Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of environmental change while climbing Mt. Daisen on forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume % in young women.

The aim of the present study was to clarify the effects of environmental change while climbing Mt. Daisen on forced vital capacity and forced expiratory volume % in young women in summer. Seven healthy Japanese women (age: 22.6 ± 4.2 years) volunteered to climb Mt. Daisen (1,709 m), located in Tottori prefecture, in August. Participants’ expiratory forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume % (FEV%) and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) were measured at 4 points (Ground: 10 m, Rest point: 780 m, Summit: 1,709 m, Goal point: 780 m). The measurements were conducted soon after the subjects’ arrival at each point. The degree of dyspnea sensation was measured at Ground, Rest point, Goal point and at each station. There were no significant changes in FVC. FEV% at the summit was significantly lower than at the Ground and Rest point. No significant differences were found in SpO2 at each measuring point. The degree of dyspnea sensation at each station soon after the subjects’ arrival was significantly higher than those at the Rest point. The results of this study indicated mild airway contraction induced by stresses on the respiratory system from increasing exercise intensity during an ascent of Mt. Daisen. (Accepted Apr. 26, 2011)
Relationship between airway inflammation, hyperresponsiveness, and obstruction in asthma.

BACKGROUND Although the role of eosinophils in airway inflammation in chronic asthma has been extensively studied, a role for neutrophils has not been well characterized. Furthermore, prior studies have not systematically sought or controlled for factors that might confound the relationship between cellular markers of inflammation and physiologic measures of airway function. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation independently contribute to abnormalities of airway function in asthma. METHODS Multivariate analysis of data collected during screening and enrollment of 205 asthmatic adults for clinical trials was conducted to examine the relationships between cellular inflammation in induced sputum and FEV(1) and methacholine responsiveness (PC(20)) while confounding factors were controlled for. RESULTS We found that age, sex, ethnicity, and use of inhaled corticosteroids were important confounding factors of the relationship between cellular inflammation and airway function. When these factors were controlled for, multivariate analysis showed that eosinophil percentage in induced sputum is independently associated with lower FEV(1) and lower PC(20) (P = .005 and P = .005, respectively). In the same models, increased sputum neutrophil percentage is independently associated with lower FEV(1) (P = .038) but not with PC(20) (P = .49). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that both eosinophilic inflammation and neutrophilic inflammation independently contribute to abnormalities of FEV(1) in asthma. Therapies directed specifically at control of neutrophilic inflammation might be useful in improving airway caliber in patients with chronic asthma.
Sufficient conditions for sparse recovery by weighted ℓ1-constrained quadratic programming

In this paper, we study the performance guarantee of weighted ℓ1-constrained quadratic programming in recovering the support of a sparse signal from a few linear measurements. A new sufficient condition for the success of weighted ℓ1-constrained quadratic programming is derived. Further, we demonstrate its applications in two typical weighted ℓ1 models: Firstly, a theoretical result on the modified-BPDN can be generated directly, which indicates that if a partial support information is available and more than half of the information is accurate, then modified-BPDN relaxes the sufficient condition of BPDN ensuring the support recovery for any sparse signals. Secondly, the proposed condition offers a criterion to compute the optimal weights of weighted ℓ1 minimization for nonuniform sparse models. Some simulations are carried out to validate its effectiveness.
1 Choosing the correct paradigm for unknown words in rule-based machine translation systems

Previous work on an interactive system aimed at helping non-expert users to enlarge the monolingual dictionaries of rule-based machine translation (MT) systems worked by discarding those inflection paradigms that cannot generate a set of inflected word forms validated by the user. This method, however, cannot deal with the common case where a set of different paradigms generate exactly the same set of inflected word forms, although with different inflection information attached. In this paper, we propose the use of an n-gram-based model of lexical categories and inflection information to select a single paradigm in cases where more than one paradigm generates the same set of word forms. Results obtained with a Spanish monolingual dictionary show that the correct paradigm is chosen for around 75% of the unknown words, thus making the resulting system (available under an open-source license) of valuable help to enlarge the monolingual dictionaries used in MT involving non-expert users without technical linguistic knowledge. 1 Choosing the correct paradigm for unknown words in rule-based machine translation
Should Women Push for Fewer Women Candidates? List Preference Voting Systems and Gender Representation

Previous cross-national research on electoral-system effects on women’s legislative representation suggests that candidate-centered systems – including list PR preference systems – are disadvantageous for women candidates precisely because they allow citizens to have some direct say in the election of individual members of parliament. We develop a dynamic theoretical model of agent-mediated electoral-system effects on women’s representation that suggests potentially positive effects of preference voting systems, except where women are particularly active in politics. In the latter contexts our model predicts neutral or even negative effects of preference voting on the standing of women candidates. We test the theory’s propositions with a new dataset covering over 80,000 candidates in Central Europe, where our theory predicts different effects than previous scholarship. We conclude with an assessment of the potential benefits of PR preference systems and how they can assist the work of quotas.
Factors Related to Anxiety in the Graduate Statistics Classroom.

