Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital Health Records and Privacy Concerns: OvercommingKey Barriers To Adoption

Electronic health records (EHRs) constitute a significant technological advance in the way medical information is stored, communicated, and processed by the multiple parties involved in the delivery of health care. However, there is widespread concern that privacy issues may impede the diffusion of this technology. In this study, we integrate the Concern for Information Privacy (CFIP) construct with the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to examine attitude persuasion regarding the use of EHRs when concerns about privacy of information are present in patients. We draw from attitude and attitude persuasion literatures to develop hypotheses that individuals can be persuaded to support the use of EHRs, even in the presence of significant privacy concerns, if appropriate messages about the value of EHRs are imparted to the recipient. Using an experimental methodology, we randomly assign two different types of respondents (high and low involvement) to two different treatments (strong and weak argument quality) and assess the impact of CFIP on the relationship between these variables and attitude change. We find that an individual’s CFIP interacts with argument quality and issue involvement to affect attitudes toward the use of EHRs. The research reported here makes four main contributions. From a theoretical perspective it extends the ELM to include a key construct affecting persuasion which has not been examined in prior literature – that being CFIP. Second, it focuses on EHRs which are a new and emerging technology that have the potential to radically alter the way health care is managed by consumers and providers. Third, findings from this study hold important pragmatic value for driving public policy decisions related to public perceptions and attitudes toward the use of EHRs, including but not limited to the crafting of national messages and education. Finally, while further testing is required, we believe that the moderating effect of CFIP may be useful in other contexts in which personal information is controlled or processed.
The Coronal X-Ray Spectrum of the Multiple Weak-lined T Tauri Star System HD 98800

We present high-resolution X-ray spectra of the multiple (hierarchical quadruple) weak-lined T Tauri star system HD 98800, obtained with the High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrograph (HETGS) on board the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. In the zeroth-order Chandra/HETGS X-ray image, both principle binary components of HD 98800 (A and B, separation 0.″8) are detected; component A was observed to flare during the observation. The infrared excess (dust disk) component, HD 98800B, is a factor of ~4 fainter in X-rays than the apparently "diskless" HD 98800A in quiescence. The line ratios of He-like species (e.g., Ne IX and O VII) in the HD 98800A spectrum indicate that the X-ray-emitting plasma around HD 98800 is in a typical coronal density regime (log n ≲ 11). We conclude that the dominant X-ray-emitting component(s) of HD 98800 is (are) coronally active. The sharp spectral differences between HD 98800 and the classical T Tauri star TW Hya demonstrate the potential utility of high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy in providing diagnostics of pre-main-sequence accretion processes.
Floor versus cage rearing: effects on production, egg quality and physical condition of laying hens housed in furnished cages

The influences of floor- and cage-rearing on egg production, egg quality and physical condition were investigated in laying hens housed in furnished cages. Two groups of 180 Isa Brown commercial layer pullets were reared in cages (CR) or floor pens (FR) and transferred to furnished cages, where their production, egg quality and physical condition was observed throughout the laying period (18-78wks of age). At 17 weeks of age, hens were placed in one of 36 furnished cages with 10 birds in each cage, each containing a nest box, perches, a dust bath, and abrasive strips. From 19 to 78 weeks of age, egg production data were collected daily. Commercial egg quality was assessed monthly. At, 19 and 78 weeks of age, claw length and feather cover were visually assessed using a four-point scale in a sample (10%) of hens. Production variables were above breeders’ standards and not significantly affected by rearing system. Dirty eggs and cracked eggs were more frequent in FR birds. Meat spots were significantly more frequent in FR hens at middle lay, but less frequently at the end of the laying period. Rearing system did not influence egg and yolk weight or unit Haugh and shell colour. Among FR hens, eggshell density, thickness and mass were significantly lower at the end of the laying period. Rearing system did not affect claw length, but the plumage of FR hens was negatively affected at the end of production cycle.
On-line Handwritten Character Recognition: AnImplementation of Counterpropagation Neural Net

On-line handwritten scripts are usually dealt with pen tip traces from pen-down to pen-up positions. Time evaluation of the pen coordinates is also considered along with trajectory information. However, the data obtained needs a lot of preprocessing including filtering, smoothing, slant removing and size normalization before recognition process. Instead of doing such lengthy preprocessing, this paper presents a simple approach to extract the useful character information. This work evaluates the use of the counter- propagation neural network (CPN) and presents feature extraction mechanism in full detail to work with on-line handwriting recognition. The obtained recognition rates were 60% to 94% using the CPN for different sets of character samples. This paper also describes a performance study in which a recognition mechanism with multiple hresholds is evaluated for counter-propagation architecture. The results indicate that the application of multiple thresholds has significant effect on recognition mechanism. The method is applicable for off-line character recognition as well. The technique is tested for upper-case English alphabets for a number of different styles from different peoples.
Association of Aggression and Non-Suicidal Self Injury: A School-Based Sample of Adolescents

