Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modulation of Auditory Evoked Magnetic Fields Elicited by Successive Frequency-Modulated (FM) Sweeps

In our daily life, we are successively exposed to frequency-modulated (FM) sounds that play an important role in speech and species-specific communication. Previous studies demonstrated that repetitive exposure to identical pure tones resulted in decreased neural activity. However, the effects of repetitively presented FM sounds on neural activity in the human auditory cortex remain unclear. In the present study, we used magnetoencephalography to investigate auditory evoked N1m responses elicited by four successive temporally repeated and superimposed FM sweeps in three sequences: (1) four FM sweeps were identical, (2) four FM sweeps had the same FM direction and rate, but different carrier frequencies, (3) four FM sweeps differed with respect to the FM rate and/or direction and their carrier frequencies. In contrast to our expectations, the results obtained demonstrated that N1m responses were maximal when the four FM sweeps were identical and minimal when they were distinct. These results suggest that the neural processing of repetitive FM sweeps in the human auditory cortex may differ from that of repetitive pure tones.
A Black Box Model for Storage Devices Based on Probability Distributions

Traditional approaches for storage devices simulation have been based on detailed analytical models. However, detailed models require detailed computations which may be not affordable for large scale simulations. Moreover, highly detailed models cannot be easily generalized. A different approach is the black-box statistical modeling, where the storage device, its interface, and the interconnection mechanisms are modeled as a single stochastic process, defining the request response time as a random variable with an unknown distribution. A random variate generator can be built and integrated into a simulation model. This approach allows to generate a simulation model for both real and synthetic workloads. This article describes a method suitable for building fast simulation models for storage devices. Our method uses as starting point a workload and produces a random variate generator which can be easily integrated into large scale simulation models. A comparison between our variate generator and the widely known simulation tool DiskSim, shows that our variate generator is faster, and can be as accurate as DiskSim.
Expression of DNA repair proteins MSH2, MLH1 and MGMT in human benign and malignant thyroid lesions: An immunohistochemical study

Summary Background DNA repair is a major defense mechanism, which contributes to the maintenance of genetic sequence, and minimizes cell death, mutation rates, replication errors, DNA damage persistence and genomic instability. Alterations in the expression levels of proteins participating in DNA repair mechanisms have been associated with several aspects of cancer biology. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of DNA repair proteins MSH2, MLH1 and MGMT in benign and malignant thyroid lesions. Material/Methods MSH2, MLH1 and MGMT protein expression was assessed immunohistochemically on paraffin-embedded thyroid tissues from 90 patients with benign and malignant lesions. Results The expression levels of MLH1 was significantly upregulated in cases with malignant compared to those with benign thyroid lesions (p=0.038). The expression levels of MGMT was significantly downregulated in malignant compared to benign thyroid lesions (p=0.001). Similar associations for both MLH1 and MGMT between cases with papillary carcinoma and hyperplastic nodules were also noted (p=0.014 and p=0.026, respectively). In the subgroup of malignant thyroid lesions, MSH2 downregulation was significantly associated with larger tumor size (p=0.031), while MLH1 upregulation was significantly associated with the presence of lymphatic and vascular invasion (p=0.006 and p=0.002, respectively). Conclusions Alterations in the mismatch repair proteins MSH2 and MLH1 and the direct repair protein MGMT may result from tumor development and/or progression. Further studies are recommended to draw definite conclusions on the clinical significance of DNA repair proteins in thyroid neoplasia.
Attitudes of young consumers towards SMS advertising

Technological advancements have provided various new mediums for advertising to consumers and have further allowed organisations to better reach consumers with regards to the frequency and impact of advertising. Advertisers have to be more creative in the formulation of advertisements and selection of advertising mediums so as to gain the attention of their target market. The need to create new mediums for advertising has lead to the creation of new-age media such as inter alia, short message service (SMS) advertising. Before this medium can be effectively used to reach South African consumers, the attitude of consumers towards SMS advertisements need to be determined. This study therefore focuses on determining the perceptions of the younger consumer segment towards SMS advertisements. It is expected that this segment, due to their changing consumer behaviour and media habits, will be the future focus of a great deal of SMS advertising campaigns. Quota sampling was done in a large university and self-administered questionnaires were completed by 198 respondents. It was found that consumers’ perceptions of the entertainment value, informativeness and credibility of SMS advertisements are positively correlated to consumers’ overall attitudes towards SMS advertisements. The study further found consumers’ perceptions of the irritation aspect of SMS advertisements is negatively correlated with consumers’ attitudes towards SMS advertisements. Consumers have generally negative overall attitudes towards SMS advertisements and it must be cautiously used when attempting to gain the attention of a younger segment of consumers. Permissionbased marketing, the sending of SMS advertisements to only those who have agreed to receive promotional information, is an important element for the success of SMS advertising.
Ambiguous Prepositional Phrase Resolution by Humans

