Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adolescents' meaningful memories reflect a trajectory of self-development from family over school to friends

The relationship between autobiographical memories and self is important in many theories. Promising recent approaches from cross-cultural psychology use a concept of "self-construal”, in which reference to others can be as important as indicators of autonomy. However, these studies typically ask for earliest memories only, whereas we would expect the roles of others to change over the course of development. Taking as a premise that adolescents' life unfolds in three concurrent settings - family, school, and friendship - we asked 66 adolescents (22 Norwegians in Study 1, and 40 Slovaks in Study 2) for a meaningful memory from each of these settings. The memories they selected from the family setting were oldest, school memories intermediate and friend memories most recent, suggesting a developmental trajectory in which the three settings have changed in importance. Memories from the friendship setting were also most frequently on their mind. Furthermore, family memories referred most to other people, friend memories marginally less and school memories least, suggesting different contributions of these settings to self-construal. We conclude that characteristics of adolescents' meaningful memories reflect shifting settings' dominance during development and complementary roles of family, school and friends for adolescents' current self-construal.
Parallelism in random access machines

A model of computation based on random access machines operating in parallel and sharing a common memory is presented. The computational power of this model is related to that of traditional models. In particular, deterministic parallel RAM's can accept in polynomial time exactly the sets accepted by polynomial tape bounded Turing machines; nondeterministic RAM's can accept in polynomial time exactly the sets accepted by nondeterministic exponential time bounded Turing machines. Similar results hold for other classes. The effect of limiting the size of the common memory is also considered.
Prediction of atherosclerotic disease progression using LDL transport modelling: a serial computed tomographic coronary angiographic study

Aim To investigate the efficacy of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) transport simulation in reconstructed arteries derived from computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) to predict coronary segments that are prone to progress. Methods and results Thirty-two patients admitted with an acute coronary event who underwent 64-slice CTCA after percutaneous coronary intervention and at 3-year follow-up were included in the analysis. The CTCA data were used to reconstruct the coronary anatomy of the untreated vessels at baseline and follow-up, and LDL transport simulation was performed in the baseline models. The computed endothelial shear stress (ESS), LDL concentration, and CTCA-derived plaque characteristics were used to identify predictors of substantial disease progression (defined as an increase in the plaque burden at follow-up higher than two standard deviations of the intra-observer variability of the expert who performed the analysis). Fifty-eight vessels were analysed. High LDL concentration [odds ratio (OR): 2.16; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.64–2.84; P = 0.0054], plaque burden (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.13–1.72; P = 0.0017), and plaque area (OR: 3.46; 95% CI: 2.20–5.44; P⩽ 0.0001) were independent predictors of a substantial disease progression at follow-up. The ESS appears as a predictor of disease progression in univariate analysis but was not an independent predictor when the LDL concentration was entered into the multivariate model. The accuracy of the model that included the LDL concentration was higher than the accuracy of the model that included the ESS (65.1 vs. 62.5%). Conclusions LDL transport modelling appears a better predictor of atherosclerotic disease progression than the ESS, and combined with the atheroma characteristics provided by CTCA is able to detect with a moderate accuracy segments that will exhibit a significant plaque burden increase at mid-term follow-up.
A VERSATILE WORKFLOW FOR 3 D RECONSTRUCTIONS AND MODELLING OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES BASED ON OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE

Nowadays commercial 3D range scanning systems have been used for the accurate digitisation of cultural heritage sites by following either terrestrial or aerial scanning approaches. Both approaches require high cost special equipment and software to cope with the vast amount of raw data. These raw data can be characterised as superfluous in cases where the main scope of the reconstruction is a web-based virtual walkthrough for tourism promotion. The low budget of a digitisation project dictates its breadth and scopes. In some cases, even leasing the equipment is prohibitive. Producing affordable 3D reconstructions for real time virtual walkthroughs is still a challenging task. The transformation of raw 3D range scanning data to an optimised textured triangulated mesh is still a nonautomated process. On the basis of this description, a set of open source software applications were identified and combined on a practical workflow to be used for such 3D reconstruction projects when funding and infrastructure is at its minimum. We have attempted to evaluate the proposed process by producing a 3D approximation of a small part of the old town in the city of Kavala located in North-Eastern Greece.
Vision Based Target Tracking Algorithm in Natural Complex Scene

