Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Personality, emotional distress and coronary heart disease

Hostility, depression, and anxiety have been associated with coronary heart disease (CHD), but the role of emotional distress in the development of CHD is still a controversial issue. Evidence shows, however, that emotional distress plays a key role in the progression of CHD: (i) emotional distress is associated with pathophysiological mechanisms and cardiac events in coronary patients, (ii) psychosocial treatments of emotional stress may reduce mortality and morbidity in these patients, and (iii) inhibition of negative emotions may accelerate CHD. Evidence also shows that emotional stress as a risk factor for CHD is a chronic characteristic; research has, however, largely ignored the role of personality in this context. The approach to personality and CHD that is presented in this paper revisits the tradition of global personality traits, and is based on the notion that the interaction between negative affectivity (the tendency to experience negative emotions) and social inhibition (the tendency to inhibit self‐expression in social interaction) has potential explanatory power in coronary patients. The construct of type‐D personality is introduced to designate those coronary patients who experience difficulties in the areas of negative emotions and self‐expression. Type‐D patients typically report high levels of depressive symptoms and poor levels of social support. Evidence is presented which suggests that, eventually, the emotional difficulties of type‐D patients may result in hard endpoints such as increased risk for long‐term mortality. It is concluded that, in addition to assessing specific psychosocial factors, it is equally important to assess the effect of global traits and their interaction on prognosis in patients with CHD. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of a Quantitated Physical Training Program on Middle‐Aged Sedentary Men

The effects of a 15-week quantitated training program were evaluated in nine men, 32 to 59 years old. All had been blind for 10 years or more but were otherwise in good health. They were sedentary with a stable activity pattern. Training sessions were held three times per week and consisted of four 3-minute exercise periods on a bicycle ergometer, each followed by a rest period of equal duration. Heart rates at the end of the fourth exercise period averaged 27 beats below individual maximal heart rates.Maximal oxygen uptake increased from 24.0 to 28.5 ml/kg × min or by 19%. Total heart volume and mean serum cholesterol decreased significantly, and psychological tests showed improvement.Five subjects continued exercising at the same intensity but only once weekly for another 14-week period. Mean maximal oxygen uptake decreased to 6% above the control level. Four subjects who discontinued training after 15 weeks were retested at the same time and had a mean value 5% below control maximal oxygen uptake.
Myogenin Regulates Exercise Capacity but Is Dispensable for Skeletal Muscle Regeneration in Adult mdx Mice

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most prevalent inherited childhood muscle disorder in humans. mdx mice exhibit a similar pathophysiology to the human disorder allowing for an in-depth investigation of DMD. Myogenin, a myogenic regulatory factor, is best known for its role in embryonic myogenesis, but its role in adult muscle maintenance and regeneration is still poorly understood. Here, we generated an mdx:Myog flox/flox mouse harboring a tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase transgene, which was used to conditionally delete Myog during adult life. After tamoxifen treatment, three groups of mice were created to study the effects of Myog deletion: mdx:Myog flox/flox mice (mdx), Myog flox/flox mice (wild-type), and mdx:Myog floxΔ/floxΔ:Cre-ER mice (mdx:Myog-deleted). mdx:Myog-deleted mice exhibited no adverse phenotype and behaved normally. When run to exhaustion, mdx:Myog-deleted mice demonstrated an enhanced capacity for exercise compared to mdx mice, running nearly as far as wild-type mice. Moreover, these mice showed the same signature characteristics of muscle regeneration as mdx mice. Unexpectedly, we found that myogenin was dispensable for muscle regeneration. Factors associated with muscle fatigue, metabolism, and proteolysis were significantly altered in mdx:Myog-deleted mice, and this might contribute to their increased exercise capacity. Our results reveal novel functions for myogenin in adult muscle and suggest that reducing Myog expression in other muscle disease models may partially restore muscle function.
LEFT VENTRICULAR SEGMENTATION USING DOUBLE REGION-BASED SNAKES

We present a double region-based snake method to segment endocardial and epicardial boundaries of the left ventricle in cardiac MR images. The method is based on a region-based parametric active contour. The first active contour is designed to segment the endocardial boundary while the second active contour is to segment the epicardial boundary. We insert the inter-contour forces between the two convolving contours in order to control the distance between them. Our proposed method not only has an ability to segment the endocardial and the epicardial boundaries of the left ventricle simultaneously without requiring any training sets, it is also able to segment cardiac MR images with low contrast between the myocardium and other organs. We initially place both contours within the epicardial boundary of the left ventricle. Furthermore, the problem that one of the contours may, on occasions, be attracted to the boundary of the papillary muscles is solved by checking for the convex hull condition. Our results show successful simultaneous segmentations of the endocardial and the epicardial boundaries, thus the left ventricle of the heart in each MR image
Can We Predict Dependencies Using Domain information?

