Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transmission-Efficient Clustering Method for Wireless Sensor Networks Using Compressive Sensing

Compressive sensing (CS) can reduce the number of data transmissions and balance the traffic load throughout networks. However, the total number of transmissions for data collection by using pure CS is still large. The hybrid method of using CS was proposed to reduce the number of transmissions in sensor networks. However, the previous works use the CS method on routing trees. In this paper, we propose a clustering method that uses hybrid CS for sensor networks. The sensor nodes are organized into clusters. Within a cluster, nodes transmit data to cluster head (CH) without using CS. CHs use CS to transmit data to sink. We first propose an analytical model that studies the relationship between the size of clusters and number of transmissions in the hybrid CS method, aiming at finding the optimal size of clusters that can lead to minimum number of transmissions. Then, we propose a centralized clustering algorithm based on the results obtained from the analytical model. Finally, we present a distributed implementation of the clustering method. Extensive simulations confirm that our method can reduce the number of transmissions significantly.
Transgenic Model of Aldosterone-Driven Cardiac Hypertrophy and Heart Failure

Abstract— Aldosterone classically promotes unidirectional transepithelial sodium transport, thereby regulating blood volume and blood pressure. Recently, both clinical and experimental studies have suggested additional, direct roles for aldosterone in the cardiovascular system. To evaluate aldosterone activation of cardiomyocyte mineralocorticoid receptors, transgenic mice overexpressing 11&bgr;-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 in cardiomyocytes were generated using the mouse &agr;-myosin heavy chain promoter. This enzyme converts glucocorticoids to receptor-inactive metabolites, allowing aldosterone occupancy of cardiomyocyte mineralocorticoid receptors. Transgenic mice were normotensive but spontaneously developed cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, and heart failure and died prematurely on a normal salt diet. Eplerenone, a selective aldosterone blocker, ameliorated this phenotype. These studies confirm the deleterious consequences of inappropriate activation of cardiomyocyte mineralocorticoid receptors by aldosterone and reveal a tonic inhibitory role of glucocorticoids in preventing such outcomes under physiological conditions. In addition, these data support the hypothesis that aldosterone blockade may provide additional therapeutic benefit in the treatment of heart failure.
Optimal Margin Distribution Machine

Support Vector Machine (SVM) has always been one of the most successful learning algorithms, with the central idea of maximizing the minimum margin, i.e., the smallest distance from the instances to the classification boundary. However, recent theoretical results disclosed that maximizing the minimum margin does not necessarily lead to better generalization performance, and instead, the margin distribution has been proven to be more crucial. Based on this idea, we propose the Optimal margin Distribution Machine (ODM), which can achieve a better generalization performance by optimizing the margin distribution explicitly. We characterize the margin distribution by the first- and second-order statistics, i.e., the margin mean and variance. The proposed method is a general learning approach which can be applied in any place where SVMs are used, and its superiority is verified both theoretically and empirically in this paper.
Accepting Disability: The Parenting Experience of Fathers With Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

This qualitative study describes and analyzes the perceptions and experiences of fathers with spinal cord injury (SCI) regarding their relationship with their children, in the context of social attitudes toward parenting by persons with SCI. The study was conducted within the phenomenological-constructivist paradigm. The sample included 12 males with SCI. All participants were paraplegic Type D1-D12; 2 have incomplete injury to D11 and D12. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews designed to understand participants' meanings. Interviews included a brief questionnaire containing sociodemographic items and an interview guide based on the research topics. The model addresses how fathers with SCI cope with negative social attitudes toward their parenting and their actions to facilitate their children's acceptance of and adjustment to the father's disability.
Moderator and Mediator Effects of Scuba Diving Specialization on Marine-Based Environmental Knowledge-Behavior Contingency

Given the growth in scuba diving activities and the importance of environmental education programs to alleviate the potential impacts on coral reef ecosystems, there is a need to better understand the diving community, its environmental knowledge, and subsequent behavioral actions. The purpose of this study was to explore the role or influence of specialization in scuba diving (as a moderator and mediator) on the relationship between marine-based environmental knowledge and behavior. Four hypotheses were formulated and empirically tested. Data from 370 scuba divers were collected (May-September 2002) in the St. Petersburg/Sarasota region of southwestern Florida. Marine-based environmental knowledge (11 items) and behaviors (16 items) were employed, along with recreation specialization (17 items) adapted from the literature. Specialization in scuba diving acted as a strong partial mediator but failed to be significant when tested as a moderator. Among scuba divers, marine-based knowledge did predict overall and specific proenvironmental behaviors; however, the level of specialization played a strong role in mediating the relationship.
The Role of Second-Person Information in the Development of Social Understanding