Anxiety about statistics can result in impaired performance, mental anguish, and avoidance of statistics courses needed for professional advancement. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the anxiety felt by students in graduate statistics courses to their characteristics and to the teaching strategies used by their instructors to reduce anxiety in the statistics classroom. Participants in the study were 178 students in graduate courses at the University of Southern Mississippi during the 1995-96 academic year. Multiple regression analysis revealed that 37% of the variability in the anxiety score on the Revised Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale could be explained by the following variables: mathematics preparation, number of years since last mathematics course, perception of mathematical ability, proficiency in calculator use, computer anxiety, expected grade in department in which the course was taken, level of the course, major, age, gender, and teaching strategies for reducing anxiety in the statistics classroom, as measured by the Alleviating Statistics Anxiety Assessment. Independently, mathematics preparation, perception of mathematics ability, proficiency in calculator use, and gender were statistically significant predictors of statistics anxiety. (Contains 5 tables and 36 references.) (Author) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************
0 Speckle Reduction in Echocardiography : Trends and Perceptions

Speckle is the fine-grained texture-like pattern seen in echocardiography, and indeed in all modalities of clinical ultrasound. The application of various image processing techniques to ultrasonography has been explored in the literature, and a common goal is the reduction or removal of the speckle component while preserving image structure. This assumes that speckle is a form of noise which is best removed; a view that is not always shared by those in clinical practice. This chapter presents a thorough overview of current trends in ultrasonic speckle reduction techniques, with an emphasis on echocardiography.
Equivalent lumped parameter II-network of standard grounding systems under surge conditions

The authors propose and validate a simple lumped parameter model based on a π-type network, aimed at simulating the ground potential rise of standard ground electrode configurations under surge conditions. Lumped parameter values are estimated by means of an optimization procedure based on micro-genetic algorithms (µGAs), which minimizes the standard deviation between target values (obtained using a full non-linear circuit model) and simulation results (yielded by the π-network model). The proposed model has been validated by means of massive simulations under surge conditions, i.e. varying impulsive current wave shapes, grounding system geometrical configurations, soil characteristics and also accounting for non-linear ionization phenomena, showing a very good agreement between target values and model results. In addition, the proposed π-network model drastically reduces the computational resources required for linear and non-linear transient analyses of the simulated grounding systems.
Propagation of prions causing synucleinopathies in cultured cells

Significance Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) are neurodegenerative diseases caused by tau and α-synuclein prions, respectively. Prions, purified from human brains of deceased patients with PSP and MSA using phosphotungstic acid, were applied to cultured cell models that selectively form aggregates in the presence of tau or α-synuclein prions, respectively. Whereas brain homogenates prepared from two PSP and six MSA patients infected cultured cells, the same approach was unsuccessful with brain samples from three Parkinson’s disease patients. Our findings provide compelling evidence that PSP and MSA are prion diseases, and that MSA is caused by several distinct prion strains. Increasingly, evidence argues that many neurodegenerative diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), are caused by prions, which are alternatively folded proteins undergoing self-propagation. In earlier studies, PSP prions were detected by infecting human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells expressing a tau fragment [TauRD(LM)] fused to yellow fluorescent protein (YFP). Here, we report on an improved bioassay using selective precipitation of tau prions from human PSP brain homogenates before infection of the HEK cells. Tau prions were measured by counting the number of cells with TauRD(LM)–YFP aggregates using confocal fluorescence microscopy. In parallel studies, we fused α-synuclein to YFP to bioassay α-synuclein prions in the brains of patients who died of multiple system atrophy (MSA). Previously, MSA prion detection required ∼120 d for transmission into transgenic mice, whereas our cultured cell assay needed only 4 d. Variation in MSA prion levels in four different brain regions from three patients provided evidence for three different MSA prion strains. Attempts to demonstrate α-synuclein prions in brain homogenates from Parkinson’s disease patients were unsuccessful, identifying an important biological difference between the two synucleinopathies. Partial purification of tau and α-synuclein prions facilitated measuring the levels of these protein pathogens in human brains. Our studies should facilitate investigations of the pathogenesis of both tau and α-synuclein prion disorders as well as help decipher the basic biology of those prions that attack the CNS.
Retention of selected steroids on a silt-loam soil