Vision based target tracking under complicated background is difficult for image analysis. Cam-shift (continuously adaptive mean-shift) algorithm which is based on color cue can track objects with certain color in a simple scene. But under complicated background, tracking converges to another local maximum and loses the real target because of the varying illumination, occlusion, etc. To deal with these problems, an improved cam-shift algorithm is proposed. By using three-dimensional background-weighted histogram in the HSV color space and combining with motion cue, it can track different color objects in real time. And a new method is also proposed to detect and deal with the case of occlusion factors. Experimental results indicate it is robust and has good performances for target tracking in natural complex scene.
MicroRNA-4639 Is a Regulator of DJ-1 Expression and a Potential Early Diagnostic Marker for Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and has profound impacts on the daily lives of patients. However, there is a lack of effective biomarkers for early diagnosis, and the mechanisms of PD pathogenesis remain obscure. microRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional gene regulators and can be easily detected in plasma, which suggests a promising role as diagnostic markers. Here, we aimed to explore a peripheral biomarker, which not only can be applied for early diagnosis of PD but also has the potential to be a therapeutic target. Through miRNA microarray screening and further validation in plasma from 169 sporadic PD patients, 170 healthy controls, and 60 essential tremor (ET) patients, hsa-miR-4639-5p level was identified to be significantly up-regulated in PD patients. Also, it was able to discriminate between early PD patients (disease duration ≤2 years or Hoehn and Yahr stage 1–2.5) and healthy controls. Furthermore, hsa-miR-4639-5p was shown to negatively regulate DJ-1 (PARK7), a well-known PD-related gene, in the post-transcriptional level. Abnormal up-regulation of hsa-miR-4639-5p caused down-regulation of DJ-1 protein level, leading to severe oxidative stress and neuronal death. In conclusion, hsa-miR-4639-5p has the potential to be a peripheral diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for early PD.
When Teams Agree While Disagreeing: Reflexion and Reflection in Shared Cognition

Drawing on dual-systems theory, we propose a new typology for analyzing shared cognition in workgroups and teams that differentiates reflective (i.e., C-system) mental models formed through reasoning and deliberation from reflexive (i.e., X-system) representations that are more automatic, intuitive, and affective in nature. Our analysis demonstrates how team members’ X-system representations pertaining to the team’s task and its members can compete with shared C-system mental models of the task and team in terms of their respective effects on team functioning. We highlight the consequences for intrateam coordination when team members have similar C-system mental models but dissimilar X-system representations (illusory concordance) and when team members have similar X-system representations but dissimilar C-system mental models (surface discordance). Finally, we consider the implications of our arguments for extending current team cognition theory predicated on reflective cognition and suggest new directio.
What is the effective potential?

There is some confusion about what the effective potential is. To remove this confusion, boundary conditions in the path-integral formulation are discussed. For a system with several phases, there are several kinds of physically acceptable boundary conditions. The choice of condition determines the phase. Therefore without specifying the phase we cannot discuss the generating functionals. By taking this fact into account, the meanings of the effective potential and its convex property are clarified. The confusion is removed and the consistent interpretation is obtained.
FISCAL AUSTERITY MEASURES: SPENDING CUTS VS. TAX INCREASES

We formulate an overlapping-generations model with household heterogeneity and productive and nonproductive government programs to study the macroeconomic and intergenerational welfare effects of risk premium shocks and government debt reductions. We demonstrate that in a small open economy with a high level of debt, a small increase in the risk premium of the interest rate leads to a substantial contraction in output and negative welfare effects. We then quantify the effects of reducing the debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratio using a wide range of fiscal austerity measures. Our results indicate trade-offs between short-run contractions and long-run expansions in aggregate output. In the short run, spending-based austerity reforms are worse than tax-based reforms in terms of lost income. However, in the long run, spending-based reforms produce higher output than tax-based reforms. In addition, welfare effects vary significantly across generations, skill groups, and working sectors. The current old and middle-aged generations experience welfare losses, whereas future generations are beneficiaries of the reforms.
Transforming ras proteins accelerate hormone-induced maturation and stimulate cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase in Xenopus oocytes

Transforming Harvey (Ha) ras oncogene products accelerated the time course of Xenopus oocyte maturation induced by insulin, insulinlike growth factor 1, or progesterone. The transforming constructs, [Val-12]Ha p21 and [Val-12, Thr-59]Ha p21, displayed equal potency and efficacy in their abilities to accelerate the growth peptide-induced response. Normal Ha p21 was only 60% as powerful and one-fifth as potent as the mutants containing valine in the 12 position. In contrast, two nontransforming constructs, [Val-12, Ala-35, Leu-36, Thr-59]Ha p21 and [Val-12, Thr-59]Ha(term-174) p21, had no effect on the time course of hormone-induced maturation. Effects of the transforming ras proteins on hormone-induced maturation correlated with their abilities to stimulate in vivo phosphodiesterase activity measured after microinjection of 200 microM cyclic [3H] AMP. When p21 injection followed 90 min of insulin treatment, there was no increase in phosphodiesterase activity over that measured after hormone treatment or p21 injection alone, but additive effects of p21 and insulin on enzyme activity were observed during the first 90 min of insulin treatment. Even though normal Ha p21 and transforming [Val-12, Thr-59]Ha p21 stimulated oocyte phosphodiesterase to equal levels when coinjected with substrate at the initiation of the in vivo assay, the transforming protein elicited a more sustained stimulation of enzyme activity. These results suggest that stimulation of a cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity associated with insulin-induced maturation is involved in the growth-promoting actions of ras oncogene products in Xenopus oocytes.
Construct Validity Evidence in a Nonclinical Sample

