Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antisocial behavior from a developmental psychopathology perspective

Abstract This paper reviews research on chronic patterns of antisocial behavior and places this research into a developmental psychopathology framework. Specifically, research suggests that there are at least three important pathways through which children and adolescents can develop severe antisocial behaviors. One group of youth shows antisocial behavior that begins in adolescence, and two groups show antisocial behavior that begins in childhood but differ on the presence or absence of callous–unemotional traits. In outlining these distinct pathways to antisocial behavior, we have tried to illustrate some key concepts from developmental psychopathology such as equifinality and multifinality, the importance of understanding the interface between normal and abnormal development, and the importance of using multiple levels of analyses to advance causal theories. Finally, we discuss how this development model can be used to enhance existing interventions for antisocial individuals.
IL-4 Deficiency Decreases Mortality but Increases Severity of Arthritis in Experimental Group B Streptococcus Infection

IL-4 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that inhibits the onset and severity in different experimental arthritis models. Group B streptococci (GBS) have been recognized as an ever-growing cause of serious invasive infections in nonpregnant adults. Septic arthritis is a clinical manifestation of GBS infection. To investigate the role of IL-4 in experimental GBS infection, IL-4 deficient or competent mice were inoculated with 1 × 107 GBS/mouse. Mortality, appearance of arthritis, GBS growth in the organs, and local and systemic cytokine and chemokine production were examined. IL-4−/− mice showed lower mortality rates but increased severity of arthritis and exhibited a lower microbial load in blood, kidneys, and joints than wt mice. Increased local levels of IL-1 β, IL-6, TNF-α, MIP-1α, and MIP-2 accompanied the more severe arthritis in IL-4−/− mice. Our results suggest a detrimental role of IL-4 in GBS sepsis, whereas it plays a beneficial effect on GBS-induced arthritis.
Secure degrees of freedom of the multiple access wiretap channel with no eavesdropper CSI

We consider the K-user Gaussian multiple access wiretap channel (MAC-WT), where no eavesdropper channel state information (CSI) is available at the transmitters. We show that the exact sum secure degrees of freedom (s.d.o.f.) of this channel model is K-1/K . This result shows that, under the condition of no eavesdropper CSI, the MAC-WT acts like a single-transmitter K - 1 helper wiretap channel. We further show that, when a subset of the transmitters have eavesdropper CSI, then higher sum s.d. o.f. can be achieved, and the system can be operated as a MAC-WT for the users with eavesdropper CSI, with the remaining users acting as helpers. In particular, if m of the K transmitters have eavesdropper CSI, we show that m(K-1)/m(K-1)+1 sum s.d. o.f. can be achieved, showing the benefits of having the eavesdropper CSI at the transmitters.
Systematic review of the clinical efficacy and safety of sevelamer in dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND The relative effectiveness and safety of sevelamer for treatment of hyperphosphataemia in dialysis patients is uncertain, as compared with calcium-based phosphate binders. METHODS We conducted a comprehensive search to identify all randomized cross-over or parallel group studies comparing sevelamer to any other therapy or placebo in adult dialysis patients. Study quality was assessed using the Chalmers Index. Data was extracted and checked using a standardized form and combined using a random effects model. RESULTS We identified 14 primary publications of randomized trials (3193 participants) that were eligible for efficacy analysis. In analyses pooling, the 10 studies reporting on serum phosphate and calcium (2501 participants), serum phosphate was significantly lower with calcium-based phosphate binders by 0.12 mmol/l [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.05-0.19], compared with sevelamer. On-treatment calcium-phosphate product was not significantly lower in patients receiving calcium-based phosphate binders (0.12 mmol(2)/l(2), -0.05 to 0.29), compared with sevelamer. Overall mean difference in serum calcium was significantly lower with sevelamer therapy by 0.10 mmol/l (-0.12 to -0.07) and pooled on-treatment decrease in serum bicarbonate was significantly greater with sevelamer therapy by 2.8 mmol/l (2.2 to -3.5). In the five trials which reported all-cause mortality (2429 participants), the overall risk difference for all cause mortality in these five trials was similar between therapies (-2%, 95% CI -6-2). In the three trials which reported serious adverse events (2185 participants), there was a trend towards a lower risk in patients receiving calcium-based phosphate binders (13% lower, 95% CI -2-29). CONCLUSIONS Compared with calcium-based phosphate binders, use of sevelamer in dialysis patients is associated with similar to slightly higher phosphate levels, similar calcium phosphate product, and slightly lower serum calcium levels. There was no evidence that sevelamer reduced all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, the frequency of symptomatic bone disease or health-related quality of life.
Clinical study on the application of a 2-μm continuous wave laser in transurethral vaporesection of the prostate

