Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adenovirus-Mediated Gene Transfer of Fibroblast Growth Factor-2 Increases BrdU-Positive Cells After Forebrain Ischemia in Gerbils

Background and Purpose— Progenitor cells continue to generate neurons in the adult mammalian brain, and cerebral ischemia induces neurogenesis. We examined the efficacy of the intraventricular injection of a recombinant adenovirus-expressing fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) (AxCAMAssbFGF) on neurogenesis in both normal and ischemic brains. Methods— We used a gerbil model of transient global ischemia and counted the number of BrdU-positive cells after injection of AxCAMAssbFGF into the brain with or without ischemia. Results— Intraventricular AxCAMAssbFGF produced robust FGF-2 protein increases in diverse regions of the brain and markedly increased FGF-2 concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid 2 days after administration and evoked significant proliferation of BrdU-positive cells not only in the subventricular zone and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus but also in the cerebral cortex, and some BrdU-positive cells differentiated into neurons. Continuous intraventricular infusion of FGF-2 protein increased FGF-2 concentration in cerebrospinal fluid but not in brain tissues and produced BrdU-positive cell proliferation only in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle. Conclusions— Adenovirally mediated transfer of the FGF-2 gene promoted progenitor cell proliferation more efficiently in widespread regions of the brain after transient global ischemia than continuous intraventricular infusion of FGF-2 protein.
Joint User-Entity Representation Learning for Event Recommendation in Social Network

User-managed-events is a popular feature on social networks. Take Facebook Events as an example: over 135 million events were created in 2015 and over 550 million people use events each month. In this work, we consider the heavy sparseness in both user and event feedback history caused by short lifespans (transiency) of events and user participation patterns in a production event system. We propose to solve the resulting cold-start problems by introducing a joint representation model to project users and events into the same latent space. Our model based on parallel Convolutional Neural Networks captures semantic meaning in event text and also utilizes heterogeneous user knowledge available in the social network. By feeding the model output as user and event representation into a combiner prediction model, we show that our representation model improves the prediction accuracy over existing techniques (+6% AUC lift). Our method provides a generic way to match heterogeneous information from different domains and applies to a wide range of applications in social
Using the SAD PERSONS Scale to Promote Supervisee Suicide Assessment Knowledge

A Randomized Groups, Posttest-Only Design was used within this quasi-experimental study to determine if supervisees who recived one of two instructional teaching methods of the SAD PERSONS Scale or a contorl group who were not instructed in use of the scale demonstrated differences in their abilities to accurately assess suicide risk or adequately assign appropriate clinical interventions. Results suggest that the SAD PERSONS Scale can help supervisees gain increased understanding of the suicide continuum and can augment developing supervisee clinical judgement. Concomitantly, the scale appears to have implied utility for aiding supervisors in gaining greater understanding of the client's clinical presentation and immediate degree of danger to self.
Optimization of the width of the photopeak energy window in the TDCS technique for scatter correction in quantitative SPECT

Transmission-dependent convolution subtraction (TDCS) is a promising technique in quantitative SPECT for subtracting the scatter components from emission images. Usually, a 20% photopeak energy window is used in SPECT acquisitions. To date, no investigation has assessed the effects of energy windows in the subtraction of scatter components from emission images with the TDCS technique. To evaluate the energy dependence of the TDCS technique, we analyzed photopeak energy windows of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 35% using /sup 99m/Tc radionuclide. The scatter fractions for a point source placed in a water phantom were estimated using the triple-energy-window (TEW) technique. These estimates were used to establish the parameters of the TDCS equation as a function of transmission. The estimated parameters were applied to the TDCS technique to subtract the scatter components from data of corresponding energy windows using nonuniform and uniform phantoms. All data were reconstructed with the OSEM algorithm. The energy window dependence of the TDCS technique was verified by comparing the coefficients of variance (COV) of the data from the uniform phantom of each energy window. Ten Poisson deviates were generated from each projection's data from the uniform phantom. The nonuniform phantom results showed that the estimated parameters effectively estimated the scatter component from the projection image for each energy window. The COV for the 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, and 35% windows were 2.10%, 1.76%, 1.44 %, 1.39%, 1.34%, 1.37%, and 1.61%, respectively. In the TDCS technique, any photopeak energy window from 15% to 30% may work almost as well as judged by the COV measured for a uniform phantom in this study. The best window by that measure was the 25% window.
Transparency and Conspiracy: Ethnographies of Suspicion in the New World Order

