Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of pharmacologically induced hypogonadism on mood in healthy men.

BACKGROUND The effects of declining androgen secretion on mood regulation and the potential psychotropic efficacy of androgen replacement in men are largely undetermined. OBJECTIVE To examine the effects on mood of the acute suppression of testosterone secretion. DESIGN A double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover (self-as-own-control) study. SETTING An ambulatory care clinic in a research hospital. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-one healthy adult men with no history of psychiatric illness or substance or anabolic steroid abuse. INTERVENTIONS Men received depot leuprolide acetate (Lupron, 7.5 mg intramuscularly) every 4 weeks for 3 months. After the first month of Lupron alone, all men received (in addition to Lupron) testosterone enanthate (200 mg intramuscular) or placebo (sesame oil as color-matched vehicle) every 2 weeks for 1 month each in a crossover design. The order of administration of testosterone and placebo was randomly assigned and counterbalanced. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mood and behavior rating scores (self-report and rater administered). RESULTS With the exceptions of hot flushes, libido, and the feeling of being emotionally charged, none of the symptoms measured showed a significant difference across eugonadal, Lupron plus placebo, and Lupron plus testosterone conditions. Despite the absence of a uniform effect of Lupron plus placebo on mood, 3 men experienced clinically relevant mood symptoms during this induced hypogonadal condition. High baseline levels of sexual functioning predicted the greatest decline in sexual function during Lupron plus placebo. CONCLUSIONS These data, the first to describe the effects on mood of induced hypogonadism in healthy young men, suggest that short-term hypogonadism is sufficient to precipitate depressive symptoms in only a small minority of younger men. The predictors of this susceptibility remain to be determined.
Iterative Channel Estimation and ICI Cancellation Techniques in MIMO-OFDM Wireless Communication Systems

- A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system combined with the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation technique can achieve reliable high data rate transmission over a broadband wireless channel. A main challenge in wireless communication is retrieval of the channel state information and ICI cancellation. The channel estimation and ICI cancellation is estimated with the help of Iterative turbo channel estimation, Iterative pilot assisted channel estimation and ICI Cancellation techniques.
Emotion appraisal dimensions inferred from vocal expressions are consistent across cultures: a comparison between Australia and India

This study explored the perception of emotion appraisal dimensions on the basis of speech prosody in a cross-cultural setting. Professional actors from Australia and India vocally portrayed different emotions (anger, fear, happiness, pride, relief, sadness, serenity and shame) by enacting emotion-eliciting situations. In a balanced design, participants from Australia and India then inferred aspects of the emotion-eliciting situation from the vocal expressions, described in terms of appraisal dimensions (novelty, intrinsic pleasantness, goal conduciveness, urgency, power and norm compatibility). Bayesian analyses showed that the perceived appraisal profiles for the vocally expressed emotions were generally consistent with predictions based on appraisal theories. Few group differences emerged, which suggests that the perceived appraisal profiles are largely universal. However, some differences between Australian and Indian participants were also evident, mainly for ratings of norm compatibility. The appraisal ratings were further correlated with a variety of acoustic measures in exploratory analyses, and inspection of the acoustic profiles suggested similarity across groups. In summary, results showed that listeners may infer several aspects of emotion-eliciting situations from the non-verbal aspects of a speaker's voice. These appraisal inferences also seem to be relatively independent of the cultural background of the listener and the speaker.
Continuity and loss: The carer's journey through dementia

This paper looks at the ambiguous journey travelled by family, mainly spouse, carers in Scotland is based on 37 interviews which formed part of a larger study exploring the subjective experience of 20 individuals with dementia. The majority of the interviews were conducted with the carer alone, others with the relative with dementia (RWD) present and some as joint interviews. The carers are found to be recognizing many manifestations of loss in the loved one and, simultaneously in their carer role, striving to maintain continuity of that person through compensatory actions and the provision of a supportive care environment. These experiences are located along a trajectory of continuity and loss. This article provides further insight into the caregiving relationship in dementia and the complexities of maintaining that relationship in the shifting ground of a progressive illness.
Low-voltage bulk-driven mixer with on-chip balun

The design and simulation of a pair of bulk-driven low-voltage down-conversion mixers with on-chip transformer baluns is presented. The addition of a passive balun improves gain and can provide impedance matching for optional off-chip image-reject filters. The mixers operate in the 5.8 GHz ISM band and consume 1 mW while achieving an input-referred 1 dB compression point of 1 dBm with a gain of 3 dB and a noise figure of 27 dB, and a -13 dBm compression point with a gain of 13 dB and a noise figure of 17 dB.
WASABI: Affect simulation for agents with believable interactivity