Software dependencies play a vital role in program comprehension, change impact analysis and other software maintenance activities. Traditionally, these activities are supported by source code analysis, however, the source code is sometimes inaccessible, and not all stakeholders have adequate knowledge to perform such analysis. For example, non-technical domain experts and consultants raise most maintenance requests, however, they cannot predict the cost and impact of the requested changes without the support of the developers. We propose a novel approach to predict software dependencies by exploiting coupling present in domain-level information. Our approach is independent of the software implementation, hence, it can be used to evaluate architectural dependencies without access to the source code or the database. We evaluate our approach with a case study on a large-scale enterprise system, in which we demonstrate how up to 68\% of the source code dependencies and 77\% of the database dependencies are predicted solely based on domain information.
Revisiting the Relationship between Personality and Psychological Contracts: A Moderated Mediation Model Explaining Volunteer Performance

For many nonprofit organizations, it is of the utmost importance to understand why some volunteers donate more time than others. This article examines how the Big Five personality traits relate to the amount of time donated by volunteers and proposes that transactional, relational, and ideological psychological contracts mediate this relationship. Moreover, this study examines whether the interaction among extraversion, agreeableness, and tenure explains additional variance in the ideological contract. Path analysis is used to estimate a moderated mediation model, on the basis of data from two time-lagged surveys (). The results reveal direct relationships between personality traits and the three psychological contract types and support hypothesized interactions in explaining the ideological contract. This study also finds that transactional and relational contracts act as mediators. The authors conclude that psychological contract types can help explain why, on the basis of personality differences, some volunteers donate more time to their nonprofit organization than others.
Model Comparison in the One-Way Between-Subjects Design: An Sas Implementation

A statistical test is developed based on the comparison of sums of squared errors associated with two competing models. A model based on cell means is compared to a representation that specifies the means for the treatment conditions. Comparing models is more general than the traditional H0 in analysis of variance wherein all the cell means are assumed equal. The test statistic, Proportional Increase in Error, is computed using the SAS statistical system.
Combined differential and static pressure sensor based on a double-bridged structure

A combined differential and static silicon microelectromechanical system pressure sensor based on a double piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge structure is presented. The developed sensor has a conventional (inner) bridge on a micromachined diaphragm and a secondary (outer) bridge on the chip substrate. A novel approach is demonstrated with a combined measurement of outputs from the two bridges, which results in a combined deduction of both differential and static media pressure. Also following this new approach, a significant improvement in differential pressure sensor accuracy is achieved. Output from the two bridges depends linearly on both differential and absolute (relative to atmospheric pressure) media pressure. Furthermore, the sensor stress distributions involved are studied by three-dimensional finite-element (FE) stress analysis. Furthermore, the FE analysis evaluates current and other potential piezoresistor positions on the outer Wheatstone bridge.
Exploring the personality of sportswear brands

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the personalities that are associated with sportswear brands and tests the applicability of Aaker's brand personality framework in the context of sportswear brands. Design/methodology/approach – This study employed Aaker's brand personality framework to empirically investigate the personality of sportswear brands based on data collected from 420 college students. Findings – Results revealed that consumers perceive seven distinct personality dimensions and 53 personality traits in sportswear brands: Competence, Attractiveness, Sincerity, Innovation, Activity, Excitement, and Ruggedness. Originality/value – This research developed a valid and reliable scale that measures personality for sportswear products and confirms that consumers do associate particular brand personality dimensions with sportswear brands. The findings would help managers in the sportswear market better understand the image of their brand in the minds of consumers and better distinguish .
One step forward, two steps back: immanent critique of the practice of zero tolerance in inclusive schools

In this paper, the contradiction of practising zero tolerance in inclusive schools is discussed using the critical method of Skrtic’s immanent critique. The authors contend that the policy of inclusive schools for all is contradicted and undermined by the practice of zero tolerance policies, especially suspensions, expulsions and segregation. Thus, inclusion and zero tolerance are not complementary, but rather mutually exclusive, both in terms of rhetoric and of implementation. Possible inclusive solutions to challenging behaviours, involving prevention, reinforcement, restitution and the direct teaching of appropriate behaviours, are suggested and discussed in terms of consolidating inclusive schooling with appropriate disciplinary practice.
Assignment of Weight-Based Antibody Units for Four Additional Serotypes to a Human Antipneumococcal Standard Reference Serum, 007sp

