Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic characteristics of different carbohydrate-deficient transferrin methods in the detection of problem drinking: effects of liver disease and alcohol consumption.

AIMS Due to methodological heterogeneity, conflicting views have been expressed on the validity of CDT measurements in the detection of alcohol misuse. METHODS We compared the characteristics of the conventional CDTect method and the Axis turbidimetric CDT assays in the assessment of 62 alcoholics, who were either with (n = 33) or without (n = 29) liver disease, as analysed by combined clinical, laboratory, and morphological indices. Controls were 45 healthy volunteers who were either social drinkers or abstainers. RESULTS In the total sample of alcoholics, the sensitivity of the %CDT method, which excludes the trisialotransferrin isoform from the measurement, was 63% for men and 46% for women, as compared to 65% and 36% of CDTect, respectively. Both of these methods showed higher sensitivities than the %CDT-TIA method, which reacts with trisialotransferrin (32% and 25%, respectively). The assay specificities were 100% for men and 91% for women with %CDT, and 96% and 87% with the CDTect, respectively. The correlation between the CDTect and %CDT method was higher in men (r = 0.86) than in women (r = 0.57). The presence of liver disease was found to influence the results of the CDTect method, such that the highest CDT concentrations were observed in patients with mild to moderate liver disease, especially among women, whereas the %CDT method was less sensitive to the effect of liver pathology. The self-reported alcohol consumption from the 4 weeks prior to sampling showed a higher correlation between the %CDT results (r = 0.64, P < 0.0001) than with the CDTect results (r = 0.40; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The data indicate that the new %CDT method offers advantages over the previous versions of the CDT methods. The improved characteristics may be most useful in assays for excessive alcohol consumption in female alcoholics, patients with liver disease, and in patients with abnormal serum transferrin concentrations.
Interactive Deformation Using Modal Analysis with Constraints

Modal analysis provides a powerful tool for efﬁciently simulating the behavior of deformable objects. This paper shows how manipulation, collision, and other constraints may be implemented easily within a modal framework. Results are presented for several example simulations. These results demonstrate that for many applications the errors introduced by linearization are acceptable, and that the resulting simulations are fast and stable even for complex objects and stiff materials.
Mouse Movement Biometric System

The purpose of this research is to identify and implement mouse features, which can be used as part of a user biometric authentication system. This paper explores mouse features that can be obtained from different user actions in a computer, expanding the context from earlier works on Mouse Biometric that focused on fixed patterns. The mouse features were classified in six different categories, and each category was further explored. A total of 217 features were defined and implemented to analyze user traits. A system was developed to extract information generated by Pace Data Capture system (online), and generates a CSV file-containing mouse features obtained from these data. Results can be used as inputs to a data authentication system (classifier) and this will form a strong biometric system.
A point-and-shoot color 3D camera

Recently, various technologies have become available for scanning real-world objects, enabling rapid and accurate shape acquisition. In most cases, such solutions have high cost, lack portability and require a considerable amount of user intervention. We present a lightweight, point-and-shoot 3D camera, intended for reconstruction of smooth surfaces. Our approach extracts 3D shape from a single image and is completely automatic. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by capturing the shapes of several objects and human faces.
Development of Millimeter-Wave Planar Diplexers Based on Complementary Characters of Dual-Mode Substrate Integrated Waveguide Filters With Circular and Elliptic Cavities

A novel high-performance millimeter-wave planar diplexer is developed based on the complementary characters of substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) dual-mode filters with circular and elliptic cavities by making the tradeoff between the isolation, insertion loss, and selectivity. The responses of the dual-mode SIW circular and elliptic cavities are first investigated. It can be found that the upper side response of the circular cavity and the lower side response of the elliptic cavity are very steep. The diplexers with high isolation performance are then designed based on the complementary response characters of circular and elliptic cavities. A diplexer with two dual-mode SIW circular and elliptic cavities is designed and fabricated with a normal printed circuit board process. The measured insertion losses are 1.95 and 2.09 dB in the upper and lower passbands centered at 26 and 25 GHz with the fractional bandwidths of 5.2% and 5.4%. The isolation is lower than - 50dB
Is it Accidental or Intentional? A Symbolic Approach to the Noisy Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma

AbstractThe following sections are included:IntroductionMotivation and ApproachIterated Prisoner's Dilemma with NoiseStrategies, Policies, and Hypothesized PoliciesDerived Belief StrategyLearning Hypothesized Policies in Noisy EnvironmentsLearning by Discounted FrequenciesDeficiencies of Discounted Frequencies in Noisy EnvironmentsIdentifying Deterministic Rules Using InductionSymbolic Noise Detection and Temporary ToleranceCoping with Ignorance of the Other Player's New BehaviorThe Move Generator in DBSCompetition ResultsOverall Average ScoresDBS versus the Master-and-Slaves StrategiesA comparison between DBSz, TFT, and TFTTRelated WorkSummary and Future WorkAcknowledgmentReferences
Problem-solving Strategies for Writing . Linda Flower. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich Inc., 1981. Pp. xiii + 210.

