Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparative analysis of rural and urban MSM depressive symptomology: the mediating effects of loneliness

ABSTRACT Given the dearth of research exploring mental health differences between rural and urban men who have sex with men (MSM), we sought to examine differences in depressive symptomology and loneliness. Concurrently we examined the mediating effects of loneliness on the link between geographic locale and depressive symptoms via a mediation model. Data were collected from 156 MSM in Oklahoma. Results show urban MSM have significantly higher levels of both depressive symptomology and loneliness. Mediation analyses revealed that the link between urban/rural locale and depressive symptomology was mediated by loneliness. In other words, identifying as urban MSM may result in higher levels of depressive symptomology through feelings of loneliness. The rationale for this includes the possibility that rural MSM may have strong online social support ‘networks’ which act as a protective factor against loneliness and depressive symptomology, or that elements of urban environments increase stress in urban MSM. It is also possible that the urban landscape of Oklahoma does not provide the same level of acceptance as other urban areas in more liberal parts of the country. Interventions at the individual or community level should consider geographic location as a mesosystem factor that impacts the mental health of MSM.
The Impact of Life Skills Students on General Education Elementary Teachers' Attitudes Toward Inclusive Education

ii Dedication . siii List of Tables . x List of Figures . xi Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Problem Statement . 3 Nature of the Study . 4 Research Questions . 4 Research Objectives . 5 Purpose of the Study . 5 Conceptual Framework . 6 Operational Definitions . 7 Assumptions and Limitations . 8 Scope and Delimitations . 9 Significance of the Study . 9 Summary and Transition . 10 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 12 Conceptual Framework . 15 Theoretical Framework . 17 Theory of Planned Behavior . 17 Review of Research Literature . 21 The Legal History of Inclusive Education . 21
Formal design optimization of PM drive couplings

Permanent magnet drive couplings are used to transmit power from the prime mover to the load in a wide range of industrial applications such as fans and blowers. Formal design optimization techniques are explored for improving the coupling designs. A standard coupling design is used to define the base performance constraints and new coupling designs are developed which reduce manufacturing costs by minimising the total active and the magnet material volumes. Alternative designs including the use of lower cost aluminium conductor material and the removal of the steel backing iron are also presented. Different optimization methods (direct, genetic and hybrid) are investigated with a view to use as a general everyday design tool.
Network Reciprocity: A Simple Approach to Derive Gradient Algorithms for Arbitrary Neural Network St

Deriving backpropagation algorithms for time-dependent neural network structures typically requires numerous chain rule expansions, diligent bookkeeping, and careful manipulation of terms. In this paper, we show how to use the principle of Network Reciprocity to derive such algorithms via a set of block diagram manipulation rules. Examples are provided that illustrate the simplicity of the approach. Algorithms are derived for a variety of structures, including feedforward and feedback systems. Adapting a feedforward multilayer neural network structure amounts to nding the set of variable weights W that minimizes the cost function: J = K X k=1 e(k) T e(k); (1) where the sum is taken over K samples in a training sequence, and e(k) is the error vector. In certain problems (e.g., time series prediction, system identiication), a desired output is speciied at each time step; in others (e.g., terminal control), the desired output is deened only at nal time k = K. Therefore, we deene the error vector e(k) as the diierence between the desired and the actual output vectors when a desired output is available, and as zero otherwise. According to gradient descent, the contribution to the weight update at each time step is W(k) = ? @J @W (k) ; (2) where controls the learning rate. Note we evaluate @J=@W (k) rather than the instantaneous gradient @(e T (k)e(k))=@W(k). This is essential for the desired Network Reciprocity result. At the architectural level, a variable weight z w ij may be isolated between two points in a network with corresponding signals a i (k) and a j (k) (i.e., a j (k) = w ij a i (k)). Using the chain rule, we get @J @w ij (k) = @J @a j (k) @a j (k) @w ij (k) = @J @a j (k) a i (k); (3) z The general case of a variable coeecient, aj (k) = f (wij; ai(k)), is treated in 5,6].
Reconstructing life narratives through creativity in social work

Abstract There is growing recognition of the benefits of creative experiences and activities in social and health care. This article focuses on social services clients’ experiences of creativity and arts in their lives. Ten social services clients were interviewed about their experiences in relation to creativity or creative activities. These interviews were analysed by employing the existential-phenomenological approach. As a key finding of this research, we present a conceptualisation of how creativity enhances the reconstruction of the life narrative. The findings reveal four key aspects of how creativity is perceived and experienced as part of life, what kinds of meanings these experiences carry and what their significance is in people’s lives. These are: (1) constructing coherence, (2) fostering feelings of significance and purpose, (3) constructing meaningfulness and (4) creativity in everyday life and as a spiritual dimension. We argue that creativity is essential for (re)constructing life narratives. This process subsequently enhances agency and well-being. These results deepen our understanding of the intertwined nature of meaningful life experiences and creativity. Furthermore, the results indicate that creative activities could be utilised more in social work, aiming to support people in a vulnerable position.
Evaluating the Financial Performance of Business Method Patent Owners

