Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia Distress Scale (CADS) for breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND A psychometric scale for assessing the distress that breast cancer patients experience due to the chemotherapy-induced alopecia was developed and validated. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twenty-five items for chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress were developed based on a qualitative study, and a cross-sectional survey was conducted with 305 Korean women with breast cancer. To extract factor structure and evaluate construct validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was carried out. Concurrent and discriminant validity were tested by correlations with the psychosocial factors. In addition, external validity analysis was conducted using data from another prospective study of 428 breast cancer patients. RESULTS Exploratory factor analysis and CFA yielded 17 items in four domains and the model fit was good (CFI=0.925). Coefficient alphas ranged from 0.77 to 0.95 for subdomains and 0.95 for total, and it was similar with the validation dataset confirming its external validity. The total Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia Distress Scale (CADS) was moderately correlated with the body image (r=-0.47, P<0.001), more weakly correlated with the patients' overall quality of life (QOL, r=-0.28, P<0.001), but did not correlate with self-esteem (r=-0.07, P=0.23). CONCLUSIONS Our study confirmed that the CADS is a reliable and valid tool for measuring distress of chemotherapy-induced alopecia.
Dynamics modeling of human elbow joints servicing for rehabilitation robots

In this paper, for improving the efficacy of rehabilitation robotics, a dynamic model of human elbow joints is developed, in which the effects of correlative muscles are considered, using Alembert's principle based on the biomechanics and athletic physiology. Then the proposed model is optimized by using Lagrange's Multipliers method. Simulation results show that the proposed model is effective and reasonable.
A Global Optimisation Toolbox for Massively Parallel Engineering Optimisation

A software platform for global optimisation, called PaGMO, has been developed within the Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) at the European Space Agency, and was recently released as an open-source project. PaGMO is built to tackle high-dimensional global optimisation problems, and it has been successfully used to find solutions to real-life engineering problems among which the preliminary design of interplanetary spacecraft trajectories - both chemical (including multiple flybys and deep-space maneuvers) and low-thrust (limited, at the moment, to single phase trajectories), the inverse design of nano-structured radiators and the design of non-reactive controllers for planetary rovers. Featuring an arsenal of global and local optimisation algorithms (including genetic algorithms, differential evolution, simulated annealing, particle swarm optimisation, compass search, improved harmony search, and various interfaces to libraries for local optimisation such as SNOPT, IPOPT, GSL and NLopt), PaGMO is at its core a C++ library which employs an object-oriented architecture providing a clean and easily-extensible optimisation framework. Adoption of multi-threaded programming ensures the efficient exploitation of modern multi-core architectures and allows for a straightforward implementation of the island model paradigm, in which multiple populations of candidate solutions asynchronously exchange information in order to speed-up and improve the optimisation process. In addition to the C++ interface, PaGMO's capabilities are exposed to the high-level language Python, so that it is possible to easily use PaGMO in an interactive session and take advantage of the numerous scientific Python libraries available.
A latent growth analysis of hierarchical complexity and perspectival skills in adulthood

Problem: A range of developmental models have been applied in research on leader development. Such applications often advocate “whole” person approaches to leader growth. They seek to expand social, cognitive, and behavioral capacities, and often reference perspective taking. Many of these approaches define developmental levels in terms of specific content, ideas, and domain-specific capacities. In some models, people are said to be at a given level because they demonstrate a certain kind of perspective taking, and they are also expected to demonstrate that kind of perspective taking because they are at a given level. This circularity largely prevents the investigation of how different capacities change together (or not) over time. Purpose: Using an approach that avoids this kind of circularity it was possible to examine perspectival skills and developmental level independently. I tested three hypotheses about the relationship between change in developmental level and change in perspective taking, seeking, and coordination. It was predicted that these constructs would exhibit patterns of synchronous and asynchronous change, with the former being most prominent.
Complex Predicates and Agreement In Polysynthetic Languages

The term “complex predicate” in syntactic theory is still semantically transparent; it can refer to any predicate that a particular researcher finds difficult—whether due to semantic complexity, syntactic complexity, morphological complexity, or whatever. For purposes of this work, I use the term to mean a single “inflectional domain” which contains two or more distinct morphemes, each of which selects at least one argument in its argument structure (also called a theta grid). An important question is whether the types of complex predicate that a language contains are at least in part predictable from more general typological features of the language. So far there has been limited literature on this topic, and what literature there is has been somewhat inconclusive. For example, Baker 1988: ch. 4 claims that properties of the morphological causative construction in a given language are predictable from the Case marking patterns found with simple ditransitive verbs in that language. However, this claim is controversial; other theorists hold that the various causative patterns are a function of the level at which merger between the causative morpheme and the complement verb takes place (Marantz 1984) or a function of the thematic properties of the causative morpheme itself (Alsina 1992). These factors are specific to the causative construction and are not derived from other aspects of the grammar of the language. If there are any clear relationships between general typological properties and complex predicates, they remain to be established.
Using a Genetic Algorithm Approach to Study the Impact of Imbalanced Corpora in Sentiment Analysis

