Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Healthcare Providers' Interactions with Trans Patients: Recommendations to Promote Cultural Competence

Research indicates that trans people face a number of barriers to healthcare, including challenges in finding healthcare providers (HCPs) who are knowledgeable about, and sensitive to, trans identity and health issues. These and other barriers contribute to this population's under-usage of healthcare services and, in turn, their poor overall health outcomes compared to the general population. This article provides research-informed recommendations to improve HCPs' cultural competence, which may increase trans individuals' utilization of healthcare and thus contribute to better health outcomes for this population.
Authenticity, Ethicality, and Motivation: A Formal Evaluation of a 10-week Computer Security Alternate Reality Game for CS Undergraduates

Alternate reality games (ARGs) have been shown to have desirable characteristics for computer security education and student motivation. We implemented a 10-weeklong ARG in an introductory undergraduate computer science course, and formally assessed the ARG’s impact on students’ course experience, as well as examined students’ motivation-related experiences in the course by gender. Among other conclusions, we found that the ARG enabled an authentic and motivating problemsolving environment, but also raised ethical concerns among students that could lead to constructive discussions on ethical behavior in computer security. We also found that the ARG’s use of several programming languages has detrimental effects on novice students— especially women—who felt at a disadvantage compared to their peers. We discuss connections to extant literature and implications for future implementations of the ARG.
Impact of the Refugee Crisis on the Greek Healthcare System: A Long Road to Ithaca

Greece is the country of “Xenios Zeus”, the Ancient Greek god of foreigners and hospitality; however, it is also the main point of entry to Europe. Since the beginning of 2014, 1,112,332 refugees crossed the borders of Greece. Overall, 33,677 children and adolescent refugees sought asylum in Greece from 2013 to 2017, while 57,042 refugees are currently being hosted. The rapid entry of refugees into Greece raised the critical issue of health policy. The Greek National Health Service (NHS) faces many challenges. Adequate economic and human support is essential if this situation is to be managed successfully. However, Greece still bears the burden of the economic downturn since 2009. In fact, the crisis led to shortages in crucial equipment, and unmet health needs for both locals and refugees. The NHS deals with traumatic experiences, as well as cultural and linguistic differences. Overcrowded reception centers and hotspots are highly demanding and are associated with severe disease burden. This highlights the importance of guidelines for medical screening, healthcare provision, and a well-managed transition to definitive medical facilities. Furthermore, non-governmental organizations make an essential contribution by ensuring appropriate support to refugee minors, especially when they experience poor access to the NHS.
High salt loading increases brain derived neurotrophic factor in supraoptic vasopressin neurones

High salt loading (SL) is associated with inappropriate arginine vasopressin (AVP) release and increased mean arterial pressure. Previous work has shown that chronic high salt intake impairs baroreceptor inhibition of rat AVP neurones through brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) dependent activation of tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) and down‐regulation of K+/Cl− co‐transporter KCC2. This mechanism diminishes the GABAA inhibition of AVP neurones in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) by increasing intracellular chloride. However, the source of BDNF leading to this ionic plasticity is unknown. In the present study, we used adeno‐associated viral vectors with short hairpin RNA against BDNF to test whether SON is the source of BDNF contributing to increased AVP release and elevated mean arterial pressure in high salt loaded rats. Virally mediated BDNF knockdown (shBDNF) in the SON of salt loaded rats significantly blocked the increases in BDNF mRNA and AVP heterogeneous RNA expression. The observed increase in the activation of TrkB receptor during salt loading is consistent with previous studies. Western blot analysis of SON punches revealed that tyrosine phosphorylation of TrkB (pTrkBY515) was significantly decreased in salt shBDNF rats compared to the salt scrambled (SCR) rats. Injections of shBDNF in the SON also significantly prevented the increase in plasma AVP concentration associated with salt loading. However, the salt loading induced increase in mean arterial pressure was not decreased with BDNF knockdown in the SON. Average daily fluid intake and urine output were significantly elevated in both salt SCR and salt shBDNF rats compared to the euhydrated controls. Daily average urine sodium concentration was significantly higher in shBDNF injected salt rats than the other groups. These findings indicate that BDNF produced in the SON contributes to the increased AVP secretion during high salt loading but not with respect to the subsequent increase in mean arterial pressure.
Curtailed Digital Predistortion Model for Crosstalk in MIMO Transmitters

