Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A cognitive-based agent architecture for autonomous situation analysis

We discuss the start of a project investigating a cognitive basis for intelligent agents that can approach the problem of situation understanding. We suggest that a practical system of intelligent agents can be build adapting existing agent modeling frameworks, ontologies from semantic web technology as well as a reasonable situation domain models. These can be brought together with a suitable cognitive architecture ACT-R which could be used to provide key roles in more human like situational awareness capability in emergency and disaster operations, especially where sensor information is harvested from semantically heterogeneous data sources. Existing situational ontologies and vocabularies can be supplemented by using DOLCE's formal ontology. This serves as a metalevel ontology that can relate different ontology modules and can generate new categories to extend an ontology (by agent learning) as needed. semantically-rich, conceptual level representations of real-world events. A Descriptions & Situations ontology provides a theory of ontological contexts capable of describing various types of context including non- physical situations, plans, beliefs, as entities so they can be communicated and understood between agents. We believe our system architecture provides a relatively good built-in infrastructure to meet fairly rigorous performance measurement requirements and has general applicability in a wide variety of situations.
Faculty Development in Small-Group Teaching Skills Associated with a Training Course on Office-Based Treatment of Opioid Dependence

The Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA-2000) allows qualified physicians to treat opioid-dependent patients with schedule III-V medications, such as buprenorphine, in practices separate from licensed, accredited opioid treatment programs. Physicians may attain this qualification by completing 8-hours of training in treating opioid dependence. This paper describes the evaluation of a faculty development workshop designed to enhance teaching skills of small-group facilitators involved with DATA-2000 training sessions. This workshop coached the facilitators on their teaching roles in the DATA-2000 session through experiential practice of patient-case discussions related to treatment of opioid-dependence. Descriptive questionnaires evaluated the value of the workshop. Twenty-six facilitators participated in the workshops. Paired mean score responses for specific teaching skill abilities demonstrated statistically significant improvement in all categories. Evaluation of the DATA-2000 training session small-group facilitators was uniformly positive. This faculty development workshop was successful in improving teaching skills for our small-group faculty facilitators.
Learning to tie the knot: The acquisition of functional object representations by physical and observational experience

Here we examined neural substrates for physically and observationally learning to construct novel objects, and characterized brain regions associated with each kind of learning using fMRI. Each participant was assigned a training partner, and for five consecutive days practiced tying one group of knots (“tied” condition) or watched their partner tie different knots (“watched” condition) while a third set of knots remained untrained. Functional MRI was obtained prior to and immediately following the week of training while participants performed a visual knot-matching task. After training, a portion of left superior parietal lobule demonstrated a training by scan session interaction. This means this parietal region responded selectively to knots that participants had physically learned to tie in the post-training scan session but not the pre-training scan session. A conjunction analysis on the post-training scan data showed right intraparietal sulcus and right dorsal premotor cortex to respond when viewing images of knots from the tied and watched conditions compared to knots that were untrained during the post-training scan session. This suggests that these brain areas track both physical and observational learning. Together, the data provide preliminary evidence of engagement of brain regions associated with hand-object interactions when viewing objects associated with physical experience, and with observational experience without concurrent physical practice.
Biofeedback therapy in stroke rehabilitation: a review

The history of biofeedback therapy in neuromuscular rehabilitation began with the discovery in 1830 that electrical events emanated from the surface of a muscle during its contraction1. The prototype forerunner of the current electromyogram (EMG) appeared in 19282. Reports of the application of biofeedback (BFB) techniques for the treatment of various neuromuscular disorders began to appear in the late 1950s and early 1960s3-5. In the next three decades, enthusiastic case series, and later randomized controlled trials, were published. The results of the latter more rigorous trials were mixed in their appraisal of its efficacy68. Finally over the last three years, quantitative literature overviews, or meta-analyses, have been published in an attempt to elucidate the potential role of this modality more adequately9-11. Although the various reports have described its use in a wide variety of neuromuscular disorders including spinal cord injury12, spastic torticollis and other dystonias13, cerebral palsy and peripheral nerve damage14, by far the greatest area of investigation and concomitant utilization has been post-stroke rehabilitation. This paper will describe some of the basic physiological constructs of BFB, and the functional aspects of applying it in the clinical setting. The special problems related to research in stroke rehabilitation will be reviewed with special reference to BFB. However, the main focus and purpose of this work will be to provide the reader with an assessment of the overall efficacy of this modality in stroke rehabilitation.
Terminal Value Calculation in DCF Valuation Models: An Empirical Verification