The SVM classifier has been used in many methods to identify emotions in text due to their good generalization capability and robustness with high dimensionality data. However, most textual corpora usually subject to such methods are naturally imbalanced. As a consequence, the SVM, sensitive to imbalance data, assigns to most texts the majority class. In this article, we present a Genetic Algorithm based approach that aims to reduce the imbalance of the data in the context of emotions identification. This approach allowed us to study the impact of its application in a method of emotion identification in texts written in the Brazilian Portuguese. Experimentations showed us that balancing the corpus could be an alternative when using the SVM classifier for emotions identification, especially in a multiclass configuration.
Trust in Management as an Important Determinant of the Willingness to Engage in Discretionary Extra-Role Behaviour

The intellectual capital of any organisation is often its most valuable asset and organisational performance depends on the capture, development and exploitation of the explicit and implicit knowledge that exists in the organisation. The problem for organisations is that, although they need to access the knowledge of their employees, this contribution by employees is outside their job description and therefore any contribution is discretionary. Such discretionary extra-role behaviour by employees is a vital input to organisations because managers cannot specify in an employment contract all of the demands they will place on employees. To encourage this discretionary behaviour, organisations therefore need to create an appropriate environment and shared mindset where employees are encouraged to share their knowledge with others for the benefit of the organisation. This paper will discuss trust in management as an important indicator of this willingness to engage in positive discretionary extra-role behaviour.
Data Cache Prefetching Using a Global History Buffer

A new structure for implementing data cache prefetching is proposed and analyzed via simulation. The structure is based on a Global History Buffer that holds the most recent miss addresses in FIFO order. Linked lists within this global history buffer connect addresses that have some common property, e.g. they were all generated by the same load instruction. The Global History Buffer can be used for implementing a number of previously proposed prefetch methods, as well as new ones. Prefetching with the Global History Buffer has two significant advantages over conventional table prefetching methods. First, the use of a FIFO history buffer can improve the accuracy of correlation prefetching by eliminating stale data from the table. Second, the Global History Buffer contains a more complete (and intact) picture of cache miss history, creating opportunities to design more effective prefetching methods. Global History Buffer prefetching can increase correlation prefetching performance by 20% and cut its memory traffic by 90%. Furthermore, the Global History Buffer can make correlations within a load’s address stream, which can increase stride prefetching performance by 6%. Collectively, the Global History Buffer prefetching methods perform as well or better than the conventional prefetching methods studied on 14 of 15 benchmarks.
Multi-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy: The Impact of Parental Psychopathology on Treatment Outcome for Children with Mood Disorders

ii Dedication.iv Acknowledgments.v Vita.vi List of Tables.ix List of Figures.xv Chapter 1: Introduction.1 Chapter 2: Method.35 Chapter 3: Results.46 Chapter 4: Discussion.124 References.139
Shape changes and growth trajectories in the early stages of three species of the genus Diplodus (Perciformes, Sparidae)

The larvae of three species of the genus Diplodus (Diplodus vulgaris, D. sargus, and D. puntazzo) colonize shallow waters along the Mediterranean coasts and, after a short period spent in the water column, they settle. For all three species this habitat transition is characterized by important shape changes mostly related to swimming capacity and feeding behavior. In this study, geometric morphometrics are used to characterize shape changes during the early juvenile life of specimens collected in a single locality in order to compare growth curves and allometric relationships. Size‐related shape changes proved to be similar for all three species and are consistent with the ecological transition. A nonparametric smoothing technique (Loess) was used to fit the scatter of shape on size. The graphical representation (of most size‐related shape variability) of this fitting technique shows how major shape changes are rapid for small sizes and slow down successively. The approach allows for the visualization of allometry and the fitting technique might help in defining the allometric growth pattern, thus contributing to the study of the autoecology of the species and in establishing terms for comparison with other ecologically or phylogenetically related species. J. Morphol. 250:24–33, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Association between Newborn Regional Body Composition and Cord Blood Concentrations of C-Peptide and Insulin-Like Growth Factor I

