Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Symptoms of traumatic stress in mothers of children victims of a motor vehicle accident

Background: Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are the main cause of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in industrialized countries. This includes the frequently occurring but understudied situation of parents learning that their children were injured. However, unlike in other types of trauma survivors, little is known about the predictors of PTSD symptoms in mothers whose child has suffered an MVA. Methods: A group of 72 mothers and 28 fathers were prospectively assessed for peritraumatic distress, peritraumatic dissociation, and PTSD symptoms 1 and 5 weeks after their child had suffered an MVA. Results: Levels of peritraumatic distress and dissociation were comparable to other trauma victims, 18% of the mothers were considered to be suffering from probable PTSD. In mothers, significant positive correlations were found between PTSD symptoms and peritraumatic distress (r=.34) and dissociation (r=.37), whereas mothers' PTSD symptoms were associated with decreased peritraumatic dissociation in fathers (r=−.37). Even after controlling for covictim/witness status, peritraumatic distress was a predictor of mothers' PTSD symptoms, explaining 14% of the variance. Conclusions: Peritraumatic response and PTSD symptoms should be routinely assessed among parents whose child has experienced a traumatic event. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Improving Digital-to-Analog Converter Linearity by Large High-Frequency Dithering

A new method for reducing harmonic distortion due to element mismatch in digital-to-analog converters is described. This is achieved by using a large high-frequency periodic dither. The reduction in nonlinearity is due to the smoothing effect this dither has on the nonlinearity, which is only dependent on the amplitude distribution function of the dither. Since the high-frequency dither is unwanted in the output of the digital-to-analog converter, the dither is removed by an output filter. The fundamental frequency component of the dither is attenuated by a passive notch filter and the remaining fundamental component and harmonic components are attenuated by the low-pass reconstruction filter. Two methods that further improve performance are also presented. By reproducing the dither on a second channel and subtracting it using a differential amplifier, additional dither attenuation is achieved; and by averaging several channels, the noise-floor of the output is improved. Experimental results demonstrate more than 10 dB improvement in the signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio.
Financial laws as algebraic automata

It is shown that the concept of financial law has the structure of an automaton. Furthermore, a financial law induces a group structure into the monoid of the automaton. The concepts of stationary, stationary of order n, and dynamic financial laws are deduced, proving two algebraic characterizations. Finally the concept of ā‐stationary financial law and some applications are introduced. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Adaptive Update Complex Scene for Block Scheduling Strategy Based on VR

in the virtual reality system, the major problem is the contradiction between the complexity and the immediacy toward scene models. This is the bottleneck to constrain the development of virtual reality application. This article introduces a new scene model based on adaptive update and the block scheduling strategy. The model applies the information of feature-points to classify the pixels in the complex scene, and then computes the update rate directed towards different pixels. Thereby, it can dynamically update according to the different scene. (Abstract) Keywords-Adaptive;scheduling; demarcation; feature-pointst (key words)
Motion detection based on recurrent network dynamics

The detection of visual motion requires temporal delays to compare current with earlier visual input. Models of motion detection assume that these delays reside in separate classes of slow and fast thalamic cells, or slow and fast synaptic transmission. We used a data-driven modeling approach to generate a model that instead uses recurrent network dynamics with a single, fixed temporal integration window to implement the velocity computation. This model successfully reproduced the temporal response dynamics of a population of motion sensitive neurons in macaque middle temporal area (MT) and its constituent parts matched many of the properties found in the motion processing pathway (e.g., Gabor-like receptive fields (RFs), simple and complex cells, spatially asymmetric excitation and inhibition). Reverse correlation analysis revealed that a simplified network based on first and second order space-time correlations of the recurrent model behaved much like a feedforward motion energy (ME) model. The feedforward model, however, failed to capture the full speed tuning and direction selectivity properties based on higher than second order space-time correlations typically found in MT. These findings support the idea that recurrent network connectivity can create temporal delays to compute velocity. Moreover, the model explains why the motion detection system often behaves like a feedforward ME network, even though the anatomical evidence strongly suggests that this network should be dominated by recurrent feedback.
Assessing Response Profiles from Incomplete Longitudinal Clinical Trial Data Under Regulatory Considerations