Scant research has examined the validity of instruments that permit observer ratings of psychopathy. Using a nonclinical (undergraduate) sample, the authors examined the associations between both self- and observer ratings on a psychopathy prototype (Psychopathy Q-Sort, PQS) and widely used measures of psychopathy, antisocial behavior, and negative emotionality. Self- and observer prototype correlations generally displayed predicted patterns of convergent and discriminant validity for the PQS. Future research using the PQS should focus on potential domains of incremental validity of peer-rated psychopathy beyond self-reported psychopathy.
Is there a critical period for mossy fiber sprouting in a mouse model of temporal lobe epilepsy?

Purpose: Dentate granule cell axon (mossy fiber) sprouting creates an aberrant positive‐feedback circuit that might be epileptogenic. Presumably, mossy fiber sprouting is initiated by molecular signals, but it is unclear whether they are expressed transiently or persistently. If transient, there might be a critical period when short preventative treatments could permanently block mossy fiber sprouting. Alternatively, if signals persist, continuous treatment would be necessary. The present study tested whether temporary treatment with rapamycin has long‐term effects on mossy fiber sprouting.
The role of ontology in improving gazetteer interaction

Gazetteers are more than basic place name directories containing names and locations for named geographic places. Most of them contain additional information, including a categorization of gazetteer entries using a typing scheme. This paper focuses on the nature of these categorization schemes. We argue that gazetteers can benefit from an ontological approach to typing schemes, providing a formalization that will better support gazetteer applications, maintenance, interoperability, and semi‐automatic feature annotation. We discuss the process of developing such an ontology as a modification of an existing feature type thesaurus; the difficulties in mapping from thesauri to ontologies are described in detail. To demonstrate the benefits of a categorization based on ontologies, a new gazetteer Web (and programming) interface is introduced and the impact on gazetteer interoperability is discussed.
Multiple task optimization using dynamical movement primitives for whole-body reactive control

Whole-body controllers provide the tools to execute multiple simultaneous tasks on humanoid robots, but given the robot's internal and external constraints, interferences are often generated which impede task completion. Priorities can be assigned to each task to manage these interferences, unfortunately, this is often done at the detriment of one or more tasks. In this paper we present a novel framework for defining and optimizing multiple tasks in order to resolve potential interferences prior to task execution and remove the need for prioritization. Our framework parameterizes tasks with Dynamical Movement Primitives, simulates and evaluates their execution, and optimizes their parameters based on a general compatibility principle, which is independent of the robot's topology, tasks or environment. Two test cases on a simulation of a humanoid robot are used to demonstrate the successful optimization of initially interfering tasks using this framework.
A Markov Model Assessing the Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of FOLFOX Compared With FOLFIRI for the Initial Treatment of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Objective:To analyze the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of FOLFOX compared with FOLFIRI for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Method:We developed a Markov decision model using a hypothetical cohort of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer to compare beginning chemotherapy with FOLFOX or FOLFIRI. Probabilities of toxicities, including neutropenia, diarrhea, and neuropathy, were based on published literature for FOLFOX and FOLFIRI. Costs for physician and hospital services unadjusted for geographic location were estimated using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services reimbursement data. Drug costs were estimated using Medicare B reimbursement and the Federal Supply Schedule. Health outcomes were measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed to address uncertainty in the model parameters. Results:The FOLFOX strategy provided 1.003 QALYs at a cost of $29,865, whereas FOLFIRI provided 0.921 QALYs at a cost of $24,551. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for FOLFOX treatment was $65,170/QALY. In 10,000 probabilistic Monte Carlo simulations, FOLFOX was cost-effective in 48.59% of trials using a $50,000/QALY threshold. The most influential variables in univariate sensitivity analysis were the expected years of survival associated with each chemotherapy regimen. Conclusions:FOLFOX and FOLFIRI are similar in terms of costs and benefits. The slight QALY benefits associated with FOLFOX are within the range of $100,000/QALY, an accepted threshold in oncology.
Motion Texture

