Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social Network Site Affordances and Their Relationship to Social Capital Processes

This chapter considers the mechanisms by which social network site (SNS) use is associated with social capital processes, such as supporting beneficial interactions, information exchanges, and relationship maintenance. In doing so, we consider both the high-level affordances of SNSs, such as the persistence and visibility of content, as well as specific features of these sites, such as the profile. The chapter will proceed as follows: First, it will provide a review of research on social media and social network sites, highlighting the primary features and affordances of these sites. It will then synthesize the social capital literature, which is helpful for understanding how we access important human resources such as social and informational support from our social connections, before linking the two streams of research on SNSs and social capital by highlighting some of the key findings in recent years. In the next section, we turn to Ellison and boyd's (2013) revised definition of SNSs to consider the role played by the profile, the articulated network, and the broadcasted stream of content in social capital formation and development. To conclude the chapter, we draw from multiple research streams to examine social grooming practices in SNSs, focusing on the role of visible micro-transactions such as " liking " a comment on Facebook. deceased loved ones (Marwick & Ellison, 2012). Social network sites are particularly well-suited for relationship maintenance (Tong & Walther, 2011), and individuals use sites like Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with a wide range of contacts Social media support patterns of information flow and interpersonal communication that differ in important ways from traditional mass media like television and radio. While no uniformly adopted definition of social media has emerged, the term is used colloquially to describe a set of features and tools that enable peer-to-peer communication in ways not supported by mass media which use a 'one-to-many' broadcast model. The term encompasses social network and micro-blogging sites (e. (e.g., Match.com, eHarmony)—although many of these platforms are converging and now support multiple kinds of activities. For the 85% of US adults that are online (Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2013), social media are reshaping mundane tasks, like finding a restaurant, and more significant ones, such as finding a life partner. Social media environments evolve rapidly—user practices change over time, services update their user-facing interfaces and back-end technology, and the larger social and legal frameworks surrounding their development, …
The Effect of Key Size of Touch Screen Virtual Keyboards on Productivity, Usability, and Typing Biomechanics

Objective: We investigated whether different virtual keyboard key sizes affected typing force exposures, muscle activity, wrist posture, comfort, and typing productivity. Background: Virtual keyboard use is increasing and the physical exposures associated with virtual keyboard key sizes are not well documented. Method: Typing forces, forearm/shoulder muscle activity, wrist posture, subjective comfort, and typing productivity were measured from 21 subjects while they were typing on four different virtual keyboards with square key sizes, which were 13, 16, 19, and 22 mm on each side with 2-mm between-key spacing. Results: The results showed that virtual keyboard key size had little effect on typing force, forearm muscle activity, and ulnar/radial deviation. However, the virtual keyboard with the 13-mm keys had a 15% slower typing speed (p < .0001), slightly higher static (10th percentile) shoulder muscle activity (2% maximum voluntary contractions, p = .01), slightly greater wrist extension in both hands (2° to 3°, p < .01), and the lowest subjective comfort and preference ratings (p < .1). Conclusions: The study findings indicate that virtual keyboards with a key size less than 16 mm may be too small for touch typing given the slower typing speed, higher static shoulder muscle activity, greater wrist extension, and lowest subjective preferences. Applications: We evaluated the effects of virtual keyboard key sizes on typing force exposures, muscle activity, comfort, and typing productivity.
The Psychological Validity of Qualitative Spatial Reasoning in One Dimension

One of the central questions of spatial reasoning research is whether the underlying processes are inherently visual, spatial, or logical. We applied the dual task interference paradigm to spatial reasoning problems in one dimension, using Allen's interval calculus, in order to make progress towards resolving this argument. Our results indicate that spatial reasoning with interval relations is largely based on the construction and inspection of qualitative spatial representations, or mental models, while no evidence for logical proofs of derivations or the involvement of visual representations and processes was found.
Fiber intake and risk of subsequent prostate cancer in Japanese men.