Preface The research reported in this thesis is the result of the creative and communicative environment I enjoyed during the last eight years in the Artificial Intelligence Group at the University of Bielefeld. Over the years the members of this group discussed even the most far-reaching ideas with me and without their professional and personal support this work would not have been possible. First and foremost, I am most grateful to my advisor Ipke Wachsmuth for trusting in my hidden abilities from the very beginning. With his idea to let me investigate the fascinating problem of emotion simulation for our virtual human MAX, he gave me the chance to experience the " world of science " to which I am now addicted. I would like to thank all members of the AI Group, including for reminding me from time to time that the emotion simulation cannot be applied to every problem of Computer Science. Special thanks go to Stefan Kopp for his long-standing technical and ideational support as my colleague and friend. I am also indebted to Helmut Prendinger for supervising me during three-month in 2005 as a Pre-doctoral fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in Tokyo, Japan, and supporting me ever since. Further special thanks go to Klaus Scherer, who agreed to be the second reviewer of this thesis and found the time to share my fascination for this challenging research. I am also grateful to Roger Giles and Nick Thomas for proofreading parts of the manuscript and to for insightful discussions and advices. Finally, I owe many thanks to my family, especially to my mother Dorothea, my brother Jörg, and my son Jonas. But most importantly, without the love and practical as well as " mental " support of my wife Yoko, finishing this thesis would have been close to impossible— thank you so much for your love and encouragement.
Effectiveness of Odor-Baited Trap Trees for Plum Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Monitoring in Commercial Apple Orchards in the Northeast

ABSTRACT The plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst), is a key pest of pome and stone fruit in eastern and central North America. For effective management of this insect pest in commercial apple (Malus spp.) orchards in the northeastern United States and Canada, one of the greatest challenges has been to determine the need for and timing of insecticide applications that will protect apple fruit from injury by adults. In a 2004–2005 study, we assessed the efficacy and economic viability of a reduced-risk integrated pest management strategy involving an odor-baited trap tree approach to determine need for and timing of insecticide use against plum curculio based on appearance of fresh egg-laying scars. Evaluations took place in commercial apple orchards in seven northeastern U.S. states. More specifically, we compared the trap-tree approach with three calendar-driven whole-block sprays and with heat-unit accumulation models that predict how long insecticide should be applied to orchard trees to prevent injury by plum curculio late in the season. Trap tree plots received a whole-plot insecticide spray by the time of petal fall, and succeeding sprays (if needed) were applied to peripheral-row trees only, depending on a threshold of one fresh plum curculio egg-laying scar out of 25 fruit sampled from a single trap tree. In both years, level of plum curculio injury to fruit sampled from perimeter-row, the most interior-row trees and whole-plot injury in trap tree plots did not differ significantly from that recorded in plots subject to conventional management or in plots managed using the heat-unit accumulation approach. The amount of insecticide used in trap tree plots was reduced at least by 43% compared with plots managed with the conventional approach. Advantages and potential pitfalls of the bio-based trap tree approach to plum curculio monitoring in apple orchards are discussed.
Hormone Treatment, Estrogen Receptor Polymorphisms and Mortality: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background The association between hormone treatment (HT) and mortality remains controversial. This study aimed to determine whether the risk of mortality associated with HT use varies depending on the specific characteristics of treatment and genetic variability in terms of the estrogen receptor. Methodology/Principal Findings A prospective, population-based study of 5135 women aged 65 years and older who were recruited from three cities in France and followed over six years. Detailed information related to HT use was obtained and five estrogen receptor polymorphisms were genotyped. The total follow-up was 25,436 person-years and during this time 352 women died. Cancer (36.4%) and cardiovascular disease (19.3%) were the major causes of death. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, education, centre, living situation, comorbidity, depression, physical and mental incapacities, indicated no significant association between HT and mortality, regardless of the type or duration of treatment, or the age at initiation. However, the association between HT and all-cause or cancer-related mortality varied across women, with significant interactions identified with three estrogen receptor polymorphisms (p-values = 0.004 to 0.03) in adjusted analyses. Women carrying the C allele of ESR1 rs2234693 had a decreased risk of all-cause mortality with HT (HR: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.18–0.97), while in stark contrast, those homozygous for the T allele had a significantly increased risk of cancer-related mortality (HR: 3.18, 95% CI: 1.23–8.20). The findings were similar for ESR1 rs9340799 and ESR2 rs1271572. Conclusions/Significance The risk of mortality was not associated with HT duration, type or age at initiation. It was however not equal across all women, with some women appearing genetically more vulnerable to the effects of HT in terms of their estrogen receptor genotype. These findings, if confirmed in another independent study, may help explain the differential susceptibility of women to the beneficial or adverse effects of HT.
The Effects of a Dementia Education Program for the Aged