Purpose Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in adolescent has drawn increasing attention because it is associated with subsequent depression, drug abuse, anxiety disorders, and suicide. In the present study, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in a school-based sample of Chinese adolescents and to explore the association between aggression and NSSI. Methods This study was part of a nationwide study on aggression among adolescents in urban areas of China. A sample of 2907 school students including 1436 boys and 1471 girls were randomly selected in Guangdong Province, with their age ranging from 10 to 18 years old. NSSI, aggression, emotional management and other factors were measured by self-administrated questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the association between aggression and NSSI, after adjustment for participants’ emotional management, and other potential confounding variables. Results The one year self-reported prevalence of NSSI was 33.6%. Of them, 21.7% engaged in ‘minor NSSI’, 11.9% in ‘moderate/severe NSSI’. 96.9% of self-injuries engaged in one to five different types of NSSI in the past year. Hostility, verbal and indirect aggression was significantly associated with self-reported NSSI after adjusting for other potential factors both in ‘minor NSSI’ and ‘moderate/severe NSSI’. Hostility, verbal and indirect aggression was significantly associated with greater risk of ‘minor NSSI’ and ‘moderate/severe NSSI’ in those who had poor emotional management ability. Conclusion These findings highlight a high prevalence of NSSI and indicate the importance of hostility, verbal and indirect aggression as potentially risk factor for NSSI among Chinese adolescents.
Modeling image similarity by Gaussian mixture models and the Signature Quadratic Form Distance

Modeling image similarity for browsing and searching in voluminous image databases is a challenging task of nearly all content-based image retrieval systems. One promising way of defining image similarity consists in applying distance-based similarity measures on compact image representations. Beyond feature histograms and feature signatures, more general feature representations are mixture models of which the Gaussian mixture model is the most prominent one. This feature representation can be compared by employing approximations of the Kullback-Leibler Divergence. Although several of those approximations have been successfully applied to model image similarity, their applicability to mixture models based on high-dimensional feature descriptors is questionable. In this paper, we thus introduce the Signature Quadratic Form Distance to measure the distance between two Gaussian mixture models of high-dimensional feature descriptors. We show the analytical computation of the proposed Gaussian Quadratic Form Distance and evaluate its retrieval performance by making use of different benchmark image databases.
The tropical precipitation pickup threshold and clouds in a radiative convective equilibrium model: 1. Column moisture

A survey of published results indicates that a column relative humidity near 77% is consistently observed to separate raining and nonraining columns in a time and space mean in the tropics, but why this approximate value of humidity should initiate such a statistical state transition is not readily apparent. An investigation is conducted of the submesoscale cloud processes that link column relative humidity to this abrupt pickup in heavy precipitation and of the magnitude of humidity at which this transition occurs. A cloud system resolving model in radiative convective equilibrium is used. Precipitation statistics from this simulation indicate a switch in mean precipitation state at 77% relative humidity with infrequent heavy rainfall at lower humidity. These statistics are broadly insensitive to spatial scaling. Low‐level cloud fraction and convergent flux of moisture are shown to be sensitive to column humidity near 77%, while upper level cloud fraction is markedly less sensitive. Mean updraft mass flux increases with increasing humidity but only at values of humidity well above the pickup. Both warm rain processes and melting are shown to depend strongly on column humidity near the pickup but in different circumstances. No single process is determined to result in a pickup in precipitation. It is suggested that column humidity temporally leads precipitation and therefore causes its intensity.
Telemedicine influence on the follow-up of type 2 diabetes patients.

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to evaluate the impact of a teleassistance system on the metabolic control of type 2 diabetes patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a 1-year controlled parallel-group trial comparing patients randomized (1) to an intervention group, assigned to a teleassistance system using real-time transmission of blood glucose results, with immediate reply when necessary, and telephone consultations, or (2) to a control group, being regularly followed-up at their healthcare center. Study subjects were type 2 diabetes patients >30 years of age followed in the primary care setting. RESULTS A total of 328 type 2 diabetes patients were recruited from 35 family practices in the province of Málaga, Spain. There was a reduction in hemoglobin A1c after 12 months from 7.62 +/- 1.60% to 7.40 +/- 1.43% (P = 0.027) in the intervention group and from 7.44 +/- 1.31% to 7.35 +/- 1.38% (P = 0.303) in the control group. The difference in the change between groups was not statistically significant. There was also a significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and body mass index in the intervention group. In the control group, the only significant decline was in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. CONCLUSIONS A teleassistance system using real-time transmission of blood glucose results with an option to make telephone consultations is feasible in the primary care setting as a support tool for family physicians in their follow-up of type 2 diabetes patients.
Stiffness and temporal optimization in periodic movements: An optimal control approach