BACKGROUND Dietary fiber may reduce the risk of prostate cancer, possibly by increasing circulating concentrations of sex hormone-binding globulin and improving insulin sensitivity. However, results from previous epidemiologic studies of fiber intake and prostate cancer are inconsistent, and to our knowledge, no study has comprehensively evaluated the effects of soluble and insoluble fiber on prostate cancer in Asia. OBJECTIVE The objective was to examine the association between fiber intake and prostate cancer in Japanese men. DESIGN We conducted a population-based prospective study in 43,435 Japanese men aged 45-74 y. Participants responded to a validated questionnaire, which included 138 food items. Follow-up was from 1995 through 2009. HRs and 95% CIs of incidence were calculated according to quartiles of fiber intake. RESULTS During the 11.6-y follow-up, of the 825 men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer, 213 had advanced-stage cancer, 582 had organ-localized disease, and 30 had an undetermined stage of disease. Among them, 217 cases were detected by subjective symptoms. Total fiber was not associated with total or advanced prostate cancer, with respective multivariable HRs for the highest and lowest quartiles of 1.00 (95% CI: 0.77, 1.29; P-trend = 0.97) and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.42, 1.07; P-trend = 0.30). Total fiber and insoluble fiber intake were associated with a decreased risk of advanced cancers detected by subjective symptoms, with multivariate HRs (95% CIs) across increasing quartiles of 1.00, 0.58, 0.62, and 0.44 (0.21, 0.92; P-trend = 0.05) for total fiber and 1.00, 0.60, 0.52, and 0.46 (0.22, 0.93; P-trend = 0.04) for insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber intake showed no association with prostate cancer. CONCLUSIONS Dietary fiber is inversely associated with advanced prostate cancer detected by subjective symptoms even among populations with relatively low intake, such as Japanese. These results suggest that a very low intake of dietary fiber is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.
[Stress and the cardiovascular system].

A variety of evidence shows that stress contributes to a more or less sustained elevation of blood pressure, as well as to the triggering and aggravation of cardiovascular pathology, especially coronary heart disease. Experimentally induced changes, that may be pathogenic due to their duration or repetition, can be produced in hemodynamics, lipid metabolism, or hemostasis. High blood pressure, vascular heredity, but also a trend to inhibition of action, seem to be responsible for hyperreactivity to stress. Hypertensives are particularly reactive to active stresses related to controlable situations, experienced as challenges. Several prospective studies in healthy subjects have confirmed the increased risk for coronary heart disease of certain psychological characteristics: the most known of them is Rosenman's and Friedman's type A behavior (hyperactivity, speed and impatience, hard driving, job involvement). It is known that individuals presenting such characteristics exhibit increased neuroendocrine responses to all types of stress. Pattern A predicts the incidence of myocardial infarction, independently of other coronary risk factors, such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, or smoking habits. It as been proved that type A individuals deal on average with more stressing conditions than type B individuals and that they set higher goals than general population. On a cognitive level, they tend to have an internal "locus of control" (they are inclined to attribute their personal successes or failures to their own responsibility). Nevertheless, the most reactive to stress among type A individuals are those whose locus of control is external. The predictive validity of pattern A in coronary mortality is more debated. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Hecke algebra characters and immanant conjectures