Newell, A. , & Simon, H. A. Human problem solving. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1972. Nystrand, M. (Ed.). What writers know: The language, process, and structure of written discourse. New York: Academic, 1981. Whiteman, M. F. (Ed.). Writing: The nature, development, and teaching of written communication. Vol. I: Variation in writing: Functional and linguistic-cultural differences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1981. Wilkes-Gibbs, D. , & Black, J. B. Review of Gregg & Steinberg's Cognitive processes in writing. Applied Psycholinguistics, 1981, 2, 289-294.
A Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism in Serine-Threonine Kinase 11, the Gene Encoding Liver Kinase B1, Is a Risk Factor for Multiple Sclerosis

We identified a family in which five siblings were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) or clinically isolated syndrome. Several women in the maternal lineage have comorbidities typically associated with Peutz Jeghers Syndrome, a rare autosomal-dominant disease caused by mutations in the serine-threonine-kinase 11 (STK11) gene, which encodes liver kinase B1. Sequence analysis of DNA from one sibling identified a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within STK11 intron 5. This SNP (dbSNP ID: rs9282860) was identified by TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays in DNA samples available from two other siblings. Further screening was carried out in samples from 654 relapsing-remitting MS patients, 100 primary progressive MS patients, and 661 controls. The STK11-SNP has increased frequency in all female patients versus controls (odds ratio = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.05, 2.64, p = .032). The STK11-SNP was not associated with disease duration or onset; however, it was significantly associated with reduced severity (assessed by MS severity scores), with the lowest scores in patients who also harbored the HLA-DRB1*1501 allele. In vitro studies showed that peripheral blood mononuclear cells from members of the family were more sensitive to the mitochondrial inhibitor metformin than cells from MS patients with the major STK11 allele. The increased association of SNP rs9282860 in women with MS defines this variant as a genetic risk factor. The lower disease severity observed in the context of HLA-DRB1*1501 combined with limited in vitro studies raises the provocative possibility that cells harboring the STK11-SNP could be targeted by drugs which increase metabolic stress.
Advantages and Drawbacks of Smartphones and Tablets for Visually Impaired People - - Analysis of ICT User Survey Results - -

A survey was conducted on the use of ICT by visually impaired people. Among 304 respondents, 81 used smartphones and 44, tablets. Blind people used feature phones at a higher rate and smartphones and tablets at lower rates than people with low vision. The most popular smartphone model was iPhone and the most popular tablet model was iPad. While almost all blind users used the speech output accessibility feature and only a few of them used visual features, low vision users used both visual features such as Zoom, Large text, and Invert colors and speech output at high rates both on smartphones and tablets. The most popular text entry methods were different between smartphones and tablets. For smartphones flick and numeric keypad input were popular among low vision users while voice input was the most popular among blind users. For tablets a software QWERTY keyboard was the most popular among both blind and low vision users. The advantages of smartphones were access to geographical information, quick Web browsing, voice input, and extensibility for both blind and low vision users, object recognition for blind users, and readability for low vision users. Tablets also work as a vision aid for people with low vision. The drawbacks of smartphones and tablets were text entry and touch operation difficulties and inaccessible apps for both blind and low vision users, problems in speech output for blind users, and problems in readability for low vision users. Researchers and makers of operating systems (OS) and apps should assume responsibility for solving these problems. key words: visually impaired people, smartphones, tablets, touch interface, user survey
Peptide-equipped tobacco mosaic virus templates for selective and controllable biomineral deposition

The coating of regular-shaped, readily available nanorod biotemplates with inorganic compounds has attracted increasing interest during recent years. The goal is an effective, bioinspired fabrication of fiber-reinforced composites and robust, miniaturized technical devices. Major challenges in the synthesis of applicable mineralized nanorods lie in selectivity and adjustability of the inorganic material deposited on the biological, rod-shaped backbones, with respect to thickness and surface profile of the resulting coating, as well as the avoidance of aggregation into extended superstructures. Nanotubular tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) templates have proved particularly suitable towards this goal: Their multivalent protein coating can be modified by high-surface-density conjugation of peptides, inducing and governing silica deposition from precursor solutions in vitro. In this study, TMV has been equipped with mineralization-directing peptides designed to yield silica coatings in a reliable and predictable manner via precipitation from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) precursors. Three peptide groups were compared regarding their influence on silica polymerization: (i) two peptide variants with alternating basic and acidic residues, i.e. lysine–aspartic acid (KD)x motifs expected to act as charge-relay systems promoting TEOS hydrolysis and silica polymerization; (ii) a tetrahistidine-exposing polypeptide (CA4H4) known to induce silicification due to the positive charge of its clustered imidazole side chains; and (iii) two peptides with high ZnO binding affinity. Differential effects on the mineralization of the TMV surface were demonstrated, where a (KD)x charge-relay peptide (designed in this study) led to the most reproducible and selective silica deposition. A homogenous coating of the biotemplate and tight control of shell thickness were achieved.
Learning motivation and performance excellence in adolescents with high intellectual potential: what really matters?