We present a novel framework for stiffness and temporal optimization of periodic movements, with an emphasis on exploiting the intrinsic passive dynamics to realize efficient actuation and control. We use a dynamical systems based representation tuned to the requirements of rhythmic movements and propose a systematic methodology to optimize for control commands, temporal aspect of movements and time-varying stiffness profiles from first principles of optimality. Evaluations on a single pendulum and underactuated two-link robot simulation highlight the benefits, achieving remarkable actuation efficiency on complicated, highly dynamic tasks such as swing-up and brachiation.
Original Contribution EFFECT OF THE JUMPING ACTIVITY IN THE COURSE OF TRAINING EXERCISE ON THE LEVEL OF SERUM CORTISOL, BLOOD LACTATE AND HEART RATE IN HORSES

The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of the routine training program on the level of serum cortisol, blood lactate concentrations and heart rate in jumping horses. The study was carried out with six Hanoverian show-jumpers. The biochemical analyzes were performed in blood samples taken twice as follows: before and immediately post jumping exercise. Heart rate was measured at the beginning and after completing of the training activity. As a result of the investigation a statistically significant increase in the pulse, cortisol and lactate concentrations was noted.
An Analytic Framework for Modeling and Detecting Access Layer Misbehavior in Wireless Networks

The widespread deployment of wireless networks and hot spots that employ the IEEE 802.11 technology has forced network designers to put emphasis on the importance of ensuring efficient and fair use of network resources. In this work we propose a novel framework for detection of intelligent adaptive adversaries in the IEEE 802.11 MAC by addressing the problem of detection of the worst-case scenario attacks. Utilizing the nature of this protocol we employ sequential detection methods for detecting greedy behavior and illustrate their performance for detection of least favorable attacks. By using robust statistics in our problem formulation, we attempt to utilize the precision given by parametric tests, while avoiding the specification of the adversarial distribution. This approach establishes the lowest performance bound of a given Intrusion Detection System (IDS) in terms of detection delay and is applicable in online detection systems where users who pay for their services want to obtain the information about the best and the worst case scenarios and performance bounds of the system. This framework is meaningful for studying misbehavior due to the fact that it does not focus on specific adversarial strategies and therefore is applicable to a wide class of adversarial strategies.
CHANGES IN CONTRACEPTIVE USE IN VIETNAM

This analysis used data, primarily from the 1997 Vietnamese Demographic and Health Survey (VN-DHS 1997), to determine the changes in contraceptive use in Vietnam. A descriptive analysis of individual, household and community characteristics was made to obtain a general description of contraceptive use. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were also performed on the currently married in (a) a sample of all women and (b) only those women who live in rural areas, to identify the strength of association that each variable has with the use of modern contraceptives. The use of any contraceptive method and the use of modern methods increased from 1988 to 1997. The primary contraceptive method utilized is the IUD and its use has increased substantially from 1988 to 1997. Younger women (aged 15–24) were less likely to use any contraceptive method. Women not desiring additional children were significantly more likely to use contraceptive methods than those desiring more children. Education has a clear impact on both contraceptive knowledge and use by women, with higher educated women being more likely to use a contraceptive method. Illiterate women with no formal education were significantly less likely to use modern methods of contraception. Differentials in contraceptive use exist regarding place of residence. Urban women are more likely than rural women to use contraception, but the difference is not large. Women living in mountainous areas are less likely to use contraception, compared with women living in the lowlands. Living standards, especially the availability of electricity in the community, have a large effect on the methods of contraception adopted by women. Religion is not strongly related to the contraceptive behaviour of women. There were significant differences in the use of contraceptives in communities with good quality of care, with increased contraceptive use corresponding to the increase in availability of family planning workers at communes, provision of counselling services at health facilities, and the volume of mass media family planning messages.
The Structure of the Human Centrin 2-Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group C Protein Complex*