The main purpose of this article is to announce and provide supporting evidence for two conjectures about the characters of the Hecke algebra H (q) of type A, -, evaluated at elements of its Kazhdan-Lusztig basis. In addition, we prove a conjectured immanant inequality for Jacobi-Trudi matrices (definitions below) and show how our conjectures would imply stronger inequalities of a similar kind. The immanant inequalities belong to the combinatorial theory of symmetric functions and consequently have gained considerable attention in algebraic combinatorics since their introduction by Goulden and Jackson [9]; see [10, 29, 30]. The Hecke algebra conjectures presented here are, however, independent of the application which led to their discovery, and because of their striking and unexpected nature, they should be of interest to a broader audience. In particular, they appear to reflect aspects of the geometry of the flag variety that cannot yet be understood using available geometric machinery. It has also been discovered that Hecke algebras of type An-I arise naturally in the study of knots [7, 14], quantum groups [13], and Von Neumann algebras [15, 34]. Their character theory, in particular, plays an important role, via the Ocneanu trace and the commutant relationship between Hn (q) and the quantum group UGLn(q) . Thus there are important reasons to seek a better understanding of the characters. The first of our conjectures asserts that certain virtual characters, i.e., integral linear combinations of irreducible characters, take values on the KazhdanLusztig basis which are polynomials in q with nonnegative, symmetric, and unimodal integer coefficients. A corresponding assertion for the irreducible characters follows from the theory of intersection homology and perverse sheaves for Schubert varieties [3, 27], together with the fact that the Kazhdan-Lusztig cell representations [17] are irreducible for type An-I . This fact is a weaker statement than our conjecture, however, since the irreducible characters are nonnegative combinations of the virtual characters we consider. In fact, the
More efficiency in multiple kernel learning

An efficient and general multiple kernel learning (MKL) algorithm has been recently proposed by Sonnenburg et al. (2006). This approach has opened new perspectives since it makes the MKL approach tractable for large-scale problems, by iteratively using existing support vector machine code. However, it turns out that this iterative algorithm needs several iterations before converging towards a reasonable solution. In this paper, we address the MKL problem through an adaptive 2-norm regularization formulation. Weights on each kernel matrix are included in the standard SVM empirical risk minimization problem with a l1 constraint to encourage sparsity. We propose an algorithm for solving this problem and provide an new insight on MKL algorithms based on block 1-norm regularization by showing that the two approaches are equivalent. Experimental results show that the resulting algorithm converges rapidly and its efficiency compares favorably to other MKL algorithms.
Time Trends of Ischemic Stroke Incidence and Mortality in Patients Diagnosed With First Atrial Fibrillation in 1980 to 2000: Report of a Community-Based Study

Background and Purpose— With the changes in management of atrial fibrillation (AF) over time, it is possible that the time trends of post-AF stroke incidence and mortality have changed. We sought to determine whether the incidence and survival of ischemic stroke after AF diagnosis have improved. Methods— We identified the Olmsted County, Minn, residents who developed first AF from 1980 to 2000 and followed them in medical records to 2004. The outcomes were first ischemic stroke and death. Results— Of the 4117 subjects diagnosed with first AF and without previous stroke, 446 (11%) sustained a first ischemic stroke during a mean follow-up time of 5.5±5.0 years. The age- and sex-adjusted incidence of stroke decreased, on average, by 3.4% per year (P=0.0001), concurrent with an increase in warfarin and aspirin use (both P<0.0001) and reduction of systolic blood pressure (P<0.001). The age-adjusted ischemic stroke incidence was higher in women (P=0.039), but not after adjusting for systolic blood pressure (P=0.41). Compared with the general Minnesota white population, the relative mortality hazard ratio was 1.88 for men and 1.84 for women without stroke and 3.03 for men and 3.80 for women (P<0.05) with stroke. The relative mortality hazard did not vary by age or calendar year of AF diagnosis. Conclusions— Post-AF ischemic stroke incidence decreased significantly from 1980 to 2000, during which time a substantial increase in the use of antithrombotic therapy and reduction of systolic blood pressure was evident. The relative mortality risk of stroke, however, had not improved over time.
Common Dynamics in Volatility : a Composite vMEM Approach

Measures of financial volatility exhibit clustering and persistence and can be jointly modeled as the element by element product of a vector of conditionally autoregressive scale factors and a multivariate i.i. d. innovation process (vector Multiplicative Error Model – vMEM). Since similar profiles are shared across measures, a restricted vMEM decomposes the conditional expected volatility into the sum of a common (persistent) component and a vector of measure specific components. With data on absolute returns, realized kernel volatility and daily range for five stock market indices, we show that indeed such a common component exists with the desired properties. The transitory components happen to have different features across indices.
Echocardiographic assessment of estimated right atrial pressure and size predicts mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