This paper examines the information humans use to deal with a mbiguous prepositional phrase attachments. The work is done using a large corpus of eye-tra cking data for both English and French. Multiple regression and linear mixed effect models are used to examine the significance of various factors. Variables that have been shown to e ffect reading time in experimental settings such as attachment type and the head words of the pre positional phrases are not found to be significant in most cases. There is a significant interac ion between attachment type and language found. When the data was transformed there is also s ignificance reported for some head words.
Neural Wave Interference in Inhibition-Stabilized Networks

We study how excitation propagates in chains of inhibition-stabilized neural networks with nearest-neighbor coupling. The excitation generated by local stimuli in such networks propagates across space and time, forming spatiotemporal waves that affect the dynamics of excitation generated by stimuli separated spatially and temporally. These interactions form characteristic interference patterns, manifested as network preferences: for spatial and temporal frequencies of stimulus intensity, for stimulus velocities, and as contextual ("lateral") interactions between stimuli. Such preferences have been previously attributed to distinct specialized mechanisms.
Typographic Sets: Labelled Set Elements with Font Attributes

We show that many different set visualization techniques can be extended with the addition of labeled elements using font attributes. Elements labeled with font attributes can: uniquely identify elements; encode membership in ten sets; use size to indicate proportions among set relations; can scale to thousands on clearly labeled elements; and use intuitive mappings to facilitate decoding. The approach can be applied to many different set visualization layouts, including Venn and Euler diagrams, graphs, mosaic plots and cartograms.
Automated Design of Wastewater Collection Systems Using Genetic Algorithms

The size, shape and slope of pipes are major components of the overall cost of wastewater collection systems. In the past, designers have used charts and specialized rules to determine the size, slopes and materials when designing wastewater collection networks. However, genetic algorithms (GA) provide powerful technique for automating the design and minimizing the construction costs of wastewater networks. This paper describes the development and application of a GA using a repair procedure to incorporate the numerous constraints involved designing a large gravity wastewater collection system.
HOTDOL: HTML Obfuscation with Text Distribution to Overlapping Layers

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for protecting HTML content from unauthorized reuse. A document protected using this method can still be viewed with a standard text editor, but it is virtually impossible to modify, and is therefore unattractive for redistribution. Existing obfuscation methods and restriction codes that limit certain activities in the web browser are less effective due to fundamental problems of circumvention. Not only does our method address these problems using internal reconstruction of obfuscated text, but it also maintains full accessibility to web content. We begin by specifying the HOTDOL (HTML Obfuscation with Text Distribution to Overlapping Layers) standard, under which a document maintains its general layout but has its internal representation of HTML transformed into illegible text. We then suggest three alternative service architectures through which HOTDOL can be applied to existing web services. We performed a quantitative evaluation in the form of an offline survey with 12 questions, confirming the protectiveness of our method relative to other methods currently in use. To assess the computational efficiency of our method, we also measured the processing and rendering times for obfuscated documents in real environments, and found them to be commercially viable.
The Navi Activity Monitor: Toward Using Kinematic Data to Humanize Computer Music

Motivated by previous work aimed at developing mathematical models to describe expressive timing in music, and specifically the final ritardandi, using measured kinematic data, we further investigate the linkage of locomotion and timing in music. The natural running behavior of four subjects is measured with a wearable sensor prototype and analyzed to create normalized tempo curves. The resulting curves are then used to modulate the final ritard of MIDI scores, which are also performed by an expert musician. A Turing-inspired listening test is conducted to observe a human listener’s ability to determine the nature of the performer.
Social Capital Theory: Towards a Methodological Foundation

Social Capital Concepts: The Founding Concepts of Social Capital - Introducing the Civic Perspective on Social Capital - The Network Approach to Social Capital - The Resource Perspective - Formalizing and Visualizing the Current Social Capital Theory The Quality of Social Capital Measures in the Czech Republic: How to Assess the Quality of Measurement Tools? : The Quality Study - Preconditions of Social Capital - Access to Social Capital I - Access to Social Capital II - The Quality of Measures of Accessed Social Capital
Rapid Analysis of Listeria monocytogenes Cell Wall Teichoic Acid Carbohydrates by ESI-MS/MS