Treatment effects are often evaluated by comparing change over time in outcome measures. However, valid analyses of longitudinal data can be problematic, particularly when some data are missing for reasons related to the outcome. In choosing the primary analysis for confirmatory clinical trials, regulatory agencies have for decades favored the last observation carried forward (LOCF) approach for imputing missing values. Many advances in statistical methodology, and also in our ability to implement those methods, have been made in recent years. The characteristics of data from acute phase clinical trials can be exploited to develop an appropriate analysis for assessing response profiles in a regulatory setting. These data characteristics and regulatory considerations will be reviewed. Approaches for handling missing data are compared along with options for modeling time effects and correlations between repeated measurements. Theory and empirical evidence are utilized to support the proposal that likelihood-based mixed-effects model repeated measures (MMRM) approaches, based on the missing at random assumption, provide superior control of Type I and Type II errors when compared with the traditional LOCF approach, which is based on the more restrictive missing completely at random assumption. It is further reasoned that in acute phase clinical trials, unstructured modeling of time trends and within-subject error correlations may be preferred.
On TDMA scheduling in wireless sensor networks

We study the problem of finding an efficient schedule for convergecast in a wireless sensor network, using the SINR model of interference, and a TDMA protocol for medium access. We compare two approaches to computing a minimum length schedule for the TDMA frame. In the first approach, called the TC-approach, a multi-set of transmission configurations that are interference-free and that cover the convergecast traffic is computed and the scheduling algorithm restricts itself to using these configurations. In the second approach, called the tree-based approach, first a routing tree or subgraph is computed, and next, sets of non-interfering links are scheduled in rounds, based on which links have available traffic in each round. In this paper, For the TC-based approach, we provide new column generation approach and several new scheduling heuristics. For the tree-based approach, we propose the construction of a new tree called TFM tree, which takes into account variable power assignment, as well as a new scheduling algorithm for the second phase, called the ROS algorithm. We performed extensive experimental evaluations of both approaches. Our results show that the tree-based approach using the TFM tree significantly outperforms the TC-approach.
Automatic Crowdsourcing-Based Classification of Marketing Messaging on Twitter

As the volume of social media communications grow, many different stakeholders have sought to apply tools and methods for automatic identification of sentiment and topic in social network communications. In the domain of social media marketing it would be useful to automatically classify social media messaging into the classic framework of informative, persuasive and transformative advertising. In this paper we develop and present the construction and evaluation of supervised machine-learning classifiers for these concepts, drawing upon established procedures from the domains of sentiment analysis and crowd sourced text classification. We demonstrate that a reasonably effective classifier can be created to identify the informative nature of Tweets based on crowd sourced training data, we also present results for identifying persuasive and transformative content. We finish by summarizing our findings regarding applying these methods and by discussing recommendations for future work in the area of classifying the marketing content of Tweets.
Iterative Estimators of Parameters in Linear Models with Partially Variant Coefficients

Iterative Estimators of Parameters in Linear Models with Partially Variant Coefficients A new kind of linear model with partially variant coefficients is proposed and a series of iterative algorithms are introduced and verified. The new generalized linear model includes the ordinary linear regression model as a special case. The iterative algorithms efficiently overcome some difficulties in computation with multidimensional inputs and incessantly appending parameters. An important application is described at the end of this article, which shows that this new model is reasonable and applicable in practical fields.
Towards a Web Platform for Collaborative Learning Practice, Evaluation and Dissemination

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) tool adoption is slow and challenging when compared to the dissemination of simpler content delivery systems. The lack of technical and pedagogical expertise, concrete training, and effective support for teachers are some reasons that explain the current situation. This paper proposes a technological approach for making CSCL practice, evaluation and dissemination easier. In this approach, a powerful workflow-enabled web platform hosts virtual communities of volunteer teachers and CSCL specialists. The platform supports participants for designing collective learning processes that integrate CSCL tools, executing and tutoring them, analyzing their results and debating all related technical and pedagogical issues.
The inhibitory effect of tetracycline on osteogenesis in organ culture.

Two characteristics of the tetracycline-group antibiotics have recently focused the special attention of teratologists: these drugs are known to pass readily across the placental'barrier' (Charles, 1954; Frost & Villanueva, 1960; Gibbons & Reichelderfer, 1960; Hughes, Lee & Flood, 1965; Simpson, Burnette & Bawden, 1967), and they are incorporated into the foetal skeleton, where they may remain for long periods and can be detected owing to their brilliant fluorescence (Rail, Loo, Lane & Kelly, 1957; Milch, Rail & Tobie, 1957, 1958; Bevelander, Rolle & Cohlan, 1961; Urist & Ibsen, 1963; Michelson, 1964). The question of whether they exert a harmful effect on bone formation and mineralization in mammals, however, is still a matter of controversy. There is no doubt that tetracycline interferes with mineralization of the skeletal tissue in certain lower vertebrates (Bevelander, Goldberg & Nakahara, 1960; Bevelander & Cohlan, 1962), and prevents calcification of mammalian bones in organ cul­ ture (Saxen, 1966«, b). Reports of in vivo studies in mammalian species have yielded more confusing results. In 1957, Filippi & Mela reported minor skeletal malformations in mouse foetuses after maternal tetracycline administration, and later Cohlan, Bevelander & Tiamsic (1963) observed depression of the growth rate of the long bones of premature children receiving high doses of tetracycline. Correspondingly, a reduction of the foetal weight has been reported to result from administration of tetracycline to the mother (Bevelander & Cohlan, 1962; Cohlan et al. 1963). On the other hand, neither experiments on rats nor observations on children have confirmed all these reports, as Oxytetracycline appears to have no adverse effects on mineralization (Chu, O'Hara & Keitel, 1963; Likins & Pakis, 1965). In addition to differences in the dose and mode of administration, these conflicting results may also be due to differences between the various members of the
Distribution-Based Pruning of Backoff Language Models

