Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors on the sense of privacy in video surveillance

With the increasing demand for greater security, video surveillance technologies have recently received a lot of attention. As video surveillance cameras become ubiquitous, there are growing concerns over the cost of monitoring these systems and the possible invasion of privacy. In this paper, we discuss a system architecture of privacy-preserving video surveillance for a community that achieves a good balance between security and privacy. We call the designed system 'PriSurv'. A subset of PriSurv is implemented, and privacy protected image processing modules are installed. The privacy preserving image processing is called visual abstraction. We conducted an experiment using five abstracted images and a questionnaire to evaluate PriSurv. Analyzing the results of the experiment using factor analysis, we obtained seven factors. With a hierarchical cluster analysis, we divided the subjects into three clusters. A significant difference in the choice of images among the clusters was found using the Pearson χ-squared test. From this analysis, we show that the relationships between subjects and monitors affect the subjects' sense of privacy; furthermore, the subjects' sense of privacy depends on the individual person. The results of analysis supports PriSurv's design principle, which can adapt the personal sense of privacy.
Assessment of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment for Implant Osseointegration

This study assessed the osseointegrative effects of atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) surface treatment for implants in a canine model. Control surfaces were untreated textured titanium (Ti) and calcium phosphate (CaP). Experimental surfaces were their 80-second air-based APP-treated counterparts. Physicochemical characterization was performed to assess topography, surface energy, and chemical composition. One implant from each control and experimental group (four in total) was placed in one radius of each of the seven male beagles for three weeks, and one implant from each group was placed in the contralateral radius for six weeks. After sacrifice, bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and bone area fraction occupancy (BAFO) were assessed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed decreased surface levels of carbon and increased Ti and oxygen, and calcium and oxygen, posttreatment for Ti and CaP surfaces, respectively. There was a significant (P < 0.001) increase in BIC for APP-treated textured Ti surfaces at six weeks but not at three weeks or for CaP surfaces. There were no significant (P = 0.57) differences for BAFO between treated and untreated surfaces for either material at either time point. This suggests that air-based APP surface treatment may improve osseointegration of textured Ti surfaces but not CaP surfaces. Studies optimizing APP parameters and applications are warranted.
Study of the relationship between Pulse Photopletismography amplitude decrease events and sleep apneas in children

In this work, a method to analyse the effects of an apnea on the pulse photopletismography signal (PPG) is proposed. Therefore, an apnea detector based on respiratory signals has been developed and a decreases in amplitude of PPG (DAP) detector developed in a previous study was used. The apnea detector was tested using real signals. S and +PV of the detector were 95.3% and 94.4%, respectively. For each of the apneic events, we analyzed the presence of DAP in a window previous to the apnea event and another during/following the apnea. An increase of about 15% in DAP events in the window during/following the apnea with respect to the previous to apnea window is produced. These results shows an association between apneic events and DAP events, which indicates that DAP events provide useful information in sleep research and PPG signals might be useful in the diagnosis of OSAS
Present and future pharmacotherapeutic agents in heart failure: an evolving paradigm

Many conditions culminate in heart failure (HF), a multi‐organ systemic syndrome with an intrinsically poor prognosis. Pharmacotherapeutic agents that correct neurohormonal dysregulation and haemodynamic instability have occupied the forefront of developments within the treatment of HF in the past. Indeed, multiple trials aimed to validate these agents in the 1980s and early 1990s, resulting in a large and robust evidence‐base supporting their use clinically. An established treatment paradigm now exists for the treatment of HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), but there have been very few notable developments in recent years. HF remains a significant health concern with an increasing incidence as the population ages. We may indeed be entering the surgical era for HF treatment, but these therapies remain expensive and inaccessible to many. Newer pharmacotherapeutic agents are slowly emerging, many targeting alternative therapeutic pathways, but with mixed results. Metabolic modulation and manipulation of the nitrate/nitrite/nitric oxide pathway have shown promise and could provide the answers to fill the therapeutic gap between medical interventions and surgery, but further definitive trials are warranted. We review the significant evidence base behind the current medical treatments for HFrEF, the physiology of metabolic impairment in HF, and discuss two promising novel agents, perhexiline and nitrite.
Caveolae/raft-dependent endocytosis

Although caveolae are well-characterized subdomains of glycolipid rafts, their distinctive morphology and association with caveolins has led to their internalization being considered different from that of rafts. In this review, we propose that caveolae and rafts are internalized via a common pathway, caveolae/raft-dependent endocytosis, defined by its clathrin independence, dynamin dependence, and sensitivity to cholesterol depletion. The regulatory role of caveolin-1 and ligand sorting in this complex endocytic pathway are specifically addressed.
Behavioral Finance: A Review and Synthesis