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a dementia education program for Korean older adults who resided in community. Methods: The research adopted the non-equivalent control group pretestposttest design. A total of 66 older adults completed the study (31 older adults in the experimental group and 35 in the control group). The Experimental group participated in a six-session dementia education program for three weeks. The effects of the dementia education program were evaluated using the measures of knowledge of dementia and attitude toward dementia. Data were analyzed using independent sample t-test with SPSS/WIN 18.0. Results: There was a significant change in the knowledge of dementia in the experimental group (t=2.75, p=.008). Although there was an increase in attitude toward dementia in the experimental group, the change was not statistically significant (t=1.26, p=.212). Conclusion: The results indicated that the dementia education program is effective in improving the knowledge of dementia among community-dwelling older adults. There is a need to develop more effective dementia education programs designed to improve older adults' attitude toward dementia. Further research is needed using a highly rigorous research methodology.
Phobic avoidance and regular dental care in fearful dental patients: a comparative study

The present investigation was a comparative study of 169 highly fearful dental patients, some of whom received regular dental care (n = 28) and some who never, or only when absolutely necessary, utilized dental care (n = 141). It was hypothesized that phobic avoidance is related to anticipatory stress and anxiety reactions, negative oral health effects, psychological distress, and negative social consequences. Background factors (sex, age, education, and dental attendance pattern), dental anxiety, general fears, general state and trait anxiety, mood states, depression, and quality of life effects were studied. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and with exploratory factor and multiple logistic regression analysis. It was shown that dental anxiety is significantly higher among the avoiders and this is in particular evident for anticipatory dental anxiety. Oral health differed between the groups, and it was shown that avoiders had significantly more missing teeth, whereas regular attenders had significantly more filled teeth. The avoiders reported a stronger negative impact on their daily life, whereas there were no significant differences between the groups with regard to general emotions. The logistic regression analysis showed that phobic avoidance was predicted only by anticipated dental anxiety and missing teeth. It was concluded that differences between high dental fear patients with regular dental care and phobic avoidance were mainly related to anticipated fear and anxiety, oral health effects, and concomitant negative life consequences. These results are discussed in terms of subjective stress, negative cognitions, social support, and coping-strategies.
Captopril reduces collagen and mast cell and eosinophil accumulation in pig serum‐induced rat liver fibrosis

The effect of captopril on the development of hepatic septal fibrosis in a specific experimental model produced by repeated injections of whole pig serum into the peritoneal cavity of rats was studied. The results afforded four basic conclusions. First, the experimental model used seems to be a pure form of septal fibrosis, which depends on active tissue fibroplasia, without hepatocyte necrosis. The fibrotic septa, located between limiting plates of adjacent classic hepatic lobules, and delimiting the classic liver lobule, consisted of collagen fibers infiltrated by eosinophils, mast cells, fat‐storing cells (Ito cells), transitional cells and interstitial fibro‐blasts. Second, the angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor captopril attenuated the hepatic fibrosis induced by pig serum administration, as proven by a decrease In hepatic hydroxyproline concentration and histological examination of the liver. Third, this attenuation of hepatic fibrosis might be related, at least in part, to diminished mast cell and eosinophil accumulation in the hepatic tissue. Finally, these data may indicate a novel action of angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor in general, and for captopril in particular, as drugs potentially capable of reducing eosinophils in fibrotic processes.
Expression of genes related to the human erbB, erbA, pdgf and pdgf‐r in tumors of different etiology in Xiphophorus

The melanoma determining; Tu locus of the teleost Xiphophorus contains an accessory gene, x‐erbB*a, which is closely related to the EGF receptor gene family, and is probably oncogenic. x‐erbB*a exists in allelic forms that are specific for distinct Tu‐loci, and shows high homology to a non‐allelic non‐oncogenic counterpart x‐erbB*i which is transcribed into mRNA of 4.6 kb in non‐tumorous and tumorous tissues of fish harboring and lacking Tu. Expression of a 4.0‐kb mRNA in tumors (melanoma and fibrosarcoma) of different etiology is strictly correlated with the inheritance of X. maculatus x‐erbB*a alleles; transcripts of 8.0 kb were detected in melanoma and carcinoma of fish harboring a certain x‐erbB*a of X. variatus. The expression of the putative x‐erbB*a transcripts parallels the stage of malignancy of the tumor. The expression of the xiphophorine EGF receptor gene (x‐erbB) was detected in almost all tumors, is strongly enhanced in carcinoma, and is positively correlated with the degree of malignancy of melanoma and fibrosarcoma. Some tumors show expression of erbA‐related genes. The PDGF receptor mRNA is expressed in all tumors analyzed and shows enhanced expression in malignant tumors of neurogenic, epithelial and mesenchymal origin. Expression of x‐pdgf was observed in several cases of melanoma, but more frequently in carcinoma and fibrosarcoma. We conclude that x‐erbB*a might be involved in initiation of tumors of different cellular origin and etiology in fish harboring Tu, as well as in the determination of the malignancy of the tumor. Furthermore, we assume that x‐erbB*i, x‐erbB, x‐pdgf and x‐pdgf‐r play a role in secondary events in tumorigenesis by, e.g., conferring a selective growth advantage to the tumor cells. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Submodular Inference of Diffusion Networks from Multiple Trees

