Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Shamanism in Cross-Cultural Perspective

This article reviews the origins of the concept of the shaman and the principal sources of controversy regarding the existence and nature of shamanism. Confusion regarding the nature of shamanism is clarified with a review of research providing empirical support for a cross-cultural concept of shamans that distinguishes them from related shamanistic healers. The common shamanistic universals involving altered states of consciousness are examined from psychobiological perspectives to illustrate shamanism’s relationships to human nature. Common biological aspects of altered states of consciousness help explain the origins of shamanism while social influences on this aspect of human nature help to explain the diverse manifestations of shamanistic phenomena involving an elicitation of endogenous healing responses.
Sex ratio and mate preferences: a cross‐cultural investigation

Sex ratio is the number of men per 100 reproductive-age women within a specified mating pool. We generated and tested two hypotheses about the cross-cultural relationships between sex ratio and mate preferences using preference ratings of 18 characteristics provided by 9809 participants and corresponding sex ratio data secured from an international organization. The Classical Sex Ratio Mate Preference Shifts Hypothesis predicts that in imbalanced sex ratio societies, the more numerous sex will lower their standards, to facilitate acquisition of a partner of the less numerous sex. The Alternative Sex Ratio Mate Preference Shifts Hypothesis predicts that in lower sex ratio societies, men will lower their standards to secure more short-term matings, whereas women will raise their standards to avoid deception by men seeking short-term relationships. Results supported the Classical Sex Ratio Mate Preference Shifts Hypothesis for men, and the Alternative Sex Ratio Mate Preference Shifts Hypothesis for women. Discussion addresses limitations of the current research and highlights future directions for research on the relationships between sex ratio and mating psychology and behavior. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A closer look at keyboard acoustic emanations: random passwords, typing styles and decoding techniques

We take a closer look at keyboard acoustic emanations specifically for the purpose of eavesdropping over random passwords. In this scenario, dictionary and HMM language models are not applicable; the attacker can only utilize the raw acoustic information which has been recorded. We investigate several existing signal processing techniques for our purpose, and introduce a novel technique -- time-frequency decoding -- that improves the detection accuracy compared to previous techniques. We also carefully examine the effect of typing style -- a crucial variable largely ignored by prior research -- on the detection accuracy. Our results show that using the same typing style (hunt and peck) for both training and decoding the data, the best case success rate for detecting correctly the typed key is 64% per character. The results also show that changing the typing style, to touch typing, during the decoding stage reduces the success rate, but using the time-frequency technique, we can still achieve a success rate of around 40% per character. Our work takes the keyboard acoustic attack one step further, bringing it closer to a full-fledged vulnerability under realistic scenarios (different typing styles and random passwords). Our results suggest that while the performance of these attacks degrades under such conditions, it is still possible, utilizing the time-frequency technique, to considerably reduce the exhaustive search complexity of retrieving a random password.
Rapid In vitro Callogenesis and Phytochemical Screening of Leaf and Leaf Callus of Ionidium suffruticosum, Ging.-A Seasonal Mulitpotent Medicinal Herb

Protocol for rapid Callogenesis in Ionidium suffruticosum, Ging. has been standardized using leaf explant. Ionidium suffruticosum (Violaceae) is a seasonal, sporadic rare ethnobotanical herb used by traditional healers to treat several diseases. In order to formulate the micropropagation strategies of this plant, its various parts were used as explants for Callogenesis. Among the explants, the rapid callogenesis and proliferation was obtained from leaf explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2, 4-D (0.5 mg/L to 1.0mg/L). The callus possessed a very high regenerative potential was referred as 'stock callus'. Different hormonal combinations often caused the transformation of the calli from soft crystalloid and translucent to compact, hard, yellowish and greenish forms. The phytochemical investigations showed that alkaloids, steroids and carbohydrates present in leaf (in vivo) and the same metabolites were also observed in leaf callus (in vitro).
Enabling constant-time interface method dispatch in embedded Java processors

This paper describes an approach that enables the fast constant-time and memory-efficient runtime handling of interface data types as found in several object-oriented programming languages like Java. It extends an idea presented by League et al. [22] to attach an itable to a class object to obtain an interface object. A practical implementation of this approach based on an automated rather than a manual type conversion is presented. Its practibility in the context of Java is evaluated by an adaptation in the SableVM [15]. Several measures for its improvement have been derived and implemented. The adoption of the resulting technique for the implementation of interface method dispatches within SHAP [26, 32], a small-footprint embedded implementation of a Java bytecode processor, is described. This realization currently also contains a tradeoff compromising some generality of the support for interface typecasts while it ensures both a small memory demand as well as a fast constant-time interface method dispatch. The loss of generality is shown to be a minimal practical impact under the measures taken before.
Formulation of Fast-Release Gastroretentive Solid Dispersion of Glibenclamide with Gelucire 50/13