The present study aimed to evaluate the method and clinical effects of transurethral dividing vaporesection of the prostate in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) using the RevoIix 70 W 2-μm continuous wave (cw) laser. A total of 155 BPH patients were treated transurethrally under epidural or sacral anesthesia using the dividing vaporesection technique. Of these, 80 had a prostate volume of ≤80 ml and 75 had a prostate volume of >80 ml. Pre- and post-operative data were evaluated for prostate-specific antigens (PSAs), post-void residual volume (PVR), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and quality of life (QoL). Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 16.0 software. Treatment effectiveness evaluations were also conducted. In the ≤80 ml prostate volume group, the mean PSA level decreased from 3.8±0.9 to 2.6±1.3 ng/ml. The PVR, mean Qmax, IPSS and QoL score improved significantly (P<0.05) in each group but no statistically significant difference was identified between the two groups. With a shorter surgery duration, safe use and high cutting efficiency and rapid vaporization ability, the 2-μm laser vaporesection technique shows superiority compared to standard techniques in the treatment of BPH.
Improving the dynamic accuracy of elastic industrial robot joint by algebraic identification approach

In this paper, an improvement of the dynamic accuracy of a flexible robot joint is addressed. Based on the observation of the measured axis deformation, a simplified elastic joint model is deduced. In the first step, the non-linear model component's is analyzed and identified in the cases of the gravity bias and the friction term. In the second step, a non-asymptotically algebraic fast identification of the oscillatory behavior of the robot axis is introduced. Finally, the performances of the identification approach are exploited in order to improve the dynamic accuracy of a flexible robot axis. This is done experimentally by the combination of the adaptation of the jerk time profile to reduce the end-point vibration and the model-based pre-compensation of the end-point tracking error.
Challenging Anomaly Detection in Wire Ropes Using Linear Prediction Combined with One-class Classification

Automatic visual inspection has gathered a high importance in many fields of industrial applications. Especially in security relevant applications visual inspection is obligatory. Unfortunately, this task currently bears also a risk for the human inspector, as in the case of visual rope inspection. The huge and heavy rope is mounted in great height, or it is directly connected with running machines. Furthermore, the defects and anomalies are so inconspicuous, that even for a human expert this is a very demanding task. For this reason, we present an approach for the automatic detection of defects or anomalies in wire ropes. Features, which incorporate context-information from the preceding rope region, are extracted with help of linear prediction. These features are then used to learn the faultless and normal structure of the rope with help of a oneclass classification approach. Two different learning strategies, the K-means clustering and a Gaussian mixture model, are used and compared. The evaluation is done on real rope data from a ropeway. Our first results considering this demanding task show that it is possible to exclude more than 90 percent of the rope as faultless.
Mechanism of Prion Loss after Hsp104 Inactivation in Yeast

ABSTRACT In vivo propagation of [PSI+], an aggregation-prone prion isoform of the yeast release factor Sup35 (eRF3), has previously been shown to require intermediate levels of the chaperone protein Hsp104. Here we perform a detailed study on the mechanism of prion loss after Hsp104 inactivation. Complete or partial inactivation of Hsp104 was achieved by the following approaches: deleting the HSP104 gene; modifying theHSP104 promoter that results in low level of its expression; and overexpressing the dominant-negative ATPase-inactive mutant HSP104 allele. In contrast to guanidine-HCl, an agent blocking prion proliferation, Hsp104 inactivation induced relatively rapid loss of [PSI +] and another candidate yeast prion, [PIN +]. Thus, the previously hypothesized mechanism of prion dilution in cell divisions due to the blocking of prion proliferation is not sufficient to explain the effect of Hsp104 inactivation. The [PSI +] response to increased levels of another chaperone, Hsp70-Ssa, depends on whether the Hsp104 activity is increased or decreased. A decrease of Hsp104 levels or activity is accompanied by a decrease in the number of Sup35PSI+aggregates and an increase in their size. This eventually leads to accumulation of huge agglomerates, apparently possessing reduced prion forming capability and representing dead ends of the prion replication cycle. Thus, our data confirm that the primary function of Hsp104 in prion propagation is to disassemble prion aggregates and generate the small prion seeds that initiate new rounds of prion propagation (possibly assisted by Hsp70-Ssa).
Reflective design documentation