Transparency has, in recent years, become a watchword for good governance. Policymakers and analysts alike evaluate political and economic institutions—courts, corporations, nation-states—according to the transparency of their operating procedures. With the dawn of the New World Order and the “mutual veil dropping” of the post–Cold War era, many have asserted that power in our contemporary world is more transparent than ever. Yet from the perspective of the relatively less privileged, the operation of power often appears opaque and unpredictable. Through vivid ethnographic analyses, Transparency and Conspiracy examines a vast range of expressions of the popular suspicion of power—including forms of shamanism, sorcery, conspiracy theory, and urban legends—illuminating them as ways of making sense of the world in the midst of tumultuous and uneven processes of modernization. In this collection leading anthropologists reveal the variations and commonalities in conspiratorial thinking or occult cosmologies around the globe—in Korea, Tanzania, Mozambique, New York City, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Orange County, California. The contributors chronicle how people express profound suspicions of the United Nations, the state, political parties, police, courts, international financial institutions, banks, traders and shopkeepers, media, churches, intellectuals, and the wealthy. Rather than focusing on the veracity of these convictions, Transparency and Conspiracy investigates who believes what and why. It makes a compelling argument against the dismissal of conspiracy theories and occult cosmologies as antimodern, irrational oversimplifications, showing how these beliefs render the world more complex by calling attention to its contradictions and proposing alternative ways of understanding it. Contributors. Misty Bastian, Karen McCarthy Brown, Jean Comaroff, John Comaroff, Susan Harding, Daniel Hellinger, Caroline Humphrey, Laurel Kendall, Todd Sanders, Albert Schrauwers, Kathleen Stewart, Harry G. West
A new interaction technique involving eye gaze tracker and scanning system

This paper presents a new input interaction system for people with severe disabilities by combining eye gaze tracking and single switch scanning interaction techniques. The system is faster than only scanning based systems while more comfortable to use than existing eye gaze tracking based systems. We reported results from a couple of user studies that show the new system is equally fast compared to existing eye tracking systems that does not involve scanning, participants with no prior experience with eye tracking based system could learn using this new system successfully within 10 minutes but it demands higher mental effort in comparison to another new modality of interaction- a gesture based system.
The Correlation Between a General Critical Thinking Skills Test and a Discipline Specific Critical Thinking Test For Associate Degree Nursing Students

In 1997, NLNAC added critical thinking as a required outcome for accreditation of associate degree nursing (ADN) programs. Until recently general critical thinking tests were the only available standardized critical thinking assessment tools. The emphasis has shifted to discipline specific tools. This concurrent validity study explored the correlation between two critical thinking tests, a general skills test, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and a discipline specific test, the Arnett Critical Thinking Outcome Evaluation (CTOE). Both tests are based on the same definition of critical thinking. The CCTST, developed in 1990, covers discipline neutral content in multiple choice items. The CTOE, a free entry, written response test developed in 1998, assesses critical thinking in nursing situations using a partial credit model. A convenience sample of 434 sophomore ADN students from 9 programs in Texas completed the demographic survey and critical thinking tests in 1999. The sample was 87.9% female and 74.2% Caucasian, with a mean age of 31, mean GPA of 3.13, mean 3.7 years healthcare employment experience, mean CCTST score of 15.0023 and mean CTOE of 82.69. The sample also included 22.4% current LVNs, 15.7% with prior degrees and 53.5% in the first generation of their family to go to college. With Pearson correlation, three of four hypotheses concerning correlation between CCTST and CTOE scores were accepted, showing weak but significant correlation. GPA positively correlated but healthcare employment experience, first generation and minority status negatively correlated with CCTST scores. GPA correlated positively with CTOE scores. Stepwise multiple linear regression with CCTST scores retained GPA, healthcare employment experience, prior degree, and first generation in college status. The significant, positive correlation between CCTST and CTOE scores was weaker than expected. This may be due to the different formats of the tools, or a fundamental difference between a general critical thinking skills test and a discipline specific tool. Critical thinking is highly contextually sensitive and disciplines emphasize skills differently. Both tests may be useful in a critical thinking assessment program since they measure different aspects and contribute to a composite picture of critical thinking. Research should continue on discipline specific tools.
Genetic Polymorphisms of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors and the Risk of Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality in a Community-Based Cohort in Washington County, Maryland

