Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internal Cell Resistance as the Origin of Abrupt Reset Behavior in HfO2-Based Devices Determined from Current Compliance Series

The resistive switching behavior in different HfO2/TiO2 nano crossbar structures of 100 x 100 nm2 size is analyzed by means of DC voltage sweeps. The devices fabricated from 3 nm thin ALD layers of HfO2 and TiO2 sandwiched between Pt and Hf or Ti electrodes show VCM-type bipolar resistive switching after electroforming. For increased compliance current (cc) during set from 50 μA to 800 μA, the set current runs into self- limitation while the reset behavior changes from gradual to abrupt. A model is defined with an internal resistance being in series with the local resistive switch. A recursive algorithm is applied to the cc series for calculation of the series resistor and evaluation of the intrinsic switching characteristic of HfO2-based cells. The intrinsic LRS turns out to be current compliance controlled and to follow the universal switching rule. Supported by compact modelling, we show that an abrupt reset behavior might arise even for materials with a gradual intrinsic reset characteristic in consequence of an internal series resistor.
A Prospective Randomized Study Comparing Nifedipine versus Ritodrine for the Suppression of Preterm Labour

Nifedipine is a dihydropyridine and a calcium channel blocker during the second phase of the action potential of uterine smooth muscle cells, and ritodrine is a β-sympathomimetic. Objective of Study: To compare the efficacy and side-effects of oral nifedipine to ritodrine in the inhibition of preterm labour. Methodology: Sixty parturients admitted to the Maternity Hospital with preterm labour who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were randomized into two equal therapy groups: (a) oral nifedipine (n = 30) and (b) intravenous ritodrine (n = 30). During the period, the parturients were under continuous monitoring of fetal well-being, maternal uterine contractions, blood pressure, and pulse and respiratory rates. Both groups were given dexamethasone and followed up through delivery and the early neonatal period. Results: The incidence of preterm deliveries during the study period was 6.5%. Ritodrine had a quicker onset of inhibition of uterine contractions, especially between 20 and 40 min after initiation of tocolytic therapy (p < 0.04). Labour was delayed on the average for 40 h in the nifedipine group compared to 24 h in the ritodrine group (p < 0.05). Eighteen patients (60%) in the nifedipine group had cessation for more than 48 h compared to 7 (30.4%) in the ritodrine group (p < 0.05). Nifedipine inhibited uterine contractions for more than 7 days in more patients than ritodrine (13 versus 5, p < 0.05). Ten patients in the nifedipine group went beyond 36 weeks of gestation compared to 4 in the ritodrine group (p < 0.03). In 5 (17.9%) of the ritodrine group compared to none in the nifedipine group, treatment was abandoned because of severe side-effects of nausea (11 versus 2, p < 0.01) and palpitations (16 versus 3, p < 0.004). There were no significant differences in the Apgar scores and neonatal morbidity. More infants in the ritodrine group (17, 73.9%) than in the nifedipine group (14, 46.1%, p < 0.05) were admitted to the neonatal unit. Conclusion: Nifedipine is recommended for aborting preterm contractions because it has fewer side-effects, superior efficacy and greater ease of administration than intravenous ritodrine.
COGNITIVE EMOTIONAL REACTIONS OF CARE STAFF TO DIFFICULT CHILD BEHAVIOUR

The attributions parents make about the problem behaviour of their children have been shown to be important determinants of their emotional and behavioural reactions to such behaviour. However, this relationship has not been studied in carers of children in residential settings. In this paper we apply Weiner's attributional model of helping to the self-predicted behaviour of 47 carers in residential children's homes in the U.K. Participants identified causes for four children's behaviours, made attributions about these behaviours on dimensions of internality, controllability, globality and stability, reported their emotional reactions to the behaviours on the dimensions of anger and sympathy and reported their likelihood of making extra effort to help in working with these behaviours. Results showed that attributions of controllability and globality, and the emotional response of sympathy were important in predicting reported likelihood of helping. The implications of these results for carer training are discussed.
Microcircuitry and Mosaic of a Blue–Yellow Ganglion Cell in the Primate Retina