Abstract The paper presents an empirical verification of the main assumptions underlying the calculation of terminal value in DCF valuation models. The test results suggest that the volatility of free cash flows and the dynamism of the operating environment do not allow us to make a reliable long-term forecast of value creation potential of the public companies in Poland. Regardless of their organic growth phase, the overwhelming majority of the sampled firms are evidenced to exhibit extreme year-on-year fluctuations of sales, investments and cash flows over the short- and medium-term observation windows. The variability of operating results and the probabilistic nature of company-level fundamentals may preclude the possibility of constructing a reliable cash flow forecast for the purposes of a DCF valuation. This methodological issue appears to pose a particular challenge during the calculation of terminal value, which is heavily dependent on highly subjective and uncertain steady-state fundamentals. Therefore, the predictive power of the deterministic DCF models may be reduced to a snapshot of the current market sentiment regarding a particular stock. The paper postulates that a further discussion on the tenets of terminal value calculation may be necessary in order to overcome the existing flaws and increase the accuracy of valuation models. We contribute to this discussion by outlining the principal methodological and theoretical issues which challenge the practicing valuators at the stage of terminal value calculation. Our conclusions may help to shed light on the problems of market short-termism, and high inconstancy of investment recommendations.
Kesenjangan Penghasilan antar Gender di Indonesia Tahun 2013 dengan Metode Dekomposisi Blinder-Oaxaca

This research aims to find out the gender earnings gap using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method. This method divides the causes of the gender earnings gap into endowment factor which is explained by age, education, residence, working hours, activity status, occupation and industry, as well as discrimination factor. Probit work participation did before estimate earnings by gender to eliminate bias in the sample selection. Using Sakernas August 2013, it is found that the gender earnings gap is 47,29 persentage point. Discrimination factor contribution is bigger than endowment factor in explaining the gender earnings gap in Indonesia. The contribution of discrimination factor is 41,40 percentage point (87,53 percent), while endowment factor contribution is 5,9 percentage point (12,47 percent).
Addressers' gesture changes according to addressees' interpretation of communicative intention

To construct mind-reading robots, it is important to correctly identify the communicative intention of humans. In human environments, there are usually an enormous number of objects, and each object has many different parts. Therefore, referring to an object or an object part in current communication is not an easy task. We use both linguistic and nonlinguistic information to specify such referential intentions, but exactly how nonlinguistic information is used has not been examined in detail. In this study, video data from eight pairs of adult addressers and addressees who communicated about whole-object or object-part labels were analyzed. The addressers' utterances were transcribed, and nouns and demonstrative words were extracted. Hand motions were divided into five categories: showing, pointing, stroking, functional action, and other. Gaze data obtained using eye movement recordings were also coded using the following categories: gaze on object, face, or body of the experimenter and other. Gaze on object was further divided into two categories; critical and noncritical object parts. The results showed that participants used different patterns of hand motions and gaze to refer to whole-object and object-part labels. When they taught whole-object labels, they showed the object and looked at the addressee's face. When they taught object-part labels, they pointed at, stroked, and looked at the object part. Based on the results, we propose the concept of action contrast in human communication of referential intention. We propose that the need for specification and the use of actions in a contrasting manner are related. Nonlinguistic cues, such as pointing and showing, and timing of utterances are important sources of information that specify human referential intentions in the environment. Action contrast is an important source of information specifying addressers' referential intentions, which can be utilized to construct mind-reading robots.
Dual-Bridge LLC Resonant Converter With Fixed-Frequency PWM Control for Wide Input Applications

This paper proposes a dual-bridge (DB) LLC resonant converter for wide input applications. The topology is an integration of a half-bridge (HB) LLC circuit and a full-bridge (FB) LLC circuit. The fixed-frequency pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) control is employed and a range of twice the minimum input voltage can be covered. Compared with the traditional pulse frequency modulation (PFM) controlled HB/FB LLC resonant converter, the voltage gain range is independent of the quality factor, and the magnetizing inductor has little influence on the voltage gain, which can simplify the parameter selection process and benefit the design of magnetic components as well. Over the full load range, zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-current switching (ZCS) can be achieved for primary switches and secondary rectifier diodes, respectively. Detailed analysis on the modulation schedule and operating principle of the proposed converter is presented along with the converter performance. Finally, all theoretical analysis and characteristics are verified by experimental results from a 120-V to 240-V input 24 V/20 A output converter prototype.
APPLICATION OF FRACTAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL METHODS IN RADIOECOLOGY