We consider the second-person or interactive approach to social understanding, conceived as an understanding of intentional relations. We identify five forms of second-person information – self-directedness, contingency, reciprocity, affective engagement, and shared intentions – that occur only in interactions. We assess the extent to which these forms of information are available to observers of interactions as well as to the participants of an interaction and conclude that whereas observers may gain some second-person information, interactive participants have a privileged position. We also ask whether these forms of second-person information can deliver social understanding in terms of the understanding of intentional relations that are descriptive of persons. We argue that whereas none of these forms alone is sufficient for understanding intentional relations, they all play an important role in the developmental processes that enable the construction of social understanding. Therefore, the second-person approach, understood as theorizing how second-person information available in interactions is used in the development of social understanding, is a critically important approach to a full theory of social understanding.
Digital Gene-Expression Profiling Analysis of the Cholesterol-Lowering Effects of Alfalfa Saponin Extract on Laying Hens

Background To prevent cardiovascular disease, people are advised to limit their intake of dietary cholesterol to less than 300 mg/day. Egg consumption has been seriously reduced because of the high levels of cholesterol. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the cholesterol-lowering effects of alfalfa saponin extract (ASE) in yolk and the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects using digital gene-expression profiling analysis. Liver and ovary tissues were isolated from laying hens fed with ASE for RNA sequencing. Results The cholesterol content of the yolks of eggs from hens fed 120 mg/kg ASE declined considerably on day 60. Other groups (60, 240, 480 mg/kg ASE group) also showed decreases, but they were not significant. Digital gene expression generated over nine million reads per sample, producing expression data for least 12,384 genes. Among these genes, 110 genes showed greater than normal expression in the liver and 107 genes showed greater than normal expression in the ovary. Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (Cyp7a1) and apolipoprotein H (Apoh), which act in the synthesis of bile acid and cholesterol efflux, showed more expression in the livers of hens given dietary ASE supplementation. In the ovary, levels of very low density lipoprotein receptor (Vldlr), apolipoprotein B (Apob), apovitellenin 1 (ApovldlII) and vitellogenin (VtgI, VtgII and VtgIII) in ovary decreased with dietary ASE supplementation. Conclusion Transcriptome analysis revealed that the molecular mechanisms underlying the cholesterol-lowering effects of ASE were partially mediated by enhancement of cholesterol efflux in the liver and this reduced of cholesterol deposition in the ovary.
Predictors of Peer Rejection in Early Elementary Grades: Roles of Problem Behavior, Academic Achievement, and Teacher Preference

Obtained measures of sociometric status, reading achievement, and teacher preference as well as teacher ratings of acting-out and shy-anxious behavior for a sample of 54 kindergartners and first graders. Reassessed 30 of the children on the same measures 2 years later. Acting-out behavior was highly stable over time and predicted increased peer rejection, whereas reading achievement and shy-anxious behavior failed to make significant, unique contributions to the prediction of peer rejection. Early teacher preference significantly predicted subsequent peer rejection, after controlling for prior peer rejection. In contrast, prior peer rejection did not predict subsequent problem behavior or teacher preference.
Heat dissipation for MID applications in lighting technology

Molded Interconnect Device (MID) Technology features excellent design freedom and great potential for functional integration for applications in indoor lighting. Spatial arrangement of LEDs and intelligent control elements enable highly efficient, situation aware lighting concepts with attractive design. Even more than in PCB based LED lighting technologies, there are significant degrees of freedom for improved thermal management when designing and manufacturing an MID. In this work, measures suitable for thermal management of MID for lighting applications manufactured with LPKF-LDS technology are identified and compared. Focus is on design for thermal management and application of recently developed high thermal conductivity polymers. To compare the effects of the different measures, simulations are performed with a range of combinations of individual measures for thermal management. The simulation results of the individual combinations are evaluated using design of experiments statistical methods. Low cost measures relying on design for thermal management are compared to measures implying higher manufacturing costs and to substrates manufactured from high thermal conductivity polymer compounds.
Extracellular Brain Glucose Levels Reflect Local Neuronal Activity: A Microdialysis Study in Awake, Freely Moving Rats

Abstract: The relationship between brain extracellular glucose levels and neuronal activity was evaluated using microdialysis in awake, freely moving rats. The sodium channel blocker tetrodotoxin and the depolarizing agent veratridine were administered through the dialysis probe to provoke local changes in neuronal activity. The extracellular glucose content was significantly increased in the presence of tetrodotoxin and decreased sharply following veratridine application. The systemic injection of a general anaesthetic, chloral hydrate, led to a large and prolonged increase in extracellular glucose levels. The brain extracellular glucose concentration was estimated by comparing dialysate glucose efflux over a range of inlet glucose concentrations. A mean value of 0.47 mM was obtained in five animals. The results are discussed in terms of the coupling between brain glucose supply and metabolism. The changes observed in extracellular glucose levels under various conditions suggest that supply and utilization may be less tightly linked in the awake rat than has previously been postulated.
Characteristics of Suicide Attempts Preceded by Alcohol Consumption