Background Third trimester fetal growth is partially regulated by C-peptide and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). Prenatal exposures including maternal obesity and high gestational weight gain as well as high birth weight have been linked to subsequent metabolic disease. We evaluated the associations between newborn regional body composition and cord blood levels of C-peptide and IGF-I. Methods We prospectively included obese and normal-weight mothers and their newborns; cord blood was collected and frozen. Analyses of C-peptide and IGF-I were performed simultaneously, after recruitment was completed. Newborn regional body composition was assessed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning (DXA) within 48 hours of birth. Results Three hundred thirty-six term infants were eligible to participate in the study; of whom 174 (52%) infants had cord blood taken. Total, abdominal and arm and leg fat mass were positively associated with C-peptide (p < 0.001). Arm and leg fat mass was associated with IGF-I concentration: 28 g [95% confidence interval: 4, 53] per doubling of IGF-I. There was no association between total or abdominal fat mass and IGF-I. Fat-free mass was positively associated with both C-peptide (p < 0.001) and IGF-I (p = 0.004). Conclusion Peripheral fat tissue accumulation was associated with cord blood C-peptide and IGF-I. Total and abdominal fat masses were related to C-peptide but not to IGF-I. Thus, newborn adiposity is partially mediated through C-peptide and early linear growth is associated with IGF-I.
Waterproofing in Arabidopsis: Following Phenolics and Lipids In situ by Confocal Raman Microscopy

Waterproofing of the aerial organs of plants imposed a big evolutionary step during the colonization of the terrestrial environment. The main plant polymers responsible of water repelling are lipids and lignin, which play also important roles in the protection against biotic/abiotic stresses, regulation of flux of gases and solutes, and mechanical stability against negative pressure, among others. While the lipids, non-polymerized cuticular waxes together with the polymerized cutin, protect the outer surface, lignin is confined to the secondary cell wall within mechanical important tissues. In the present work a micro cross-section of the stem of Arabidopsis thaliana was used to track in situ the distribution of these non-carbohydrate polymers by Confocal Raman Microscopy. Raman hyperspectral imaging gives a molecular fingerprint of the native waterproofing tissues and cells with diffraction limited spatial resolution (~300 nm) at relatively high speed and without any tedious sample preparation. Lipids and lignified tissues as well as their effect on water content was directly visualized by integrating the 1299, 1600, and 3400 cm−1 band, respectively. For detailed insights into compositional changes of these polymers vertex component analysis was performed on selected sample positions. Changes have been elucidated in the composition of lignin within the lignified tissues and between interfascicular fibers and xylem vessels. Hydrophobizing changes were revealed from the epidermal layer to the cuticle as well as a change in the aromatic composition within the cuticle of trichomes. To verify Raman signatures of different waterproofing polymers additionally Raman spectra of the cuticle and cutin monomer from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) as well as aromatic model polymers (milled wood lignin and dehydrogenation polymer of coniferyl alcohol) and phenolic acids were acquired.
Intramyocardial Injection of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Viral Vector Coexpressing PR39/Adrenomedullin Enhances Angiogenesis and Reduces Apoptosis in a Rat Myocardial Infarction Model

Cotransfer of angiogenic and antiapoptotic genes could be the basis of new gene therapy strategies for myocardial infarction. In this study, rAAV-PR39-ADM, coexpressing antimicrobial peptide (PR39) and adrenomedullin (ADM), was designed with the mediation of recombinant adeno-associated virus. In vitro, CRL-1730 cells were divided into four groups, namely, the sham group, the AAV-null group, the NS (normal saline) group, and the PR39-ADM group. Immunocytochemistry analysis, CCK-8 assays, Matrigel assays, and apoptotic analysis were performed; in vivo, myocardial infarction model was established through ligation of the left coronary artery on rats, and treatment groups corresponded to those used in vitro. Myocardial injury, cardiac performance, and the extent of myocardial apoptosis were assessed. Results suggested that rAAV-PR39-ADM administration after myocardial infarction improved cell viability and cardiac function, attenuated apoptosis and myocardial injury, and promoted angiogenesis. Subsequently, levels of 6×His, HIF-1α, VEGF, p-Akt, Akt, ADM, Bcl-2, and Bax were measured by western blot. rAAV-PR39-ADM increased p-Akt, HIF-1α, and VEGF levels and induced higher Bcl-2 expression and lower Bax expression. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that rAAV-PR39-ADM mitigates myocardial injury by promoting angiogenesis and reducing apoptosis. This study suggests a potential novel gene therapy-based method that could be used clinically for myocardial infarction.
A mathematical model of leptin resistance ∗ Marine Jacquier