Perception of hue is opponent, involving the antagonistic comparison of signals from different cone types. For blue versus yellow opponency, the antagonism is first evident at a ganglion cell with firing that increases to stimulation of short wavelength-sensitive (S) cones and decreases to stimulation of middle wavelength-sensitive (M) and long wavelength-sensitive (L) cones. This ganglion cell, termed blue–yellow (B–Y), has a distinctive morphology with dendrites in both ON and OFF strata of the inner plexiform layer (Dacey and Lee, 1994). Here we report the synaptic circuitry of the cell and its spatial density. Reconstructing neurons in macaque fovea from electron micrographs of serial sections, we identified six ganglion cells that branch in both strata and have similar circuitry. In the ON stratum each cell collects ∼33 synapses from bipolar cells traced back exclusively to invaginating contacts from S cones, and in the OFF stratum each cell collects ∼14 synapses from bipolar cells (types DB2 and DB3) traced to basal synapses from ∼20 M and L cones. This circuitry predicts that spatially coincident blue–yellow opponency arises at the level of the cone output via expression of different glutamate receptors. S cone stimuli suppress glutamate release onto metabotropic receptors of the S cone bipolar cell dendrite, thereby opening cation channels, whereas M and L cone stimuli suppress glutamate release onto ionotropic glutamate receptors of DB2 and DB3 cell dendrites, thereby closing cation channels. Although the B–Y cell is relatively rare (3% of foveal ganglion cells), its spatial density equals that of the S cone; thus it could support psychophysical discrimination of a blue–yellow grating down to the spatial cutoff of the S cone mosaic.
The Society of Captives: A Study of a Maximum Security Prison

Gresham Sykes wrote the book at the height of the Cold War, motivated by the world's experience of fascism and communism to study the closest thing to a totalitarian system in American life: a maximum security prison. The book is remarkably short - just 150 pages - but bristles with ideas. Sykes argued that many of the psychological effects of modern prison are even more brutal than the physical cruelties of the past. The trauma of being designated one of the very worst human beings in the world left prisoners with lifelong scars. It also inspired solidarity among prisoners and fierce resistance to authorities as strategies for rejecting those who rejected them. His analysis called into question whether prisons genuinely were, as many believed, "total institutions," where every facet of life was rigidly controlled. Sykes showed that the stronger the bonds among prisoners, the more difficult it was for prison guards to run the prisons without finding ways of "accommodating" the prisoners. The book set the stage for Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish, among other works. Since it appeared in 1958, it has served society as an indispensable text in coming to terms with the nature of modern power.
A multisample item response theory analysis of the Beck Depression Inventory-1A

Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 2001, 33:3, 176 Abstract The widespread employment of the Beck Depression Inventory-1A (BDI-1A) has spawned a number of practices: 1) The employment of an unweighted total score as a measure of depression; 2) Its use in populations other than that in which it was normed; and 3) The employment of BDI-1A total scores in hypothesis tests about population differences in mean depression. A sequential procedure based on item response theory was employed to assess the validity of these practices for the case of four populations: clinical depressives, mixed nondepressed psychiatric patients, and students from two different universities. The findings suggested that the first practice was not justified for any of these populations, that the BDI-1A was employable only with clinical depressives and with one of the university populations, and that mean comparisons were not allowable.
Dysfunctional Activation of Neurotensin/IL-8 Pathway in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Is Associated with Increased Inflammatory Response in Microenvironment, More Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in Cancer and Worse Prognosis in Patients