In the development of performance excellence, the relative roles played by intellectual ability and motivation remain speculative. This study investigates the role played by general intelligence, school environment, self‐efficacy, and aspects of personal identity in the formation of learning motivation in German students attending the Gymnasium schools. Using self‐reports of academic achievement and scores on a shortened version of the Berlin intelligence structure test for adolescence to differentiate students as achievers or underachievers, ninth‐grade students were administered a battery of self‐report instruments, designed to measure learning motivation, school environment, self‐efficacy, and personal identity. After the posited factor structure was confirmed, factor scores were computed and then used as data in hierarchical regression analyses using learning motivation as the criterion variable. The results showed that the greatest predictors of learning motivation were variables related to personal identity‐style, rather than general intelligence, supporting the hypothesis that learning motivation is a moderator variable of intellectual achievement for students with intellectual giftedness, rather than an inherent component of giftedness.
UAV path planning for maximum visibility of ground targets in an urban area

Multiple moving targets in an urban area are to be tracked simultaneously by unmanned aerial vehicles. It is assumed that the moving targets try to avoid the camera field of view of the aircraft by changing their velocities and/or hiding behind buildings. The number of aircraft is much smaller than the number of targets, in general. In order to track as many targets as possible, firstly the targets are grouped into a number of subgroups by maximising the modularity, which is solved efficiently by the power iteration. Secondly, circular optimal paths are assigned to maximise the visibility of the area, given shapes and locations of the ground obstacles, where the computational complexity is reduced using a novel random sampling method. Finally, the aircraft transition paths from the current positions to the desired path are obtained by solving a discrete minimum weighted path length problem.
Holonic manufacturing scheduling: architecture, cooperation mechanism, and implementation

Summary form only given. A holonic manufacturing system (HMS) is a manufacturing system where the key elements, such as machines, cells, factories, parts, products, persons, teams, etc., have autonomous and cooperative properties. These elements are called "holons". In an HMS, each holon's activities are determined through cooperation with other holons. In this paper, holonic scheduling is developed for a factory consisting of multiple cells. The cooperation mechanisms among holons are established based on the Lagrangian relaxation technique of mathematical optimization. Through a novel modeling of the interactions among cells and a decomposition-coordination solution method, cooperation across cells is performed without intruding individual cells' private information and decision autonomy. The embedded route selection mechanism also balances the load among candidate cells. The clear delineation of information, responsibilities, and interfaces of individual holons and the object-oriented implementation makes the system extendible to more complicated manufacturing settings.
Specific Grb2-mediated Interactions Regulate Clathrin-dependent Endocytosis of the cMet-tyrosine Kinase*

Lysosomal degradation of the receptor-tyrosine kinase cMet requires receptor ubiquitination by the E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl followed by clathrin-dependent internalization. A role for Cbl as an adaptor for cMet internalization has been previously reported. However, the requirement for Cbl ubiquitin ligase activity in this process and its mode of recruitment to cMet has yet to be determined. Cbl can directly bind cMet at phosphotyrosine 1003 or indirectly via Grb2 to phosphotyrosine 1356 in the multisubstrate binding domain of cMet. The direct binding of Cbl with cMet is critical for receptor degradation and not receptor internalization. Here we show a strict requirement for Grb2 and the ubiquitin ligase activity of Cbl for cMet endocytosis. Receptor internalization was impaired by small interfering RNA depletion of Grb2, overexpression of dominant negative Grb2 mutants, and point mutations in the cMet multisubstrate docking site that inhibits the direct association of Grb2 with cMet. The requirement for Grb2 was specific and did not involve the multiadaptor Gab1. cMet internalization was impaired in cells expressing an ubiquitin ligase-deficient Cbl mutant or conjugation-deficient ubiquitin but was unaffected in cells expressing a Cbl mutant that is unable to bind cMet directly. Expression of a Cbl-Grb2 chimera rescued impaired cMet endocytosis in cells depleted of endogenous Grb2. These results indicate that the ubiquitin ligase activity of Cbl is critical for clathrin-dependent cMet internalization and suggest a role for Grb2 as an intermediary linking Cbl ubiquitin ligase activity to this process.
Genetic variants in microRNA genes: impact on microRNA expression, function, and disease

