Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Life events and psychological well-being in women sentenced to prison.

There have been no systematic analyses of the factors that influence the development of psychological well-being in women sentenced to prison. This study identified relationships among life events, coping resources, and psychological well-being (indicated by the absence of anxiety and depression). A descriptive correlational design was used in a convenience sample of 62 incarcerated female offenders. The respondents were in their early 30s, single, unemployed, and receiving financial support from a variety of sources. They reported an average of 10 life events in the 12 months preceding incarceration and accumulated an average of 354 life change units. A positive correlation between the number of life events and depression was identified (r = .24, p < .05). The women in this study had high levels of depression as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (L. Radloff, 1977; M = 31) and anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (C. D. Spielberger, 1983; M = 46). Nursing interventions to reduce psychological distress at the time of admission to a correctional facility may reduce feelings of loss, inadequacy, and powerlessness that the women might otherwise have to endure.
Bayesian ensemble assessment for credit scoring

Credit scoring is explored to assess default risk of consumer behaviors for financial institutions, banks in particular. The advanced Bayesian algorithm is proposed for credit assessment. The new trial ensembles logistic regression analysis (LRA), cluster and MLP-NN in Bayesian approach as an advanced classifier. The investigation contain evidence that Bayesian ensemble technique optimizes LRA, cluster and MLP-NN consequence in credit assessment. Simultaneously, Bayesian approach creates positive advantage on algorithm accuracy and fitness for credit evaluation, nevertheless, balances and decreases classified error ratio (ER).
A Survey of 3D Face Recognition Methods

The main purpose of this survey is to describe the recent 3D face recognition algorithms and methods. The last few years more and more 2D face recognition algorithms are improved and tested on less than perfect images. However, 3D models hold more information of the face, like surface information, that can be used for face recognition or subject discrimination. Another major advantage is that 3D face recognition is pose invariant. A disadvantage of most presented 3D face recognition methods is that they still treat the human face as a rigid object. This means that the methods aren’t capable of handling facial expressions. Although 2D face recognition still seems to outperform the 3D face recognition methods, it is expected that this will change in the near future.
MDMA intoxication and verbal memory performance: a placebo-controlled pharmaco-MRI study

The aim of the present study was to identify the neural substrate underlying memory impairment due to a single dose of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) by means of pharmaco-MRI. Based on previous behavioral results it was hypothesized that this deficit could be attributed to a specific influence of MDMA on encoding. Fourteen Ecstasy users participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject study with two treatment conditions: MDMA (75 mg) and placebo. Memory performance was tested by means of a word learning task including two words lists, one addressing reading processes (control task, CWL) and a second (experimental task, EWL) addressing encoding and reading processes. Behavioral data showed that under the influence of MDMA, EWL performance was worse than placebo. Imaging data showed that Encoding was situated mainly in (pre)frontal, temporal and parietal areas. MDMA by Encoding interaction was situated in three areas: the left middle frontal gyrus (BA10), the right fusiform gyrus (BA19), and the left cuneus (BA18). Behavioral and functional data only correlated in BA10. It appeared that EWL performance caused BOLD signal change in BA10 during placebo treatment but not during MDMA intoxication. It is concluded that MDMA influences middle frontal gyrus processes resulting in impoverished memory encoding.
Collaborative Filtering With Adaptive Information Sources (Short Paper)

Collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms, which generate recommendations for web users by predicting user-item ratings, are often evaluated according to their predictions; in this context the problem of generating recommendations can be formulated as one of fitting a community of users to the best set of predictors. However, the data used to perform CF is sparse, and accuracy is limited by both the quantity and quality of information available. Mining the web has the potential to address these issues: the quality and quantity of ratings can be incremented by collecting external sources of rating information. In this work we introduce a method to perform CF with external data sources; furthermore, we show that a community of users can be partitioned according to what external source acts as a better predictor of each user’s preferences. In particular, we find that a single kNN predictor can achieve remarkably high prediction accuracy if the data sources are selected optimally: designing a recommender system can thus be approached with the focus on data quality rather than algorithmic method.
Comparison of renal response to four different induction therapies in Japanese patients with lupus nephritis class III or IV: A single-centre retrospective study

The recent recommendations for the management of lupus nephritis suggest that racial background should be considered while choosing induction therapy. However, the responses to different induction regimens have been poorly studied in Japanese population. Here, we assessed the renal response to different induction therapies in Japanese patients with lupus nephritis class III or IV. The records of 64 patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis class III or IV were retrospectively evaluated according to therapy received: monthly intravenous cyclophosphamide (IVCY), the Euro-lupus nephritis trial (ELNT) protocol-IVCY, tacrolimus (TAC), or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). We investigated cumulative complete renal response (CR) rates and relapse rates for each group for 3 years. Organ damage was assessed with the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (SDI). There were 22 patients on monthly IVCY, 18 on ELNT-IVCY, 13 on TAC, and 11 on MMF. Lower systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index (SLEDAI) and higher CH50 were found in the TAC group at baseline (p<0.01 and p<0.01, respectively). There were no significant differences of cumulative CR rates and relapse free survival for 3 years among the four different therapeutic regimens (p = 0.2 and p = 0.2, respectively). There was a tendency to have early response and early relapse in TAC group and late response in MMF group. The SDI increase over 3 years was found more frequently in the TAC group than in the monthly-IVCY group (p = 0.04). Multivariate analysis indicated that CR at 3 months was independent prognosticator for low damage accrual. Regarding lower damage accrual, early CR achievement might be essential in induction therapy regardless of immunosuppressant choice.
Human herpes simplex virus keratitis: the pathogenesis revisited

