Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interference in Multiprocessor Systems with Localized Memory Access Probabilities

Past studies of memory interference in multiprocessor systems have generally assumed that the references of each processor are uniformly distributed among the memory modules. In this paper we develop a model with local referencing, which reflects more closely the behavior of real-life programs. This model is analyzed using Markov chain techniques and expressions are derived for the multiprocessor performance. New expressions are also obtained for the performance in the traditional uniform reference model and are compared with other expressions-available in the literature. Results of a simulation study are given to show the accuracy of the expressions for both models.
Sleep behavior and sleep problems among a medical student sample in relation to academic performance: a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study

BackgroundMedical students are exposed to high academic demands, which may affect their sleep pattern. Insufficient sleep quantity and quality with excessive daytime sleepiness can affect their mental ability needed for proper academic performance. ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to examine the sleep pattern and the common sleep disorders among medical students and possible associations with academic performance and evaluation. Materials and methodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out on a sample of students at the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, during the academic year 2009–2010, using a self-report sheet including the following: (i) a designed questionnaire meant to collect data about sleeping behavior and possible factors that may affect it and possible association with the academic performance. (ii) The Insomnia Severity Scale to assess the presence of insomnia and its severity. (iii) The Epworth Sleepiness Scale to assess them for daytime sleepiness in different situations. (iv) A General Health Questionnaire to exclude other significant mental health problem in participants. ResultsThis study was carried out on 435 medical students (51.5% female), with a mean age±SD of 21.4±1.88. They were selected from all academic groups of the faculty studying in the first to the sixth year. A total of 125 (28.7%) students scored 10 or more on Epworth Sleepiness Scale, suggesting excessive daytime sleepiness. The academic achievements reflected by their last year’s evaluation degrees were distributed among the sample as follows: fair (40.6%), good (69.3%), very good (74%), and excellent (73%). Insomnia during the month preceding data collection was reported as occurring frequently in 32.6% and occasionally in 36.3% of the students and was evident among 62.5, 67.9, 70.9, and 69.7% of the fair, good, very good, and excellent students, respectively. Different parasomnias were prevalent between medical students. ConclusionA high prevalence of sleep disorder was found in this group of students. Students scoring good and very good for their academic performance had the more severe form of sleep disorders. Poor sleep quality and chronic partial sleep deprivation affected some of the students’ learning skills needed, but did not affect the whole learning process. These findings should be considered when working for programs to improve academic performance in medical students keeping in mind different sleep habits and possible sleep problems of students.
Foeto-maternal outcome in instrumental vaginal delivery attending a secondary hospital in Hyderabad (Aga Khan Maternal and Child Care Centre).

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the foeto-maternal outcome in instrumental delivery. METHODS This retrospective record review was conducted at Aga Khan Maternal and Child Care Centre, Hyderabad, Pakistan, and comprised medical records from January 2014 to January 2016. Data related to all women with singleton pregnancy at term gestation and having undergone vacuum or forceps delivery was included. Data of women who had multiple pregnancies, caesarean section, and presentation other than cephalic, placenta previa were excluded. SPSS 19 was used for data analysis. RESULTS Of the 400 participants, 255(63.75%) were aged between 22-28 years and 145(36.25%) between 29-35 years. Moreover, 268(67%) women were primigravida. Of them, 225(56.25%) presented at more than 40 weeks of the gestation. The foetal complication such as cephalohaematoma was observed in 3(0.75%) cases. CONCLUSIONS Instrumental vaginal delivery was found to be safe and is the best substitute of the caesarean sections.
Media images of men: Trends and consequences of body conceptualization.

In the current investigation, the authors examined how men are presented in popular media and the effects of such presentations on male adolescents’ self-evaluations. In a content analysis of male models in advertisements of Sports Illustrated, Study 1 showed that media ideals increasingly emphasize aesthetic versus performance attributes of men. In Study 2, male adolescents (N 107) were randomly assigned to view either images of male ideals emphasizing aesthetic attributes, images of male ideals emphasizing performance attributes, or neutral images. Results showed that viewing media ideals that emphasize aesthetic attributes contributes to negative selfevaluations whereas viewing media ideals that emphasize performance attributes contributes to positive self-evaluations. These findings suggest that body conceptualization, and not simply body type (i.e., muscularity), plays a role in how men feel about themselves and their bodies.
Highly divergent dihydrofolate reductases conserve complex folding mechanisms.

