give a sharpened version of Lovász and Plummer's Two-ear Theorem. Our algorithm is based on O(nm)-time algorithms for two other fundamental problems in matching theory, namely, finding all the allowed edges of a graph, and finding the canonical partition of an elementary graph. (To the best of our knowledge, no faster deterministic algorithms are known for these two fundamental problems.)
Oxidants, antioxidants and alcohol: implications for skeletal and cardiac muscle.

The chronic form of alcoholic skeletal myopathy is characterized by selective atrophy of Type II fibers and affects up to two thirds of all alcohol misusers. Plasma selenium and alpha-tocopherol are reduced in myopathic alcoholics compared to alcoholic patients without myopathy. Plasma carnosinase is also reduced in myopathic alcoholics, implicating a mechanism related to reduced intramuscular carnosine, an imidazole dipeptide with putative antioxidant properties. Together with the observation that alcoholic patients have increased indices of lipid peroxidation, there is evidence suggestive of free radical (i.e., unpaired electrons or reactive oxygen species) mediated damage in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced muscle disease. Protein synthesis is a multi-step process that encompasses amino acid transport, signal transduction, translation and transcription. Any defect in one or more of the innumerable components of each process will have an impact on protein synthesis, as determined by radiolabelling of constituent proteins. Both acute and chronic alcohol exposure are associated with a reduction in skeletal muscle protein synthesis. Paradoxically, alcohol-feeding studies in rats have shown that the imidazole dipeptide concentrations are increased in myopathic muscles though alpha-tocopherol contents are not significantly altered. In acutely dosed rats, where protein synthesis is reduced, protein carbonyl concentrations (an index of oxidative damage to muscle) also decline slightly or are unaltered, contrary to the expected increase. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy can ensue from heavy consumption of alcohol over a long period of time. The clinical features include poor myocardial contractility with reduced left ventricular ejection volume, raised tissue enzymes, dilation of the left ventricle, raised auto- antibodies and defects in mitochondrial function. Whilst oxidant damage occurs in experimental models, however this issues remains to be confirmed in the clinical setting. In the rat, circulating troponin-T release increases in the presence of ethanol, a mechanism ascribed to free radical mediated damage, as it is prevented with the xanthine oxidase inhibitor and beta-blocker, propranolol. However, whilst propranolol prevents the release of troponin-T, it does not prevent the fall in whole cardiac protein synthesis, suggestive of localized ischemic damage due to ethanol.
TMJ Relationships for Both Genders in Different Facial Morphology (Lateral Cephalometric Study)

The purpose of this study was to verify the position of the glenoid fossa for both genders in subjects with different sagittal and vertical skeletal patterns. A lateral cephalometric study was carried out on 124 subjects (45 male and 79 female) aged 18-30 years who were classified according to skeletal sagittal relationships using ANB angle into three groups {Cl. І =48 (13 male and 35 female), Cl. ІІ =41 (14 male and 27 female), Cl. ІІІ =35 (18 male and 17 female)} subjects, and according to skeletal vertical relationships using MP-SN angle into three groups {normal angle=67(17male and 50 female) , high angle=23 (8 male and 15 female), low angle=34 (20 male and 14 female)} subjects. Cephalometric analysis comprised both sagittal and vertical measurements for the assessment of the position of the glenoid fossa in relation to surrounding skeletal structures. The assessment was achieved by measuring two angular and six linear variables using the AutoCAD computer program 2008. The results revealed that in sagittal skeletal relation, the glenoid fossa position didn’t differed in skeletal Class I for both gender, while in skeletal CL. ΙΙ and CL. ΙΙΙ the glenoid fossa position was more cranial in male than female, while in the vertical plane; the position of the glenoid fossa relative to Basicranial structures was more posterior in male than female for normal angle subjects and more cranial in male than female for high angle subjects when compared with subjects with low angle vertical relationships. In conclusion, subjects with high angle vertical relationships show a more cranial position of the Glenoid Fossa in male group in relation to cranial base when compared to subjects with either normal or low angle vertical relationships regarding the vertical plane and more cranial in male group in skeletal CL. ΙΙ and CL. ΙΙΙ regarding the sagittal plane.
Learning to Detect A Salient Object

We study visual attention by detecting a salient object in an input image. We formulate salient object detection as an image segmentation problem, where we separate the salient object from the image background. We propose a set of novel features including multi-scale contrast, center-surround histogram, and color spatial distribution to describe a salient object locally, regionally, and globally. A conditional random field is learned to effectively combine these features for salient object detection. We also constructed a large image database containing tens of thousands of carefully labeled images by multiple users. To our knowledge, it is the first large image database for quantitative evaluation of visual attention algorithms. We validate our approach on this image database, which is public available with this paper.
Progressive Gaussian mixture reduction

For estimation and fusion tasks it is inevitable to approximate a Gaussian mixture by one with fewer components to keep the complexity bounded. Appropriate approximations can be typically generated by exploiting the redundancy in the shape description of the original mixture. In contrast to the common approach of successively merging pairs of components to maintain a desired complexity, the novel Gaussian mixture reduction algorithm introduced in this paper avoids to directly reduce the original Gaussian mixture. Instead, an approximate mixture is generated from scratch by employing homotopy continuation. This allows starting the approximation with a single Gaussian, which is constantly adapted to the progressively incorporated true Gaussian mixture. Whenever a user-defined bound on the deviation of the approximation cannot be maintained during the continuation, further components are added to the approximation. This facilitates significantly reducing the number of components even for complex Gaussian mixtures.
Anomalous transport in biased ac-driven Josephson junctions: Negative conductances

