Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-stigma, insight, and family burden among Israeli mothers of people with serious mental illness: Ethno-national considerations

The current cross-sectional study investigated and compared the associations between insight, self-stigma, and family burden among Jewish and Arab mothers of an adult son or daughter with serious mental illness (SMI) in Israel. A total of 162 Israeli mothers of a person with SMI participated in the study; 95 were Jewish (58.6%), and 67 were Arab (41.4%). Insight, self-stigma, and family burden scales were administered. Jewish mothers reported higher levels of insight into their son’s or daughter’s illness and reported greater family burden compared to Arab mothers. No significant differences in self-stigma scores were found between Jewish and Arab mothers. The pattern of associations between insight, self-stigma, and burden differed between Jewish and Arab mothers. Self-stigma was found to mediate the relationship between insight and burden among Jewish mothers but not among Arab mothers. Ethno-national affiliation should be taken into consideration regarding how family members conceptualize and experience mental illness, as this might affect care.
Evaluation of Latvia’s re-exports using firm-level trade data

ABSTRACT We use an anonymized firm-level trade database provided by the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia to evaluate Latvia's re-exports. By solving a linear maximization problem for each firm-product pair, we obtain estimates of re-export flows and corresponding re-export mark-ups. We find that the share of-re-export flows in the total merchandise exports and imports is significant and follows an increasing trend. The share of re-exports is especially large in such product groups as transport vehicles, plastics, mineral products, and machinery and electrical equipments. The majority of re-export flows are directed to closest neighbours – Lithuania and Estonia – suggesting that Latvia serves as a sort of a regional transport hub. We also find that average re-export mark-ups are sizeable and re-export operations may provide an important contribution to Latvia’s GDP.
Decay of spin coherences in one-dimensional spin systems

Strategies to protect multi-qubit states against decoherence are difficult to formulate because of their complex many-body dynamics. A better knowledge of the decay dynamics would help in the construction of dynamical decoupling control schemes. Here we use solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to experimentally investigate decay of coherent multi-spin states in linear spin chains. Leveraging on the quasi-one-dimension geometry of fluorapatite crystal spin systems, we can gain a deeper insight on the multi-spin states created by the coherent evolution, and their subsequent decay, than it is possible in three-dimensional (3D) systems. We are then able to formulate an analytical model that captures the key features of the decay. We can thus compare the decoherence behavior for different initial states of the spin chain and link their decay rate to the state characteristics, in particular their coherence and long-range correlation among spins. Our experimental and theoretical study shows that the spin chains undergo a rich dynamics, with a slower decay rate than for the 3D case, and thus might be more amenable to decoupling techniques.
Influence of the Crystal Surface on the Austenitic and Martensitic Phase Transition in Pure Iron

Using classical molecular dynamics simulations, we studied the influence that free surfaces exert on the austenitic and martensitic phase transition in iron. For several single-indexed surfaces—such as ( 100 ) bcc and ( 110 ) bcc as well as ( 100 ) fcc and ( 110 ) fcc surfaces—appropriate pathways exist that allow for the transformation of the surface structure. These are the Bain, Mao, Pitsch, and Kurdjumov–Sachs pathways, respectively. Tilted surfaces follow the pathway of the neighboring single-indexed plane. The austenitic transformation temperature follows the dependence of the specific surface energy of the native bcc phase; here, the new phase nucleates at the surface. In contrast, the martensitic transformation temperature steadily decreases when tilting the surface from the (100) fcc to the (110) fcc orientation. This dependence is caused by the strong out-of-plane deformation that (110) fcc facets experience under the transformation; here, the new phase also nucleates in the bulk rather than at the surface.
Monthly land cover‐specific evapotranspiration models derived from global eddy flux measurements and remote sensing data