Abstract— Effective management of radioactive contamination requires comprehensive knowledge of pollutants’ characteristics. The complicated character of the problem is due to a number of issues, such as the very wide range of contamination, the presence of a mixture of radioactive isotopes, the highly variable diffusion of radionuclides in soil, water, and air, and the effect of climatic conditions. The resultant field has an irregular mosaic structure, which restricts the choice of measurement methods and data processing. In view of this, application of classical statistics techniques is often inappropriate in modeling such an environment. Application of the tools of fractal and stochastic geometry provides a good insight and helps to distinguish between distribution characteristics of natural and man-made isotopes. Several techniques are implemented to determine scaling aspects of contaminated fields. The discovery of multifractal scaling leads to the hierarchical structure of contamination spots on different scales and intensity and places restrictions on the measurement net for detecting anomalies. The method of stochastic geometry further demonstrates that topological characteristics of contamination fields differ from those of the Gaussian fields and the topology of man-made isotopes differs from natural ones.
Correlates of the hemodynamic determinants of blood pressure.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of sex, race, lean body mass, and fat mass with the hemodynamic determinants of blood pressure, including stroke volume, heart rate, and total peripheral vascular resistance. The study included 201 subjects aged 6 to 17 years, 105 of whom were male and 98 of whom were black. Lean body mass and fat mass were both significant (P < .05) independent determinants of stroke volume, cardiac output, and total peripheral vascular resistance. However, the direction of the effect of lean body mass was opposite for stroke volume and cardiac output compared with that of total peripheral vascular resistance. The direct relationship of lean body mass with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (regression coefficients, 0.55 +/- 0.05 for SBP and 0.47 +/- 0.05 for DBP) indicates that the effect of lean body mass on cardiac output may predominate. Lean body mass explained substantially more of the variance of the hemodynamic variables than did fat mass. After control for the effects of body size, male subjects had higher heart rate and cardiac output, and female subjects had higher vascular resistance. White subjects had higher stroke volume and cardiac output, and black subjects had higher peripheral vascular resistance. This study demonstrates that lean body mass is a more important correlate of the hemodynamic determinants of blood pressure than is fat mass and that sex and race have significant independent relationships with the hemodynamic determinants of blood pressure in children and adolescents.
Involuntary automaticity: a work-system induced risk to safe health care

Automaticity is the term given by psychologists to the skilled action that people develop through repeatedly practising the same activity, for example driving a car. Usually, automaticity is discussed in terms of the benefits it brings to people, such as the reduction in the degree of conscious attention a person needs to pay to such skilled activities. However, there is evidence to suggest that substantial costs may also be associated with such learned behaviour. Managing patient safety is a difficult task and one of the ways in which health-care professionals seek to accomplish it is through the use of verbal challenge-response protocols. However, it is argued in this paper that it is possible for the negative effects of automaticity to involuntarily capture those using such verbal checklist techniques and cause them to erroneously believe that the treatment that they are about to administer to a patient is safe when it is not. This phenomenon does not, however, seem to have been recognized by the health-care community nationally or internationally. We conclude that patient safety could be significantly improved worldwide if the organizational arrangements which appear to induce involuntary automaticity were to be robustly addressed by the management of all health-care organizations.
The Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Regulates the Insulin-like Growth Factor-triggered Autocrine Response in DU-145 Carcinoma Cells*

The androgen-independent human prostate adenocarcinoma cell line DU-145 proliferates in serum-free medium and produces insulin-like growth factors (IGF)-I, IGF-II, and the IGF type-1 receptor (IGF-1R). They also secrete three IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP), IGFBP-2, -3, and -4. Of these, immunoblot analysis revealed selective proteolysis of IGFBP-3, yielding fragments of 31 and 19 kDa. By using an anti-IGF-I-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb), we detect surface receptor-bound IGF-I on serum-starved DU-145 cells, which activates IGF-1R and triggers a mitogenic signal. Incubation of DU-145 cells with blocking anti-IGF-I, anti-IGF-II, or anti-IGF-I plus anti-IGF-II mAb does not, however, inhibit serum-free growth of DU-145. Conversely, anti-IGF-1R mAb and IGFBP-3 inhibit DNA synthesis. IGFBP-3 also modifies the DU-145 cell cycle, decreases p34 cdc2 levels, and IGF-1R autophosphorylation. The antiproliferative IGFBP-3 activity is not IGF-independent, since des-(1–3)IGF-I, which does not bind to IGFBP-3, reverses its inhibitory effect. DU-145 also secretes the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, which can be detected in both a soluble and a membrane-bound form. Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, but not serpins, abrogate DNA synthesis in DU-145 associated with the blocking of IGFBP-3 proteolysis. Overexpression of an antisense cDNA for MMP-9 inhibits 80% of DU-145 cell proliferation that can be reversed by IGF-I in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition of MMP-9 expression is also associated with a decrease in IGFBP-3 proteolysis and with reduced signaling through the IGF-1R. Our data indicate an IGF autocrine loop operating in DU-145 cells, specifically modulated by IGFBP-3, whose activity may in turn be regulated by IGFBP-3 proteases such as MMP-9.
Porous silicon as an efficient local thermal isolation platform on the Si wafer in the temparature range 5–350k