This paper investigates the issue of high complexity of digital predistortion for the nonlinear distortion introduced due to crosstalk in addition to the nonlinear distortion generated by a power amplifier (PA) in $\mathbf{2}\times \mathbf{2}$ MIMO transmitters. This paper proposes a less complex, novel model for digital predistortion (DPD) for linearizing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmitters. This model is constructed by taking account of both linear and nonlinear crosstalks, along with the fact that the nonlinearity generated due to crosstalk would be lesser than the nonlinearity already available due to PA. For proof-of-concept, it is shown for two different scenarios that proposed model provides similar linearization performance as compared to $\mathbf{2}\times \mathbf{2}$ PH model with less number of coefficients.
Differences in spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity of flight control in the honeybees Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

ABSTRACT Visually guided behaviour is constrained by the capacity of the visual system to resolve detail. This, in turn, is limited by the spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity of the underlying visual system. Because these properties are interdependent and vary non-uniformly, it is only possible to fully understand the limits of a specific visually guided behaviour when they are investigated in combination. To understand the visual limits of flight control in bees, which rely heavily on vision to control flight, and to explore whether they vary between species, we tested how changes in spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity affect the speed and position control of the Asian and European honeybees (Apis cerana and Apis mellifera). Despite the apparent similarity of these species, we found some interesting and surprising differences between their visual limits. While the effect of spatial frequency and contrast on position control is similar between the species, ground speed is differently affected by these variables. A comparison with published data from the bumblebee Bombus terrestris revealed further differences. The visual resolution that limits the detection and use of optic flow for flight control in both species of honeybee is lower than the previously anatomically determined resolution and differs from object detection limits of A. mellifera, providing evidence that the limits of spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity are highly tuned to the particular behavioural task of a species. Summary: Closely related honeybee species exhibit surprising differences in their spatial resolution and contrast sensitivity when controlling flight.
Cybersecurity Research Datasets: Taxonomy and Empirical Analysis

We inspect 965 cybersecurity research papers published between 2012 and 2016 in order to understand better how datasets are used, produced and shared. We construct a taxonomy of the types of data created and shared, informed and validated by the examined papers. We then analyze the gathered data on datasets. Three quarters of existing datasets used as input to research are publicly available, but less than one fifth of datasets created by researchers are publicly shared. Using a series of linear regressions, we demonstrate that those researchers who do make public the datasets they create are rewarded with more citations to the associated papers. Hence, we conclude that an under-appreciated incentive exists for researchers to share their created datasets with the broader research community.
LEARNING FLEXIBLE REPRESENTATIONS OF STOCHASTIC PROCESSES ON GRAPHS

Graph convolutional networks adapt the architecture of convolutional neural networks to learn rich representations of data supported on arbitrary graphs by replacing the convolution operations of convolutional neural networks with graph-dependent linear operations. However, these graph-dependent linear operations are developed for scalar functions supported on undirected graphs. We propose both a generalization of the underlying graph and a class of linear operations for stochastic (time-varying) processes on directed (or undirected) graphs to be used in graph convolutional networks. By parameterizing the proposed linear operations using functional calculus, we can achieve arbitrarily low learning complexity. The combined graphical model and filtering approach is shown to model richer behaviors and display greater flexibility in learning representations than product graph methods.
Transformational leadership to promote nurse practitioner practice in primary care

AIM This study investigated transformational leadership from the perspectives of primary care nurse practitioners. BACKGROUND The growing workforce of nurse practitioners in the United States could play a critical role in meeting the increasing demand for primary care. Little is known about how leadership within primary care practices could promote nurse-practitioner care. Transformational leadership is a widely recognized leadership style that affects clinician practice and outcomes. METHOD A cross-sectional survey design was used to collect data from nurse practitioners in New York state in 2012. The online survey containing measures of nurse practitioners and leadership relationships was completed by 278 nurse practitioners. RESULTS The four factors of transformational leadership-idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration-were recognized by nurse practitioners. Almost half of nurse practitioners reported that leadership did not share information equally between nurse practitioners and physicians (idealized influence), and 45.9% reported that nurse practitioners were not represented on important organisational committees (intellectual stimulation). CONCLUSION Transformational leadership can be applied to promote nurse practitioner practice in primary care. Future research should explore how transformational leadership affects nurse practitioner care and outcomes. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Leaders in primary care practices should consider applying transformational leadership principles to promote nurse practitioner practice.
Real Alto: An Ancient Ceremonial Center

