Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Independent Component Analysis and Source Localization on Mobile EEG Data Can Identify Increased Levels of Acute Stress

Mobile electroencephalography (EEG) is a very useful tool to investigate the physiological basis of cognition under real-world conditions. However, as we move experimentation into less-constrained environments, the influence of state changes increases. The influence of stress on cortical activity and cognition is an important example. Monitoring of modulation of cortical activity by EEG measurements is a promising tool for assessing acute stress. In this study, we test this hypothesis and combine EEG with independent component analysis and source localization to identify cortical differences between a control condition and a stressful condition. Subjects performed a stationary shooting task using an airsoft rifle with and without the threat of an experimenter firing a different airsoft rifle in their direction. We observed significantly higher skin conductance responses and salivary cortisol levels (p < 0.05 for both) during the stressful conditions, indicating that we had successfully induced an adequate level of acute stress. We located independent components in five regions throughout the cortex, most notably in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a region previously shown to be affected by increased levels of stress. This area showed a significant decrease in spectral power in the theta and alpha bands less than a second after the subjects pulled the trigger. Overall, our results suggest that EEG with independent component analysis and source localization has the potential of monitoring acute stress in real-world environments.
Dispersal of wetland plant seeds by mallards: Influence of gut passage on recovery, retention, and germination

Seed dispersal is an important process for plants, but may be particularly important for plants occurring in spatially isolated habitats like wetlands. Variation in the geographic distribution of wetland plant species may be strongly influenced by their ability to use waterbirds, particularly waterfowl to enhance dispersal. We used controlled feeding and germination experiments to investigate recovery, retention time, and germination for the seeds of 10 wetland plant species (Chenopodium album, Digitaria ischaemum, Echinochloa colonum, Echinochloa crusgalli, Eleocharis palustris, Panicum dichotomiflorum, Polygonum lapathifolium, Polygonum pensylvanicum, Rumex crispus, and Scheonoplectus maritimus) and compared how these metrics varied with seed characteristics. We fed a known number of seeds to captive raised mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and collected fecal samples every 4 hours for 48 hours; all recovered seeds were planted in seedling trays and watched for 60 days to monitor germination. We conducted 10 trials and fed each seed species in each trial, and included germination controls of non-consumed seeds. Overall, 19.0 ± 1.8% (mean ± SE) of seeds were recovered and of recovered seeds 7.6 ± 1.2% germinated. Recovery ranged from 1.9 ± 0.6% in D. ischaemum to 51.0 ± 4.7% in S. maritimus and germination ranged from < 0.5% in D. ischaemum to 28.5 ± 5.7% in R. crispus. Recovery and germination were not related to seed size or mass (p > 0.5) but recovery was positively correlated with seed fiber content (r2 = 0.44, p = 0.04). Control seeds germinated better than fed seeds for all species except S. maritimus, where fed seeds germinated better. Germination percentage declined with gut retention time for four of seven species. We suggest despite the large differences in viable seeds recovered, mallards may be important dispersers for the seeds of most species we studied and hypothesize that observed variation may be attributable to different plant strategies that relate to reproductive tactics and habitat type.
The challenges of international computer-supported collaboration

This paper discusses results of a study analyzing how cultural factors affect the performance of distributed collaborative learning teams. Participants in the study included computer science students from the University of North Texas and students from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. The results indicate that a team's cultural attributes are a significant predictor of its performance on programming projects. Cultural attributes most strongly correlated to group performance were those associated with attitudes about organizational hierarchy, organizational harmony, trade-offs between future and current needs, and beliefs about the influence individuals have on their fate. The type of programming task affected the strength of the relationship between culture and performance. These results may provide distance-learning programs a way to identify at-risk work teams.
A Stark decelerator on a chip