Diffusion and propagation of information, influence and diseases take place over increasingly larger networks. We observe when a node copies information, makes a decision or becomes infected but networks are often hidden or unobserved. Since networks are highly dynamic, changing and growing rapidly, we only observe a relatively small set of cascades before a network changes significantly. Scalable network inference based on a small cascade set is then necessary for understanding the rapidly evolving dynamics that govern diffusion. In this article, we develop a scalable approximation algorithm with provable near-optimal performance based on submodular maximization which achieves a high accuracy in such scenario, solving an open problem first introduced by Gomez-Rodriguez et al (2010). Experiments on synthetic and real diffusion data show that our algorithm in practice achieves an optimal trade-off between accuracy and running time.
Evolutionary Strategy Dynamics for Tag-Based Cooperation and Defection in the Spatial and Aspatial snowdrift Game

Cooperation is a costly behavior undertaken by one individual which benefits another individual. Since cooperators are easily exploited by defectors (those who receive the benefits of cooperation but do not cooperate themselves), the evolution and maintenance of cooperation rely on mechanisms that allow cooperators to interact with one another more frequently than would be predicted based on their relative abundance in a population. One simple mechanism is based on the recognition of "tags" — arbitrary, yet identifiable phenotypic traits. Tags allow for the existence of conditionally cooperative strategies; e.g. individuals could adopt a strategy whereby they cooperate with tag-mates but defect against non-tag-mates. Previous research has considered the tag and strategy dynamics of unconditional and conditional strategies engaged in the Prisoner's Dilemma game, the paradigmatic framework for studying the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation, in which defection against a cooperator yields the greatest fitness payoff, followed by mutual cooperation, mutual defection, and cooperation with a defector. Here, using complementary spatial and aspatial lattice models, an alternative payoff structure is considered, based on the Snowdrift game, in which the rankings of the payoffs associated with mutual defection and cooperation with a defector are reversed relative to the Prisoner's Dilemma. In the absence of mutation, it is demonstrated that the aspatial two-tag game tends to collapse into the traditional, non-tag-based Snowdrift game, with the frequency of cooperators and defectors predicted precisely by evolutionary dynamics analysis. The spatial two-tag game, on the other hand, produces a richer variety of outcomes, whose occurrence depends on the cost-benefit ratio of mutual cooperation; these outcomes include the dominance of conditional cooperators, the dominance of unconditional defectors, and the cyclic (or noncyclic) coexistence of the two. These outcomes are then shown to be modified by mutation (which softens the transition boundaries between outcomes), and by the presence of more than two tags (which promotes nepotistic conditional cooperation).
Literacy and Technology in the Early Years of Education: Looking to the Familiar to Inform Educator Practice

IT IS TIMELY FOR EDUCATION to consider the potential of a symbiotic or mutually beneficial relationship between literacy and technology for children's early literacy learning. For early years educators a symbiotic relationship challenges the traditional ways that technologies have been applied to the literacy context. In this paper, issues and challenges surrounding the contemporary dynamic of the changing literacy landscape are discussed in relation to the application of technology to the literacy context in the early years of education. It is proposed that, when technologies are viewed as conductors for communication, there is potential for a mutually beneficial relationship between literacy learning and technology to be realised. This paper suggests that the reconceptualisation of a familiar model, Cambourne's Conditions of Learning (1995), has the potential to support and acknowledge learning within and across home and formal education communities through a mutually beneficial relationship between literacy and technology where technologies are seen as conductors for communication.
NGOs invite attention: From the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to the Human Rights Council

ABSTRACT This article first reviews and compares Human Rights Council and University Period Review (HRC/UPR) research published during and shortly after the institution-building period (2006–2009) to more recent work (2010–2014) to identify patterns of scholarly interest in NGO roles and behavior at the HRC/UPR. It divides research into that which either “ignores” NGOs or offers “indirect” attention, “direct” attention, or “foregrounds” NGO activity, concluding that NGOs are surprisingly underexamined, given remarkable new participatory opportunities in the HRC/UPR and the centrality of NGO information provision to the success of the new body. Empirical analysis of NGO statements from the CHR to the HRC indicates sharply increasing NGO participation, particularly among domestic, regional, and Southern NGOs. The increased volume and changing characteristics of participating NGOs may have important effects on the HRC/UPR and should also encourage further analysis.