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression and like any other gene, their coding sequences are subject to genetic variation. Variants in miRNA genes can have profound effects on miRNA functionality at all levels, including miRNA transcription, maturation, and target specificity, and as such they can also contribute to disease. The impact of variants in miRNA genes is the focus of the present review. To put these effects into context, we first discuss the requirements of miRNA transcripts for maturation. In the last part an overview of available databases and tools and experimental approaches to investigate miRNA variants related to human disease is presented.
Robust controller design for DC-DC converters using fuzzy logic

DC-DC converters in DC system are equally important as that of transformers in AC system. Applications of DC-DC converters include integration of renewable sources, power supplies, controlled electric drives etc. Digital design of fuzzy logic controller (FLC) based robust controller for DC-DC converter is presented in this research paper. The FLC shows good performance where linear control techniques are unable to produce desired result. The power electronic converters suffer from non-linearity and therefore conventional linear controllers don't provide desired response. The proposed FLC is inspected for practical operating conditions of DC-DC converters such as load changes, input voltage variations etc. A comparative simulation result is produced for practical operating conditions which shows superiority and robustness of controller. The proposed digital design of FLC can be implemented on DSP for generating switching duty cycle for converters.
Personnel Selection Procedures and Invasion of Privacy

We conducted two studies on the perceived invasiveness of 12 personnel selection procedures. In Study 1, indirect scaling methods were used to examine the degree to which 84 employed adults in the United States perceived such procedures to be invasive of privacy. Results showed the application blank was the least invasive of privacy and the lie detector was the most invasive of privacy. In Study 2, data from 149 (mostly employed) adults in the Northeast were used to assess relationships between invasiveness and several hypothesized antecedents. Correlation analyses showed that invasiveness was predicted by several factors (e.g., the extent to which the procedures erroneously discredited job applicants). Implications for personnel selection practices in work organizations are considered.
Zeta Hull Pursuits: Learning Nonconvex Data Hulls

Selecting a small informative subset from a given dataset, also called column sampling, has drawn much attention in machine learning. For incorporating structured data information into column sampling, research efforts were devoted to the cases where data points are fitted with clusters, simplices, or general convex hulls. This paper aims to study nonconvex hull learning which has rarely been investigated in the literature. In order to learn data-adaptive nonconvex hulls, a novel approach is proposed based on a graph-theoretic measure that leverages graph cycles to characterize the structural complexities of input data points. Employing this measure, we present a greedy algorithmic framework, dubbed Zeta Hulls, to perform structured column sampling. The process of pursuing a Zeta hull involves the computation of matrix inverse. To accelerate the matrix inversion computation and reduce its space complexity as well, we exploit a low-rank approximation to the graph adjacency matrix by using an efficient anchor graph technique. Extensive experimental results show that data representation learned by Zeta Hulls can achieve state-of-the-art accuracy in text and image classification tasks.
The Culture-Transmission Motive in Minorities: An Online Survey of Adolescents and Young Adults with an Immigrant Background in Germany

Central assumptions of a theory of cultural transmission in minorities proposed by the authors were tested in an online survey of adolescents and young adults with Russian and Turkish immigrant background in Germany (). The results support most hypotheses. In particular, evidence was obtained for the existence of the culture-transmission motive postulated by the theory: the appreciation of the culture of origin and the desire to maintain it and pass it on to the next generation. In addition, evidence was obtained for the anchoring of the culture-transmission motive in more basic motives, its relative stability, and its motivating function for pedagogical activities and wishes regarding cultural transmission, including the wish for culture-specific education in public schools.
An emotional adaption approach to increase helpfulness towards a robot

This paper describes a new methodological approach and robot system to trigger more prosocial human reactions towards a robot by transferring social-psychological principles from human-human interaction to human-robot interaction (HRI). The main idea is to trigger increased helpfulness by proactively creating similarity through dynamic emotional adaption of the robot to the mood of the human. This is achieved in an explicit and implicit way: Explicitly, by a similarity-statement of the robot of being in the same mood as the user, and implicitly by controlling the affective parameters of facial and verbal expressions of a robot head in an interaction scenario such that the current values of the human mood in the dimensions of pleasure, arousal, and dominance (PAD) are matched. In a first step, this is accomplished by an initial self-assessment by the human participant to be extended by automatic emotion recognition modules in a later stage. The effectiveness of the approach is confirmed by significant experimental results.