Aim To investigate the role of neurotensin (NTS) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) sub- grouping and the clinical and pathological significance of activation of NTS/IL-8 pathway in HCC. Methods The genome-wide gene expression profiling were conducted in 10 pairs of cancer tissues and corresponding normal adjacent tissues samples using Affymetrix GeneChip® Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 microarray to screen differentially expressing genes and enrich dysfunctional activated pathways among different HCC subgroups. The levels of NTS protein and multiple inflammation and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) related proteins, including IL-8, VEGF, MMP9, CD68, E-Cadherin, β-Catenin and Vimentin were examined in 64 cases of paraffin-embedded HCC samples using immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining method. The clinical outcome and overall survival (OS) were compared. Results A subgroup of HCC characterized by up-regulated NTS expression was accompanied by up-regulated inflammatory responses and EMT. The direct interaction between NTS and IL-8 was identified by pathway enrichment analysis. Significantly increased IL-8 protein was confirmed in 90.91% of NTS+ HCC samples and significantly positively correlated to the levels of NTS protein in cancer tissues (P = 0.036), which implied activation of NTS/IL-8 pathway in HCC. The levels of VEGF and MMP9 correlated with co-expression of NTS and IL-8. Increased infiltration of CD68+ macrophages and more cancer cells displaying EMT features were found in NTS+IL-8+ samples. The co-expression of NTS and IL-8 in cancer significantly correlated with the clinical outcomes, as the mortality rate of NTS+IL-8+ HCC patients is 2.5-fold higher than the others after the surgery (P = 0.022). Accordingly, the OS of NTS+IL-8+ HCC patients significantly decreased who are under a higher hazard of death at an expected hazard ratio (HR) of 3.457. Conclusion Dysfunctional activation of the NTS/IL-8 pathway was detected in HCC which is associated with increased inflammatory response in microenvironment, enhanced EMT in cancer, and worse prognosis in HCC patients.
Changes in morbidity and medical care utilization after the recent economic crisis in the Republic of Korea.

OBJECTIVE To examine and quantify the impact of the recent economic crisis on morbidity and medical care utilization in the Republic of Korea. METHODS 22 675 people from 6791 households and 43 682 people from 12 283 households were questioned for two nationwide surveys that took place in 1995 and 1998, respectively. A separate sample pretest-posttest design was used and we conducted c2 test and logistic regression analysis after controlling for the maturation effect of the morbidity and medical care utilization. FINDINGS The morbidity rates of chronic disease and acute disease increased significantly by 27.1% and 9.5%, respectively, whereas the utilization rates of outpatient and inpatient services decreased by 15.1% and 5.2%, respectively. In particular, the pace of decline in the utilization rate of outpatient services varied depending on the type of disease: morbidity rates for mental and behavioural disorders were 13.7%; for cardiovascular disease, 7.1%; and for injury, 31.6%. CONCLUSION After the Republic of Korean economic crisis, the morbidity and medical care utilization rates changed significantly but the degree of change depended on the type of disease or service. The time-dependent relationship between the national economy and the morbidity and medical care utilization rates needs to be further investigated.
Little evidence of systemic and adipose tissue inflammation in overweight individuals

Context: The effect of weight loss by diet alone or diet in conjunction with exercise on low-grade inflammation in non-obese (overweight) individuals is not known. Objective: Test the hypothesis that 24 weeks of moderate calorie restriction (CR; 25%) by diet only or with aerobic exercise would reduce markers of systemic inflammation and attenuate inflammation gene expression in subcutaneous adipose tissue. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Setting: Institutional Research Center. Participants: Thirty-five overweight (body mass index: 27.8 ± 0.7 kg/m2) but otherwise healthy participants (16M/19F) completed the study. Intervention: Participants were randomized to either CR (25% reduction in energy intake, n = 12), caloric restriction + exercise (CR + EX: 12.5% reduction in energy intake + 12.5% increase in exercise energy expenditure, n = 12), or control (healthy weight-maintenance diet, n = 11) for 6 months. Main outcome measures: Fasting serum markers of inflammation [leptin, highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), adiponectin] and inflammation-related genes [CD68, IL-6, TNF-α, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), adiponectin, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1)] in subcutaneous adipose tissue. Results: CR and CR + EX lost similar amounts of body weight (–10 ± 1%), fat mass (–24 ± 3%), visceral fat (–27 ± 3%), and had increased insulin sensitivity (CR: 40 ± 20%, CR + EX: 66 ± 22%). Leptin was significantly decreased from baseline (p < 0.001) in both groups however TNF-α and IL-6 were not changed. hsCRP was decreased in CR + EX. There was no change in the expression of genes involved in macrophage infiltration (CD68, MIF MCP-1, PAI-1) or inflammation (IL-6, TNF-α, adiponectin) in either CR or CR + EX. Conclusion: A 10% weight loss with a 25% CR diet alone or with exercise did not impact markers of systemic inflammation or the expression of inflammation-related adipose genes in overweight individuals.
Exponential Decay to Equilibrium for a Fiber Lay-Down Process on a Moving Conveyor Belt