We investigate classical anomalous electrical transport in a driven, resistively, and capacitively shunted Josephson junction device. Intriguing transport phenomena are identified in chaotic regimes when the junction is subjected to both a time-periodic (ac) and a constant biasing (dc) current. The dependence of the voltage across the junction on the dc exhibits a rich diversity of anomalous transport characteristics. In particular, depending on the chosen parameter regime, we can identify the so termed absolute negative conductance around zero dc bias, the occurrence of negative differential conductance, and, after crossing a zero conductance, the emergence of a negative nonlinear conductance in the nonequilibrium response regime remote from zero dc bias.
Interleaved continuum-rigid manipulation approach: Development and functional evaluation of a clinical scale manipulator

A new manipulation approach, referred to as interleaved continuum-rigid manipulation, which combines inherently safe, flexible actuated segments with more precise embedded rigid-link joints is described. The redundantly actuated manipulator possesses the safety characteristics inherent in flexible segment devices while gaining some of the performance gains possible with rigid-link joint systems. A demonstration prototype was developed, the purpose of which was to explore the design space as well as demonstrate the feasibility of the approach in a clinically-relevant form. The overall design is described along with performance data evaluating its functionality.
A SMART CAMERA PROCESSING PIPELINE FOR IMAGE APPLICATIONS UTILIZING MARCHING PIXELS

Image processing in machine vision is a challenging task because often real-time requirements have to be met in these systems. To accelerate the processing tasks in machine vision and to reduce data transfer latencies, new architectures for embedded systems in intelligent cameras are required. Furthermore, innovative processing approaches are necessary to realize these architectures efficiently. Marching Pixels are such a processing scheme, based on Organic Computing principles, and can be applied for example to determine object centroids in binary or gray-scale images. In this paper, we present a processing pipeline for smart camera systems utilizing such Marching Pixel algorithms. It consists of a buffering template for image pre-processing tasks in a FPGA to enhance captured images and an ASIC for the efficient realization of Marching Pixel approaches. The ASIC achieves a speedup of eight for the realization of Marching Pixel algorithms, compared to a common medium performance DSP platform.
Analysis and Modeling of Memory Errors from Large-scale Field Data Collection

Main memory reliability plays a crucial role in overall system reliability. Unfortunately, our collective understanding of the rate, pattern, and impact of memory errors is inadequate and can hinder our ability to innovate new fault-tolerant designs. This paper presents an in-depth study of observed corrected error data from the main memory system of a large server population deployed in data centers. Our analysis includes multiple structures on the memory path, such as the memory controllers, busses, channels, and memory modules. Based on our observations, we present a taxonomy of potential faults in the memory path. We provide a detailed characterization of the faults and present novel insights into the nature of these faults and the errors that they induce. KeywordsReliability, DRAM, Errors, Faults, Data Analysis
Analysis of corporate governance disclosure: a study on Brazilian companies

This study aims to compare Brazilian legislation to United Nations’ international recommendation with respect to the influence of each on the disclosure level of Brazilian companies’ CG practices. The theoretical approach is institutional theory. It is an exploratory study because CG disclosure is an insufficiently studied phenomenon in the light of institutional theory. The research amounts to a qualitative but also a quantitative one since its procedures encompass content analysis techniques to collect data and statistical tools to analyze them. Data were collected from all the companies belonging to IBOV Index, an indicator of the average quotations of Brazilian stock market’s most traded, representative shares. It was concluded that coercive forces exert more influence on the disclosure of corporate governance by the Brazilian companies studied, which means legally required indicators were more disclosed than those simply recommended by United Nations.
Are topological charge fluctuations in QCD instanton dominated

We consider a recent proposal by Horvath et al. to address the question whether topological charge fluctuations in QCD are instanton dominated via the response of fermions using lattice fermions with exact chiral symmetry, the overlap fermions. Considering several volumes and lattice spacings we find strong evidence for chirality of a finite density of low-lying eigenvectors of the overlap-Dirac operator in the regions where these modes are peaked. This result suggests instanton dominance of topological charge fluctuations in quenched QCD.
Measuring Behaviour Interactions between Product-Line Features

We suggest a method for measuring the degree to which features interact in feature-oriented software development. To this end, we extend the notion of simulation between transition systems to a similarity measure and lift it to compute a behaviour interaction score in featured transition systems. We then develop an algorithm which can compute the degree of feature interactions in a featured transition system in an efficient manner.
Novel Applications of Heat Training to Enhance Performane in Elite Athletes

18 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 20 1.1 BACKGROUND . 21 1.2 RATIONALE AND THESIS AIMS. 25 1.3 THESIS ORGANISATION . 26 1.4 OVERVIEW OF STUDIES . 30 Chapter 3, Study 1 . 30 Chapter 4, Study 2 . 30 Chapter 5, Study 3 . 30 Chapter 6, Study 4 . 31 Chapter 7, Current Opinion . 31 Chapter 8, Invited Comment . 31 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THESIS . 32 CHAPTER TWO: HEAT STRESS & HEAT ACCLIMATION: PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES & EFFECTS ON PERFORMANCE IN TRAINED INDIVIDUALS . 33 LITERATURE REVIEW . 33 2.
Detection of Tuberculosis Bacilli using Image Processing Techniques

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major diseases in developing countries. TB detection is based on sputum examination microscopically by using Ziehl-Neelsen stain (ZN-stain) method, which is used worldwide. This method needs human expertise and intensive examination. The availability of expertise, time and cost are the constraints of the human intervention based examinations. Therefore, there is a need of automation of examination and detection of TB bacteria using digital image of ZN-stain sample. In this work, an algorithm based on image processing is developed for identification of TB bacteria in sputum. The method is based on Otsu thresholding and k-means clustering approach. The performance of clustering and thresholding algorithms for segmenting TB bacilli in tissue sections is compared. The developed automated technique shows good accuracy and efficiency.