Acute alcohol ingestion and alcohol dependence are known to increase the risk of impulsive suicide attempt even in non-depressed patients. The relation between alcohol and suicide risk needs, however, to be clarified. We assessed for this purpose prevalence of recent alcohol intake among suicide attempters and compared suicide attempts preceded (“Alcohol + ”) or not by alcohol intake. We included 160 patients examined in the emergency service of a French general hospital after a suicide attempt. Psychiatric disorders were identified according to the DSM-IV criteria. Patients were rated for depression and alcohol use disorder (MAST). Prevalence of alcohol consumption was 40%. Patients from the “Alcohol + ” group were significantly older (40 versus 34.8 years, p = 0.03). Alcohol abuse was more frequent among suicide attempters with prior alcohol ingestion (49% versus 12%,). Alcohol dependence was also more frequent in the “Alcohol + ” group (43% versus 9%). Patients from the “Alcohol + ” group drank more alcohol each day (6.1 versus 1.3 drinks) and more often during the week (3.6 days per week versus 1.4). They had a higher number of alcohol intoxications each week (0.9 versus 0.3). They drank more often alone (41% versus 12%, p < 0.005) and in the morning (21% versus 3%). They had higher scores on the Michigan Alcohol Screening test (14.8 versus 2.9). Prevalence of drug dependence was higher in the “Alcohol + ” group (21% versus 3%, respectively). Suicide attempts must be asked about their recent alcohol intake. This alcohol intake is often the symptom of an alcohol abuse or dependence disorder.
Contrasted Patterns of Molecular Evolution in Dominant and Recessive Self-Incompatibility Haplotypes in Arabidopsis

Self-incompatibility has been considered by geneticists a model system for reproductive biology and balancing selection, but our understanding of the genetic basis and evolution of this molecular lock-and-key system has remained limited by the extreme level of sequence divergence among haplotypes, resulting in a lack of appropriate genomic sequences. In this study, we report and analyze the full sequence of eleven distinct haplotypes of the self-incompatibility locus (S-locus) in two closely related Arabidopsis species, obtained from individual BAC libraries. We use this extensive dataset to highlight sharply contrasted patterns of molecular evolution of each of the two genes controlling self-incompatibility themselves, as well as of the genomic region surrounding them. We find strong collinearity of the flanking regions among haplotypes on each side of the S-locus together with high levels of sequence similarity. In contrast, the S-locus region itself shows spectacularly deep gene genealogies, high variability in size and gene organization, as well as complete absence of sequence similarity in intergenic sequences and striking accumulation of transposable elements. Of particular interest, we demonstrate that dominant and recessive S-haplotypes experience sharply contrasted patterns of molecular evolution. Indeed, dominant haplotypes exhibit larger size and a much higher density of transposable elements, being matched only by that in the centromere. Overall, these properties highlight that the S-locus presents many striking similarities with other regions involved in the determination of mating-types, such as sex chromosomes in animals or in plants, or the mating-type locus in fungi and green algae.
Canadian Fertility Transitions: Quebec and Ontario at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

This article uses nominal data from the Canadian Families Project national sample to analyze and compare fertility in Canada’s two largest provinces at the turn of the twentieth century. The authors argue that material and cultural factors must be considered if similarities and differences in reproductive behavior between Quebec and Ontario are to be understood. They use regression models to identify the independent influence of factors such as religion, language, occupation, class, urban versus rural residence, and literacy on marital child-woman ratios in the two provinces. Fertility levels in Quebec were about 50 percent higher than those in Ontario, where a very conspicuous downward trend had begun by the 1870s. But Quebec fertility in this period was not as monolithically high as some authors—and much of the province’s popular culture—would suggest. Nor did Quebec fail entirely to “turn the contraceptive corner” in the decades after 1871.
Automated, Laboratory-based System Using the Internet for Disease Outbreak Detection, the Netherlands

Rapid detection of outbreaks is recognized as crucial for effective control measures and has particular relevance with the recently increased concern about bioterrorism. Automated analysis of electronically collected laboratory data can result in rapid detection of widespread outbreaks or outbreaks of pathogens with common signs and symptoms. In the Netherlands, an automated outbreak detection system for all types of pathogens has been developed within an existing electronic laboratory-based surveillance system called ISIS. Features include the use of a flexible algorithm for daily analysis of data and presentation of signals on the Internet for interpretation by health professionals. By 2006, the outbreak detection system will analyze laboratory-reported data on all pathogens and will cover 35% of the Dutch population.
Effects of FK506 on myasthenia gravis patients with high interleukin‐2 productivity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