To test the hypothesis that protein folding mechanisms are better conserved than amino acid sequences, the mechanisms for dihydrofolate reductases (DHFR) from human (hs), Escherichia coli (ec) and Lactobacillus casei (lc) were elucidated and compared using intrinsic Trp fluorescence and fluorescence-detected 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) binding. The development of the native state was monitored using either methotrexate (absorbance at 380 nm) or NADPH (extrinsic fluorescence) binding. All three homologs displayed complex unfolding and refolding kinetic mechanisms that involved partially folded states and multiple energy barriers. Although the pairwise sequence identities are less than 30 %, folding to the native state occurs via parallel folding channels and involves two types of on-pathway kinetic intermediates for all three homologs. The first ensemble of kinetic intermediates, detected within a few milliseconds, has significant secondary structure and exposed hydrophobic cores. The second ensemble is obligatory and has native-like side-chain packing in a hydrophobic core; however, these intermediates are unable to bind active-site ligands. The formation of the ensemble of native states occurs via three channels for hsDHFR, and four channels for lcDHFR and ecDHFR. The binding of active-site ligands (methotrexate and NADPH) accompanies the rate-limiting formation of the native ensemble. The conservation of the fast, intermediate and slow-folding events for this complex alpha/beta motif provides convincing evidence for the hypothesis that evolutionarily related proteins achieve the same fold via similar pathways.
The effects of perceived discrimination on ambulatory blood pressure and affective responses to interpersonal stress modeled over 24 hours.

OBJECTIVE This research examined the impact of perceived discrimination on ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and daily level affect during social interaction. DESIGN For 24 hrs, adult Black and White participants wore an ABP monitor and completed palm pilot diary entries about their social interactions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mean level and time-trend trajectories of blood pressure and heart rate were examined as well as mean level measures of positive and negative affect after stressful and nonstressful social interactions. RESULTS Analyses showed that, after controlling for important covariates, perceived discrimination predicted the slopes of both wake and nocturnal ABP responses, with those who reported more discrimination having steeper daytime trajectories for systolic and diastolic blood pressure and less nighttime dipping in heart rate over time as compared to those who had reported relatively infrequent discrimination. High levels of perceived discrimination were also related to positive and negative affective responses after stressful encounters. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that, regardless of race, perceived discrimination is related to cardiovascular and affective responses that may increase vulnerability to pathogenic processes.
Ultrastructural and morphometric features of the acetylcholine innervation in adult rat parietal cortex: An electron microscopic study in serial sections

This study was aimed at characterizing the ultrastructural morphology of the normal acetylcholine (ACh) innervation in adult rat parietal cortex. After immunostaining with a monoclonal antibody against purified rat brain choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), more than 100 immunoreactive axonal varicosities (terminals) from each layer of the Par 1 area were photographed and examined in serial thin sections across their entire volume. These varicosities were relatively small, averaging 0.6 μm in diameter, 1.6 μM2 in surface, and 0.12 μM3 in volume. In every layer, a relatively low proportion exhibited a synaptic membrane differentiation (10% in layer I, 14% in II–III, 11% in IV, 21% in V, 14% in VI), for a I–VI average of 14%. These synaptic junctions were usually single, symmetrical (>99%), and occupied a small portion of the surface of varicosities (<3%). A majority were found on dendritic branches (76%), some on spines (24%), and none on cell bodies. On the whole, the ACh junctional varicosities were significantly larger than their nonjunctional counterparts, and both synaptic and nonsynaptic varicosities could be observed on the same fiber.
Eye-Tracking Piaget: Capturing the Emergence of Attentional Anchors in the Coordination of Proportional Motor Action

The combination of two methodological resources - natural user interface and multimodal learning analytics - is creating opportunities for educational researchers to empirically evaluate theoretical models accounting for the emergence of concepts from situated sensorimotor activity. Seventy-six participants (9-14 years old) solved tablet-based presymbolic manipulation tasks designed to foster grounded meanings for the mathematical concept of proportional equivalence. Data gathered in task-based semi-structured clinical interviews included action logging, eye-gaze tracking, and videography. Analysis of these data indicates that successful task performance coincided with spontaneous emergence of stable dynamical gaze path patterns soon followed by multimodal articulation of strategy. Significantly, gaze patterns included unmanipulated, non-salient screen locations. We present cumulative evidence that these gaze patterns served as ‘‘attentional anchors'' mediating participants' problem solving. By way of further contextualizing our claim, we also present case studies from the various experimental conditions. We interpret the findings as enabling us to revisit, support, refine, and perhaps elaborate on seminal claims from Piaget's theory of genetic epistemology and in particular his insistence on the role of situated motor-action coordination in the process of reflective abstraction.
Towards a Conceptualization and an Operationalization of the Construct of Employee Engagement