BACKGROUND Elevated mean right atrial pressure (RAP) measured by cardiac catheterization is an independent risk factor for mortality. Prior studies have demonstrated a modest correlation with invasive and noninvasive echocardiographic RAP, but the prognostic impact of estimated right atrial pressure (eRAP) has not been previously evaluated in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). METHODS A retrospective analysis of 121 consecutive patients with PAH based on right-sided heart catheterization and echocardiography was performed. The eRAP was calculated by inferior vena cava diameter and collapse using 2005 and 2010 American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) definitions. Accuracy and correlation of eRAP to RAP was assessed. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis by eRAP, right atrial area, and Registry to Evaluate Early and Long-term PAH Disease Management (REVEAL Registry) risk criteria as well as univariate and multivariate analysis of echocardiographic findings was performed. RESULTS Elevation of eRAP was associated with decreased survival time compared with lower eRAP (P < .001, relative risk = 7.94 for eRAP > 15 mm Hg vs eRAP ≤ 5 mm Hg). Univariate analysis of echocardiographic parameters including eRAP > 15 mm Hg, right atrial area > 18 cm², presence of pericardial effusion, right ventricular fractional area change < 35%, and at least moderate tricuspid regurgitation was predictive of poor survival. However, multivariate analysis revealed that eRAP > 15 mm Hg was the only echocardiographic risk factor that was predictive of mortality (hazard ratio = 2.28, P = .037). CONCLUSIONS Elevation of eRAP by echocardiography at baseline assessment was strongly associated with increased risk of death or transplant in patients with PAH. This measurement may represent an important prognostic component in the comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation of PAH.
Die Stacking (3D) Microarchitecture

3D die stacking is an exciting new technology that increases transistor density by vertically integrating two or more die with a dense, high-speed interface. The result of 3D die stacking is a significant reduction of interconnect both within a die and across dies in a system. For instance, blocks within a microprocessor can be placed vertically on multiple die to reduce block to block wire distance, latency, and power. Disparate Si technologies can also be combined in a 3D die stack, such as DRAM stacked on a CPU, resulting in lower power higher BW and lower latency interfaces, without concern for technology integration into a single process flow. 3D has the potential to change processor design constraints by providing substantial power and performance benefits. Despite the promising advantages of 3D, there is significant concern for thermal impact. In this research, we study the performance advantages and thermal challenges of two forms of die stacking: Stacking a large DRAM or SRAM cache on a microprocessor and dividing a traditional micro architecture between two die in a stack
Diagnostic sensitivity of three tumour markers in non-small cell lung cancer: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND Three tumour markers (CEA, CYFRA 21.1 and CA125) were evaluated for diagnostic sensitivity in newly diagnosed, untreated non-small cell lung cancer. METHODS In the 24 patients studied, the tumours were classified histologically as 15 squamous cell carcinomas and 9 adenocarcinomas. In 19 cases, the disease was confined to the lung (M0); 5 cases presented with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis (M1). RESULTS CA125 displayed the best overall sensitivity (62%) and also when only localised disease was evaluated (63%). CA125 was the most sensitive marker for adenocarcinomas (89%), with values differing significantly with histological type (p < 0.005). CYFRA 21.1 was most sensitive in squamous cell carcinomas (53%); this was the only marker which was elevated in all cases involving metastatic disease, and exhibited a significant correlation with stage (p<0.02). CEA presented the poorest overall sensitivity (42%). The overall sensitivity of the three-tumour marker association was 79% and the best combination of two markers was CYFRA 21.1 + CA125 (75%). CONCLUSIONS This pilot study allows recommendation of the associated use of these two markers as first choice of diagnostic aid in non-small cell lung cancer. Further measurements, including specificity studies in benign lung diseases, should be performed to confirm these results.
RINGS AND QUASICONFORMAL MAPPINGS IN SPACE.