Motion capture data is often used in movies and video games because it is able to realistically depict human motion. One of its greatest limitations is the inflexibility for reuse in different projects. To get the exact shot that you would like requires an individual motion capture session. This is not only costly but time consuming as well. We would like to be able to easily take existing data and synthesize more of it or be able to modify it slightly to suit our needs. Motion capture databases such as Carnegie Mellon’s [http://graphics.cs. cmu.edu] divide clips into different actions. It is difficult to piece these clips together in a reasonable way to create a desired longer motion. There have been many successful results in texture synthesis for a variety of textures using different approaches. Some synthesize texture pixel by pixel based on the pixel’s neighborhood [Efros and Leung, 1999], while others use patches which are overlapped and then sewn together along a certain optimal seam [Efros and Freeman, 2001]. Recently there have been many advances made in the texture synthesis realm which can be applied to the growth of motion capture data, namely the specific treatment of near-regular textures [Liu, Lin, Hays, 2004]. This specific classification of textures has regularities and symmetries with the addition of a limited amount of random noise and imperfections. Near-regular textures are seen all over in nature, including cloth patterns, brick walls, and even gait patterns [Liu, Collins, Tsin, 2002]. Algorithms have been tailored to nearregular textures to exploit their regularity while still preserving their subtle differences [Liu, Lin, Hays, 2004]. These synthesis methods use PCA to find the average tile and then deviate from it to form new tiles. These tiles are then pieced together to form a larger texture. We extend this concept to stride cycles in motion capture data for motion capture data. In Fig. 1 the repetitive nature of the foot and arm joints are apparent over the course of three different cycles. Texture synthesis algorithms are able to faithfully reproduce arbitrary amounts of a given input texture.
Design and Implementation of High Speed Low Power Viterbi Decoder

Convolution encoding with Viterbi decoding is a powerful method for error checking. It has been widely deployed in many wireless communication systems to improve the limited capacity of the communication channels. The Viterbi algorithm, which is the most extensively employed decoding algorithm for convolution codes. In this paper, we present an implementation of Viterbi Decoder for code rate of 1⁄2 and for constraint length of 9 which is employed in present technologies. The Viterbi algorithm is commonly used in a wide range of communications and data storage applications.Thispaper discusses about architecture for a Viterbi Decoder using VLSI design techniques at circuit level. The Viterbi decoder comprises of BMU, PMU and a SMU. Communication within the decoder blocks is controlled by the Request-Acknowledge handshake pair which signals that data is ready for process. The design of various units of Viterbi Decoder is done by VERILOG HDL language. The simulation results show the decoder output of the encoded bits which are nothing but the bits which we are applied to conventional encoder.
Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy with a 23-hour stay: a new standard for transplantation surgery.

OBJECTIVE To determine the outcomes associated with laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) performed as a 23-hour day surgery protocol. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Living donor renal transplantation is associated with immediate graft function and prolonged graft survival. The recent application of laparoscopic technology to living renal donation has refocused attention on the advantages of this donor source. LDN is associated with decreased donor pain, length of stay, time out of work, and opportunity costs. The authors hypothesized that LDN would be a viable 23-hour stay procedure. METHODS All living donation procedures since May 1998 have been performed with LDN. The 23-hour protocol was initiated in January 1999. LDNs performed from May 1998 to December 1998 and traditional open donor nephrectomy procedures from May 1996 to May 1998 served as historical controls. The following variables were examined: donor sex, related versus nonrelated donation, operative time, blood loss, length of stay, time out of work, recipient and donor serum creatinine levels, hospital charges, and complications. RESULTS The 23-hour LDN protocol was associated with high degrees of donor satisfaction. Thirty-six of the 41 donors were discharged within 23 hours; 1 was readmitted. Time out of work was equivalent to that of the control group; graft function was identical among all three comparison groups. Hospital charges were equivalent between the control group and the open nephrectomy group and were significantly decreased in the 23-hour group. CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy can be performed as a 23-hour stay procedure without incurring additional complications or donor dissatisfaction. By further decreasing opportunity costs and disincentives for donation, LDN may increase the number of potential donors appearing for evaluation.
Representation of colour concepts in bilingual cognition: The case of Japanese blues*

Previous studies demonstrate that lexical coding of colour influences categorical perception of colour, such that participants are more likely to rate two colours to be more similar if they belong to the same linguistic category (Roberson et al., 2000, 2005). Recent work shows changes in Greek–English bilinguals' perception of within and cross-category stimulus pairs as a function of the availability of the relevant colour terms in semantic memory, and the amount of time spent in the L2-speaking country (Athanasopoulos, 2009). The present paper extends Athanasopoulos' (2009) investigation by looking at cognitive processing of colour in Japanese–English bilinguals. Like Greek, Japanese contrasts with English in that it has an additional monolexemic term for ‘light blue’ (mizuiro). The aim of the paper is to examine to what degree linguistic and extralinguistic variables modulate Japanese–English bilinguals' sensitivity to the blue/light blue distinction. Results showed that those bilinguals who used English more frequently distinguished blue and light blue stimulus pairs less well than those who used Japanese more frequently. These results suggest that bilingual cognition may be dynamic and flexible, as the degree to which it resembles that of either monolingual norm is, in this case, fundamentally a matter of frequency of language use.