I provide a synthesis of the Behavioural finance literature over the past two decades. I review the literature in three parts, namely, (i) empirical and theoretical analyses of patterns in the cross-section of average stock returns, (ii) studies on trading activity, and (iii) research in corporate finance. Behavioural finance is an exciting new field because it presents a number of normative implications for both individual investors and CEOs. The papers reviewed here allow us to learn more about these specific implications.
The Role of Motivation and Attitude in Second Language Learning: A study of Arabic Language Learning among Foreign Female Nurses in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The present paper aims at studying the role of motivation and attitude in second language learning and investigates thoroughly foreign female nurses’ motivation and attitude toward Arabic in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study focuses on the two important factors namely, motivation and attitude. The motivation factor is considered in terms of instrumental and integrative orientations. As for the attitude factor, the study investigates foreign nurses' orientation with reference to their attitude toward learning Arabic and toward native speakers of their host country. The sample of the study consisted of 109 foreign female nurses working in Dr. Sulaiman Al -Habib Hospital in Al-Takhassusi, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire based on Gardner's Attitude/Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) was used for data collection. The findings showed that the foreign nurses were moderately highly motivated in both instrumental and integrative orientation. The study also revealed that integrative orientation (social and cultural reasons) is higher compared to the instrumental orientation (utilitarian and academic reasons). Regarding the foreign nurses' attitude, the study demonstrated that the foreign nurses had comparatively positive attitudes to learning Arabic and a more or less neutral attitude toward Saudi people. The study concluded with some pedagogical recommendations that may help in directing the motivation and attitude of foreign workers in general and nurses in particular to learn the language of the host country. Further research was suggested to bridge the wide gap between foreign nurses' motivation and reflections in their behavior.
Implementation Interventions Used in Nursing Homes and Hospitals: A Descriptive, Comparative Study between Austria, Germany, and The Netherlands

Translating guidelines into nursing practice remains a considerable challenge. Until now, little attention has been paid to which interventions are used in practice to implement guidelines on changing clinical nursing practice. This cross-sectional study determined the current ranges and rates of implementation-related interventions in Austria, Germany, and The Netherlands and explored possible differences between these countries. An online questionnaire based on the conceptual framework of implementation interventions (professional, organizational, financial, and regulatory) from the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care (EPOC) data collection checklist was used to gather data from nursing homes and hospitals. Provision of written materials is the most frequently used professional implementation intervention (85%), whereas changes in the patient record system rank foremost among organisational interventions (78%). Financial incentives for nurses are rarely used. More interventions were used in Austria and Germany than in The Netherlands (20.3/20.2/17.3). Professional interventions are used more frequently in Germany and financial interventions more frequently in The Netherlands. Implementation efforts focus mainly on professional and organisational interventions. Nurse managers and other responsible personnel should direct their focus to a broader array of implementation interventions using the four different categories of EPOC's conceptual framework.
American Journal of Epidemiology Original Contribution Cytomegalovirus Antibody Levels, Inflammation, and Mortality among Elderly Latinos over 9 Years of Follow-up

This study examined the relation between immune response to cytomegalovirus (CMV) and all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and possible mediating mechanisms. Data were derived from the Sacra-mento Area Latino Study on Aging, a population-based study of older Latinos (aged 60–101 years) in California followed in 1998–2008. CMV immunoglobulin G (IgG), tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6 were assayed from baseline blood draws. Data on all-cause and CVD mortality were abstracted from death certificates. Analyses included 1,468 of 1,789 participants. For individuals with CMV IgG antibody titers in the highest quartile compared with lower quartiles, fully adjusted models showed that all-cause mortality was 1.43 times (95% confidence interval: 1.14, 1.79) higher over 9 years. In fully adjusted models, the hazard of CVD mortality was also elevated (hazard ratio ¼ 1.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.80). A composite measure of tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 mediated a substantial proportion of the association between CMV and all-cause (18.9%, P < 0.001) and CVD (29.0%, P ¼ 0.02) mortality. This study is the first known to show that high CMV IgG antibody levels are significantly related to mortality and that the relation is largely mediated by interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor. Further studies investigating methods for reducing IgG antibody response to CMV are warranted. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a highly prevalent, easily transmissible beta herpesvirus (1, 2). Serious complications from infection are documented in vulnerable populations including infants, transplant recipients, and patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. CMV is not cleared from the body but rather persists in a number of tissues as a combination of a chronic productive infection and latent infection with periodic subclinical reactivation (2). Because of its lack of overt clinical symptoms, CMV was thought to be benign in immunocompetent hosts. However, researchers have paid increasing attention to CMV as an etiologic agent for chronic diseases and as a marker of immune dysfunction. More recently, CMV has been linked with cancer (3), cardiovascular disease (4, 5), cognitive functioning including vascular dementia (6, 7), and functional impairment (8). It is thought that CMV contributes to progression of these disease processes primarily through inflammatory mechanisms , whereby infection with CMV induces production of cytokines and acute-phase proteins (9). CMV has also been implicated as a driving force in immunosenescence (10, 11). As a persistent infection, CMV is continually captured, processed , and presented to T cells, leading to clonal expansion and contraction of the …
Incentive Compensation when Executives can Hedge the Market: Evidence of Relative Performance Evaluation in the Cross Section