Evapotranspiration (ET) is arguably the most uncertain ecohydrologic variable for quantifying watershed water budgets. Although numerous ET and hydrological models exist, accurately predicting the effects of global change on water use and availability remains challenging because of model deficiency and/or a lack of input parameters. The objective of this study was to create a new set of monthly ET models that can better quantify landscape‐level ET with readily available meteorological and biophysical information. We integrated eddy covariance flux measurements from over 200 sites, multiple year remote sensing products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and statistical modelling. Through examining the key biophysical controls on ET by land cover type (i.e. shrubland, cropland, deciduous forest, evergreen forest, mixed forest, grassland, and savannas), we created unique ET regression models for each land cover type using different combinations of biophysical independent factors. Leaf area index and net radiation explained most of the variability of observed ET for shrubland, cropland, grassland, savannas, and evergreen forest ecosystems. In contrast, potential ET (PET) as estimated by the temperature‐based Hamon method was most useful for estimating monthly ET for deciduous and mixed forests. The more data‐demanding PET method, FAO reference ET model, had similar power as the simpler Hamon PET method for estimating actual ET. We developed three sets of monthly ET models by land cover type for different practical applications with different data availability. Our models may be used to improve water balance estimates for large basins or regions with mixed land cover types. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Blockchain Meets IoT: An Architecture for Scalable Access Management in IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is stepping out of its infancy into full maturity and establishing itself as a part of the future Internet. One of the technical challenges of having billions of devices deployed worldwide is the ability to manage them. Although access management technologies exist in IoT, they are based on centralized models which introduce a new variety of technical limitations to manage them globally. In this paper, we propose a new architecture for arbitrating roles and permissions in IoT. The new architecture is a fully distributed access control system for IoT based on blockchain technology. The architecture is backed by a proof of concept implementation and evaluated in realistic IoT scenarios. The results show that the blockchain technology could be used as access management technology in specific scalable IoT scenarios.
Through Thick and Thin: a Need to Reconcile Contradictory Results on Trajectories in Human Cortical Development

Abstract Understanding how brain development normally proceeds is a premise of understanding neurodevelopmental disorders. This has sparked a wealth of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. Unfortunately, they are in marked disagreement on how the cerebral cortex matures. While cortical thickness increases for the first 8‐9 years of life have repeatedly been reported, others find continuous cortical thinning from early childhood, at least from age 3 or 4 years. We review these inconsistencies, and discuss possible reasons, including the use of different scanners, recording parameters and analysis tools, and possible effects of variables such as head motion. When tested on the same subsample, 2 popular thickness estimation methods (CIVET and FreeSurfer) both yielded a continuous thickness decrease from 3 years. Importantly, MRI‐derived measures of cortical development are merely our best current approximations, hence the term “apparent cortical thickness” may be preferable. We recommend strategies for reaching consensus in the field, including multimodal neuroimaging to measure phenomena using different techniques, for example, the use of T1/T2 ratio, and data sharing to allow replication across analysis methods. As neurodevelopmental origins of early‐ and late‐onset disease are increasingly recognized, resolving inconsistencies in brain maturation trajectories is important.
Neutrophil superoxide release and plasma C-reactive protein levels pre- and post-periodontal therapy.

AIM To determine peripheral blood neutrophil superoxide release and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration in chronic periodontitis patients, before and after non-surgical periodontal treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS Neutrophils were isolated from patient and control volunteers (n = 20) and superoxide measured by lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence with and without stimulation with unopsonized Porphyromonas gingivalis, unopsonized Fusobacterium nucleatum and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) before and 2-months following non-surgical therapy. Corresponding high-sensitivity plasma CRP concentrations were also determined. RESULTS At pre-treatment baseline, patient neutrophils released more superoxide in the absence (p ≤ 0.032) and presence of periodontal bacteria (p ≤ 0.013) and after PMA stimulation (p = 0.041) compared to control cells. Post-therapy, patient neutrophil superoxide release was reduced to control cell levels. Median patient plasma CRP concentrations were non-significantly higher than control values and were reduced after therapy (1.80-1.36 mg/l). Patient pre-treatment baseline, unstimulated neutrophil superoxide release showed a significant, positive correlation with plasma CRP concentration (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Chronic periodontitis is characterized by peripheral neutrophils exhibiting superoxide hyperactivity and hyper-reactivity to periodontal pathogens that is not a constitutive feature of periodontitis patients. The positive, pre-therapy relationship between unstimulated neutrophil superoxide release and plasma CRP is consistent with a protective role for CRP in reducing oxidative stress and systemic inflammation in vivo.
CSMA with Pairwise Coding

We consider distributed strategies for joint routing, scheduling, and network coding to maximize throughput in wireless networks. Network coding allows for an increase in network throughput under certain routing conditions. We previously developed a centralized control policy to jointly optimize for routing and scheduling combined with a simple network coding strategy using max-weight scheduling (MWS) [9]. In this work we focus on pairwise network coding and develop a distributed carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) policy that supports all arrival rates allowed by the network subject to the pairwise coding constraint. We extend our scheme to optimize for packet overhearing to increase the number of beneficial coding opportunities. Simulation results show that the CSMA strategy yields the same throughput as the optimal centralized policy of [9], but at the cost of increased delay. Moreover, overhearing provides up to an additional 25% increase in throughput on random topologies.
Texture Segregation Causes Early Figure Enhancement and Later Ground Suppression in Areas V1 and V4 of Visual Cortex