Fouilles entreprises a Real Alto (Equateur) en 1974-1975 tendant a prouver que les places sacrificielles rectangulaires apparurent plus tot en Equateur qu'en Amerique Centrale ou au Perou. Etude historique et economique du site et replacement dans le contexte general americain pour la periode 3400-1500 av. J.-C. Essai d'analyse du passage de la communaute egalitaire a la communaute hierarchisee politiquement, sociologiquement et economiquement a travers le schema ville-villages-hameaux.
Music Preferences and Personality in Brazilians

This article analyzes the relationship between musical preference and type of personality in a large group of Brazilian young and adult participants (N = 1050). The study included 25 of 27 states of Brazil and individuals aged between 16 and 71 years (M = 30.87; SD = 10.50). Of these, 500 were male (47.6%) and 550 were female (52.4%). A correlational study was carried out applying two online questionnaires with quality parameters (content-construct validity and reliability), one on musical preference and the other on personality. The results indicate four main findings: (1) the musical listening of the participants is limited to a reduced number of styles, mainly Pop music and others, typical of Brazilian culture; (2) the Brazilian context supposes a determining aspect in the low preference of non-Brazilian music; (3) there is a positive correlation between most personality types analyzed and the Latin, Brazilian, Classical and Ethnic musical styles. A negative correlation between these types of personality and the consumption of Rock music was also observed; (4) musical preferences are driven not only by personality but in some cases they are also driven by socio-demographic variables (i.e., age and gender). Likewise, this work shows how participants make use of music in personality aspects that may be of interest for the analysis of socio-affective behavior (personality) as well as according to different socio-demographic variables (e.g., age and gender). More cross-cultural research on musical preference and personality would need to be carried out from a global perspective, framed in the context of social psychology and studies of mass communication.
The Guard's Dilemma: Efficient Code-Reuse Attacks Against Intel SGX

Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) isolate security-critical code inside a protected memory area called enclave. Previous research on SGX has demonstrated that memory corruption vulnerabilities within enclave code can be exploited to extract secret keys and bypass remote attestation. However, these attacks require kernel privileges, and rely on frequently probing enclave code which results in many enclave crashes. Further, they assume a constant, not randomized memory layout. In this paper, we present novel exploitation techniques against SGX that do not require any enclave crashes and work in the presence of existing SGX randomization approaches such as SGX-Shield. A key contribution of our attacks is that they work under weak adversarial assumptions, e.g., not requiring kernel privileges. In fact, they can be applied to any enclave that is developed with the standard Intel SGX SDK on either Linux or Windows.
An Efficient Scenario Generation Technique for Short-Term Wind Power Production

Power system operators and electricity market participants are facing many challenges due to the rapid expansion of uncertain energy resources, such as wind power. An efficient way of handling these uncertain resources in optimization is through the use of stochastic programming (SP). An essential step in SP is scenario generation, at which multiple plausible realizations of each stochastic variable (e.g. wind power output) are generated. The generated scenarios for each stochastic variable need to reflect the statistical properties of that variable. In this work, a new heuristic technique to generate wind power scenarios is presented. The scenarios generated using this technique meet reasonably well the statistical characteristics of the hourly wind power forecast and the hour-to-hour coupling of wind power outputs. Simulation results show that the presented technique, despite its simplicity, is effective in presenting wind forecast statistical characteristics. The use of the proposed technique in SP is illustrated via the application of SP-based wind thermal energy trading in electricity markets.
Antidepressant-Like Effects of Cistanche tubulosa Extract on Chronic Unpredictable Stress Rats Through Restoration of Gut Microbiota Homeostasis