Purpose: Fast-release gastroretentive solid dispersions of glibenclamide using gelucire were prepared to achieve improved bioavailability. Methods: Hot melt granulation technique was adopted to prepare solid dispersions (SDs) of glibenclamide in gelucire 50/13 and were compared with pure glibenclamide and physical mixtures of drug and gelucire using hot stage polarized microscopy, powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy FTIR, bouyancy as well as by in vitro release and in vivo studies. Further aging studies were carried out for the samples. Results: PXRD showed that glibenclamide was present in SD in an amorphous form while FTIR spectroscopy revealed the presence of hydrogen bonding in the SDs. In vitro buoyancy was found for 11 h and there was improvement in solubility and dissolution rate for all test formulations. Formulations were found to follow Zero order kinetic. During aging study, no decrease of in vitro drug dissolution was observed over 3-month period. Crystallinity in the SDs was observed following aging. A more pronounced lowering of blood glucose level in Wistar rats compared with the pure drug, suggests that the test formulations are superior. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the high potential of hot melt technique for obtaining stable fast release gastroretentive solid dispersions of poorly water soluble drug using polyglycolized glycerides as carriers.
Lipopolysaccharide binding proteins on polymorphonuclear leukocytes: comparison of adult and neonatal cells

We have previously shown that polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from cord blood of normal full-term infants have a decreased priming response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) compared with PMN of adults. Because the reason for this difference is poorly understood, we compared LPS binding on PMN from adults and newborns by using a photoactivatable iodinated LPS (from Escherichia coli O111:B4), coupled to 2-(p-azidosalicylamido)-1,3'-dithopropionate (LPS-ASD) to covalently link LPS to the PMN membrane. We incubated 2 x 10(4) adult or neonatal PMN with 125I-ASD-LPS (100 ng/ml) together with unlabelled LPS (0 to 100,000 ng/ml) for 20 min at 4 degrees C. The maximum total 125I-ASD-LPS binding to newborn PMN (1,004 +/- 103 cpm) was lower than that binding to adult PMN (3,583 +/- 444 cpm; P < 0.01 with respect to newborn PMN). However, the concentration of unlabelled LPS that displaced 50% of the maximum specifically bound 125I-ASD-LPS was similar for PMN from adult and newborn infants (-4.85 +/- 0.04 and -5.13 +/- 0.14 log g of LPS per ml, respectively; P > 0.05). We further assessed the membrane binding of 125I-ASD-LPS to PMN by using membrane extracts analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. LPS binding proteins were found at approximately 73, 55 to 57, and 25 kDa in both adult and neonatal PMN. However, PMN from newborn infants had markedly lower membrane-associated 125I-ASD-LPS at the 55- to 57- and 25-kDa protein bands as indicated by the intensity of the autoradiograph. Binding of LPS at these bands was specific for the lipid A portion of LPS, since purified unlabelled lipid A displaced 125I-ASD-LPS in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, PMN from newborn infants bind less LPS than do PMN from adults, even though the sites for LPS membrane binding appear to be the same.
Learning to rank with multi-aspect relevance for vertical search

Many vertical search tasks such as local search focus on specific domains. The meaning of relevance in these verticals is domain-specific and usually consists of multiple well-defined aspects (e.g., text matching and distance in local search). Thus the overall relevance between a query and a document is a tradeoff between multiple relevance aspects. Such a tradeoff can vary for different types of queries or in different contexts. In this paper, we explore these vertical-specific aspects in the learning to rank setting. We propose a novel formulation in which the relevance between a query and a document is assessed with respect to each aspect, forming the multi-aspect relevance. In order to compute a ranking function, we study two types of learning-based approaches to estimate the tradeoff between these relevance aspects: a label aggregation method and a model aggregation method. Since there are only a few aspects, a minimal amount of training data is needed to learn the tradeoff. We conduct both offline and online test experiments on a local search engine and the experimental results show that our proposed multi-aspect relevance formulation is very promising. The two types of aggregation methods perform more effectively than a set of baseline methods including a conventional learning to rank method.
Predicting job completion times using system logs in supercomputing clusters

Most large systems such as HPC/cloud computing clusters and data centers are built from commercial off-the-shelf components. System logs are usually the main source of choice to gain insights into the system issues. Therefore, mining logs to diagnose anomalies has been an active research area. Due to the lack of organization and semantic consistency in commodity PC clusters' logs, what constitutes a fault or an error is subjective and thus building an automatic failure prediction model from log messages is hard. In this paper we sidestep the difficulty by asking a different question: Given the concomitant system log messages of a running job, can we predict the job's remaining time? We adopt Hidden Markov Model (HMM) coupled with frequency analysis to achieve this. Our HMM approach can predict 75% of jobs' remaining times with an error of less than 200 seconds.
Un)attractor black holes in higher derivative AdS gravity