This study used batch-equilibrium techniques to evaluate the soil sorption and desorption of target steroids, representative of the estrogen, androgen, progestogen and corticosteroid families. The sorption kinetics exhibited an immediate rapid sorption followed by a slow process with a duration dependent on soil particle size. Adsorption and desorption isotherms could be described by the Freundlich equation, in a non-linear form (1/n < 1). High organic carbon-water partitioning coefficient (KOC) values indicate that a large mass fraction of the hormones will be associated with the sorbed phase. As a result of the poor linear correlation between log KOC and log KOW (octanol-water partition coefficient), it could be assumed that both hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions contribute to the sorption mechanisms of the selected steroids. A hysteresis phenomenon was observed, varying with particle size, indicating strong irreversible interactions between some steroids and soil.
Attribute Based Group Signatures

An Attribute Based Group Signature (ABGS) allows a verifier to request a signature from a member of a group who possesses certain attributes. Therefore, a signature should authenticate a person in a group and prove ownership of certain properties. The major difference between our scheme and previous group signatures, is that the verifier can determine the role of the actual signer within the group. In this paper we define the first ABGS scheme, and security notions such as anonymity and traceability. We then construct the scheme and prove it secure.
Moralisches Urteilen bei „Psychopathen“

Patienten mit der psychischen Storung „Psychopathie“ zeigen ein Muster von emotionaler Abgestumpftheit, Impulsivitat und unmoralischem Verhalten. Zur Untersuchung moralischen Urteilens wurden in der vorliegenden Studie alltagsrelevante Konflikte mit moralischem bzw. neutralem Inhalt entwickelt und 12 „psychopathischen“ forensischen Patienten sowie 12 nicht-psychopathischen forensischen Patienten prasentiert. „Psychopathische“ im Vergleich zu nicht-psychopathischen Patienten berichteten signifikant positivere Gefuhle bei unmoralischen Entscheidungen als Nicht-Psychopathen. Auserdem wurden in der Gruppe der „Psychopathen“ im Vergleich zu den Nicht-Psychopathen signifikant haufiger unmoralische Entscheidungen auf moralische Konflikte getroffen. Diese Befunde deuten darauf hin, dass eine Storung der Emotionsverarbeitung ursachlich fur dissoziales Verhalten bei „Psychopathen“ sein konnte.
CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR BUILT-IN CURRENT TESTING

In current testing, the number of test vectors is usually A testing circuit for built-in current testing is proposed and a test generation method using the testing circuit is described. The function of the testing circuit is to measure the integral of the current including the dynamic current during a certain time interval and to judge whether the Cuir is fault-free or not by the measured value. The function01 speed of the testing circuit is rapid because this measuring method is not influenced by any dy,rlamic current. We also describe the test generation method briefly. The test sequences cause almost equal dymmic current between every two test vectors. The number of test vectors in each test sequence is less than that of the traditional testing for stuck-at faults.
Demographic Uncertainty and Labour Market Imperfections in Small Open Economy

This paper extends Gertler's (1999) tractable overlapping generations model by allowing for imperfect labour markets and distortionary taxation. Furthermore, we allow for stochastic variation in demographic structure. The model is then used to study demographic change in a small open economy of Finland. The simulations highlight a key role played by labour market imperfections in determining a fiscal burden of ageing in defined benefit pensions systems. Higher labour market imperfections lead into considerably stronger responses of labour supply and taxes on ageing. Thus, imperfections magnify the problem associated with fiscal sustainability in ageing society. Higher labour market imperfections lead into considerably stronger responses of labour supply and taxes on ageing. Thus, imperfections magnify the problem associated with fiscal sustainability in ageing society. Stochastic simulations suggest that lengthening of working time has rather minor impact on alleviating the fiscal burden of ageing. Only a small fraction of the stochastic variation in endogenously determined contribution rate is explained by the stochastic variation in the lenght of working time. Variation in fertility rate is clearly more important.
Don’t Remind Me: Part-set Cuing Inhibits Consumers Prospective Memory When Reviewing Home Loan Terms

Three experiments examined whether part-set cuing effects might impair consumers’ abilities to remember to check loan attributes on a home-loan disclosure form. In part-set cuing effects, memory is typically impaired when a subset of previously learned items are offered as cues to aid subsequent recall. Participants studied a list of loan attributes to check when they subsequently reviewed a home-loan disclosure form. Results indicated that participants cued immediately prior to reviewing the form remembered to check (visually fixated) a lower percentage of non-cued attributes relative to those presented with no cues (Experiments 1 – 3). The magnitude of impairment increased as the cue-set size increased (Experiment 2) but did not vary according to the correspondence between the cue-presentation order and encoding order (Experiment 3). This pattern of results is consistent with retrieval-strength accounts (response competition or retrieval inhibition) and inconsistent with strategy-disruption accounts of part-set cuing effects. These findings demonstrate that even informed borrowers are vulnerable to deceptive tactics when reviewing government mandated home-loan disclosure forms. Implications for understanding consumers’ vulnerabilities to fraud and poor decision-making are discussed.
Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Receptor-related Protein 1B Impairs Urokinase Receptor Regeneration on the Cell Surface and Inhibits Cell Migration*