We show existence and uniqueness of a stationary state for a kinetic Fokker-Planck equation modelling the fibre lay-down process in the production of non-woven textiles. Following a micro-macro decomposition, we use hypocoercivity techniques to show exponential convergence to equilibrium with an explicit rate assuming the conveyor belt moves slow enough. This work is an extension of (Dolbeault et al., 2013), where the authors consider the case of a stationary conveyor belt. Adding the movement of the belt, the global Gibbs state is not known explicitly. We thus derive a more general hypocoercivity estimate from which existence, uniqueness and exponential convergence can be derived. To treat the same class of potentials as in (Dolbeault et al., 2013), we make use of an additional weight function following the Lyapunov functional approach in (Kolb et al., 2013).
On the Plurality of (Methodological) Worlds: Estimating the Analytic Flexibility of fMRI Experiments

How likely are published findings in the functional neuroimaging literature to be false? According to a recent mathematical model, the potential for false positives increases with the flexibility of analysis methods. Functional MRI (fMRI) experiments can be analyzed using a large number of commonly used tools, with little consensus on how, when, or whether to apply each one. This situation may lead to substantial variability in analysis outcomes. Thus, the present study sought to estimate the flexibility of neuroimaging analysis by submitting a single event-related fMRI experiment to a large number of unique analysis procedures. Ten analysis steps for which multiple strategies appear in the literature were identified, and two to four strategies were enumerated for each step. Considering all possible combinations of these strategies yielded 6,912 unique analysis pipelines. Activation maps from each pipeline were corrected for multiple comparisons using five thresholding approaches, yielding 34,560 significance maps. While some outcomes were relatively consistent across pipelines, others showed substantial methods-related variability in activation strength, location, and extent. Some analysis decisions contributed to this variability more than others, and different decisions were associated with distinct patterns of variability across the brain. Qualitative outcomes also varied with analysis parameters: many contrasts yielded significant activation under some pipelines but not others. Altogether, these results reveal considerable flexibility in the analysis of fMRI experiments. This observation, when combined with mathematical simulations linking analytic flexibility with elevated false positive rates, suggests that false positive results may be more prevalent than expected in the literature. This risk of inflated false positive rates may be mitigated by constraining the flexibility of analytic choices or by abstaining from selective analysis reporting.
A novel framework to define the premium for investment in complementary renewable projects

The joint investment in renewable sources can be seen as an efficient mechanism for mitigating the risk of generation investors. This article presents an innovative framework to calculate the premium of the option to invest in complementary renewable energy projects. To calculate this option value, the framework merges two models: the first is a hybrid robust and stochastic optimization model that defines the project value and percentage of each source in the portfolio; the second is the well-known Least Square Monte Carlo (LSM) simulation approach to evaluate American options. The results of this article intend to stimulate independent investors to take advantage of complementary renewable projects and government sectorial institutions, defining suitable incentives and policies.
Who is Gelotophobic? Assessment Criteria for the Fear of Being Laughed at