Growing evidence shows that neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, are linked with gut microbiome through the gut–brain axis. Cistanches Herba is well known for the treatment of “kidney-yang” deficiency in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and has been used for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases in recent years. In this study, chronic unpredictable stress (CUS)-induced depression model was established to explore the impact of Cistanche tubulosa extract (CTE) on behavioral tests, monoamine neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors in hippocampus and colon, gut microbiota composition, and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production. Moreover, correlation analysis was used to evaluate the functional relationship between altered gut microbiota, changed neurotransmitters and neurotrophins in hippocampus and colon, and disturbed concentration of SCFAs. CTE significantly improved depression-like behaviors in rats under CUS. Brain level of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression in CUS rats were restored by CTE. The relative abundance of gut microbiota and the concentrations of acetate and hexanoic acid could also be modulated by CTE treatment. We further showed that the application of CTE in CUS rats led to strong correlation among disrupted gut microbiota composition, hippocampus neurotransmitter levels, and production of neuroactive metabolite SCFAs. Altogether, these results identify CTE as a potential treatment for depressive symptoms by restoring homeostasis of gut microbiota for microbiota–gut–brain axis disorders, opening new avenues in the field of neuropsychopharmacology.
Input Harmonic Sensitivity in High-Efficiency GaN Power Amplifiers

This paper presents the impact of input non-linearity and its dependence to output loading conditions in the design of Gallium Nitride (GaN) based Power Amplifiers (PAs). The drain efficiency variation due to the input non-linearity for any arbitrary second harmonic loading condition is presented. The theory presents generalized current waveform equations as a function of conduction angle $\pmb{(\alpha)}$ and input harmonic non-linearity $(\gamma_{2})$. Thereafter, to quantify the impact of source harmonics, a systematic methodology to evaluate the efficiency degradation is proposed. For practical validation, the active load pull (ALP) experiments are carried out using a 0.7 mm GaN die by NXP at 2.6 GHz. The drain efficiency variation as a function of second harmonic load reactance has been measured and reported at P3dB gain compression. While, class B, and class F shows 5–6% drain efficiency variation to second harmonic source pull, class $\mathbf{F}^{-1}$, and class $\hat{\mathbf{J}}/\hat{\mathbf{J}}^{\ast}$ shows immunity to the input non-linearity with only 1–2 % drain efficiency variation.
Volumetric Double Negative Metamaterial Composed of Planar Resonators

This paper investigates double negative volumetric metamaterials. The first version is a regular 3D periodic structure. This metamaterial does not naturally show an isotropic response. An isotropic response has been obtained for an analog of an amorphous solid material. This metamaterial is composed of planar resonant particles that show negative electric and magnetic polarizabilities. The particles are randomly distributed in space both in their positions and in their orientation. This composite material shows an isotropic response, as it does not prefer any direction of wave propagation. The metamaterial was assembled by inserting planar resonators into polystyrene spheres. The advantage is that the spheres can fill any volume and assure a random distribution of resonant particles both in space and in orientation.
Temporal coding and rate remapping: Representation of nonspatial information in the hippocampus

Hippocampal place cells represent nonspatial information through a process called rate remapping, which involves a change in the firing rate of a place cell without changes in its spatial specificity. However, many hippocampal phenomena occur on very short time scales over which long‐term average firing rates are not an appropriate description of activity. To understand how rate remapping relates to fine‐scale temporal firing phenomena, we asked how rate remapping affected burst firing and trial‐to‐trial spike count variability. In addition, we looked at how rate remapping relates to the theta‐frequency oscillations of the hippocampus, which are thought to temporally organize firing on time scales faster than 100 ms. We found that theta phase coding was preserved through changes in firing rate due to rate remapping. Interestingly, rate remapping in CA1 in response to task demands preferentially occurred during the first half of the theta cycle. The other half of the theta cycle contained preferential expression of phase precession, a phenomenon associated with place cell sequences, in agreement with previous results. This difference of place cell coding during different halves of the theta cycle supports recent theoretical suggestions that different processes occur during the two halves of the theta cycle. The differentiation between the halves of the theta cycle was not clear in recordings from CA3 during rate remapping induced by task‐irrelevant sensory changes. These findings provide new insight into the way that temporal coding is utilized in the hippocampus and how rate remapping is expressed through that temporal code.
Periodic Fluctuations of Switching Probability in Spin-Transfer Magnetization Switching in Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

The detailed characteristics of magnetization switching in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) of diameters in the range of 21–57 nm with perpendicular magnetization are investigated by using pulses of durations in the range of 1–30 ns. Periodic fluctuations in the switching probability are observed at room temperature as a function of the biasing voltage. The period of the fluctuations is about 20–80 mV. The periods are in the same energy range as magnon excitations observed in tunnel spectroscopy. These fluctuations may also occur if there is a preferential trajectory in the free layer magnetization when it transverses the equator, as has been noted for in-plane magnetized MTJs. This kind of detailed observation of the switching probability may provide novel information about the switching dynamics.