This paper consists of two parts. In the first part we continue the study initiated in [7] and [9] of rings in space. We begin by establishing an inequality in §3. We next apply this inequality in §§6-7 to show that the extremal function w for a ring £ exists whenever both components of dR axe nondegenerate. In §§8-10 we then show that this extremal function u is real analytic provided | Vu | is bounded away from 0 and w a.e. on each compact set in £. This a priori restriction is unsatisfactory but the result is still very important since it enables us to identify the 1-quasiconformal mappings in space. In §11 we prove a continuity property for the moduli of rings and in §12 we use extremal lengths to obtain a pair of bounds for this modulus. In the second part of this paper we use the results on rings developed in the first part and in [9 ] to study quasiconformal mappings in space. A topological mapping of a domain D is said to be A-quasiconformal if it satisfies the two sided modulus condition
Tracing the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium at Low Redshift: X-Ray Forest Observations toward H1821+643

We present a high-resolution (λ/Δλ ≈ 500) X-ray spectrum of the bright quasar H1821+643 (z = 0.297), obtained in a 470 ks observation with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. We search for X-ray absorption by highly ionized metal species, O VII and O VIII in particular, at the redshifts of the six intervening O VI absorption systems known from UV studies. We detect features with ≳2 σ significance at the predicted O VII and O VIII wavelengths of one O VI system, at the O VII wavelength of a second, and at the Ne IX wavelength of a third. We find two additional features of comparable strength (one O VII and one O VIII) within 1000 km s-1 of the O VI redshifts. The 1 σ constraints on the relative abundances of different species imply significant variations from system to system in f(O ), the fraction of oxygen in the O VI state. The constraints in the two detected O VI systems imply gas overdensities lower than the values δ ≳ 100 expected in virialized systems, suggesting that the absorption arises in lower density, filamentary structures. At the 2 σ level, however, the physical constraints are weak, although all of the systems must have temperature T < 106 K to be consistent with upper limits on O VII. If we treat our 2 σ detections of known O VI systems as real, but assume minimal O VII and O VIII in the other systems, we estimate [f(O ) + f(O ) + f(O )]/f(O ) = 32 ± 9 for the average ratio of all highly ionized oxygen species to O VI. Combined with estimates of the total column density of O VI absorption per unit redshift, this ratio implies that the total baryon fraction associated with detected O VI absorbers is Ωb(O ) ~ 0.03 h, a substantial fraction of the baryon density predicted by big bang nucleosynthesis and larger than that associated with stars or with gas detected in 21 cm or X-ray emission. Because of the limited signal-to-noise ratio of the detections, these results must be treated with caution. Nonetheless, the combination of the O VI data with these X-ray forest measurements provides the most direct evidence to date for the pervasive, moderate-density, shock-heated intergalactic medium predicted by leading cosmological scenarios. The high inferred incidence of relatively strong O VII and O VIII absorption implies that some regions of the intergalactic medium are enriched to a level substantially above [O/H] = -1.
Preservice EFL teachers' attitudes, needs, and experiences about teaching writing and learning to teach writing before their practicum: A case study in Vietnam

The standard of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education has prompted calls for reform to preservice EFL teacher education. Field experiences are central to their professional development and for implementing reform measures. This study aims to examine preservice EFL teachers’ attitudes, needs, and experiences about learning to teach writing in English before their practicum in Vietnamese high schools. An open-ended questionnaire collected data from 97 preservice EFL teachers at the beginning of their final practicum. The data suggested that these preservice EFL teachers were motivated to learn to teach English in general and teaching writing in particular but required mentors to model effective teaching practices and share their teaching experiences. They also needed their mentors to be enthusiastic and supportive, and provide constructive feedback. Identifying mentoring practices that are linked to mentees’ needs can assist teacher educators and school mentors to motivate and develop preservice EFL teachers’ practice.