We report the application of electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry for compositional characterization of wall teichoic acids (WTA), a major component of Gram-positive bacterial cell walls. Tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) of purified and chemically hydrolyzed monomeric WTA components provided sufficient information to identify WTA monomers and their specific carbohydrate constituents. A lithium matrix was used for ionization of uncharged WTA monomers, and successfully applied to analyze the WTA molecules of four Listeria strains differing in carbohydrate substitution on a conserved polyribitol-phosphate backbone structure. Carbohydrate residues such as N-acetylglucosamine or rhamnose linked to the WTA could directly be identified by ESI-MS/MS, circumventing the need for quantitative analysis by gas chromatography. The presence of a terminal N-acetylglucosamine residue tethered to the ribitol was confirmed using fluorescently labeled wheat-germ agglutinin. In conclusion, the mass spectrometry method described here will greatly facilitate compositional analysis and characterization of teichoic acids and similar macromolecules from diverse bacterial species, and represents a significant advance in the identification of serovar-specific carbohydrates and sugar molecules on bacteria.
Single-miller all-passive compensation network for three-stage OTAs

A compensation technique for low-power high-capacitive-load three-stage operational transconductance amplifiers is presented in this paper. The compensation network is made of passive components only and, as an example, the proposed technique was used to design a three-stage amplifier in a standard CMOS 65-nm technology. The amplifier achieves a 2.64-MHz gain-bandwidth product when driving a 1-nF capacitance by consuming only 155 μW from a 2.5-V supply. Simulation results are found in good agreement with theoretical analysis and show an improvement in both small-signal and large-signal amplifier performance over previously reported solutions.
Soft Segmentation of CT Brain Data

Unlike research on brain segmentation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data, research on Computed Tomography (CT) brain segmentation is relatively scarce. Because MRI is better at differentiating soft tissue, it is generally preferred over CT for brain imaging. However, in some circumstances, MRI is contraindicated and alternative scanning methods need to be used. We have begun to explore methods for soft tissue segmentation of CT brain data with a goal of enhancing the utility of CT for brain imaging. In this study, we consider the effectiveness of existing algorithms for segmenting brain tissue in CT images. Three methods (Bayesian classification, Fuzzy c-Means and Expectation Maximization) were used to segment brain and cerebrospinal fluid. While these methods outperformed the commonly used threshold-based segmentation, our results show the need for developing new imaging protocols for optimizing CT imaging to differentiate soft tissue detail and for designing segmentation methods tailored for CT.
Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the self- assessed support needs questionnaire for breast cancer cases.

BACKGROUND It has been found that support given to women with breast cancer has a positive effect upon their reactions to the illness and may even prolong their survival. Perceived support needs assessment in breast cancer women could be considered as a necessary part of nursing function. AIM The purpose of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the self-assessed support needs (SASN) questionnaire into Persian language and to investigate its psychometric properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS After forward-backward translation of the questionnaire and making appropriate changes, we selected 160 women with breast cancer as our study sample. The psychometric properties of the SASN, including its internal consistency, test retest reliability, and construct validity were evaluated through the known-groups technique. RESULTS The calculated Kaiser Meyer Olkin was 0.756, indicating that the sample was sufficiently large to perform a satisfactory factor analysis. The six factors all together explained 50.7% of the variance; the first factor (diagnosing) explaining the biggest part of variance (10.9). Internal consistency reliability was 0.83 for the whole scale and the stability of test was 0.78. For the first factor, Cronbach's alpha was 0.90 and factor loadings of scale's items were found to deal with diagnosis subscale. The domains described patients' diagnosis, treatment, support, femininity and body image, family and friends and information. CONCLUSIONS The reliability and validity of the adapted version of the SASN was shown to be satisfactory. Thus, it can be used to investigate self-assessed support needs of Iranian women suffering from breast cancer since the SASN is a multi-domain scale.
PREDATION AND BEHAVIORAL PLASTICITY IN GREEN SWORDTAILS: MATE CHOICE IN FEMALES AND EXPLORATORY BEHAVIOR IN MALES

A primary environmental factor that favors plasticity in behavior is predation. While numerous studies of behavioral plasticity have centered on the effect of predation on mating and foraging behaviors, few have considered size-related differences in behavioral plasticity in anti-predator behavior as it relates to general activity in a novel environment. Male green swordtails, Xiphophorus helleri, vary in colorful conspicuous traits, e.g. the colorful dorsal fin and sword, and large body size that could attract predators. We tested predator-related plasticity in the behavior of males differing in size. Males were exposed to either an environment in which a predation event on a male swordtail occurred, or the same environment devoid for fish. General activity, spatial distribution, and refuge use were quantified for each male. Smaller males showed greater behavioral plasticity; they were more active in the absence of a predator, but reduced activity in the presence of a predator, while larger males maintained lower activity levels regardless of predation environment. There are at least two non-mutually exclusive explanations for this result. First, larger males may be more cautious all of the time because of their more conspicuous size and secondary sexual traits. Second, smaller males may be more risk–adverse when they detect a predator because they are more easily consumed. Males also spent more time furthest from predators, regardless of size. This result is similar to the behavioral response to predators exhibited by female green swordtails (Ch. 2). Male swordtails, regardless of size, entered the area nearest to where a predator had recently been, possibly as a means of determining a predator’s location. Males also utilized refuges furthest from the predation 8 event, but did not differentially use the refuges after the departure of the predator, regardless of size. This study demonstrates that size can mediate the degree of expression of anti-predator behavior.
Learning Paraphrasing for Multiword Expressions