Abstract Business method patents provide legal protection for the patent owner as well as other possible advantages, but for the most part IS academicians have not examined their effects. In an effort to understand the potential for business method patents to create competitive advantage, this study compares the financial performance of business method patent owners to the performance of their nearest competitors and industries. Although limited in its findings, this study helps to demarcate important issues for future research.
Approximating the probability distribution of OFDM symbol errors

Given an N subcarrier orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system transmitting over a slow fading Rayleigh channel, the distribution of b, the number of received symbol errors, is Poisson binomial. Hence, (/sub b//sup N/) terms are required to calculate each probability for b = 0, 1. ,N. When N is large, as in most OFDM systems, the Poisson binomial distribution is often approximated by the Poisson distribution. We show that, for large N, the total variation distance between the approximation and the true distribution is tower and upper bounded by random variables with fully known probability density functions. The bounds on the total variation distance indicate that the distribution of OFDM symbol errors is well approximated by a Poisson distribution.
Resource partitioning revisited: evidence from Italian television broadcasting

The theory of resource partitioning proposes that competition among generalists in the center of a market can trigger a process of resource release that engenders a proliferation of specialist producers outside the center. Previous research has generally examined the relationship between this proliferation and market concentration--a correlate of competitive intensity in the center of the market. In this paper, we extend the theory by arguing that resource release also occurs as the degree of competitive overlap among producers in the center intensifies, even when concentration or other structural features do not vary; we expand its implications by demonstrating that increased competitive overlap in the market center can enhance the viability of producers positioned near the center more than those in the periphery; and we enrich and complete it by specifying the additional assumptions needed to extend the theory of resource partitioning to entry processes. Consistent with our expectations, an empirical examination of the Italian broadcast television industry, from 1992 to 2003, finds that the failure rates of both near-center and peripheral stations decline with greater competitive overlap in the programming of the national broadcasters, with the failure rates of the near-center stations falling more than those of peripheral stations. Greater competitive overlap similarly stimulates the entry of near-center stations more than peripheral ones. Copyright 2013 The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Associazione ICC. All rights reserved. , Oxford University Press.
Late Holocene Sea Temperatures along the Central California Coast

Abstract Mussel shells from central California coastal archaeological sites record changes in sea surface temperatures in the past 2000 years. Water temperatures, inferred from oxygen isotopes in the shells, were about 1°C cooler than present and stable between 2000 and 700 yr ago. Between about 700 and 500 yr ago, seasonal variation was greater than present, with extremes above and below historic levels. Water temperatures were 2–3°C cooler than today 500–300 yr ago. The interval of variable sea temperatures 700–500 yr ago partially coincided with an interval of drought throughout central California. A coincident disruption in human settlement along the coast suggests movements of people related to declining water sources. Quantities of fish bone in central coast middens dating to this same period are high relative to other periods, and the remains of northern anchovies, a species sensitive to changing oceanographic conditions, are also abundant. The continued use of local fisheries suggests that changes in settlement and diet were influenced more by drought than by a decrease in marine productivity, as fish provided a staple during an interval of low terrestrial productivity.
Limonoids from the Seeds of Swietenia macrophylla and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activities

A new limonoid, swietemacrophin (1), was isolated from the seeds of Swietenia macrophylla, together with five known compounds 2–6. The structure of 1 was determined through extensive 1D/2D-NMR and mass-spectrometric analyses. Swietemacrophin (1), humilinolide F (2), 3,6-O,O-diacetylswietenolide (3), 3-O-tigloylswietenolide (4), and swietemahonin E (5) exhibited inhibition (IC50 values ≤ 45.44 μM) of superoxide anion generation by human neutrophils in response to formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (fMLP). Compounds 1, 4, 5, and swietenine (6) showed potent inhibition with IC50 values ≤ 36.32 μM, against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) generation.
An experimental evaluation of transparent menu usage