Segregation of images into figures and background is fundamental for visual perception. Cortical neurons respond more strongly to figural image elements than to background elements, but the mechanisms of figure–ground modulation (FGM) are only partially understood. It is unclear whether FGM in early and mid-level visual cortex is caused by an enhanced response to the figure, a suppressed response to the background, or both. We studied neuronal activity in areas V1 and V4 in monkeys performing a texture segregation task. We compared texture-defined figures with homogeneous textures and found an early enhancement of the figure representation, and a later suppression of the background. Across neurons, the strength of figure enhancement was independent of the strength of background suppression. We also examined activity in the different V1 layers. Both figure enhancement and ground suppression were strongest in superficial and deep layers and weaker in layer 4. The current–source density profiles suggested that figure enhancement was caused by stronger synaptic inputs in feedback-recipient layers 1, 2, and 5 and ground suppression by weaker inputs in these layers, suggesting an important role for feedback connections from higher level areas. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms for figure–ground organization.
The Moderating Effect of R&D Investment on Income and Carbon Emissions in China: Direct and Spatial Spillover Insights

R&D investment plays a great role in achieving China’s low-carbon economy goals, which has a moderating effect on the relationship between income and carbon emissions. Furthermore, such a moderating effect may have spatial differences, given the possible spatial dependence of carbon emissions. Therefore, this paper explores the direct and spatial spillover moderating effects of R&D investment by adopting the panel spatial Durbin model and data of 30 provinces in China during 1998–2015. The empirical results firstly indicate that R&D investment moderates the positive impact of income on local carbon emissions for both the non-spatial and spatial model, and that more R&D investment can make carbon emissions reach the turning point earlier. Secondly, R&D investment in the local province increases the positive influence of local income on neighboring carbon emissions, which mainly results from the transfer effect of carbon emissions rather than the knowledge spillovers effect. The results are indicated to be robust by three types of robustness analyses. Finally, FDI and patents are the main constrained forces of local and neighboring carbon emissions; coal consumption is the main driver of local carbon emissions.
Perioperative Management of Beta Blockers and Other Antiarrhythmic Medications.

BACKGROUND Antiarrhythmic medications are an important tool in preventing recurrence of intraoperative and postoperative arrhythmias. OBJECTIVE To review current literature and recommendations for perioperative management of antiarrhythmic medications. METHODS Literature review is presented along with the pharmacology of antiarrhythmics. RESULTS Antiarrhythmic medications should be continued perioperatively for the prevention of arrhythmias intra- and postoperatively. However, beta blockers have had controversies regarding their perioperative safety profile. CONCLUSION Continuation of antiarrhythmic medications is safe perioperatively. However, initiation of beta blockers should be patient-tailored and titrated to a target heart rate in advance surgery.
A FRAMEWORK FOR THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZATIONS

Complex organizations are conceptualized in terms of their technologies, or the work done on raw materials. Two aspects of technology vary independently: the number of exceptions that must be handled, and the degree to which search is an analyzable or unanalyzable procedure. If there is a large number of exceptions and search is not logical and analytic, the technology is described as nonroutine. Few exceptions and analyzable search procedures describe a routine technology. Two other types result from other combinations-craft and engineering technologies. Task structures vary with the technology utilized, and are analyzed in terms of control and coordination and three levels of management. Social structure in turn is related to technology and task structure. Finally, the variations in three types of goals are weakly related to the preceding variables in this conceptualization. The perspective provides a basis for comparing organizations which avoids many problems found in other schemes utilizing structure, function or goals as the basis for comparison. Furthermore, it allows one to selectively utilize competing organizational theories once it is understood that their relevance is restricted to organizations with specific kinds of technologies. The scheme makes apparent some errors in present efforts to compare organizations.
OPTIMIZATION APPROACH FOR EFFICIENT CLEANING WITH IMPINGING JETS – INFLUENCE OF NOZZLE DIAMETER , PRESSURE AND NOZZLE DISTANCE

Efficient cleaning is a considerable challenge in various industrial fields. Laboratory scale cleaning tests are an approach to investigate the influences of operating parameters on the cleaning result and to assess the required efforts. In this paper an impinging jet cleaning process was studied. The test set-up and evaluation method enables the measuring of the circular area cleaned by the jet as a function of time. Cleaning tests with a food based model soil were carried out under variation of the most relevant industrial operating parameters: nozzle diameter (0.39 to 3.30 mm), pressure (0.1 to 5.0 bar) and nozzle distance (16 to 184 mm). The first two parameters showed a power-law dependency, while the latter was neglected due to the coherent jet structure. A semi-empirical model is presented which can be used to optimize the cleaning process. Different process-related boundary conditions lead to different optimal solutions, e.g. to minimize the cleaning time, fluid consumption or the total cleaning costs.
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION RESULTS OF A HYBRID CERAMIC AND ACTIVELY COOLED BALL BEARING FOR GAS TURBINES