Interaction design researchers doing research through design face not only the wicked problems in the practice of doing interaction design, but also the wicked problems that exist in the practice of doing research. In this paper we discuss the use of a tool developed for the specific purpose of documenting design projects and prompting reflection about design events as part of doing research through design. Based on cases lasting from nine to thirteen months we address specific benefits and challenges that we have encountered while employing the tool. Challenges concern roles and responsibilities, lack of routines, determining what to document, and finding the right level of detail. Benefits include support of shared reflection and discussion in on-going projects, the development, refining, and reflection upon research questions, scaffolding longitudinal and cross-project studies. Moreover, the benefits derived from entering design materials and other kinds of artefacts into a tool may not be achieved until must later, for instance when writing research publications.
Relating neural processing of reward and loss prospect to risky decision-making in individuals with and without gambling disorder

ABSTRACT Neuroimaging studies demonstrate alterations in fronto-striatal neurocircuitry in gambling disorder (GD) during anticipatory processing, which may influence decision-making impairments. However, to date little is known about fronto-striatal anticipatory processing and emotion-based decision-making. While undergoing neuroimaging, 28 GD and 28 healthy control (HC) participants performed the Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MIDT). Pearson correlation coefficients assessed out-of-scanner Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) performance with the neural activity during prospect (A1) processing on the MIDT across combined GD and HC groups. The HC and GD groups showed no significant difference in out-of-scanner IGT performance, although there was a trend for higher IGT scores in the HC group on the last two IGT trial blocks. Whole-brain correlations across combined HC and GD groups showed that MIDT BOLD signal in the ventral striatum/caudate/ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate regions during the prospect of winning positively correlated with total IGT scores. The GD group also contained a higher proportion of tobacco smokers, and correlations between neural activations in prospect on the MIDT may relate in part to gambling and/or smoking pathology. In this study, fronto-striatal activity during the prospect of reward and loss on the MIDT was related to decision-making on the IGT, with blunted activation linked to disadvantageous decision-making. The findings from this work are novel in linking brain activity during a prospect-of-reward phase with performance on a decision-making task in individuals with and without GD.
Higher-order glass-transition singularities in colloidal systems with attractive interactions.

The transition from a liquid to a glass in colloidal suspensions of particles interacting through a hard core plus an attractive square-well potential is studied within the mode-coupling-theory framework. When the width of the attractive potential is much shorter than the hard-core diameter, a reentrant behavior of the liquid-glass line and a glass-glass-transition line are found in the temperature-density plane of the model. For small well-width values, the glass-glass-transition line terminates in a third-order bifurcation point, i.e., in a A3 (cusp) singularity. On increasing the square-well width, the glass-glass line disappears, giving rise to a fourth-order A4 (swallow-tail) singularity at a critical well width. Close to the A3 and A4 singularities the decay of the density correlators shows stretching of huge dynamical windows, in particular logarithmic time dependence.
Discriminative Reordering Model for Machine Translation

We have built a discriminative reordering model for the phrase-based machine translation system Moses, which is developed at the University of Edinburgh. The model is a maximum entropy classifier which incorporates a variety of feature functions to predict phrase orientation for machine translation. Two kinds of features reported in literature, namely lexical features and dependency path feature have been tested in the discriminative model. We have also proposed and tested a novel feature named dependency orientation and modified the dependency path feature with lexicalization. Two baseline models are used in evaluation, namely, distance-based model without lexicalized reordering, and the lexicalized reordering model. We are able to achieve significant BLEU gains over the distance based model by up to 0.95 absolute points, and BLEU gains over the lexicalized reordering model by up to 0.74 absolute points. Discriminative reordering model is a very generic framework and is open to many more features for further improvement.
Cyclic dormancy, temperature and water availability control germination of Carrichtera annua, an invasive species in chenopod shrublands

We studied the germination of seeds of Carrichtera annua L. from a single cohort, stored in the field for up to 18 months, when retrieved at different times and subject to different combinations of temperature and water availability. Germination was affected by season of retrieval, and temperature and water availability in a complex interactive way. Germination rates were lowest when seeds were retrieved during summer or spring, but seeds germinated readily when retrieved during autumn and winter, if exposed to temperatures simulating autumn or winter conditions, and provided water equivalent to at least 50% field capacity. High temperatures and low water availability reduced germination substantially. The results indicate that this species has a combination of cyclic dormancy and germination requirements that minimizes the risk of germination during periods when the risk of prereproductive mortality is high. Given the short life of the seeds of this species, these mechanisms may be essential for the persistence of the species in the highly unpredictable arid lands of southern Australia.
Computerized and Traditional Administration of Questionnaires: Psychometric Quality and Completion Time for Measures of Self-Concept