This paper reports a systematic evaluation of transparent user interfaces. It reflects our progression from theoretically-based experiments in focused attention to more representative application-based experiments on selection response times and error rates. We outline how our previous research relates to both the design and the results reported here. For this study, we used a variablytransparent, text menu superimposed over different backgrounds: text pages, wire-frame images, and solid images. We compared "standard" text (Motif style, Helvetica, 14 point) and a proposed font enhancement technique ("Anti-Interference" outlining). More generally, this experimental evaluation provides information about the interaction between transparency and text legibility.
Deterministic Equivalent for the SINR of Regularized Zero-Forcing Precoding in Correlated MISO Broadcast Channels with Imperfect CSIT

This paper considers the MISO broadcast channel with different spatial correlations of the user vector channels. The base station implements regularized zero-forcing (RZF) precoding based on an imperfect channel estimation. We derive a deterministic equivalent of the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) by applying novel results from the field of large dimensional random matrices. Based on this deterministic equivalent, we compute the sum rate maximizing RZF precoder which is given in closed form for independent and identically distributed channels. Simulations show that the accuracy of the approximated SINR extends well into finite dimensions.
A Level Set Framework for Visibility Related Variational Problems

We introduce a framework and construct algorithms based on it to handle optimization problems that deal with the maximization of visibility information for observers when obstacles to vision are present in the environment. This framework uses at its core the approach developed in [14] which adopts the level set framework of [10] to construct a function that encodes visibility information in a continuous way. This continuity allows for powerful techniques to be used in the discrete setting for interpolation, integration, differentiation, and set operations. Thus, through the application of [14], several level set tools, gradient flow, derivative discretizations, and solvers for ordinary differential equations, we produce our visibility framework for optimization and demonstrate its flexibility with algorithms tackling different model problems in the subject.
Constructivist Epistemology in Action

In alignment with the challenges of knowledge-based economies of today, teachers are compelled to constantly revise traditional notions of learning in order to motivate students to find delight in the active creation, exploration, and discovery of disciplinary knowledge. In examining innovative philosophies of education, constructivism stands out as one much heralded alternative that has been widely promoted in recent times in attempts at moving away from old ways of instruction and their attendant limitations. By empowering learners to be self-directed, in theory, a learning model underpinned by constructivist principles undoubtedly offers an array of attractive pedagogical benefits. However, the real-time implementation of such a model within the constraints of classroom contexts could potentially be problematic. In this paper, some of the conundrums associated with the application of constructivist ideas in learning environments are discussed. A constructivism oriented instructional framework that tries to bridge the chasm between theory and practice is also elucidated in this paper. This framework suggests a repertoire of heuristic instructional strategies that facilitate students' independent construction of various classes of scientific knowledge.
Tissues image retrieval system based on co-occuerrence, run length and roughness features

The research presented in this paper was aimed to improve the retrieval performance of an images retrieval system in medical applications based on texture features. In general, the work consists of two phases: (1) enrollment phase, which consist of feature extraction based on Co-occurrence matrix and run length matrix features combined with developed method to measure the roughness, (2) retrieving phase, which use the artificial neural network and similarity measurement. The conducted tests were carried on 600 medical images from four types of tissues (i.e., blood cells, breast tissues, GI tissues, liver tissues) and give very high precision and recall rates (100,98).
Theoretical consideration of the energy resolution in planar HPGE detectors for low energy X-rays

In this work, theoretical consideration of the processes in planar High Purity Ge (HPGe) detectors for low energy X-rays using the random stochastic processes formalism was carried out. Using the random stochastic processes formalism, the generating function of the processes of X-rays registration in a planar HPGe detector was derived. The power serial expansions of the detector amplitude and the variance in terms of the inverse bias voltage were derived. The coefficients of these expansions allow determining the Fano factor, electron mobility-lifetime product, nonuniformity of the trap density, and other characteristics of the semiconductor material.
Response of Rocky Reef Top Predators (Serranidae: Epinephelinae) in and Around Marine Protected Areas in the Western Mediterranean Sea

Groupers species are extremely vulnerable to overfishing and many species are threatened worldwide. In recent decades, Mediterranean groupers experienced dramatic population declines. Marine protected areas (MPAs) can protect populations inside their boundaries and provide individuals to adjacent fishing areas through the process of spillover and larval export. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of six marine reserves in the Western Mediterranean Sea to protect the populations of three species of grouper, Epinephelus marginatus, Epinephelus costae and Mycteroperca rubra, and to understand in which circumstances MPAs are able to export biomass to neighbouring areas. All the studied MPAs, except one where no grouper was observed, were able to maintain high abundance, biomass and mean weight of groupers. Size classes were more evenly distributed inside than outside MPAs. In two reserves, biomass gradients could be detected through the boundaries of the reserve as an indication of spillover. In some cases, habitat structure appeared to exert a great influence on grouper abundance, biomass and mean individual weight, influencing the gradient shape. Because groupers are generally sedentary animals with a small home range, we suggest that biomass gradients could only occur where groupers attain sufficient abundance inside MPA limits, indicating a strongly density-dependent process.
A holistic understanding of the emotional experience of festival attendees