We propose a distribution-based pruning of n-gram backoff language models. Instead of the conventional approach of pruning n-grams that are infrequent in training data, we prune n-grams that are likely to be infrequent in a new document. Our method is based on the n-gram distribution i.e. the probability that an n-gram occurs in a new document. Experimental results show that our method performed 7--9% (word perplexity reduction) better than conventional cutoff methods.
Feed following: the big data challenge in social applications

Internet users spend billions of minutes per month on sites like Facebook and Twitter. These sites support feed following, where users "follow" activity streams associated with other users and entities. Followers get personalized feeds that blend streams produced by those followed. The emphasis on recency and relevance, and the highly variable fan-out of the follows graph, make this feature difficult to implement at the scale seen in major social networks. In this paper, we place feed following in the context of existing research areas and highlight the novel data management challenges that it poses, with the goal of stimulating research in this new direction. We discuss solutions based on pub/sub, caching, and materialized views, and argue that none of these existing approaches fully exploit the unique characteristics of feed following. The number of distinct queries and the query rate per second that a feed following system must support are huge, but queries have simple structure and overlap. The system must handle high throughput input streams, but results are heavily biased toward recent events. The number of users is large, but they exhibit diurnal behavior, and we can dynamically modify the system to optimize for currently active users. These characteristics offer many opportunities for optimization, and the potential gains are substantial.
Anteroposterior patterning of Drosophila ocelli requires an anti-repressor mechanism within the hh pathway mediated by the Six3 gene Optix

In addition to compound eyes, most insects possess a set of three dorsal ocelli that develop at the vertices of a triangular cuticle patch, forming the ocellar complex. The wingless and hedgehog signaling pathways, together with the transcription factor encoded by orthodenticle, are known to play major roles in the specification and patterning of the ocellar complex. Specifically, hedgehog is responsible for the choice between ocellus and cuticle fates within the ocellar complex primordium. However, the interactions between signals and transcription factors known to date do not fully explain how this choice is controlled. We show that this binary choice depends on dynamic changes in the domains of hedgehog signaling. In this dynamics, the restricted expression of engrailed, a hedgehog signaling target, is key because it defines a domain within the complex where hedgehog transcription is maintained while the pathway activity is blocked. We further show that the Drosophila Six3, optix, is expressed in and required for the development of the anterior ocellus specifically, limiting the ocellar expression domain of en. This finding confirms previous genetic evidence that the spatial allocation of the primordia of anterior and posterior ocelli is differentially regulated, which may apply to the patterning of the insect head in general. Summary: The development of Drosophila ocelli requires dynamic changes in Hh signaling domains that are regulated by the Hh signaling target engrailed and the Drosophila Six3/6 homolog Optix.
Thermal Morphology: A Geometrically Optimized Trombe Wall

Recently, there has been a growing interest in passive climate design aimed at reducing the large energy demand arising from existing buildings. Sustainable consumption of quantities of energy by buildings has necessitated research into innovative designs for comfortable and energy-efficient buildings. This graduation project branches out from this research field and focuses on experimentation with geometry and its effects on thermal mass in the context of architecture. It is known that geometry has an impact on thermal performance, however information regarding alternatives for material distribution to improve thermal performance is somewhat limited. The main objective of this research is to identify how geometry could influence and enhance the thermal performance to reduce the overall energy consumption in a specific context. This graduation project focuses on thermal mass in the form of a trombe wall in office building typologies. It also targets the use of translucent Phase Change Materials (PCM) as a thermal energy storage material for lightweight building components in the context of two different climates; a hot and dry climate and a temperate climate. A combination of simulation and modelling software is used to determine the effect of geometry on the thermal performance of the trombe wall with PCM in two different climates. A stepped methodology is used to morph a flat wall following a series of design strategies and two different geometry scales. By analysing the differences in air and PCM temperatures it is determined whether geometrical morphology is beneficial in terms of a comfortable air temperature in an office. General trends are identified which highlight the potential of material distribution in thermal performance in the context of PCM and trombe walls. These trends are then transformed into design guidelines and two different designs for a trombe wall with translucent PCM in the two climates.
Spatiotemporal sampling patterns in the 230 million year fossil record of terrestrial crocodylomorphs and their impact on diversity