Infections with several members of the human herpesviruses are the cause of significant ocular morbidity. Of the human herpesviruses, HSV-1 is the most frequent cause of primary and recurrent eye disease. Despite the availability of effective antiviral treatment, recurrent HSV-1 infection continues to be the leading cause of corneal blindness in industrialized nations. This review recapitulates the current insights in the role of the virus and the intra-corneal T cell response involved in the pathogenesis of human HSV-1-induced keratitis.
Universität Des Saarlandes Fachrichtung 6.1 – Mathematik Numerical Aspects of Tv Flow Numerical Aspects of Tv Flow

The singular diffusion equation called total variation (TV) flow plays an important role in image processing and appears to be suitable for reducing oscillations in other types of data. Due to its singularity for zero gradients, numerical discretizations have to be chosen with care. We discuss different ways to implement TV flow numerically, and we show that a number of discrete versions of this equation may introduce oscillations such that the scheme is in general not TV-decreasing. On the other hand, we show that TV flow may act self-stabilising: even if the total variation increases by the filtering process, the resulting oscillations remain bounded by a constant that is proportional to the ratio of mesh widths. For our analysis we restrict ourselves to the one-dimensional setting.
Dynamic OCT measurement of corneal deformation by an air puff in normal and cross-linked corneas

A new technique is presented for the non-invasive imaging of the dynamic response of the cornea to an air puff inducing a deformation. A spectral OCT instrument combined with an air tonometer in a non-collinear configuration was used to image the corneal deformation over full corneal cross-sections, as well as to obtain high speed measurements of the temporal evolution of the corneal apex. The entire deformation process can be dynamically visualized. A quantitative analysis allows direct extraction of several deformation parameters, such as amplitude, diameter and volume of the maximum deformation, as well as duration and speed of the increasing deformation period and the recovery period. The potential of the technique is demonstrated on porcine corneas in vitro under constant IOP for several conditions (untreated, after riboflavin instillation and under cross-linking with ultraviolet light), as well as on human corneas in vivo. The new technique has proved very sensitive to detect differences in the deformation parameters across conditions. We have confirmed non-invasively that Riboflavin and UV-cross-linking induce changes in the corneal biomechanical properties. Those differences appear to be the result of changes in constituent properties of the cornea, and not a consequence of changes in corneal thickness, geometry or IOP. These measurements are a first step for the estimation of the biomechanical properties of corneal tissue, at an individual level and in vivo, to improve diagnosis and prognosis of diseases and treatments involving changes in the biomechanical properties of the cornea.
Expression of tamoxifen‐inducible CRE recombinase in Lcn5‐CreERT2 transgenic mouse caput epididymis

The epididymis, which connects the testis to vas deferens, plays a crucial role regulating sperm maturation and fertilization. Here, a tamoxifen‐inducible CreERT2 recombinase transgenic mouse was generated to study the function of genes in the caput epididymis using the Cre/LoxP system, which is driven by the 1.8‐kb Lcn5 promoter (Lcn5‐CreERT2). Both CRE recombinase and ERT2 mRNA were specifically expressed in the caput epididymis, beginning at postnatal Day 30 and increasing thereafter. Crossing these Lcn5‐CreERT2 transgenic mice with Rosa26; mT/mG reporter mice, which express membrane‐bound GFP (mGFP) only after CRE is active at its genetic locus, resulted in the presence of GFP only in the middle/distal caput epididymis after tamoxifen induction. Efficiency of the CRE recombinase production in the caput epididymis was dose‐ and time‐dependent. These tamoxifen‐inducible caput epididymis‐specific CRE recombinase transgenic mice thus provides a simple approach to modulate epididymal principal cells in vivo, allowing for the genetic investigation of caput epididymis‐specific gene functions during sperm maturation. 84: 257–264, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
METHODS OF INVESTIGATING EYE MOVEMENTS

A review of a family and the most recent case history in the only male has shown that the cerebellar tumdur was verified for sibling I at the age of 29 years by pathological section and an eye tumour was treated by radon seeds. Sibling II-the cerebellar tumour was verified at operation at the age of 23 years and by pathological section at two subsequent operations. The eye tumour presented a similar pathological appearance. Sibling III had a naevus of the limbus of the left eye, which became less apparent after nine years. Sibling IV: The new case was verified by pathological examination at the age of 28 years and after extensive radiation an --eye tumour, capillary in type, has slightly progressed in four years.
Reduced‐rank hazard regression for modelling non‐proportional hazards