Employees are generally considered as the most important resource needed for an organization to achieve its main goals. Realization of goals achievement heavily depends on the extent to which these employees are engaged in their jobs and their organization. Employee engagement is a factor that contributes positively to employee productivity and then organizational effectiveness. It reveals that a conceptual confusion exists with regard to the meaning of employee engagement owing to that the concept has been defined by different scholars in different ways and also that there are several associated terms such as job satisfaction, job involvement, work involvement, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior which have been used in the literature, either synonymously or non-synonymously. Further a question arises to decide whether employee engagement is an attitude or a behavior. This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive conceptualization of employee engagement that results in formulating a working definition for research purposes involving the construct, and to explore its dimensions and elements for the purpose of measuring the construct.
Factors influencing cart abandonment in the online shopping process

This paper presents a model of why and how cart abandonment occurs in the online shopping process. An online survey of 210 people was conducted via the online shopping website of a communication company in China. The results demonstrate that cart abandonment was directly and positively influenced by organization and research of the products within the cart as well as by comparison with external websites, and was directly and negatively influenced by payment intention. Both perceived cost and perceived risk had an indirect effect on cart abandonment through the mediator of organization and research of products within the cart. Perceived transaction inconvenience did not influence cart abandonment either directly or indirectly. The results imply that cart abandonment is dependent on the shopping processes, and that organization and research of products within the cart is a key variable that impacts cart abandonment.
The role of choral singing in the lives of amateur choral singers in Iceland

The purpose of this study was to investigate what motivates people to sing in choirs as a leisure activity. Subjects were retrieved from members of 10 amateur choirs of various types in Iceland through a paper-based survey. Results indicated that participants gain both personal and social benefits from singing in a choir. Findings revealed differences between participants in terms of their perceptions regarding social and personal aspects of choral singing according to gender, age, level of education and music education. Personal enjoyment of singing and a positive social atmosphere seem to be the strongest motivating factors for voluntary participation in choirs.
White rice consumption is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome in Tehrani adults: a prospective approach in Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study.

BACKGROUND Consumption of white rice has been proposed as a dietary risk factor for development of metabolic disorders and type 2 diabetes, especially in populations who consume white rice as a staple food. In this study, we investigated the association between consumption of white rice and the occurrence of metabolic syndrome in Tehrani adults after 3 years of follow-up. METHODS This longitudinal study was conducted within the framework of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study on 1476 adults, aged 19-70 years. Dietary intakes were measured using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Biochemical and anthropometric measurements were assessed and documented at baseline (2006-2008) and again 3 years later (2009-2011). Multiple logistic regression models were used to estimate the occurrence of the MetS in each quartile of white rice consumption. RESULTS The mean age of participants was 37.8 ± 12.3 years, and mean BMI was 26.0 ± 4.5 Kg/m2 at baseline. Participants in the highest quartile of white rice consumption were significantly younger, had lower HDL-C levels, and higher systolic and diastolic blood pressures at baseline (P < 0.01). Higher consumption of white rice was also accompanied by higher increase in serum triglyceride levels after the 3-year follow-up (9.9 ± 2.3 vs. 8.2 ± 2.3%, P < 0.01). After adjustment for all potential confounders, the risk of metabolic syndrome in the highest quartile of white rice consumption compared with the lowest, was 1.66 (95% CI: 1.04-2.66). Moreover, participants with central obesity, low physical activity or low-fiber diet had greater risk of metabolic syndrome if white rice constituted ≥25.6% of total energy. CONCLUSION We demonstrated that higher consumption of white rice may be a risk factor for development of metabolic syndrome among Iranian adults.
The behaviour of porcine cytomegalovirus in commercial pig herds

SUMMARY A longitudinal, virological and serological study of pigs in two herds with respiratory disease showed that infection by porcine cytomegalovirus (PCMV) was universal in both. Virus excretion usually began when piglets were between 3 and 6 weeks of age and reached a maximum between 5 and 8 weeks; it was usually no longer detectable at 11–12 weeks. Antibody demonstrable in indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) tests was present to moderate or high titre in all piglets at 2–3 weeks. This was presumed to be maternal in origin as it declined in titre between 2–3 and 5–6 weeks. After this fall the majority of piglets showed seroconversion as a result of virus infection. One group of 12 pigs in which infection occurred earlier than usual showed a very poor antibody response, which, nevertheless, persisted through to week 27. The findings are discussed with relation to porcine atrophic rhinitis and cytomegalovirus infection in other species.
Autonomous motivation is associated with hearing aid adoption