In this paper, we investigate the impact of context for the paraphrase ranking task, comparing and quantifying results for multi-word expressions and single words. We focus on systematic integration of existing paraphrase resources to produce paraphrase candidates and later ask human annotators to judge paraphrasability in context. We first conduct a paraphrase-scoring annotation task with and without context for targets that are i) single- and multi-word expressions ii) verbs and nouns. We quantify how differently annotators score paraphrases when context information is provided. Furthermore, we report on experiments with automatic paraphrase ranking. If we regard the problem as a binary classification task, we obtain an F1–score of 81.56% and 79.87% for multi-word expressions and single words resp. using kNN classifier. Approaching the problem as a learning-to-rank task, we attain MAP scores up to 87.14% and 91.58% for multiword expressions and single words resp. using LambdaMART, thus yielding highquality contextualized paraphrased selection. Further, we provide the first dataset with paraphrase judgments for multi-word targets in context.
Possible antecedents and developmental implications of shame in young girls

The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of parenting style and child emotionality on the development of proneness to shame in young girls, and the mediating effect of shame on the development of adjustment problems. Eighty-eight girls were assessed twice, at 3 and 5 years of age, along with their mothers and fathers. Shame was assessed by observations (reactions to failure and criticism); parenting style and child emotions (fearfulness, sadness, anger) were measured using parent reports; and adjustment problems were assessed by parent and teacher reports. Girls were more likely to show shame at age 5 when both their mothers and fathers had been relatively authoritarian at age 3; their emotional dispositions did not have any direct longitudinal effects on shame. Authoritarian parenting predicted subsequent internalizing problems as assessed by teachers, but there was no evidence for a mediational effect of shame. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Corporate hedging in theory and practice: Lessons from Metallgesellschaft

Corporate Hedging in Theory and Practice Lessons from Metallgesellschaft -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS Preface Introduction Christopher L. Culp and Merton H Miller The Foundations of Hedging in Futures Markets The Theory of Hedging and Speculation in Commodity Futures Johnson The Hedging Performance of the New Futures Markets Ederington Futures Trading and Hedging Working New Concepts Concerning Futures Markets and Prices Working Rationales for Corporate Hedging Should Firms Use Derivatives to Manage Risk? Fite and Pfleiderer The Determinants of a Firm's Hedging Policies Smith and Stulz Risk Management: Coordinating Investment and Financing Policies - Rethinking Risk Management Stulz The MGRM Controversy*edging Objectives Do Matter Metallgesellschaft and the Economics of Synthetic Storage Culp and Miller Auditing the Auditors Culp and Miller Simulating Supply Bollen and Whaley Maturity Structure of a Hedge Matters: Lessons from the Metallgesellschaft Debacle Mello and Parsons The Collapse of Metallgesellschaft: Unhedgeable Risks, Poor Hedging Strategy, or Just Bad Luck? Edwards and Canter Hedging in the Theory of Corporate Finance: A Reply to Our Critics Culp and Miller The Mathematics of Hedging Long-Dated Obligations with Short-Dated Futures Analytics Underlying the Metallgesellschaft Hedge: Short-Term Futures in a Multi-Period Environment Hilliard Hedging Long Maturity Commodity Commitments with Short-Dated Futures Contracts Brennan and Crew Metallgesellschaft: A Prudent Hedger Ruined, or a Wildcatter on NYMEX? Pirrong Hedging Long-Term Exposures with Multiple Short-Term Futures Contracts Neuberger Hedging Long Run Commitments: Exercises in Incomplete Market Pricing Ross The Stochastic Behavior of Commodity Prices: Implications for Valuation and Hedging Schwartz Conclusion - The State of the Corporate Hedging Debate Culp and Miller
A Hierarchical Location Management Scheme in MANETs

An efficient stateless routing is possible because geographical routing protocol has many advantages of location information in mobile Ad-Hoc networks (MANETs). Such routing protocol, however, is significantly dependent on the existence of scalable location management services. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical location management (HLF) scheme considering the population of mobile nodes based on the logical hierarchy in mobile Ad-Hoc networks. The performance of the proposed location management scheme is evaluated by an analytical model in terms of a total location management cost over a call-to-mobility ratio, and compared with those of a existing ELF method.