Rolling element bearings are one of the components which significantly determine the reliability and mechanical efficiency of aerospace engines and drive trains as well as stationary gas turbines. They have to withstand very demanding operating conditions. Especially main shaft ball bearings in modern aircraft engines and stationary gas turbines experience high rotational speeds, loads and temperatures. In addition, rolling element bearings installed in aircraft engines have to meet the highest reliability requirements. Increasing bearing rotational speeds and thrust load density contribute to a higher thermal efficiency of today’s and future gas turbines. This development trend translates into increased bearing power losses and temperatures, which demand increased cooling oil quantities. These are connected with higher power losses due to oil churning. Thus, the requirements for future gas turbine ball bearings are reduced power losses, bearing and oil temperatures as well as increased reliability. Here, maintenance free components for stationary gas turbines and “power by the hour” requirements for aircraft engines play an important role. In this article, the experimental investigation results for a novel gas turbine ball bearing are presented. The investigated bearing features ceramic balls, direct outer ring cooling, squeeze film damping and surface nitrided raceways. These material and design attributes contribute to increased efficiency, robustness and reliability. Rig testing under typical aircraft engine flight conditions has been performed in order to investigate the influence on bearing power loss, temperatures and cooling efficiency. The fundamental experimental results including oil and bearing temperature distribution, power dissipation and bearing efficiency as well as the technology transfer into stationary gas turbines are presented.
CSR Disclosure and AH-Share Premium

We examine the effect of CSR disclosure on equity prices in Aand H-share markets in China. For Chinese companies which are listed both in Hong Kong as H-shares and at the same time in Shanghai or Shenzhen as A-shares, significant stock price premiums are documented for A-shares. Using a sample of 88 Chinese firms from 2009 to 2015, we find that AH-share premium is significantly lower for firms issuing CSR reports. We also examine the relation between the quality of CSR disclosure and AH-share premium and find that higher CSR disclosure quality is associated with lower AH-share premium. Further investigation suggests that the negative relation between CSR disclosure (quality) and AH-share premium is due to the information asymmetry reduction resulted from (high-quality) CSR disclosure.
ABOUT THE INFLUENCE OF TIME ON THE BEARING CHARACTERISTICS OF PRECAST DRIVEN

The time-dependent increase of pile resistance is a known effect, which can be observed in cohesive and non-cohesive soils as well. In this contribution, approaches for the prediction of time-dependent increase of axial pile resistance are presented and compared with new field tests and project-related database results on precast piles in different soils. The aim of the evaluation is to develop a practical concept, for a reliable prediction of set up, which can be used as a tool for an a technically and economically optimized design of driven piles.
A Vitis vinifera basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor enhances plant cell size, vegetative biomass and reproductive yield

Summary Strategies for improving plant size are critical targets for plant biotechnology to increase vegetative biomass or reproductive yield. To improve biomass production, a codon‐optimized helix–loop–helix transcription factor (VvCEB1 opt) from wine grape was overexpressed in Arabidopsis thaliana resulting in significantly increased leaf number, leaf and rosette area, fresh weight and dry weight. Cell size, but typically not cell number, was increased in all tissues resulting in increased vegetative biomass and reproductive organ size, number and seed yield. Ionomic analysis of leaves revealed the VvCEB1 opt‐overexpressing plants had significantly elevated, K, S and Mo contents relative to control lines. Increased K content likely drives increased osmotic potential within cells leading to greater cellular growth and expansion. To understand the mechanistic basis of VvCEB1 opt action, one transgenic line was genotyped using RNA‐Seq mRNA expression profiling and revealed a novel transcriptional reprogramming network with significant changes in mRNA abundance for genes with functions in delayed flowering, pathogen–defence responses, iron homeostasis, vesicle‐mediated cell wall formation and auxin‐mediated signalling and responses. Direct testing of VvCEB1 opt‐overexpressing plants showed that they had significantly elevated auxin content and a significantly increased number of lateral leaf primordia within meristems relative to controls, confirming that cell expansion and organ number proliferation were likely an auxin‐mediated process. VvCEB1 opt overexpression in Nicotiana sylvestris also showed larger cells, organ size and biomass demonstrating the potential applicability of this innovative strategy for improving plant biomass and reproductive yield in crops.