Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Cross-Validation of Two Differing Measures of Hypnotic Depth

Abstract Several sets of regression analyses were completed, attempting to predict 2 measures of hypnotic depth: the self-reported hypnotic depth score and hypnoidal state score from variables of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory: Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI–HAP). When attempting to predict self-reported hypnotic depth, an R of . 78 with Study 1 participants shrank to an r of . 72 with Study 2 participants, suggesting mild shrinkage for this more attributional measure of hypnotic depth. Attempting to predict hypnoidal state (an estimate of trance) using the same procedure, yielded an R of . 56, that upon cross-validation shrank to an r of . 48. These and other results suggest that, although there is some variance in common, the self-reported hypnotic depth score appears to be tapping a different construct from the hypnoidal state score.
Stakeholder Evaluations of Corporate Reputation: Findings from Industrial Buyers in the South African Steel Industry

Abstract Although an extensive body of literature shows the importance of managing and measuring corporate reputation (CR), empirical studies investigating how stakeholder evaluations of reputation are influenced by the external business environment in which they operate has received scant attention. This study explores the extent to which country and industry drivers influence the assessment of CR. We use a mixed-methods design to investigate the perceptions of industrial buyers in the South African steel industry. Comparisons of our findings with normative measures of CR suggest that whilst some dimensions of standardized measures of CR are universal across contexts, others such as innovation may not be as relevant. Findings show that industrial buyers consider a number of country and industry drivers that are not included in standardized CR measures when evaluating CR. These results underscore the need for those who manage and measure CR to investigate how the countries and industries in which they operate influence their stakeholders’ evaluations of CR.
Exact pupil and iris boundary detection

In recent years, advances in medical instrumentation and detection procedures have become of significance, changing the lives of many who are affected by medical complications. This study indicates the importance of such enhancements in technology in the field of ophthalmology in general and for Cataract surgery in particular. Here, image processing is used as the detection technique to provide supplementary information to the surgeons during operation. The exact eye localization technique is of importance for further analysis, and could have a direct effect in the subsequent steps of normalization, feature extraction and matching. On the contrary to the majority of the current available procedures used to localize iris in authentication processes in biometrics, the proposed technique, aims to determine the exact iris and pupil boundaries of the eye, separation of the pupil, iris and sclera, with high speed processing, with minimum response time without losing the accuracy of the detection.
A communication intervention for training southern European oncologists to recognize psychosocial morbidity in cancer. I--development of the model and preliminary results on physicians' satisfaction.

BACKGROUND The detection of psychosocial distress is a significant communication problem in Southern Europe and other countries. Work in this area is hampered by a lack of data. Because not much is known about training aimed at improving the recognition of psychosocial disorders in cancer patients, we developed a basic course model for medical oncology professionals. METHODS A specific educational and experiential model (12 hours divided into 2 modules) involving formal teaching (ie, journal articles, large-group presentations), practice in small groups (ie, small-group exercises and role playing), and discussion in large groups was developed with the aim of improving the ability of oncologists to detect emotional disturbances in cancer patients (ie, depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorders). RESULTS A total of 30 oncologists from 3 Southern European countries (Italy, Portugal, and Spain) participated in the workshop. The training course was well accepted by most participants who expressed general satisfaction and a positive subjective perception of the utility of the course for clinical practice. Of the total participants, 28 physicians (93.3%) thought that had they been exposed to this material sooner, they would have incorporated the techniques received in the workshop into their practices; 2 participants stated they would likely have done so. Half of the doctors (n = 15) believed that their clinical communication techniques were improved by participating in the workshop, and the remaining half thought that their abilities to communicate with cancer patients had improved. CONCLUSIONS This model is a feasible approach for oncologists and is easily applicable to various oncology settings. Further studies will demonstrate the effectiveness of this method for improving oncologists skills in recognizing emotional disorders in their patients with cancer.
On secure degrees of freedom for three-user MISO broadcast channel with three messages

We study a three-user multiple-input single-output (MISO) broadcast channel with confidential messages (BCCM). We have three messages where each of them is intended to the corresponding receiver. We impose confidentiality constraints for two of the messages at the receiving terminals. Half of the time, the channel state information (CSI) of all receivers are known perfectly at the transmitter. At the other half, the CSI of one of the receivers is available with some delay. The main contribution of this paper is to find the sum secure degrees of freedom (SDoF) of the proposed channel. We utilize the alternating CSIT scheme to design the precoding matrices. The proof of the converse is challenging for this model. The idea of the converse proof is to adapt the well known statistical equivalent property (SEP) lemma for our model.
Interaction of the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli protein, translocated intimin receptor (Tir), with focal adhesion proteins.

When enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) attach and infect host cells, they induce a cytoskeletal rearrangement and the formation of cytoplasmic columns of actin filaments called pedestals. The attached EPEC and pedestals move over the surface of the host cell in an actin-dependent reaction [Sanger et al., 1996: Cell Motil Cytoskeleton 34:279-287]. The discovery that EPEC inserts the protein, translocated intimin receptor (Tir), into the membrane of host cells, where it binds the EPEC outer membrane protein, intimin [Kenny et al., 1997: Cell 91:511-520], suggests Tir serves two functions: tethering the bacteria to the host cell and providing a direct connection to the host's cytoskeleton. The sequence of Tir predicts a protein of 56.8 kD with three domains separated by two predicted trans-membrane spanning regions. A GST-fusion protein of the N-terminal 233 amino acids of Tir (Tir1) binds to alpha-actinin, talin, and vinculin from cell extracts. GST-Tir1 also coprecipitates purified forms of alpha-actinin, talin, and vinculin while GST alone does not bind these three focal adhesion proteins. Biotinylated probes of these three proteins also bound Tir1 cleaved from GST. Similar associations of alpha-actinin, talin, and vinculin were also detected with the C-terminus of Tir, i.e., Tir3, the last 217 amino acids. Antibody staining of EPEC-infected cultured cells reveals the presence of focal adhesion proteins beneath the attached bacteria. Our experiments support a model in which the cytoplasmic domains of Tir recruit a number of focal adhesion proteins that can bind actin filaments to form pedestals. Since pedestals also contain villin, tropomyosin and myosin II [Sanger et al., 1996: Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 34:279-287], the pedestals appear to be a novel structure sharing properties of both focal adhesions and microvilli.
Tradeoff between energy efficiency and queues delay in heterogeneous cloud radio access networks

The dynamic stochastic resource optimization problem in heterogeneous cloud radio access networks (H-CRANs) is researched in this paper, characterizing the cooperative beam-forming with fronthaul capacity and queue stability constraints. To make the average energy efficiency (EE) of remote radio heads (RRHs) arbitrarily close to the optimum and maintain system queue stability, the EE optimization problem considering congestion control is presented. Under the Lyapunov framework, the problem is reformulated as an optimal network-wide beam-former design of RRHs, which is solved through a generalized weighted minimum mean square error (WMMSE) approach. The mathematical analysis and simulation results demonstrate that an EE-delay tradeoff can be achieved by the proposed algorithm.
Synthetic PEG Hydrogels as Extracellular Matrix Mimics for Tissue Engineering Applications

In recent years the field of tissue engineering, or regenerative medicine, has developed from the need to replace damaged and/or diseased tissues and organs by combining biomaterial scaffolds, biological signaling molecules, and cells. The regeneration of tissues may be achieved using either one of two principle approaches: 1) the in vitro construction or 2) the in vivo induction of tissue. In the first approach, biomaterial scaffolds are combined with biofunctional signaling molecules and cells and a fully functional tissue is grown in vitro which can then be implanted into the host. In the second approach, scaffolds are tailored with the desired biochemical composition as well as physical and mechanical properties of the target tissue, implanted into the host, and the body is used as a bioreactor to regenerate the tissue of interest. Therefore, biomaterial scaffolds play a central role in regenerative medicine as physical and biochemical milieus that dictate cell behavior, function, and tissue regeneration (Lutolf & Hubbell, 2005). While both natural and synthetic biomaterials have been extensively explored as scaffolds for tissue regeneration, polymeric materials from synthetic sources are advantageous due to their tunable mechanical properties and ability to systematically and selectively incorporate biological signals of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) enabling controlled study of cell-substrate interactions. Over the last several decades synthetic crosslinked hydrogels of poly(ethylene) glycol have been extensively investigated for numerous biomedical applications including drug delivery, immunoisolation, and as matrices for engineering tissues. PEG hydrogels are biocompatible, hydrophilic polymers composed of 3D interstitial crosslinks that swell extensively in aqueous environments with water content similar to soft tissues. These biomaterials are inherently resistant to non-specific cell adhesion and protein adsorption, thus providing a blank slate upon which ECM-derived signals can be systematically introduced as well as spatially and temporally manipulated to control cell behavior and tissue regeneration. The continued enhancement of PEG-based biomaterial strategies towards the rational design of scaffolds is highly dependent on their ability to independently control the incorporation of multiple biofunctional signaling molecules from alterations in hydrogel degradation kinetics and mechanical properties, to temporally and spatially tune the presentation of mechanical and biofunctional signals, and to promote rapid and guided neovascularization (new blood vessel formation) prior to complete material degradation. The combination of the above-
Cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks under primary user emulation attacks