ABSTRACT The pneumococcal enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) reference standard serum, lot 89SF, had been in use since 1990 and was replaced with a new reference standard serum, 007sp, in 2013. This serum was generated under an FDA-approved clinical protocol where 278 adult volunteers were immunized with the 23-valent unconjugated polysaccharide vaccine Pneumovax II and a unit of blood was obtained twice within 120 days following immunization. Pooled serum was prepared from the plasma, filled at 6 ml per vial, and lyophilized. Five independent laboratories participated in bridging the serotype-specific IgG assignments of 89SF to 007sp to establish equivalent reference values for 13 pneumococcal capsular serotypes (1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, 23F) using the WHO reference ELISA. A subsequent follow-up study established equivalent reference values for an additional seven serotypes (8, 10A, 11A, 12F, 15B, 22F, 33F). In this study, three laboratories assigned weight-based IgG concentrations in micrograms per milliliter of serum to 007sp for four additional serotypes: 2, 9N, 17F, and 20A. This study completes the assignment of serotypes for 89SF to 007sp. In addition, the IgG antibody assignments for a 12-member WHO quality control (QC) serum panel were extended to cover the four additional serotypes. Agreement was excellent, with a concordance correlation coefficient (rc) of >0.996 when values from each laboratory were compared to the assigned values for the 12 WHO QC sera. The 007sp preparation has replaced 89SF as the pneumococcal reference standard. Sufficient quantities of 007sp are projected to be available for the next 25 years.
Just My Style: The Practical, Ethical, and Empirical Dangers of the Lack of Consensus about Definitions of Mediation Styles

This article reviews the importance of research and understanding of mediation styles on quality assurance, ethical practice, and accuracy of research. Three studies are reviewed. One finds that while there are patterns of stylistic practice in mediation, there is no agreement on the definitions for different styles. The second finds that mediators tend to practice in either a directive or a reflective style within a given mediation, rather than using a mix of strategies. The final study highlights how different mediator strategies affect participant satisfaction with the process. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Compression of Medical Images using Improved Kohonen Algorithm

neural networks are largely used in signal processing and images. In particular, Kohonen networks or Self Organizing Maps are unsupervised learning models. This method performs a vector quantization (VQ) on the values obtained after processing. The vector quantization has a potential to give more data compression maintaining the same quality. In this paper we propose new scheme to image compression using Kohonen networks. The main innovation is to use the optimal Kohonen topological map to determine the optimal codebook, which can reduce the storage space, simplify data transfer and accelerate the process of data compression, unlike in classical Kohonen approach. To test our approach, we use the medical images. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Detection of antibodies to human nerve antigens in sera from leprosy patients by ELISA

Anti‐neural antibodies have been implicated to play a role in the pathogenesis of nerve damage in leprosy patients. To find the relationship between anti‐neural antibodies and clinical findings, we attempted to detect antibodies against neurofilament‐enriched proteins by ELISA in sera from leprosy patients. Of 289 sera from leprosy patients, 74(25–6%) had significant anti‐neural antibodies: in contrast, 1 (5–0%) of 20 tuberculosis patients and 11 (7–1%) of 154 controls were seroreactive to nerve antigen. When clinical types were considered, a significant level of anti‐neural IgG antibodies was detectable in 53 (30–1%) of 176 sera from lepromatous patients compared with 21(18–6%) of 113 sera from tuberculoid patients, indicating that lepromatous patients were more likely to be seropositive to nerve antigens in ELISA. Some of the ELISA‐reactive sera showed antibody reactivity with 38‐kD, 40‐kD and 43‐kD nerve antigens in Western blotting analysis. There was no apparent correlation between seroreactivity to nerve antigens and bacterial load in leprosy patients. Although there was no statistical significance, anti‐neural antibodies were detectable more often among the patients on chemotherapy than the untreated and among the patients with erythema nodosum leprosum than without. The results, therefore, suggest that anti‐neural antibodies arc elicited during the course of leprosy and may be associated with the extensiveness of nerve involvement in the patients.
Learning to rank with a Weight Matrix

Learning to rank, a task applying machine learning techniques to rank the expected information of the users, such as movie items users might be interested in. It is useful for collaborative filtering, which is regarded as a hot subfield of computer supported collaborative work(CSCW). In this paper, we propose an algorithm based on RankBoost to rank expected information of the users more accurately. The main advantage of the algorithm against RankBoost is to add a Weight Matrix regularizer to rank the relevance levels of the information smoothly and locally based on graph methods. The experimental results on the public LETOR datasets show that the proposed algorithm performs better than the baseline algorithm, indicating that the method is promising.
Performance of the SLD central drift chamber