Little evidence exists that firms index executive compensation to remove the influence of marketwide factors. We argue that executives can, in principle, replicate such indexation in their private portfolios. In support, we find that market risk has little effect on the use of stock-based pay for the average executive. But executives' ability to "undo" excessive market risk can be hindered by wealth constraints and inalienability of human capital. We replicate the standard result that there is little relative performance evaluation (RPE) for the average executive, but find strong evidence of RPE for younger executives and executives with less financial wealth. Copyright (c) 2003 by the American Finance Association.
Doppler-free laser spectroscopy of buffer-gas-cooled molecular radicals

We demonstrate Doppler-free saturated absorption spectroscopy of cold molecular radicals formed by laser ablation inside a cryogenic buffer gas cell. By lowering the temperature, congested regions of the spectrum can be simplified, and by using different temperatures for different regions of the spectrum a wide range of rotational states can be studied optimally. We use the technique to study the optical spectrum of YbF radicals with a resolution of 30 MHz, measuring the magnetic hyperfine parameters of the electronic ground state. The method is suitable for high-resolution spectroscopy of a great variety of molecules at controlled temperature and pressure, and is particularly well suited to those that are difficult to produce in the gas phase.
DIVIDEND POLICY, TRADING CHARACTERISTICS AND SHARE PRICES: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM EGYPTIAN FIRMS

For a sample of 94 firms, using data up to 1999, we find that retentions are more significant than dividends in determining prices of shares that are actively traded on the Egyptian stock market. However, for non-actively traded shares, the accounting book value is the most important determinant. Reductions in dividends are associated with a lack of liquidity and profitability. Dividend increases are linked to higher pre-tax operating profit effects, which outweighed post-tax effects. As to aspects that influence dividend payout ratios of actively traded firms, important factors are gearing and the market to book value, the latter a surrogate for investment opportunities. For non-actively traded firms, a more complex pattern emerges.
Supermassive black holes, star formation and downsizing of elliptical galaxies

The overabundance of Mg relative to Fe, observed in the nuclei of bright ellipticals, and its increase with galactic mass, poses a serious problem for all current models of galaxy formation. Here, we improve on the one-zone chemical evolution models for elliptical galaxies by taking into account positive feedback produced in the early stages of supermassive central black hole growth. We can account for both the observed correlation and the scatter if the observed anti-hierarchical behaviour of the AGN population couples to galaxy assembly and results in an enhancement of the star formation efficiency which is proportional to galactic mass. At low and intermediate galactic masses, however, a slower mode for star formation suffices to account for the observational properties.
On the Required Accuracy of Transmitter Channel State Information in Multiple Antenna Broadcast Channels

A multiple antenna broadcast channel (multiple transmit antennas, one antenna at each receiver) with imperfect channel state information available to the transmitter is considered. If perfect channel state information is available to the transmitter, then a multiplexing gain equal to the minimum of the number of transmit antennas and the number of receivers is achievable. On the other hand, if each receiver has identical fading statistics and the transmitter has no channel information, the maximum achievable multiplexing gain is only one. The focus of this paper is on determination of necessary and sufficient conditions on the rate at which CSIT quality must improve with SNR in order for full multiplexing gain to be achievable. The main result of the paper shows that scaling CSIT quality such that the CSIT error is dominated by the inverse of the SNR is both necessary and sufficient to achieve the full multiplexing gain as well as a bounded rate offset (i.e., the sum rate has no negative sub-logarithmic terms) in the compound channel setting.
Optogenetic dissection of the dopaminergic circuitry involved in memory consolidation