Ruch and Proyer (2008) provided preliminary evidence for the validity of gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) by showing that a group of individuals diagnosed as gelotophobic could be discriminated from groups of shame-based neurotics, non shame-based neurotics, and normal controls by means of a self-report measure. The present study reanalyzes data aimed at identifying the set of items best suited for measuring gelotophobia and estimates the prevalence of gelotophobia in the four groups (N = 863). The application of several criteria led to a final list of 15 statements. Cut-off points for a slight, pronounced, and extreme expression of gelotophobia were defined. In the group of those clinically assessed as having gelotophobia, the cut-off points were exceeded by approximately 31%, 39%, and 22%, respectively. Only 7.1% did not exceed the cut-off point, suggesting that the self-report measure validly determines the presence of and measures the intensity of gelotophobia. Close to 12% of the normal controls exceeded the cut-off points, suggesting that gelotophobia can be studied as an individual differences variable among normal individuals.
Conflict management in mother–daughter interactions in early adolescence

The current study examined content and structure of mother–daughter conflict interactions during early adolescence. Participants were 30 dyads of 12-year-old Dutch adolescent girls and their mothers, who were observed during a conflict interaction task and who completed measures on several aspects of relationship quality. Conflict management behaviours of both mothers and daughters were consistently related to perceived relationship quality, suggesting that interactions wherein daughters have a more active role and mothers are more passive are associated with more dominance and open communication in the relationship as perceived by mothers and daughters. Furthermore, when there was greater dyadic variability, mothers perceived more dominance and criticism from daughters, while daughters perceived more dominance and less open communication from mothers, suggesting that variability of dyadic behaviour is indicative of a realignment of the parent–adolescent relationship towards greater equality.
Pityriasis rubra pilaris and transitional meningioma: a fortuitous association?

Pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) is a rare dermatosis of unknown origin. It is regularly reported in association with various systemic disorders such as infections, inflammatory (rheumatoid or auto-immune) diseases and malignancies (solid neoplasms or hematologic disorders). An association with a benign solid tumor has not yet been reported. We report a case of PRP leading to the diagnosis of benign cerebral meningioma that rapidly resolved after surgical removal of the tumor, raising the hypothesis [. ]
Association Between the Metabolic Syndrome, Its Individual Components, and Unprovoked Venous Thromboembolism: Results of a Patient-Level Meta-Analysis

Objective—The metabolic syndrome (MetS) may contribute to the pathogenesis of venous thromboembolism (VTE), but this association requires additional investigation. Approach and Results—We performed a patient-level meta-analysis of case–control and cohort studies that evaluated the role of MetS and risk of unprovoked VTE. For case–control studies, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using logistic regression analysis to estimate the influence of individual variables on the risk of VTE; &khgr;2 tests for trend were used to investigate the effect of increasing number of components of MetS on the risk of VTE and to explore the influence of abdominal obesity on this relationship. For cohort studies, hazard ratios and 95% confidence interval were calculated using multivariable Cox regression analysis. Six case–control studies were included (908 cases with unprovoked VTE and 1794 controls): in multivariate analysis, MetS was independently associated with VTE (odds ratio, 1.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.57–2.33), and both MetS and abdominal obesity were better predictors of unprovoked VTE than obesity defined by the body mass index. Two prospective cohort studies were included (26 531 subjects and 289 unprovoked VTE events): age, obesity, and abdominal obesity, but not MetS were associated with VTE. Conclusions—Case–control but not prospective cohort studies support an association between MetS and VTE. Abdominal adiposity is a strong risk factor for VTE.
Modeling and Evaluation of Energy Policies in Green Clouds

Following the as-a-service philosophy, a cloud service provider offers computing utilities in the form of virtual resources instantiated on top of a physical infrastructure. In order to meet business requirements still providing high-quality services, performance evaluation needs to be carefully carried out with the aim of optimizing data center utilization and increasing user satisfaction. In this context, power efficiency plays a critical role pushing service providers towards the application of innovative green strategies. In this paper, we present an analytical framework, based on stochastic reward nets, that allows to evaluate different resource allocation policies in a green cloud. A use case is shown in order to illustrate the approach, modeling scattering and saturation allocation policies and comparing them to a purely physical data center scenario. A validation of the proposed model against the CloudSim framework is presented and several numerical results are provided, demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach as a powerful tool for a cloud service provider to perform well-informed decisions about the resource allocation policies to be enforced.