Abstract Objective: To use the self-determination theory of motivation to investigate whether different forms of motivation were associated with adults’ decisions whether or not to adopt hearing aids. Design: A quantitative approach was used in this cohort study. Participants completed the treatment self-regulation questionnaire (TSRQ), which measured autonomous and controlled motivation for hearing aid adoption. Sociodemographic data and audiometric information were also obtained. Study sample: Participants were 253 adults who had sought information about their hearing but had not consulted with a hearing professional. Participants were categorized as hearing aid adopters if they had been fitted with hearing aids 4–6 months after completing the TSRQ, and as non-adopters if they had not. Results: Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine associations between autonomous and controlled motivation, sociodemographic and audiometric variables, and hearing aid adoption (n = 160). Three factors were significantly associated with increased hearing aid adoption when the influence of other variables was accounted for: autonomous motivation, perceived hearing difficulty, and poorer hearing. Controlled motivation was not found to influence hearing aid adoption. Conclusion: These empirical findings that link autonomous motivation to decisions of hearing help-seekers have implications for the ways practitioners may evaluate motivation and could inform discussions with clients about hearing aid adoption.
Attackability in Games of Pursuit and Evasion with Antagonizing Players

Abstract For the games of pursuit evasion with antagonizing players (PEAP), the following three stages have been proposed in [Ge et al., 2007]: detection, attack and engagement, in which the roles of the two players are symmetric and each one is meant to search and attack its opponent. In the general framework established in our previous work, while the fundamental concepts, such as detectability , for the first stage have been laid before, this paper is dedicated to the second stage and to develop the associated fundamental concepts including the attackability , which describes whether one player (say P 1 ) could attack its opponent ( P 2 ) before P 2 could see P 1 , under the assumptions that (i) each player has a limited range vision zone and a limited range attack zone, and (ii) P 2 would follow a predefined trajectory and P 1 could choose its trajectory so as to attack P 2 since P 1 could see P 2 first. To demonstrate the concepts of attackability by detailed analysis, a simple yet typical planar PEAP game is discussed in this contribution, where two players are moving along two straight lines with constant speeds and each player has circular vision zone and attack zone. Sufficient and necessary conditions for all possible cases of attackability are given under several natural assumptions, which yields a complete analysis for the new concepts of attackability.
Ventilatory CO2 Sensitivity after Intravenous and Epidural Morphine in Volunteers

Ventilatory sensitivity to CO2 was measured at various times (0.5, 1, 3, 6, 10, 16, and 22 h) in 10 healthy young volunteers after 10 mg of morphine sulfate in 10 ml of saline injected intravenously (IVm) or by the epidural route (Em). The two randomized study sequences were completed 2–4 weeks apart. Ventilatory variables studied were resting endtidal CO2 (Petco2) measured before each rebreathing maneuver; slopes of the Ventilatory response curve (s&OV0312;E) and position of the curve, calculated as the ventilation sustained for a fixed stimulus of Petco2 = 54 ton (&OV0312;E54). Additionally, linear regressions were calculated for tidal volumes (VT) and respiratory rates (RR) during the rebreathing test, yielding sVT, VT54, sRR, and RR54. CO2-response curves were maximally depressed following IVm at the 0.5-h study period, while after Em, maximal respiratory depression was at the 6-and 10-h study period. Significantly greater depression after Em was demonstrated between 3 and 22 h by one or more of the following parameters: Petco2, s&OV0312;E, &OV0312;E54, VT54, and sRR. The results indicate substantial differences in magnitude, duration, and characteristics of the depression of the CO2 chemosensitivity between the two modes of administration of morphine, quite separate from the differences observed for serum morphine levels in these volunteers.
Transplacentally transmitted anti-measles antibodies in term and preterm infants.

In the Army Hospital in New Delhi India a study was conducted to estimate and compare the levels of antimeasles antibodies on 123 term and 164 preterm infants at birth and 5 months of age and determine if the levels of these antibodies behave similarly in the two groups of children. Gestational age at birth was assessed from the last menstrual period and ultrasound scan reports and correlated with the Dubowitz criteria. The mean gestational age of the hundred term infants in this study was 39.2 weeks while the mean weight length and occipitofrontal circumference were 3352 g 48.6 cm and 34.6 cm respectively. Overall this study shows that the levels of antimeasles antibodies in the two groups showed a difference in both groups at birth and at 5 months. It was found that a statistically significant decline in transplacentally transmitted antimeasles antibodies was seen in preterm infants over a period of 5 months after birth unlike in term infants over the same period but no significant correlation in statistical terms was observed between gestational age and antibody status.