We investigate five-dimensional static (non-)extremal black hole solutions in higher derivative Anti-de Sitter gravity theories with neutral scalars non-minimally coupled to gauge fields. We explicitly identify the boundary counterterms to regularize the gravi- tational action and the stress tensor. We illustrate these results by applying the method of holographic renormalization to computing thermodynamical properties in several con- crete examples. We also construct numerical extremal black hole solutions and discuss the attractor mechanism by using the entropy function formalism.
Genetic algorithm‐based scheduling in cognitive radio networks under interference temperature constraints

The proliferation of wireless technologies and services has intensified the demand for the radio spectrum. However, the currently existing fixed spectrum assignment policy leads to an inefficient and unevenly distributed spectrum utilization. Cognitive radio paradigm has been proposed to alleviate these drawbacks by employing dynamic spectrum access (DSA) methodology. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed the interference temperature model, which enables the unlicensed users to utilize the licensed frequencies simultaneously with the licensed users as long as they conform to the interference temperature constraints. Recently, throughput and delay optimal schedulers that meet the interference temperature constraints in cognitive radio networks have been formulated in the literature. However, these schedulers have high computational complexity. In this paper, we propose genetic algorithm (GA)‐based suboptimal methods addressing these throughput and delay optimal scheduling problems. The simulation results corroborate that our GA‐based approach yields very close performance to the optimal solutions and operates with much lower complexity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Transmitting Important Bits and Sailing High Radio Waves: A Decentralized Cross-Layer Approach to Cooperative Video Transmission

We investigate the impact of cooperative relaying on uplink multi-user (MU) wireless video transmissions. We analyze and simplify a MU Markov decision process (MDP), whose objective is to maximize the long-term sum of utilities across the video terminals in a decentralized fashion, by jointly optimizing the packet scheduling and physical layer, under the assumption that some nodes are willing to act as cooperative relays. The resulting MU-MDP is a pricing-based distributed resource allocation algorithm, where the price reflects the expected future congestion in the network. Compared to a non-cooperative setting, we observe that the resource price increases in networks supporting low transmission rates and decreases for high transmission rates. Additionally, cooperation allows users with feeble direct signals to significantly improve their video quality, with a moderate increase in total network energy consumption that is far less than the energy these nodes would require to achieve the same video quality without cooperation.
Comparing MapReduce and Pipeline Implementations for Counting Triangles

A generalized method to define the Divide & Conquer paradigm in order to have processors acting on its own data and scheduled in a parallel fashion. MapReduce is a programming model that follows this paradigm, and allows for the definition of efficient solutions by both decomposing a problem into steps on subsets of the input data and combining the results of each step to produce final results. Albeit used for the implementation of a wide variety of computational problems, MapReduce performance can be negatively affected whenever the replication factor grows or the size of the input is larger than the resources available at each processor. In this paper we show an alternative approach to implement the Divide & Conquer paradigm, named pipeline. The main features of pipeline are illustrated on a parallel implementation of the well-known problem of counting triangles in a graph. This problem is especially interesting either when the input graph does not fit in memory or is dynamically generated. To evaluate the properties of pipeline, a dynamic pipeline of processes and an ad-hoc version of MapReduce are implemented in the language Go, exploiting its ability to deal with channels and spawned processes. An empirical evaluation is conducted on graphs of different sizes and densities. Observed results suggest that pipeline allows for the implementation of an efficient solution of the problem of counting triangles in a graph, particularly, in dense and large graphs, drastically reducing the execution time with respect to the MapReduce implementation.
Patient-Rated Outcome Assessment With the German Version of the Outcome Questionnaire 45 in People With Severe Mental Illness

Abstract. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and psychometric properties of the German version of the Outcome Questionnaire (Ergebnisfragebogen; EB-45) in people with severe mental illness (N = 294). Reliability and sensitivity to change were assessed. Convergent validity was examined through correlations with the measures Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS-D) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), and predictive validity through correlation with length of inpatient stay. The EB-45 showed good reliability and sensitivity to change, as well as good internal consistency for the total score and the subscale “symptom distress. ” The EB-45 was found to be acceptable and feasible for use within inpatient psychiatric settings. Also predictive validity was good. However, psychometric properties of the subscales “interpersonal relations” and “social role” were equivocal. Thus, interpreting subscale scores only is not advisable. Also low convergent validity is a concern. Taken toget.
University of Groningen Population genetics of plaice (pleuronectes platessa L.) in Northern Europe Hoarau,