A microstructured array of 1254 electrodes on a substrate has been configured to generate an array of local minima of electric field strength with a periodicity of 120 μm about 25 μm above the substrate. By applying sinusoidally varying potentials to the electrodes, these minima can be made to move smoothly along the array. Polar molecules in low-field seeking quantum states can be trapped in these traveling potential wells. Recently, we experimentally demonstrated this by transporting metastable CO molecules at constant velocities above the substrate (Meek et al 2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 153003). Here, we outline and experimentally demonstrate how this microstructured array can be used to decelerate polar molecules directly from a molecular beam. For this, the sinusoidally varying potentials need to be switched on when the molecules arrive above the chip, their frequency needs to be chirped down in time and they need to be switched off before the molecules leave the chip again. Deceleration of metastable CO molecules from an initial velocity of 360 m s-1 to a final velocity as low as 240 m s-1 is demonstrated in the 15–35 mK deep potential wells above the 5 cm long array of electrodes. This corresponds to a deceleration of almost 105 g, and about 85 cm-1 of kinetic energy is removed from the metastable CO molecules in this process.
Knowledge sharing as spontaneous order: on the emergence of strong and weak ties

Introduction In the past decade we experienced an increasing interest from both scholars in management and practitioners in the management of knowledge (Davenport et al., 1998). Also, we have witnessed an increasing interest in applying various types of IT applications to support knowledge sharing in organizations. Yet, all efforts were not equally successful, e.g., Orlikowski (1992) reported that a large consultancy company experienced severe problems in benefiting from its investment in Lotus Notes, which was supposed to allow the company to harvest from the extensive collection of knowledge possessed by its employees. In some follow ups McDermott (1999) and Steinmueller (2000) suggested that IT would do little good for knowledge management, claiming that IT can only inspire knowledge management but not deliver it. Attempts to manage knowledge also take place in the software industry. If we look into the field of software engineering, it appears that software reuse has been a central theme for many years (Apte et al. As software reuse has been perceived as the key to high performance in software companies, in precisely the same way that IT-based knowledge management has been looked upon as the key to high performance in organizations. Within the field of software engineering there has been a focus on 3 reuse of well-defined and well-documented software objects located in software successful implementation of software libraries rarely happens. We hypothesize that one major reason for the problems encountered with both software libraries for software reuse and IT-based knowledge sharing is that in both cases the component of tacit knowledge (Polanyi, 1962) has been overlooked. In the example of software reuse we suggest that even the best documentation of a software object cannot capture all the thoughts by its developers, and thus, tacit and probably central knowledge will not be codified. Mogens Nielsen, department manager in the Danish software company Computer Resources International Ltd., described this problem: "I believe that the major difficulty in software reuse concerns the problem of identifying software objects for reuse. It is difficult to describe the functionality of a software object as well as the requirements to a certain object, and then match these two in some semi-automated way and finally identify the relevant software object in the library. Before we solve this problem then I don't believe in software reuse apart from when software developers bring objects with them from one project to another. " The problem of …
Local peculiarity factor and its application in outlier detection

Peculiarity oriented mining (POM), aiming to discover peculiarity rules hidden in a dataset, is a new data mining method. In the past few years, many results and applications on POM have been reported. However, there is still a lack of theoretical analysis. In this paper, we prove that the peculiarity factor (PF), one of the most important concepts in POM, can accurately characterize the peculiarity of data with respect to the probability density function of a normal distribution, but is unsuitable for more general distributions. Thus, we propose the concept of local peculiarity factor (LPF). It is proved that the LPF has the same ability as the PF for a normal distribution and is the so-called µ-sensitive peculiarity description for general distributions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the LPF, we apply it to outlier detection problems and give a new outlier detection algorithm called LPF-Outlier. Experimental results show that LPF-Outlier is an effective outlier detection algorithm.
Venous limb gangrene during overlapping therapy with warfarin and a direct thrombin inhibitor for immune heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia

We report two patients with deep‐vein thrombosis complicating immune heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia who developed venous limb gangrene during overlapping therapy with a direct thrombin inhibitor (lepirudin or argatroban) and warfarin. In both patients, therapy with the direct thrombin inhibitor was interrupted during persisting severe athrombocytopenia while warfarin administration continued. Both patients exhibited the typical feature of a supratherapeutic international normalized ratio (INRs, 5.9 and 7.3) that has been linked previously with warfarin‐associated venous limb gangrene. These data suggest that warfarin anticoagulation be postponed in patients with acute heparin‐induced thrombocytopenia until substantial recovery of the platelet count has occurred. Am. J. Hematol. 71:50–52, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Multi-Wavelength Optical Fiber Refractive Index Profiling by Spatially Resolved Fourier Transform Spectroscopy

A non-destructive technique to measure an optical fiber's refractive index profile with sub-¿m spatial resolution over a wavelength range spanning more than one octave (from 480 to 1040 nm) in a single measurement is described. Data showing the variation of refractive index with wavelength for several fiber types is presented.
Mental Rotation: Effects of Gender, Training and Sleep Consolidation

A wide range of experimental studies have provided evidence that a night of sleep contributes to memory consolidation. Mental rotation (MR) skill is characterized by fundamental aspect of both cognitive and motor abilities which can be improved within practice sessions, but little is known about the effect of consolidation after MR practice. In the present study, we investigated the effect of MR training and the following corresponding day- and sleep-related time consolidations in taking into account the well-established gender difference in MR. Forty participants (20 women) practiced a computerized version of the Vandenberg and Kuse MR task. Performance was evaluated before MR training, as well as prior to, and after a night of sleep or a similar daytime interval. Data showed that while men outperformed women during the pre-training test, brief MR practice was sufficient for women to achieve equivalent performance. Only participants subjected to a night of sleep were found to enhance MR performance during the retest, independently of gender. These results provide first evidence that a night of sleep facilitates MR performance compared with spending a similar daytime interval, regardless gender of the participants. Since MR is known to involve motor processes, the present data might contribute to schedule relevant mental practice interventions for fruitful applications in rehabilitation and motor learning processes.
Effect of statin therapy on C-reactive protein levels: the pravastatin inflammation/CRP evaluation (PRINCE): a randomized trial and cohort study.

CONTEXT Plasma levels of the inflammatory biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP) predict cardiovascular risk, and retrospective studies suggest that 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) may lower CRP in a manner largely independent of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). However, prospective trial data directly evaluating this anti-inflammatory effect of statins are not available. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that pravastatin has anti-inflammatory effects as evidenced by CRP reduction. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Community-based, prospective, randomized, double-blind trial including 1702 men and women with no prior history of cardiovascular disease (primary prevention cohort) and open-label study including 1182 patients with known cardiovascular disease (secondary prevention cohort) who provided at least baseline and 12-week blood samples. The study was conducted in US office-based practices from February to December 2000. INTERVENTIONS Participants in the double-blind primary prevention trial were randomly assigned to receive 40 mg/d of pravastatin (n = 865) or placebo (n = 837) for 24 weeks. Participants in the secondary prevention cohort received 40 mg/d of open-label pravastatin for 24 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Change in CRP levels from baseline to 24 weeks. RESULTS In the primary prevention trial, compared with placebo, pravastatin reduced median CRP levels by 16.9% (P<.001) at 24 weeks, reflecting a decrease of 0.02 mg/dL in the pravastatin group while no change in CRP levels was observed in the placebo group. This effect was seen as early as 12 weeks (median reduction in CRP with pravastatin, 14.7%; P<.001) and was present among all prespecified subgroups according to sex, age, smoking status, body mass index, baseline lipid levels, presence of diabetes, and use of aspirin or hormone replacement therapy. No significant association was observed between baseline CRP and baseline LDL-C levels, end-of-study CRP and end-of-study LDL-C levels, or change in CRP and change in LDL-C levels over time. In linear regression analyses, the only significant predictors of change in CRP on a log scale were randomized pravastatin allocation and baseline CRP levels (P<.001 for both). Similar reductions in CRP levels were observed at 12 weeks (-14.3%) and 24 weeks (-13.1%) in the secondary prevention cohort treated with pravastatin (P<.005 for both). CONCLUSIONS In this prospective trial, pravastatin reduced CRP levels at both 12 and 24 weeks in a largely LDL-C-independent manner. These data provide evidence that statins may have anti-inflammatory effects in addition to lipid-lowering effects.
The interdisciplinary study of coordination