Cognitive radio as a solution of spectrum scarcity, proposes a dynamic spectrum access which imposes some threats to the network. One of these common threats is primary user emulation attack, where some malicious users try to mimic the primary signal and deceive secondary users to prevent them from accessing vacant frequency bands. In this work, we consider the true definition of a primary user emulation attacker (PUEA) in which fake signals are sent when the primary user signal is not present in the radio environment. We formulate and derive cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) rules for a cognitive network in the presence of a PUEA and propose a new spectrum sensing based on energy detection with fusion centers employing OR/AND logic rules. Simulation results show that our proposed method can mitigate the destructive effect of PUEA in spectrum sensing, compared to conventional energy detection spectrum sensing.
SELDI‐TOF MS analysis of the Cardiac Troponin I forms present in plasma from patients with myocardial infarction

The troponin (Tn) complex is composed of troponin T, troponin C and troponin I. The cardiac isoform of TnI (cTnI) is modified and released in blood of patients with cardiovascular diseases as a heterogeneous mixture of free, complexed and posttranslationally modified forms. With the aim to determine later, whether specific forms of cTnI could be associated with the different pathologies leading to cTnI release, the cTnI forms present in the plasma from 64 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have been analysed by SELDI‐TOF MS using anti‐TnI mAbs coupled to PS20 ProteinChips® arrays. Upfront immunoaffinity enrichment using anti‐cTnI 19C7 mAb allowed us to detect cTnI and bis‐phosphorylated cTnI in 11/12 and 9/12 analyses respectively, as well as truncated cTnI in plasma with concentration of cTnI as low as 8 ng/mL. Cardiac troponin C (cTnC) and covalent TnIC complex were also found in pools of plasma with higher concentrations of cTnI. MAb 19C7‐affinity SELDI‐TOF MS analysis performed after immunopurification of one pool of AMI plasma with anti‐free cTnI, anti‐cTnC, and anti‐phosphorylated cTnI mAbs indicated that intact and bis‐phosphorylated cTnI were mostly under the free form. Besides, a 18 718 m/z peak could correspond to a truncated phosphorylated form initially complexed with cTnC.
Adaptive Differential Evolution with variable population size for solving high-dimensional problems

In this paper, we present a novel Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm to solve high-dimensional global optimization problems effectively. The proposed approach, called DEVP, employs a variable population size mechanism, which adjusts population size adaptively. Experiments are conducted to verify the performance of DEVP on 19 high-dimensional global optimization problems with dimensions 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000. The simulation results show that DEVP outperforms classical DE, CHC (Crossgenerational elitist selection, Heterogeneous recombination, and Cataclysmic mutation), G-CMA-ES (Restart Covariant Matrix Evolutionary Strategy) and GODE (Generalized Opposition-Based DE) on the majority of test problems.
Design of Arrays of Linearly Polarized Patch Antennas on an FR4 Substrate: Design of a probe-fed electrically equivalent microstrip radiator.

A new strategy for designing probe-fed electrically equivalent microstrip radiators based on their electrical dimensions is discussed in this article. Radiators on a Flame Retardant 4 (FR4) substrate are synthesized for equivalent performance, aiming at lower H-plane cross polarization over the bandwidth and resistive input impedance at the operating frequency. The effect of mutual coupling is analyzed for two classical arrangements: side-by-side and collinear configurations. With the proposed strategy, a broadside collinear array of linearly polarized rectangular patches is designed to operate at the center frequency of the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band (2.45 GHz) on a moderately thick FR4 substrate. The array is designed for low cross polarization in the H-plane and to comply with the specified directivity and side lobe level (SLL). Special attention to the beamforming circuit design leads to a radiation efficiency near 70%.
Calcaneonavicular Coalition Resection with Extensor Digitorum Brevis Interposition in Adults

Background: Traditionally, pediatric patients with symptomatic calcaneonavicular coalitions have been treated with resection of the coalition and interposition of the origin of the extensor digitorum brevis muscle. Despite the success of calcaneonavicular coalition resection in children, many surgeons are reluctant to perform this procedure in adults or in patients with osseous coalitions, and joint sacrificing arthrodesis often is done instead. Methods: Seven adult patients (eight feet) had calcaneonavicular coalition resection with extensor digitorum brevis interposition. The average patient age was 41 years, and all patients displayed isolated, symptomatic calcaneonavicular coalitions without any radiographic evidence of degenerative arthritis. At followup, physical and radiographic evaluations were performed, and an American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) Ankle-Hindfoot score was recorded. Charts were reviewed for complications and patients were questioned with regards to their overall satisfaction with the surgery. Results: At a mean postoperative followup of 56.5 months, the average AOFAS score was 87. Review of most recent radiographs revealed no degenerative changes or recurrence of the coalition. All patients responded that they would have this surgery again and that they would recommend this procedure to a friend. Complications included one superficial infection and one dysesthesia involving the sural nerve. Conclusions: The results of the present study suggest that resection combined with muscular interposition can be successful in patients over the age of 18 in whom conservative management of their symptomatic coalitions has failed. This procedure offers an excellent alternative to arthrodesis and has a very low complication rate.
Tisseel and its effects on wound drainage post-thyroidectomy: prospective, randomized, blinded, controlled study.