We report for the first time on the performance of the SLD central drift chamber (CDC) at SLC, which has been recording data since 1992. The low mass of the chamber and the use of a slow, cool gas help to maximize the drift distance resolution. We describe some of the calibrations and corrections applied to the data, and report on the resolutions achieved thus far. We measure an intrinsic drift resolution of 55-110 /spl mu/m in the region of uniform field. Analysis of the full drift-pulse waveform allows for efficient double-hit resolution of about 1 mm. Momentum resolution is characterized by the formula dp/sub t//p/sub t2/=/spl radic/(0.0050/sup 2/+(0.010/p/sub t/)/sup 2/). Used in conjunction with the SLD CCD-based vertex detector, the CDC permits measurements of impact parameters of di-muon events to the level of 10 /spl mu/m in the r-/spl phi/ plane and 36 /spl mu/m in the r-z plane. Even though the chamber is not optimized for particle identification, a resolution of 6% is achieved in the measurement of dE/dx in wide-angle Bhabha events. <<ETX>>
Modernity and the Emotions: Corporeal Reflections on the (IR)Rational

Taking as its starting point the `irrational passion for dispassionate rationality', so prevalent in Western thought and practice, this paper traces, through the emotions, current debates surrounding the ambivalent nature of modernity as both order and chaos, conformity and transgression. Reason and emotions are not, it is argued, antithetical to one another, rather there is a need to fundamentally rethink existing epistemological models and ontological ways of being and knowing. These issues are traced, on the one hand, through the increasing rationalisation of Western society, the latest expression of which, it is claimed, is a new form of `postemotionalism', and, on the other hand, through the resurgence of more Dionysian values and collective forms of effervescence. The paper concludes with a critical assessment of these contradictory features and the corporeal dilemmas which underpin them, speculating on the `fate' of emotions at the turn of the century in the light of current postmodern theorising.
A quantitative label-free analysis of the extracellular proteome of human supraspinatus tendon reveals damage to the pericellular and elastic fibre niches in torn and aged tissue

Tears of the human supraspinatus tendon are common and often cause painful and debilitating loss of function. Progressive failure of the tendon leading to structural abnormality and tearing is accompanied by numerous cellular and extra-cellular matrix (ECM) changes in the tendon tissue. This proteomics study aimed to compare torn and aged rotator cuff tissue to young and healthy tissue, and provide the first ECM inventory of human supraspinatus tendon generated using label-free quantitative LC-MS/MS. Employing two digestion protocols (trypsin and elastase), we analysed grain-sized tendon supraspinatus biopsies from older patients with torn tendons and from healthy, young controls. Our findings confirm measurable degradation of collagen fibrils and associated proteins in old and torn tendons, suggesting a significant loss of tissue organisation. A particularly marked reduction of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) raises the possibility of using changes in levels of this glycoprotein as a marker of abnormal tissue, as previously suggested in horse models. Surprisingly, and despite using an elastase digestion for validation, elastin was not detected, suggesting that it is not highly abundant in human supraspinatus tendon as previously thought. Finally, we identified marked changes to the elastic fibre, fibrillin-rich niche and the pericellular matrix. Further investigation of these regions may yield other potential biomarkers and help to explain detrimental cellular processes associated with tendon ageing and tendinopathy.
User-sensitive text summarization: application to the medical domain

In this thesis, we present a user-sensitive approach to text summarization. One domain which would highly benefit front tailoring summaries to both individual and class-based user characteristics is the medical domain, where physicians and patients access similar information, each with their own needs and abilities. Our framework is a medical digital library for physicians and patients. We describe a summarizer, which generates summaries of findings in an input set of clinical studies. When a physician is treating a specific patient, he's looking for information relevant to the patient's history and problems. The summarizer takes the user's interests into account and presents only the findings pertaining to a user model, as approximated by an existing patient record. The same synthesis of information can also be of interest to the patient. The summarizer predicts which medical terms used in a text will be too technical for patients, and augments it, with appropriate definitions when necessary. We adopt a generation-like architecture for our summarizer. However, because our input is textual and not semantic, new challenges arise. We operate over a content representation hybrid between full-semantic and extracted phrases. Our content organization strategy is dynamic and data-driven. This is in contrast to most summarizers which use no explicit strategies to order information extracted from several input documents. The result is more readable, coherent output. To generate the actual summary, the summarizer makes use of aggregation and phrasal generation. The result is a concise and fluent summary. One key challenge when it comes to adapting a text for a different audience is identifying the bottleneck for reader comprehension. We analyzed corpora of technical and lay medical texts and qualified differences. We identified the presence of difficult vocabulary as the major obstacle to comprehension for lay readers. We designed an unsupervised method to predict which terms are incomprehensible for lay readers and provide the user with appropriate definitions. Our methods are grounded on corpus analyses and feasibility studies conducted with physicians and consumers of health information. To assess the value of our work, we evaluated our summarizer both intrinsically and extrinsically. Our task-based evaluation conducted with physicians at the ICU demonstrates that personalized summaries help physicians access relevant information better than generic summaries. Evaluation with lay readers shows that our method to augment technical medical texts improves readers' comprehension significantly.