The primary aim of this study was to examine prospectively the associations between 5 peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in a community-based cohort study in Washington County, Maryland. Data were analyzed from 9,364 Caucasian men and women participating in CLUE-II. Genotyping on 5 PPAR polymorphisms was conducted using peripheral DNA samples collected in 1989. The followup period was from 1989 to 2003. The results showed that there were no statistically significant associations between the PPAR SNPs and cardiovascular deaths or events. In contrast, statistically significant age-adjusted associations were observed for PPARG rs4684847 with both baseline body mass and blood pressure, and for PPARG rs709158, PPARG rs1175543, and PPARD rs2016520 with baseline cholesterol levels. Future studies should be conducted to confirm these findings and to explore the associations in populations with greater racial and ethnic diversity.
Similar postprandial glycemic reductions with escalation of dose and administration time of American ginseng in type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE We previously demonstrated that 3 g American ginseng (AG) reduced postprandial glycemia (PPG) in type 2 diabetic individuals. We investigated whether further reductions can be achieved with escalation of dose and time of AG administration. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Ten type 2 diabetic patients (6 men, 4 women; age 63+/-2 years; BMI 27.7+/-1.5 kg/m2; HbA1c 7.3+/-0.3%) were randomly administered 0 g (placebo) or 3, 6, or 9 g ground AG root in capsules at 120, 80, 40, or 0 min before a 25-g oral glucose challenge. Capillary blood glucose was measured before ingestion of AG or placebo and at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min from the start of the glucose challenge. RESULTS Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated that treatment (0, 3, 6, and 9 g AG) but not time of administration (120, 80, 40, or 0 min before the challenge) significantly affected PPG (P<0.05), with significant (P = 0.037) interaction for area under the curve (AUC). Pairwise comparisons showed that compared with 0 g (placebo), 3, 6, or 9 g significantly (P<0.05) reduced AUC (19.7, 15.3, and 15.9%, respectively) and incremental glycemia at 30 min (16.3, 18.4, and 18.4%, respectively), 45 min (12.5, 14.3, and 14.3%, respectively), and 120 min (59.1, 40.9, and 45.5%, respectively). However, pairwise comparisons showed no differences between the 3-, 6-, or 9-g doses and any of the times of administration. CONCLUSIONS AG reduced PPG irrespective of dose and time of administration. No more than 3 g AG was required at any time in relation to the challenge to achieve reductions. Because these reductions included glycemia at the 2-h diagnostic end point, there may be implications for diabetes diagnosis and treatment.
How HRM control affects boundary-spanning employees' behavioural strategies and satisfaction: the moderating impact of cultural performance orientation