ABSTRACT In two independent studies of questionnaire administration, respondents completed multidimensional self-concept inventories within four randomized research conditions that mirrored the most common administration formats used in practice: paper booklets with and without answer sheets and computer questionnaires with single versus multiple items per screen. Strong differences among conditions emerged for completion time, but not for psychometric properties of scores (means, variances, reliability coefficients, concurrent validity coefficients). Answer sheets increased completion time by 24% to 34%, single-item displays by 20% to 25%, and computerization by 13% to 17%. Completion time was longer for multiple-alternative than for rating-scale items, but relative effects of answer sheets, single-item displays, and computerization remained consistent. We discuss implications for questionnaire construction and administration.
Improved amino acid flexibility parameters

Protein molecules exhibit varying degrees of flexibility throughout their three‐dimensional structures, with some segments showing little mobility while others may be so disordered as to be unresolvable by techniques such as X‐ray crystallography. Atomic displacement parameters, or B‐factors, from X‐ray crystallographic studies give an experimentally determined indication of the degree of mobility in a protein structure. To provide better estimators of amino acid flexibility, we have examined B‐factors from a large set of high‐resolution crystal structures. Because of the differences among structures, it is necessary to normalize the B‐factors. However, many proteins have segments of unusually high mobility, which must be accounted for before normalization can be performed. Accordingly, a median‐based method from quality control studies was used to identify outliers. After removal of outliers from, and normalization of, each protein chain, the B‐factors were collected for each amino acid in the set. It was found that the distribution of normalized B‐factors followed a Gumbel, or extreme value distribution, and the location parameter, or mode, of this distribution was used as an estimator of flexibility for the amino acid. These new parameters have a higher correlation with experimentally determined B‐factors than parameters from earlier methods.
Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Down-Regulates Medial Prefrontal Cortex during Experience of Flow

Previous neuroimaging studies have suggested that the experience of flow aligns with a relative increase in activation of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), and relative activation decreases of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and of the amygdala (AMY). In the present study, Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) was used to explore effective connectivity between those brain regions. To test our hypothesis that the DRN causally down-regulates activity of the MPFC and/or of the AMY, 23 healthy male students solved mental arithmetic tasks of varying difficulty during functional magnetic resonance imaging. A “flow” condition, with task demands automatically balanced with participants’ skill level, was compared with conditions of “boredom” and “overload”. DCM models were constructed modeling full reciprocal endogenous connections between the DRN, the MPFC, the AMY, and the calcarine. The calcarine was included to allow sensory input to enter the system. Experimental conditions were modeled as exerting modulatory effects on various possible connections between the DRN, the MPFC, and the AMY, but not on self-inhibitory connections, yielding a total of 64 alternative DCM models. Model space was partitioned into eight families based on commonalities in the arrangement of the modulatory effects. Random effects Bayesian Model Selection (BMS) was applied to identify a possible winning family (and model). Although BMS revealed a clear winning family, an outstanding winning model could not be identified. Therefore, Bayesian Model Averaging was performed over models within the winning family to obtain representative DCM parameters for subsequent analyses to test our hypothesis. In line with our expectations, Bayesian averaged parameters revealed stronger down-regulatory influence of the DRN on the MPFC when participants experienced flow relative to control conditions. In addition, these condition-dependent modulatory effects significantly predicted participants’ experienced degree of flow. The AMY was down-regulated irrespective of condition. The present results suggest a causal role for the DRN in modulating the MPFC, contributing to the experience of flow.
OpenOF - Framework for Sparse Non-linear Least Squares Optimization on a GPU

In the area of computer vision and robotics non-linear optimization methods have become an important tool. For instance, all structure from motion approaches apply optimizations such as bundle adjustment (BA). Most often, the structure of the problem is sparse regarding the functional relations of parameters and measurements. The sparsity of the system has to be modeled within the optimization in order to achieve good performance. With OpenOF, a framework is presented, which enables developers to design sparse optimizations regarding parameters and measurements and utilize the parallel power of a GPU. We demonstrate the universality of our framework using BA as example. The performance and accuracy is compared to published implementations for synthetic and real world data.
FRAILTY AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH COGNITIVE FUNCTION AMONG NON-DEMENTED JAPANESE COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER ADULTS

i Acknowledgements.v List of Figures.ix List of Tables.x Abbreviations.xii Chapter 1 – Introduction. 1 1-1. Frailty, A Common and Important Clinical Syndrome.1 1-2. Main Operational Definitions and Proposed Models of Frailty.4 1-3. Prevalence and Correlates of Frailty.9 1-4. Overview of Available Evidence of Association between Frailty and Cognition.12 1-5. Purpose . 19 Chapter 2 – Study 1: Screening for Frailty Phenotype with Objectively-Measured Physical Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.23 2-1. Abstract. 24 2-2. Introduction. 26 2-3. Methods. 27 2-4. Results. 34 2-5. Discussion. 37 2-6. Conclusions. 43 Chapter 3 –Study 2: Global Cognitive Performance and Frailty in Non-Demented