This survey characterizes an emerging research area, sometimes called coordination theory, that focuses on the interdisciplinary study of coordination. Research in this area uses and extends ideas about coordination from disciplines such as computer science, organization theory, operations research, economics, linguistics, and psychology. A key insight of the framework presented here is that coordination can be seen as the process of managing dependencies among activities. Further progress, therefore, should be possible by characterizing different kinds of dependencies and identifying the coordination processes that can be used to manage them. A variety of processes are analyzed from this perspective, and commonalities across disciplines are identified. Processes analyzed include those for managing shared resources, producer/consumer relationships, simultaneity constraints, and task/subtask dependencies. Section 3 summarizes ways of applying a coordination perspective in three different domains:(1) understanding the effects of information technology on human organizations and markets, (2) designing cooperative work tools, and (3) designing distributed and parallel computer systems. In the final section, elements of a research agenda in this new area are briefly outlined.
A magnesium-induced RNA conformational switch at the internal ribosome entry site of hepatitis C virus genome visualized by atomic force microscopy

The 5′ untranslated region of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genomic RNA contains an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) element, composed of domains II–IV, which is required for cap-independent translation initiation. Little information on the 3D structure of the whole functional HCV IRES is still available. Here, we use atomic force microscopy to visualize the HCV IRES conformation in its natural sequence context, which includes the upstream domain I and the essential, downstream domains V and VI. The 574 nt-long molecule analyzed underwent an unexpected, Mg2+-induced switch between two alternative conformations: from ‘open’, elongated morphologies at 0–2 mM Mg2+ concentration to a ‘closed’, comma-shaped conformation at 4–6 mM Mg2+. This sharp transition, confirmed by gel-shift analysis and partial RNase T1 cleavage, was hindered by the microRNA miR-122. The comma-shaped IRES-574 molecules visualized at 4–6 mM Mg2+ in the absence of miR-122 showed two arms. Our data support that the first arm would contain domain III, while the second one would be composed of domains (I–II)+(V–VI) thanks to a long-range RNA interaction between the I-II spacer and the basal region of domain VI. This reinforces the previously described structural continuity between the HCV IRES and its flanking domains I, V and VI.
FATE and DESTINI: A Framework for Cloud Recovery Testing

As the cloud era begins and failures become commonplace, failure recovery becomes a critical factor in the availability, reliability and performance of cloud services. Unfortunately, recovery problems still take place, causing downtimes, data loss, and many other problems. We propose a new testing framework for cloud recovery: FATE (Failure Testing Service) and DESTINI (Declarative Testing Specifications). With FATE, recovery is systematically tested in the face of multiple failures. With DESTINI, correct recovery is specified clearly, concisely, and precisely. We have integrated our framework to several cloud systems (e.g., HDFS [33]), explored over 40,000 failure scenarios, wrote 74 specifications, found 16 new bugs, and reproduced 51 old bugs.
EARLY RAPID LOSS FOLLOWED BY LONG-TERM CONSOLIDATION CHARACTERIZES THE DEVELOPMENT OF LUMBAR BONE MINERAL DENSITY AFTER KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION

Background. Bone mineral density (BMD) decreases significantly early after renal transplantation. This prospective study was designed to evaluate the long-term lumbar BMD development. Methods. Sixty-three renal-transplant recipients (mean age 44±12 years, 37 [59%] male) underwent serial yearly posttransplant laboratory parameter and BMD measurements of the lumbar spine (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry). Combined maintenance immunosuppression included prednisolone in 95% of patients. The minimum number of consecutive scans was three; the maximum number seven (n=15). Examinations were performed between 3±2 and 68±4 months posttransplant. Results. BMD was significantly lower compared with healthy controls at all times after transplantation. t scores were below −1. BMD development revealed a biphasic pattern: between 3±2 and 10±2 months, a significant BMD decrease of −0.016±0.055 g/cm2 (−1.6%, P =0.024) occurred. Later, a moderate increase resulting in BMD stability until the sixth year post-transplant was detected. Within the first year, posttransplant osteocalcin (from 19±15 to 32±23 μg/L) and calcitriol (from 24±15 to 43±24 ng/L) displayed a significant increase. Compared with patients with a pronounced decrease, patients with a substantial increase in early posttransplant BMD had a lower baseline BMD (0.989±0.131 vs. 1.149±0.202 g/cm2 [P = 0.0122]) and lower creatinine levels (105±23 vs. 141±53 mmol/L [P =0.0227]). Conclusion. Our study confirms a significant decrease of lumbar BMD early after renal transplantation. Bone loss was less pronounced than previously described. The longitudinal follow-up verifies a previously assumed biphasic lumbar BMD development: after the first year, no further significant bone loss occurred, and bone density remained relatively stable at significantly lower levels compared with healthy controls.
au GA-Fuzzy Financial Model For Optimization of A BOT Investment Decision

Financial modeling for investments to build/operate/transfer (BOT)-type projects is essentially intricate. The complexity stems mainly from two folds: multi-party involvement and uncertainty. Promoters need a systematic means for objective evaluation of financia l performance measures in order to examine whether a certain level of profit margin and an attractive financial proposal to clients, are possible . A clear research gap is perceived in simultaneous evaluation of profitability and bid-winning potential from the promoters’ perspective. By using a combination of genetic algorithms and the fuzzy set theory, an intelligent algorithm, is developed for optimization of conflicting financial interests in deriving the right mix of three key decision variables: equity ratio, concession length, and base price. Fuzzy sets are used to explicitly incorporate uncertainty in estimating economic and financial parameters due to lack of available data. Genetic algorithms is used for solving corresponding fuzzy objective function coupled with multiple constraints. A case study from prevailing literature demonstrates the excellent capability of the developed model to produce optimal financial scenario under uncertainty.
Quantification of Osseointegration of Plasma-Polymer Coated Titanium Alloyed Implants by means of Microcomputed Tomography versus Histomorphometry

A common method to derive both qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate osseointegration of implants is histomorphometry. The present study describes a new image reconstruction algorithm comparing the results of bone-to-implant contact (BIC) evaluated by means of µCT with histomorphometry data. Custom-made conical titanium alloyed (Ti6Al4V) implants were inserted in the distal tibial bone of female Sprague-Dawley rats. Different surface configurations were examined: Ti6Al4V implants with plasma-polymerized allylamine (PPAAm) coating and plasma-polymerized ethylenediamine (PPEDA) coating as well as implants without surface coating. After six weeks postoperatively, tibiae were explanted and BIC was determined by µCT (3D) and afterwards by histomorphometry (2D). In comparison to uncoated Ti6Al4V implants demonstrating low BIC of 32.4% (histomorphometry) and 51.3% (µCT), PPAAm and PPEDA coated implants showed a nonsignificant increase in BIC (histomorphometry: 45.7% and 53.5% and µCT: 51.8% and 62.0%, resp.). Mean BIC calculated by µCT was higher for all surface configurations compared to BIC detected by histomorphometry. Overall, a high correlation coefficient of 0.70 (p < 0.002) was found between 3D and 2D quantification of BIC. The μCT analysis seems to be suitable as a nondestructive and accurate 3D imaging method for the evaluation of the bone-implant interface.