The ‘synaptic tagging-and-capture’ (STC) theory of cellular memory consolidation holds that memory persistence can be altered by prior or subsequent patterns of neural activity (Redondo & Morris 2011). The aim of this thesis was to develop a realistic model of everyday memory for mice and use the optogenetic toolbox to investigate the neuromodulatory circuitry that modulates persistence of everyday spatial memories. The task involved learning a win-stay rule with the daily goal of finding the location of food in the event arena. Using the developed task, it was confirmed that unrelated novel experiences can facilitate the persistence of spatial memory in a manner sensitive to pharmacological blockade of hippocampal dopamine D1/D5 receptors. Further analysis focused on identifying the specific neuromodulatory systems that mediate this effect. An influential model called the ‘hippocampusVTA loop’ (Lisman & Grace 2005) points to the critical role of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), but recent evidence also implicates locus coeruleus (LC) as a potential source of dopamine in the hippocampus (Smith & Greene 2012). In order to identify the dopaminergic structure(s) that may mediate the novelty effect on memory persistence, single unit activity of optogenetically identified catecholaminergic (CAergic) neurons in mouse VTA and LC was recorded in a novelty exploration paradigm. Using tyrosine hydroxylase-Cre knock-in mice and a Cre-dependent adeno-associated viral vectors, CAergic neurons in VTA and LC were selectively tagged with channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2). Conditional ChR2 expression made it possible to reliably identify CAergic neurons during unit recording sessions in freely moving animals. The main conclusion of the study is that that CAergic neurons in both VTA and LC selectively increase their firing rates in novel environments, relative to both a familiar environment and a home cage baseline. When normalised to their average baseline firing rates, LC neurons are more strongly activated by novelty than VTA neurons. In the final experiment outlined in this thesis, another cohort of Th-Cre mice, in which ChR2 was expressed in CAergic neurons of both VTA and LC using a Cre-dependent adeno-associated virus, was trained on the everyday appetitive spatial memory task. ChR2-mediated photoactivation of CAergic neurons in LC but not in VTA 30 min after encoding, substituting for novelty, was successful in enhancing the persistence of memory. Paradoxically, the effect of optogenetic LC activation was blocked by hippocampal microinfusion of dopamine D1/D5 receptor antagonist but not β-adrenergic receptor antagonist. Results of experiments described in this thesis support the principle of STC theory and collectively indicate that dopamine released from hippocampal terminals of LC neurons mediates the novelty effect on memory persistence. Importantly, they also point to a more general of role of LC in gating of entry to long-term memory.
Bubble formation and dynamics in a quiescent high‐density liquid

Gas bubble formation from a submerged orifice under constant-flow conditions in a quiescent high-density liquid metal, lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE), at high Reynolds numbers was investigated numerically. The numerical simulation was carried out using a coupled level-set and volume-of-fluid method governed by axisymmetric Navier–Stokes equations. The ratio of liquid density to gas density for the system of interest was about 15,261. The bubble formation regimes varied from quasi-static to inertia-dominated and the different bubbling regimes such as period-1 and period-2 with pairing and coalescence were described. The volume of the detached bubble was evaluated for various Weber numbers, We, at a given Bond number, Bo, with Reynolds number Re≫1. It was found that at high values of the Weber number, the computed detached bubble volumes approached a 3/5 power law. The different bubbling regimes were identified quantitatively from the time evolution of the growing bubble volume at the orifice. It was shown that the growing volume of two consecutive bubbles in the period-2 bubbling regime was not the same whereas it was the same for the period-1 bubbling regime. The influence of grid resolution on the transition from period-1 to period-2 with pairing and coalescence bubbling regimes was investigated. It was observed that the transition is extremely sensitive to the grid size. The transition of period-1 and period-2 with pairing and coalescence is shown on a Weber–Bond numbers map. The critical value of Weber number signalling the transition from period-1 to period-2 with pairing and coalescence decreases with Bond number as We∼Bo−1, which is shown to be consistent with the scaling arguments. Furthermore, comparisons of the dynamics of bubble formation and bubble coalescence in LBE and water systems are discussed. It was found that in a high Reynolds number bubble formation regime, a difference exists in the transition from period-1 to period-2 with pairing and coalescence between the bubbles formed in water and the bubbles formed in LBE. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 3996–4012, 2015
Intrahousehold Preference Heterogeneity , Commitment , and Strategic Savings ∗

This paper develops and tests a model of household bargaining where heterogeneity in discount factors drives inefficient savings behavior. The model highlights that when discount factors differ and individuals cannot commit intertemporally, the availability of a “private” savings technology (a device that is only accessible by a single owner) may incite individuals to take costly strategic savings action in order to manipulate the time path of consumption. To test this model and the efficient alternative, we designed and implemented a field experiment where married couples in rural Kenya were given the opportunity to open joint and individual bank accounts at randomly assigned interest rates. The behavior of individuals in the experiment is inconsistent with ex-ante Pareto efficiency and a variety of alternative models of intrahousehold resource allocation, but consistent with the proposed model of strategic savings. Savings misallocation due to strategic behavior is substantial: couples who are poorly matched on discount factors forgo at least 58 percent more potential interest earnings when compared to their well