The low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor-related protein 1B (LRP1B) is a newly identified member of the LDL receptor family and is closely related to LRP. It was discovered as a putative tumor suppressor and is frequently inactivated in lung cancer cells. In the present study, we used an LRP1B minireceptor (mLRP1B4), which mimics the function and trafficking of LRP1B, to explore the roles of LRP1B on the plasminogen activation system. We found that mLRP1B4 and urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) form immunoprecipitable complexes on the cell surface in the presence of complexes of uPA and its inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1). However, compared with cells expressing the analogous LRP minireceptor (mLRP4), cells expressing mLRP1B4 display a substantially slower rate of uPA·PAI-1 complex internalization. Expression of mLRP1B4, or an mLRP4 mutant deficient in endocytosis, leads to an accumulation of uPAR at the cell surface and increased cell-associated uPA and PAI-1 when compared with cells expressing mLRP4. In addition, we found that expression of mLRP1B or the mLRP4 endocytosis mutant impairs the regeneration of unoccupied uPAR on the cell surface and that this correlates with a diminished rate of cell migration. Taken together, these results demonstrate that LRP1B can function as a negative regulator of uPAR regeneration and cell migration.
Multiscale Queuing Analysis

This paper introduces a new multiscale framework for estimating the tail probability of a queue fed by an arbitrary traffic process. Using traffic statistics at a small number of time scales, our analysis extends the theoretical concept of the critical time scale and provides practical approximations for the tail queue probability. These approximations are non-asymptotic; that is they apply to any finite queue threshold. While our approach applies to any traffic process, it is particularly a pt for long-range-dependent (LRD) traffic. For LRD fractional Brownian motion, we prove that a sparse exponential spacing of time scales yields optimal performance. Simulations with LRD traffic models and real Internet traces demonstrate the accu racy of the approach. Finally, simulations reveal that the marginals of traffic at multiple time scales have a strong influence on queu ing that is not captured well by its global second-order correlation in non-Gaussian scenarios.
A Schumpeter-inspired approach to the construction of R&D capital stocks

A new method for constructing R&D capital stocks is proposed and tested. Following Schumpeter, the development of R&D capital stocks is modelled as a process of creative destruction. Newly generated knowledge is assumed not only to add to the existing R&D capital stocks but also, by displacing old knowledge, to destroy part of that capital. This is in stark contrast to the perpetual inventory method, which postulates a constant rate of depreciation. We compare both methods by estimating the impact of R&D and spillovers on output of 9 industries in 12 OECD countries, and find that the new approach leads to more sensible and robust results.
The Immediate and Delayed Cardiovascular Benefits of Forgiving

Background The putative health benefits of forgiveness may include long-term buffering against cardiovascular reactivity associated with rumination. Although studies show short-term benefits of adopting a forgiving perspective, it is uncertain whether this perspective protects against repeated future rumination on offenses, which may be necessary for long-term health benefits. Also unclear is whether forgiveness offers unique benefits beyond simple distraction. Methods Cardiovascular parameters (systolic blood pressure [SBP], diastolic blood pressure [DBP], and heart rate) were measured while 202 participants thought about a previous offense from an angry or forgiving perspective or were distracted. All participants were then distracted for 5 minutes, after which they freely ruminated on the offense. Results Angry rumination initially yielded the greatest increase in blood pressure from baseline (mean [M] [standard deviation {SD}]: SBP = 9.24 [11.16]; M [SD]: DBP = 4.69 [7.48]) compared with forgiveness (M [SD]: SBP = 3.30 [6.48]; M [SD]: DBP = 1.51 [4.94]) and distraction (M [SD]: SBP = 4.81 [6.28]; M [SD]: DBP = 1.75 [3.80]), which did not differ from each other (p > .30). During free rumination, however, those who had previously focused on forgiveness showed less reactivity (M [SD]: SBP = 7.33 [9.61]; M [SD]: DBP = 4.73 [7.33]) than those who had been distracted (M [SD]: SBP = 10.50 [7.77]; M [SD]: DBP = 7.71 [6.83]) and those who previously focused on angry rumination (M [SD]: SBP = 12.04 [11.74]; M [SD]: DBP = 8.64 [12.63]). There were no differences for heart rate. Conclusions Forgiveness seems to lower reactivity both during the initial cognitive process and, more importantly, during mental recreations of an offense soon thereafter, potentially offering sustained protection, whereas effects of distraction appear transient.