The thermal conductivity of highly porous Si was determined in the temperature range 5-350K. It was found that its temperature dependence is monotonic in the range 20-350K, while below 20K it shows a plateau-like behavior similar to that observed in amorphous materials. The low values of the thermal conductivity of the material in the whole temperature range studied, extended also to cryogenic temperatures, make porous Si an excellent local substrate for providing efficient thermal isolation on the Si wafer for the on-chip integration of heating and cooling devices.
Screening for Mental Health Problems: Addressing the Base Rate Fallacy for a Sustainable Screening Program in Integrated Primary Care.

OBJECTIVE The Affordable Care Act has stimulated interest in screening for psychological problems in primary care. Given the scale with which screening might occur, the implications of a problem known as the base rate fallacy need to be considered. METHODS The concepts of sensitivity and specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and the base rate fallacy are discussed. The possibility that a screening program may not improve upon random selection is reviewed, as is the possibility that sequential screening might be useful. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Developing effective screening programs for pediatric mental health problems is highly desirable, and properly addressing the high rate of false positives may improve the likelihood that such programs can be sustained. Consideration needs to be given to the use of sequential screening, which has both advantages and disadvantages, depending upon the type of problem to be screened for and the availability of resources for follow-up evaluations.
Epidemiological Evidence of Relationships between Dietary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Mortality in the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial

Abstract This evaluation of the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial database investigated the effects of dietary PUFA on disease outcomes that may relate to polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biochemistry. The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial was a randomized clinical trial in coronary heart disease (CHD) primary prevention involving 12,866 middle-aged men determined to be at high risk of CHD. They were assigned to either a special intervention group or a usual care group and returned to clinics on an annual basis for assessment of risk factor status. Only data on the usual care men (n = 6,250) are presented, since the multi-intervention effects on the special intervention group introduce considerable analytic complexities. Mean PUFA intake estimates were calculated from four dietary recall interviews at baseline and follow-up Years 1, 2, and 3 and estimates for PUFA were established using absolute grams, percentage of total kilocalories, and ratios. Proportional hazards regression analysis controlling for age, race and baseline diastolic blood pressure, smoking, high and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, and alcohol was used to analyze dietary PUFA intakes on 10.5-year mortality rates. Results were more significant when PUFA were expressed as percentage of total kilocalories. No significant associations with mortality were detected for linoleic acid (18:2n-6), the predominant dietary PUFA. Significant inverse associations were observed for linolenic acid (18:3n-3) on mortality from CHD (P < 0.04), all cardiovascular diseases (CVD) (P < 0.03), and all cause mortality (P < 0.02); the sum of fatty acids primarily derived from fish oils (20:5n-3 + 22:5n-3 + 22:6n-3) on CHD (P < 0.02), CVD (P < 0.006), and all cause (P < 0.02) mortality; and, the ratio of 18:3n-3 to 18:2n-6 on cancer mortality (P < 0.05). Analysis using the total n-3 (18:3 + 20:5 + 22:5 + 22:6) to total n-6 (18:2 + 18:4 + 20:4) ratio was also significant on cancer mortality (P < 0.04). These findings support reports that n-3 fatty acids are protective against CVD and suggest that composition of dietary PUFA may influence CVD and cancer rates.
Fumaric acid esters in dermatology

Fumaric acid esters (FAE) are substances of interest in dermatology. FAE exert various activities on cutaneous cells and cytokine networks. So far only a mixture of dimethylfumarate (DMF) and three salts of monoethylfumarate (MEF) have gained approval for the oral treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque-type psoriasis in Germany. DMF seems to be the major active component. There is evidence that FAE are not only effective and safe in psoriasis but granulomatous non-infectious diseases like granuloma annulare, necrobiosis lipoidica and sarcoidosis. In vitro and animal studies suggest some activity in malignant melanoma as well.