OBJECTIVE This randomized, blinded, controlled study examines the effects of fibrin sealant (Tisseel, Laboratoire de production Baxter AG, Vienna, Austria) on wound drainage following thyroidectomy. METHODS Fifty-six consecutive patients were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized into Tisseel and non-Tisseel treatment groups. Wound drain output was tallied in 8-hour increments by observers blinded to the treatment groups. RESULTS Fifty-six patients completed the study. Significant decreases in wound drainage were found in the first 8 hours in the Tisseel group. Eight hours postoperatively, wound output in the Tisseel group was reduced by 44% compared with the non-Tisseel group. A significant decrease in the total drainage over the 64-hour time period of 43% was noted between the treatment and control groups. Post-thyroidectomy wound drainage was reduced and trended to earlier drain removal. No significant changes in the length of hospital stay were noted, nor were postoperative complications encountered in either treatment group. CONCLUSIONS Fibrin sealants offer a unique opportunity to safely decrease post-thyroidectomy wound drainage. This investigation furthers the evidence that fibrin sealants could safely enable the implementation of drain-free thyroidectomies.
Two distinct CCR5 domains can mediate coreceptor usage by human immunodeficiency virus type 1

The chemokine receptor CCR5 is the major fusion coreceptor for macrophage-tropic strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). To define the structures of CCR5 that can support envelope (Env)-mediated membrane fusion, we analyzed the activity of homologs, chimeras, and mutants of human CCR5 in a sensitive gene reporter cell-cell fusion assay. Simian, but not murine, homologs of CCR5 were fully active as HIV-1 fusion coreceptors. Chimeras between CCR5 and divergent chemokine receptors demonstrated the existence of two distinct regions of CCR5 that could be utilized for Env-mediated fusion, the amino-terminal domain and the extracellular loops. Dual-tropic Env proteins were particularly sensitive to alterations in the CCR5 amino-terminal domain, suggesting that this domain may play a pivotal role in the evolution of coreceptor usage in vivo. We identified individual residues in both functional regions, Asp-11, Lys-197, and Asp-276, that contribute to coreceptor function. Deletion of a highly conserved cytoplasmic motif rendered CCR5 incapable of signaling but did not abrogate its ability to function as a coreceptor, implying the independence of fusion and G-protein-mediated chemokine receptor signaling. Finally, we developed a novel monoclonal antibody to CCR5 to assist in future studies of CCR5 expression.
Duck pack algorithm — A new swarm intelligence algorithm for route planning based on imprinting behavior

In this paper, by studying the foraging behavior of ducks, a new bionic clustering intelligent algorithm — duck pack algorithm (DPA) is proposed and applied to route planning. The foraging behavior of the duck pack is dependent on imprinting behavior and food orientation, and this is why the ducks are different from other kinds of packs. To obtain the duck pack algorithm, the imprinting behavior and food orientation are abstracted into two operators and then the two operators are merged into an iterative process. Then the DPA is applied to route planning, and it can be found that DPA converges more quickly and the path generated by the DPA algorithm is smoother than that generated by the standard DE. This shows the reasonableness of the algorithm, and proves that the DPA algorithm is superior to the standard DE algorithm in stability and superiority.
Corrective Maintenance Timetable in Restructured Distribution Environment

Outsourcing of maintenance activities from the core distribution operator business prompted the reorganization of the operations sequence of activities and affects, to some extent, the reliability of the distribution network. Repair times, a major component in the reliability calculations, arrive to a new understanding from operations point of view and the adequacy of established probabilistic representations has to be assessed. This paper proposes a mechanism to identify the layout of the sequence of activities for distribution component repair, resulting from reorganization, and revises the adequate representation of the times associated with various stages of the derived repair process. Statistical-based techniques employing estimates of distribution parameters and hypothesis testing serve to determine probabilistic distributions. The validity of the independence assumption for the random variables associated with individual times which compose the repair time is checked via statistical methods in order to confirm applicability of probabilistic-based calculations. By means of such a mechanism, an objective analysis of the time components of the repair time can be conducted, such as areas of improvement, and can be outlined. The results obtained for a large real power distribution system are presented