We compared the early effects of FK506 on clinical severity, interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) production by phytohemagglutinin‐stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMs), and serum levels of acetylcholine receptor antibodies between myasthenia gravis (MG) patients with elevated (>1250 pg/ml, n = 9) or normal (<1250 pg/mL, n = 10) levels of PBM IL‐2 production. Reduction in clinical severity and PBM IL‐2 production were significantly greater in the patients with elevated IL‐2 production than those with normal PBM IL‐2 production in the first month of treatment. Muscle Nerve 27: 245–248, 2003
Relationship of job characteristics to job involvement, satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation

Administered questionnaires to 291 scientists working in research and development laboratories. Results of a factor analysis indicate that job-involvement attitudes, higher order need-satisfaction attitudes, and intrinsic-motivation attitudes should be thought of as separate and distinct kinds of attitudes toward a job. These 3 types of attitudes related differentially to job design factors and to job behavior. Satisfaction proved to be related to such job characteristics as the amount of control the job allowed the holder and the degree to which it is seen to be relevant to the holder's valued abilities. Satisfaction was not related to either self-rated effort or performance. Job involvement, like satisfaction, bore a significant relationship to certain job characteristics; unlike satisfaction, however, involvement was positively related to self-rated effort. Intrinsic motivation was less strongly related to the job characterisitcs measured, but was more strongly related to both effort and performance than was either satisfaction or involvement. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)
The Aim and Structure of Ecological Theory

I present an attempt at an explication of the ecological theory of interspecific competition, including its explanatory role in community ecology and evolutionary biology. The account given is based on the idea that law-like statements play an important role in scientific theories of this kind. I suggest that the principle of competitive exclusion is such a law, and that it is evolutionarily invariant. The principle's empirical status is defended and implications for the ongoing debates on the existence of biological laws are discussed.
Online Escorts: The Influence of Advertised Sexual Orientation

This study compared women who advertised on an online escort website and marketed themselves as either bisexual or heterosexual. The analyses showed that advertised sexual orientation, age, weight, and photographs depicting buttock nudity were related to rates charged by escorts. A series of moderator analyses were conducted that showed that advertised sexual orientation moderated the effect of age and weight: The effects were more pronounced for women advertising a bisexual orientation. A discriminant analysis revealed that age, in-call rate, and photo identification could predict group membership with 62% accuracy. Limitations and future research perspectives are discussed.
Asthma and obesity: is weight reduction the key to achieve asthma control?

Purpose of review Obesity has significant negative impact on asthma control and risk of exacerbations. The purpose of this review is to discuss recent studies evaluating the effects of weight reduction on asthma control in obese adults. Recent findings Clinical studies have shown that weight reduction in obese patients is associated with improvements in symptoms, use of controller medication, and asthma-related quality of life together with a reduction in the risk for severe exacerbations. Furthermore, several studies have also revealed improvements in lung function and airway responsiveness, and more recently it has been shown that weight reduction following bariatric surgery has positive impact on small airway function, systemic inflammation and bronchial inflammation in this group of patients, which may explain the observed improvements in symptom control and lung function. Summary Weight reduction in obese adults with asthma leads to an overall improvement in asthma control, including airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation. Weight reduction should be a cornerstone in the management of obese patients with asthma.
The Link Between Accountability and Improvement: The Case of Reporting to Parents

It is sometimes assumed that increased accountability of teachers, schools, and school districts will produce higher student achievement by motivating better performance of the accountable units than would otherwise be the case (Newmann, King, & Rigdon, 1997; Torrance, 1997). Two different types of research evidence tell us that there is a considerable gap between this intention and the reality. First, the research on accountability-driven school reform provides little evidence that test-based accountability of schools and teachers produces better educational achievement (Mehrens, 1998). It seems obvious that regular reporting of information about student achievement may not be sufficient to produce improvement, yet it seems equally obvious that such reporting might trigger attempts to improve. What we need is clarification of the conditions under which accountability might produce improvement and an understanding of how those conditions can be designed into accountability policies and practices.
, Renal Denervation in Patients With Resistant Hypertension Blood Pressure Response to Main Renal Artery and Combined Main Renal Artery Plus Branch

Background-—Single-electrode ablation of the main renal artery for renal sympathetic denervation showed mixed blood pressure (BP)-lowering effects. Further improvement of the technique seems crucial to optimize effectiveness of the procedure. Because sympathetic nerve fibers are closer to the lumen in the distal part of the renal artery, treatment of the distal main artery and its branches has been shown to reduce variability in treatment effects in preclinical studies and a recent randomized trial. Whether this optimized technique improves clinical outcomes remains uncertain. We report a 2-center experience of main renal artery and combined main renal artery plus branches renal denervation in patients with resistant hypertension using a multielectrode catheter.