Human centrin-2 plays a key role in centrosome function and stimulates nucleotide excision repair by binding to the xeroderma pigmentosum group C protein. To determine the structure of human centrin-2 and to develop an understanding of molecular interactions between centrin and xeroderma pigmentosum group C protein, we characterized the crystal structure of calcium-loaded full-length centrin-2 complexed with a xeroderma pigmentosum group C peptide. Our structure shows that the carboxyl-terminal domain of centrin-2 binds this peptide and two calcium atoms, whereas the amino-terminal lobe is in a closed conformation positioned distantly by an ordered α-helical linker. A stretch of the amino-terminal domain unique to centrins appears disordered. Two xeroderma pigmentosum group C peptides both bound to centrin-2 also interact to form an α-helical coiled-coil. The interface between centrin-2 and each peptide is predominantly nonpolar, and key hydrophobic residues of XPC have been identified that lead us to propose a novel binding motif for centrin.
A study of the eigenvectors of the vibrational modes in crystalline cytidine via high-pressure Raman spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy has been used to study the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the vibrational modes of crystalline cytidine at 295 K and high pressures by evaluating the logarithmic derivative of the vibrational frequency ω with respect to pressure P: . Crystalline samples of molecular materials have strong intramolecular bonds and weak intermolecular bonds. This hierarchy of bonding strengths causes the vibrational optical modes localized within a molecular unit (“internal” modes) to be relatively high in frequency while the modes in which the molecular units vibrate against each other (“external” modes) have relatively low frequencies. The value of the logarithmic derivative is a useful diagnostic probe of the nature of the eigenvector of the vibrational modes because stretching modes (which are predominantly internal to the molecule) have low logarithmic derivatives while external modes have higher logarithmic derivatives. In crystalline cytidine, the modes at 85.8, 101.4, and 110.6 cm−1 are external in which the molecules of the unit cell vibrate against each other in either translational or librational motions (or some linear combination thereof). All of the modes above 320 cm−1 are predominantly internal stretching modes. The remaining modes below 320 cm−1 include external modes and internal modes, mostly involving either torsional or bending motions of groups of atoms within a molecule.
Surveillance for skeletal toxicity of children treated with etretinate

Following recent reports of the development of skeletal abnormalities in patients treated with etretinate (Tigason®), we have examined 19 children and adolescents on long‐term treatment with etretinate, using 99mtechnetium methylene diphosphonate (99mTcMDP) whole body bone scans and musculoskeletal assessment. No significant bony abnormalities were detected. We believe that the available evidence does not warrant alarm, and that long‐term etretinate therapy can probably be given with a low risk of musculoskeletal toxicity if certain precautions are taken, in particular the use of low maintenance dose levels, early investigation of symptoms of musculoskeletal pain or stiffness, and regular 99mTcMDP bone scans.
A GATA family transcription factor is expressed along the embryonic dorsoventral axis in Drosophila melanogaster.

The GATA transcription factors are a family of C4 zinc finger-motif DNA-binding proteins that play defined roles in hematopoiesis as well as presumptive roles in other tissues where they are expressed (e.g., testis, neuronal and placental trophoblast cells) during vertebrate development. To investigate the possibility that GATA proteins may also be involved in Drosophila development, we have isolated and characterized a gene (dGATAa) encoding a factor that is quite similar to mammalian GATA factors. The dGATAa protein sequence contains the two zinc finger DNA-binding domain of the GATA class but bears no additional sequence similarity to any of the vertebrate GATA factors. Analysis of dGATAa gene transcription during Drosophila development revealed that its mRNA is expressed at high levels during early embryogenesis, with transcripts first appearing in the dorsal portion of the embryo just after cellularization. As development progresses, dGATAa mRNA is present at high levels in the dorsal epidermis, suggesting that dGATAa may be involved in determining dorsal cell fate. The pattern of expression in a variety of dorsoventral polarity mutants indicates that dGATAa lies downstream of the zygotic patterning genes decapentaplegic and zerknüllt.
A convergent staggered scheme for the variable density incompressible Navier-Stokes equations

In this paper, we analyze a scheme for the time-dependent variable density Navier-Stokes equations. The algorithm is implicit in time, and the space approximation is based on a low-order staggered non-conforming finite element, the so-called Rannacher-Turek element. The convection term in the momentum balance equation is discretized by a finite volume technique, in such a way that a solution obeys a discrete kinetic energy balance, and the mass balance is approximated by an upwind finite volume method. We first show that the scheme preserves the stability properties of the continuous problem (L $\infty$-estimate for the density, L $\infty$ (L 2)-and L 2 (H 1)-estimates for the velocity), which yields, by a topological degree technique, the existence of a solution. Then, invoking compactness arguments and passing to the limit in the scheme, we prove that any sequence of solutions (obtained with a sequence of discretizations the space and time step of which tend to zero) converges up to the extraction of a subsequence to a weak solution of the continuous problem.