This study examines how cultural performance orientation moderates the influence of human resource management (HRM) controls on boundary-spanning employees' behavioural strategies and satisfaction. Based on primary data obtained from 1049 salespeople in six countries (France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States of America) and secondary data on cultural performance orientation, multilevel regression analyses show that national culture has a strong effect on the way boundary-spanning employees allocate their effort in response to HRM control. In particular, our results suggest that the more behaviour controls are used with boundary-spanning employees, the less attention they pay to customers and the more emphasis they place on their supervisors and non-selling tasks. Specifically, cultural performance orientation is shown to moderate significantly those relationships. Furthermore, results indicate that cultural performance orientation heightens boundary-spanning employees' job satisfaction resulting from behaviour control. Preliminary explanations for the differing impact of HRM control efficiency across cultures can be proposed.
Joint Routing and Link Scheduling for Wireless Mesh Networks through Genetic Algorithms

Wireless mesh networks (WMN) are emerging as an attractive technology for providing broadband connectivity to mobile clients who are just on the edge of wired networks, and also for building self-organized networks in places where wired infrastructures are not available or not deemed to be worth deploying. This paper investigates the joint link scheduling and routing issues involved in the delivery of a given backlog from any node of a WMN towards a specific node (which acts as a gateway), within a given deadline. As in a real WMN, scheduling and routing are assumed to be aware of the physical interference among nodes, which is modeled in the paper by means of a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR). Firstly, using a theoretical model of a WMN we formulate the problem as an integer linear programming (ILP) problem. Secondly, since the problem cannot be dealt with using exact methods, we propose and use a technique based on genetic algorithms (GAs). To the best of our knowledge, GAs have never been used before for working out these kinds of optimization problems in a WMN environment. We show that our technique is suitable for this purpose as it provides a good trade-off between fast computation and the overall goodness of the solution found. Our experience has in fact shown that GAs would seem to be quite promising for solving more complex WMN models than the one dealt with in this paper, such as those including multiple flows and multi-radio multi-channels.
Towards fault-tolerant quantum computation with higher-dimensional systems

The main focus of this thesis is to explore the advantages of using higher-dimensional quantum systems (qudits) as building blocks for fault-tolerant quantum computation. In particular, we investigate the two main essential ingredients of many state-of-the-art fault-tolerant schemes [133], which are magic state distillation and topological error correction. The theory for both of these components is well established for the qubit case, but little has been known for the generalised qudit case. For magic state distillation, we first present a general numerical approach that can be used to investigate the distillation properties of any stabilizer code. We use this approach to study small threedimensional (qutrit) codes and classify, for the first time, new types of qutrit magic states. We then provide an analytic study of a family of distillation protocols based on the quantum Reed-Muller codes. We discover a particular five-dimensional code that, by many measures, outperforms all known qubit codes. For the topological error correction, we study the qudit toric code serving as a quantum memory. For this purpose we examine an efficient renormalization group decoder to estimate the error correction threshold. We find that when the qudit toric code is subject to a generalised bit-flip noise, and for a sufficiently high dimension, a threshold of 30% can be obtained under perfect decoding.
Personal Reflection on Research Process and Tools: Effectiveness, Highlights and Challenges in using the Mosaic Approach

THIS REFLECTION ON USING the Mosaic Approach as a framework for undertaking research with young children contributes to the dialogue around qualitative research methodology. The provocation of social constructivist theory challenges researchers to consider and explore innovative ways to position themselves so the multiple voices of children can be heard, valued, respected and listened to. Three underpinning principles are identified and each of the methodological tools used by Greenfield (2007a) is discussed. Trustworthiness or situated validity in research is vital. It is argued that the Mosaic Approach provides an effective, flexible and authentic methodology when undertaking research with young children.
Effects of Hypnotics on Sleep Patterns and Functional Recovery of Patients with Subacute Stroke