Abstract Consumer behavior models in recent years have been strongly influenced by the predictive power of emotions. This has resulted in an increasing tendency to include them in the construction of overall global models. In parallel, theories extracted from positive psychology have begun to be applied to the planning and management of events. This article has a two-fold objective: to measure the emotions experienced in situ by the attendees to the 10th Vilalba International Festival (Galicia, Spain) and to identify the role played by emotions, social identification, and satisfaction in visitors’ behavioral intentions. The study is based on a survey of 317 attendees to the festival. Satisfaction has proven to be the main determinant of visitors’ re-attendance and postvisit recommendation behavior. Joy was the most intense, basic, positive emotion reported by attendees, followed by love. This led to their social identification with other participants and to a feeling of satisfaction with the festival.
PSEUDO-MODERN ROMANIA

The study is devoted to the value profile of contemporary Romanian society. It supports the thesis of “Pseudo-modern Romania”, not so much in the sense of a society with artificial modernity, but rather a heterogeneous society, with traditional, modern and postmodern segments. “Pseudo-modernity” is identified especially in the hesitation between participation and non-participation to public interest activities. The Romanian space of values is structured among the strains of a technological modernization not supported by a cultural one, the postmodern tendencies adopted by contagion and the dilemma of participation to the socio-political life. Institutionally and technologically, the Romanian society went beyond the traditionalism phase and oscillates between modern and post-modern orientations. Traditionalism remains in the social value sphere. The aversion toward risk and the confidence in the explanatory power of religion, even moderated with a rejection attitude toward fatalism constitute such reflexes. The totalitarian communist state, having maximum control over the society’s life, ended up inhibiting values that support civic participation and maintaining the interest for politics at a moderate level. Moreover, it contributed to the adoption of strategies and values implying risk avoidance, under the circumstances of the arbitrary of an opaque and uncontrollable political decision. The tensions of the pseudo-modern society are translated in apparent paradoxical behaviors, as the appeal to the protective authority of the state associated with an avoidance of responsibilities towards it or the entrepreneurship without trust in people and institutions but centered round relations. The argumentation of this point of view is made through setting up and validation of some path models with latent variables, based on poll data.
An Integrated Performance Model Information Systems Projects

This study makes an initial attempt to validate an integrated, theoretically driven performance model of information systems (IS) projects. IS project performance is defined in terms of task, psychological, and organizational outcomes. We draw upon different theoretical perspectives including IS, organizational teams, and project management to link six categories of variables to IS project performance: technology characteristics, project characteristics, task characteristics, people characteristics, organizational characteristics, and work processes. Data collected via a field survey of IS project leaders in 84 manufacturing organizations were used to test the proposed model. Support is found for three conclusions: (1) IS project performance is a multidimensional construct, (2)certain preconditions falling into the above categories have to exist to achieve a high performing IS project, and (3) there is a possible cross-relationship among the variables studied by IS research, organizational teams research, and project management research. We discuss the implications of this study for future research and managerial practice.
Update on the treatment of disseminated fusariosis: Focus on voriconazole

Invasive fungal infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients, such as subjects with hematological malignancies and patients who underwent to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) or solid organ transplantation (SOT). Fusarium spp. cause a broad spectrum of infections in humans. Immunologically competent hosts show mainly localized skin infections, whereas disseminated fusariosis occurs almost exclusively in immunocompromised patients. Fusarium spp. are resistant to many antifungal agents with equivocal in vitro and in vivo susceptibility to amphotericin B. Voriconazole (VRC) is a triazole shown to be safe, well tolerated, and in vitro efficacious against Fusarium spp. Although clinical experience is limited, many case reports have shown the efficacy of VRC in the treatment of fusariosis.
Blind Identification of ARX Models with Piecewise Constant Inputs

Blind system identification is known to be a hard ill-posed problem and without further assumptions, no unique solution is at hand. In this contribution, we are concerned with the task of identifying an ARX model from only output measurements. Driven by the task of identifying systems that are turned on and off at unknown times, we seek a piecewise constant input and a corresponding ARX model which approximates the measured outputs. We phrase this as a rank minimization problem and present a relaxed convex formulation to approximate its solution. The proposed method was developed to model power consumption of electrical appliances and is now a part of a bigger energy disaggregation framework. Code will be made available online.