Obesity is often associated with leptin resistance, which leads to a physiological system with high leptin concentration but unable to respond to leptin signals and to regulate food intake. We propose a mathematical model of the leptin-leptin receptors system, based on the assumption that leptin is a regulator of its own receptor activity, and investigate its qualitative behavior. Based on current knowledge and previous models developed for body weight dynamics in rodents, the model includes the dynamics of leptin, leptin receptors and the regulation of food intake and body weight. It displays two stable equilibria, one representing a healthy state and the other one an obese and leptin resistant state. We show that a constant leptin injection can lead to leptin resistance and that a temporal variation in some parameter values influencing food intake can induce a change of equilibrium and a pathway to leptin resistance and obesity.
Towards Developing a Multi-Dialect Morphological Analyser for Arabic

In this paper we address the problem of the analysis of multi-dialect Arabic morphology. Our method involves based on the synthesis of two methods. The first method is linguistic based, using an adopted Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) Morphology Analyser to first deal with dialect prefixes and suffixes and then analyse the words. This method improves accuracy of dialect words by 69%. The second method involves segmenting the word and then using ‘the web as corpus’ to estimate frequency of different segment combinations which are used to guess the correct base form. The overall synthesis is shown to have 94% accuracy on a corpus of Arabic dialects. Keywords—Morphology Analyser; Multi-Dialect; Web Corpus
Seaborne measurements of near infrared water‐leaving reflectance: The similarity spectrum for turbid waters

Theory and seaborne measurements are presented for the near infrared (NIR: 700‐900 nm) water‐leaving reflectance in turbid waters. According to theory, the shape of the NIR spectrum is determined largely by pure water absorption and is thus almost invariant. A “similarity” NIR reflectance spectrum is defined by normalization at 780 nm. This spectrum is calculated from seaborne reflectance measurements and is compared with that derived from laboratory water absorption measurements. Factors influencing the shape of the similarity spectrum are analyzed theoretically and by radiative transfer simulations. These simulations show that the similarity spectrum is valid for waters ranging from moderately turbid (e.g., water‐leaving reflectance at 780 nm of order 10−4 or total suspended matter concentration of order 0.3 g m−3) to extremely turbid (e.g., reflectance at 780 nm of order 10−1 or total suspended matter of order 200 g m−3). Measurement uncertainties are analyzed, and the air‐sea interface correction is shown to be critical for low reflectances. Applications of the NIR similarity spectrum to atmospheric correction of ocean color data and to the quality control of seaborne, airborne, and spaceborne reflectance measurements in turbid waters are outlined.
Sign language video retrieval based on HMM

This paper presents a system called DCMR. Content-based video searching is a challenging field, and most research focus on the low level features such as color histogram, texture and etc. In this paper, we solve the searching problem by high level features used by hand language recognition. Firstly, we find the face in video frames that has complex background, and then we find the left hand and right hand in specific areas. By computing the hands' length, position, velocity, acceleration, Fourier figure descriptor and etc, we generate the hands' dynamic features. Consequently, we segment the video frames by motion features. As for each segment, we generate a HMM. When a clip of hand language inputs, we also get the feature serials, and then we compare the possibility of the input serials in each HMM. Experiment results on a large of hand language videos show that our searching system performs much better than existing methods on hand language video searching systems. Compared with the traditional methods, our system reduces the average searching time by half and the searching precision has doubled.
OBSERVER DEPENDENT WAVELET IMAGE COMPRESSOR

♣ This work was supported by AGH Technical University grant no. 10.10. 120.39 ABSTRACT The image compression by means of wavelet technique is considered in this paper. The proposed solution takes advantages of the current observer eye position rather than the image content. The noninvasive eye-pursuit system determines the zone of observer’s interest and sends the information back to the image capturing system, which maximises the image resolution inside the zone of interest, while the remaining part of the image is sent at lower resolution. This method, however limited to the real-time observations, makes possible an up to 12-times compression of a single image without any loss of quality (e. g. colour definition) inside the observer specified area.
Capturing Difficulty Expressions in Student Online Q&A Discussions

We introduce a new application of online dialogue analysis: supporting pedagogical assessment of online Q&A discussions. Extending the existing speech act framework, we capture common emotional expressions that often appear in student discussions, such as frustration and degree of certainty, and present a viable approach for the classification. We demonstrate how such dialogue information can be used in analyzing student discussions and identifying difficulties. In particular, the difficulty expressions are aligned to discussion patterns and student performance. We found that frustration occurs more frequently in longer discussions. The students who frequently express frustration tend to get lower grades than others. On the other hand, frequency of high certainty expressions is positively correlated with the performance. We expect such online dialogue analyses can become a powerful assessment tool for instructors and education researchers.