The 24 extant crocodylian species are the remnants of a once much more diverse and widespread clade. Crocodylomorpha has an approximately 230 million year evolutionary history, punctuated by a series of radiations and extinctions. However, the group's fossil record is biased. Previous studies have reconstructed temporal patterns in subsampled crocodylomorph palaeobiodiversity, but have not explicitly examined variation in spatial sampling, nor the quality of this record. We compiled a dataset of all taxonomically diagnosable non‐marine crocodylomorph species (393). Based on the number of phylogenetic characters that can be scored for all published fossils of each species, we calculated a completeness value for each taxon. Mean average species completeness (56%) is largely consistent within subgroups and for different body size classes, suggesting no significant biases across the crocodylomorph tree. In general, average completeness values are highest in the Mesozoic, with an overall trend of decreasing completeness through time. Many extant taxa are identified in the fossil record from very incomplete remains, but this might be because their provenance closely matches the species’ present‐day distribution, rather than through autapomorphies. Our understanding of nearly all crocodylomorph macroevolutionary ‘events’ is essentially driven by regional patterns, with no global sampling signal. Palaeotropical sampling is especially poor for most of the group's history. Spatiotemporal sampling bias impedes our understanding of several Mesozoic radiations, whereas molecular divergence times for Crocodylia are generally in close agreement with the fossil record. However, the latter might merely be fortuitous, i.e. divergences happened to occur during our ephemeral spatiotemporal sampling windows.
Measuring tread depth with light-spot analysis

A suitable and safe tire strongly affects safety while a car is driven. However, when the tire is worn and the tread has become shallow, it can cause the driving car to slide easily and reduces safety. Accordingly, many governments, including Taiwan, stipulated that the depth of the tread must be greater than 1.6 mm; obviously, developing a convenient method to measure tread depth is a valuable technology. This paper proposed a non-contact measuring depth method, which is based on light-spot analysis. The experimental results showed that the proposed method could measure tread depth correctly.
Algebraic Algorithms for Linear Matroid Parity Problems

We present fast and simple algebraic algorithms for the linear matroid parity problem and its applications. For the linear matroid parity problem, we obtain a simple randomized algorithm with running time <i>O</i>(<i>mr</i><sup>ω-1</sup>), where <i>m</i> and <i>r</i> are the number of columns and the number of rows, respectively, and ω ≈ 2.3727 is the matrix multiplication exponent. This improves the <i>O</i>(<i>mr</i><sup>ω</sup>)-time algorithm by Gabow and Stallmann and matches the running time of the algebraic algorithm for linear matroid intersection, answering a question of Harvey. We also present a very simple alternative algorithm with running time <i>O</i>(<i>mr</i><sup>2</sup>), which does not need fast matrix multiplication. We further improve the algebraic algorithms for some specific graph problems of interest. For the Mader’s disjoint <i>S</i>-path problem, we present an <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>ω</sup>)-time randomized algorithm where <i>n</i> is the number of vertices. This improves the running time of the existing results considerably and matches the running time of the algebraic algorithms for graph matching. For the graphic matroid parity problem, we give an <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>4</sup>)-time randomized algorithm where <i>n</i> is the number of vertices, and an <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>3</sup>)-time randomized algorithm for a special case useful in designing approximation algorithms. These algorithms are optimal in terms of <i>n</i> as the input size could be Ω (<i>n</i><sup>4</sup>) and Ω (<i>n</i><sup>3</sup>), respectively. The techniques are based on the algebraic algorithmic framework developed by Mucha and Sankowski, Harvey, and Sankowski. While linear matroid parity and Mader’s disjoint <i>S</i>-path are challenging generalizations for the design of combinatorial algorithms, our results show that both the algebraic algorithms for linear matroid intersection and graph matching can be extended nicely to more general settings. All algorithms are still faster than the existing algorithms even if fast matrix multiplication is not used. These provide simple algorithms that can be easily implemented in practice.
Low-complexity adaptive equalization for high-speed chip-to-chip communication paths by zero-forcing of jitter components

In this letter, we show how a prefilter can be automatically adapted to open the data eye in a nonreturn to zero transmission system using only two binary samples per bit. Although the equalizer primarily aims to minimize timing jitter with a zero-forcing criterion, this equalization method also results in nearly optimum vertical eye opening, thereby causing very little overhead in complexity and power consumption. The target application is low-power high-speed serial links to transfer data between chips over a printed circuit board