We used Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) of mtDNA control region to assess the population structure of the flatfish Pleuronectes platessa (plaice), to compare these data with a previous study based on microsatellite loci, and to test for possible sex-biased dispersal. From 461 individuals, 163 haplotypes were identified across 11 locations. Diversity was higher with mtDNA (h =0.776 to 0.981; π = 0.0178 to 0.0298) as compared to microsatellite loci using the same samples (He = 0.721 to 0.77). Genetic diversity was lower in samples from Iceland and Faroe, as compared to the continental shelf samples. Although both classes of markers revealed a relatively strong differentiation between shelf and off-shelf populations (θ = 0.1015 and θ = 0.0351, respectively), only the mtDNA data was able to detect differentiation within the continental shelf, i.e., a North Sea-Irish Sea group which was weakly distinguishable from Norway (θ = 0.0046), the Baltic (θ = 0.0136) and the Bay of Biscay (θ = 0.0162). No evidence was obtained for isolation by distance, nor for sex-biased dispersal.This study demonstrates the importance of using more than one class of markers, especially for species like plaice, with large populations, high dispersal and recent colonization histories.
Effects of an Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention on Improving Work Engagement and Other Work-Related Outcomes: An Analysis of Secondary Outcomes of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: This study reported a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of an Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) program on work engagement and secondary work-related outcomes. Methods: Participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated to an intervention or a control group (N = 381 for each). A 6-week, 6-lesson iCBT program using a Manga (Japanese comic) story was provided only to the intervention group. Work engagement was assessed at baseline and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups for both groups. Results: The iCBT program showed a significant intervention effect on work engagement (P = 0.04) with small effect sizes (Cohen's d = 0.16 at 6-month follow-up). Conclusions: The study showed computerized cognitive behavior therapy delivered via the Internet to be effective (with a small effect size) in increasing work engagement in the general working population. Trial Registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) UMIN000006210.
IEC 61850 Communication Networks and Systems In Substations: An Overview for Users

1. Abstract Over the last decade, the “digitization” of the electron enterprise has grown at exponential rates. Utility, industrial, commercial, and even residential consumers are transforming all aspects of their lives into the digital domain. Moving forward, it is expected that every piece of equipment, every receptacle, every switch, and even every light bulb will possess some type of setting, monitoring and/or control. In order to be able to manage the large number of devices and to enable the various devices to communicate with one another, a new communication model was needed. That model has been developed and standardized as IEC 61850 – Communication Networks and Systems in Substations [1]. This paper looks at the needs of next generation communication systems and provides an overview of the IEC 61850 protocol and how it meets these needs.
BAYES PARAMETER IDENTIFICATION WITH REFERENCE TO NONLINEAR OPTIMAL CONTROL

Abstract This paper deals with the task of parameter identification using the Bayes estimation method, which makes it possible to take into account the differing consequences of positive and negative estimation errors. The calculation procedures are based on the kernel estimators technique. The final result constitutes a complete algorithm usable for specifying the value of the Bayes estimator on the basis of an experimentally obtained random sample. An elaborated method is provided for numerical computations. In particular, an exemplary application to a random time-optimal control for nonlinear mechanical systems is described.
Self-calibration and evaluation of the Trimble GX terrestrial laser scanner

There are numerous imaging modalities for reconstructing 3D object space on the market. Among all the varieties, which include 3D TOF range cameras, structured light systems, and traditional photogrammetric systems, terrestrial laser scanners have gained the most attention and demand from the surveying and engineering discipline. This is probably because of the large field of view and rapid dense data acquisition offered by most modern terrestrial laser scanners. As terrestrial laser scanning is gaining popularity, it is faced with new challenging tasks that demand higher accuracy such as deformation monitoring and other precise engineering applications. To ensure the highest quality point cloud is captured, quality assurance techniques that can be self-deployed before every accuracy demanding application are necessary. The laboratory calibration offered by the manufacturer requires the scanner to be shipped away for weeks, which is too time consuming and expensive to be done frequently. The preferred approach is through a user self-calibration routine. This paper presents the results from two point-based self-calibration campaigns of the Trimble GX, which is Trimble’s latest pulse-based hybrid type terrestrial laser scanner on the market. * Corresponding author.
Psychological Treatment of Chronic Auditory Hallucinations: Two Case Studies

Two cases involving the cognitive-behavioural treatment of hallucinations are described. In both cases, a focusing strategy was used with a view to enabling patients to reattribute the nature and meaning of their experiences. One patient showed a marked reduction in the frequency and content of his voices. The second patient showed little change. The implications of observations made during therapy for the future development of cognitive-behavioural strategies for use with psychotic patients are discussed.