Kim CR, Chun MH, Han EY: Effects of hypnotics on sleep patterns and functional recovery of patients with subacute stroke. Objective:To identify relationships between sleep patterns and functional outcomes in patients with subacute stroke with insomnia. Design:We prospectively studied 30 patients with subacute stroke. Each patient completed the St. Mary's Hospital sleep questionnaire, the Korean modified Barthel index, a computerized neuropsychological test, and the Beck depression inventory. The time interval between baseline and follow-up was 3 wks. Patients with insomnia were all treated with hypnotics, and patients were divided into two groups according to sleep patterns. Results:Poor sleep quality, decreased total sleep time, and increased frequency of nocturnal awakening were observed in patients with insomnia, but sleep patterns improved, when hypnotics were administered, to levels comparable with those of the (noninsomnia) control group. There was no significant difference in functional, cognitive, or depressive status between the insomnia and noninsomnia groups at baseline, but attention in patients with insomnia tended to be lower. At follow-up, functional and cognitive status had improved in both groups, and there was no significant difference between the two groups in sleep quality, sleep time, or nocturnal awakening. Conclusions:Patients with stroke with insomnia showed poor sleep patterns. Active management improved sleep patterns and helped such patients achieve functional and cognitive outcomes equivalent to those attained by patients without insomnia.
Scholieren met een bijbaantje: de gevolgen voor hun schoolprestaties

Summary Pa rt-time employment among secondary school pupils: Consequences for their school achievement Pa rt-time employment among secondary school pupils has increased considerably in the Netherlands since the 1990s. This article focuses on the question of which secondary school pupils are employed in what kind of part-time jobs, and, more important, on the question of the extent to which these jobs negatively affect school achievement. To answer these research questions adequately, a nationally representative survey among secondary school pupils held in 2001/2002 was analysed (N=8,529). Results indicate that part-time employment during secondary school is negatively associated with (self-re p o rted) school achievement. This negative relationship, however, is not attributable to the employment activities themselves. Ra t h e r, the observed association is a spurious one, originating from differential (self-)selection into employment. After controlling for differences in socio-demographic characteristics, previous school perf o rmance and attitudes towards schooling between pupils with and without a parttime job, part-time working pupils do not report significantly lower school achievement.
Desenvolvimento rural nas microrregiões do Brasil: um estudo multidimensional

Devido a populacao rural brasileira possuir caracteristicas heterogeneas de carater social, tecnica e regional, se faz necessario conhecer como esta distribuido o desenvolvimento rural no Brasil. Nesse sentido, o objetivo do presente estudo e analisar o desenvolvimento rural nas microrregioes brasileiras, inserido no contexto multidimensional de desenvolvi-mento rural. Usando a tecnica da estatistica multivariada, mais especificamente a ana-lise fatorial, elabora-se um indicador sintetico, o indice de desenvolvimento rural para as 558 microrregioes brasileiras. Os resultados apontam um desenvolvimento rural bastante heterogeneo nas microrregioes bem como evidenciam que o processo de desenvolvimento rural vai alem da analise do crescimento economico medido pelo produto e renda per capita, pois foram encontrados fatores relacionados ao bem-estar dos domicilios rurais, ambientais, educacionais entre outros. Palavras-chave: Analise fatorial. Desenvolvimento rural. Microrregiao.
Germanium on Silicon Avalanche Photodiode

Silicon photonics is considered as one of the promising technologies for high-speed optical fiber communications. Among various silicon photonic devices, germanium on silicon avalanche photodiodes (Ge/Si APDs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their the properties of high performance and low cost. The sensitivity of 10Gb/s APD reached −29.5dBm at 1550 nm with the bit error rate of 1 × 10−12 in 2015, and 25 Gb/s APD reached a highest sensitivity ever reported at about −23.5dBm at 1310 nm in 2016. Furthermore, a linear 28Gbaud APD receiver is found to have about 5dB more sensitivity than PIN solution for both multimode fiber (MMF) and single-mode fiber (SMF). Even with large defect density from lattice mismatch between Ge and Si substrate layer, Ge/Si APD devices demonstrate good reliability and pass all required qualification tests according to GR-468. In this paper, the structure, materials, process, performances, and reliability of APDs will be reviewed.