The Cox proportional hazards model is the most common method to analyse survival data. However, the proportional hazards assumption might not hold. The natural extension of the Cox model is to introduce time‐varying effects of the covariates. For some covariates such as (surgical)treatment non‐proportionality could be expected beforehand. For some other covariates the non‐proportionality only becomes apparent if the follow‐up is long enough. It is often observed that all covariates show similar decaying effects over time. Such behaviour could be explained by the popular (gamma‐) frailty model. However, the (marginal) effects of covariates in frailty models are not easy to interpret. In this paper we propose the reduced‐rank model for time‐varying effects of covariates. Starting point is a Cox model with p covariates and time‐varying effects modelled by q time functions (constant included), leading to a p×q structure matrix that contains the regression coefficients for all covariate by time function interactions. By reducing the rank of this structure matrix a whole range of models is introduced, from the very flexible full‐rank model (identical to a Cox model with time‐varying effects) to the very rigid rank one model that mimics the structure of a gamma‐frailty model, but is easier to interpret. We illustrate these models with an application to ovarian cancer patients. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Stray Field From Transformers

We present an assessment of a numerical methodology for evaluating stray fields from transformers by direct comparison with experimental results. The methodology can help to ensure compliance with the limits imposed by national and international laws and regulations on the levels of magnetic fields. We conducted validation experiments on a 1000-kVA cast-resin transformer. All measurements were performed in an anechoic room, in short-circuit conditions, along different directions in space. We compared two different numerical methods, based on linear and nonlinear 3-D finite-element methods, respectively, with the experimental results. Agreement with the measurements was very good. Numerical tools can be considered a valid alternative to measurements for the analysis of the stray magnetic induction field and for the design of shielded devices.
Probabilistic Variational Bounds for Graphical Models

Variational algorithms such as tree-reweighted belief propagation can provide deterministic bounds on the partition function, but are often loose and difficult to use in an "any-time" fashion, expending more computation for tighter bounds. On the other hand, Monte Carlo estimators such as importance sampling have excellent any-time behavior, but depend critically on the proposal distribution. We propose a simple Monte Carlo based inference method that augments convex variational bounds by adding importance sampling (IS). We argue that convex variational methods naturally provide good IS proposals that "cover" the target probability, and reinterpret the variational optimization as designing a proposal to minimize an upper bound on the variance of our IS estimator. This both provides an accurate estimator and enables construction of any-time probabilistic bounds that improve quickly and directly on state-of-the-art variational bounds, and provide certificates of accuracy given enough samples relative to the error in the initial bound.
Peeking Beneath the Hood of Uber Le

Recently, Uber has emerged as a leader in the “sharing econ­ omy”. Uber is a “ride sharing” service that matches willing drivers with customers looking for rides. However, unlike other open marketplaces (e.g., AirBnB), Uber is a black-box: they do not provide data about supply or demand, and prices are set dynamically by an opaque “surge pricing” algorithm. The lack of transparency has led to concerns about whether Uber artificially manipulate prices, and whether dynamic prices are fair to customers and drivers. In order to understand the impact of surge pricing on pas­ sengers and drivers, we present the first in-depth investiga­ tion of Uber. We gathered four weeks of data from Uber by emulating 43 copies of the Uber smartphone app and dis­ tributing them throughout downtown San Francisco (SF) and midtown Manhattan. Using our dataset, we are able to characterize the dynamics of Uber in SF and Manhattan, as well as identify key implementation details of Uber’s surge price algorithm. Our observations about Uber’s surge price algorithm raise important questions about the fairness and transparency of this system.
A Survey of Online Monocular Markerless Augmented Reality

This paper surveys the field of Markerless Augmented Reality, specifically online and monocular. This research field is applied by the TechPetro project that aims to define and developed a Markerless Augmented Reality framework for the implementation of Augmented Reality based engineering solutions. In Markerless Augmented Reality, 3D virtual objects are integrated into a 3D real environment in real-time. This is achieved using the world as marker instead of fiducial markers applied in traditional Augmented Reality systems. It discusses major issues related to the field, such as tracking and registration, which become much more complex. This paper also describes the characteristics and experimental results of online monocular Markerless Augmented Reality techniques. Future directions and areas requiring further research are briefly discussed. This survey provides a starting point for anyone interested in researching or using Markerless Augmented Reality.
A Review of Location Detection Techniques in Wi-Fi

Recently, there has been much focus on localization of mobile node using wireless local area network. Location information of a mobile node is used to provide different location based services to the user. Intruder identification and possible threat can be detected early if the physical location of the node is known beforehand. There are number of localization techniques to determine the location of a mobile node in indoor and outdoor environments. In this paper, we provide an overview of typical location estimation schemes of triangulation, scene analysis, and proximity particularly for localization of mobile node in indoor environments by using wireless local area networks.
ForusCare: An integrated teleophthalmology screening system

The world is reaching for telemedicine. Extensive studies of image-oriented tasks like radiology and ophthalmology have explored practical architectures, technical and organisational, by which to implement it. This paper describes the integration of service methods in a teleophthalmology screening system currently live in India. Earlier studies examined individual features/methods to enhance service; by integrating multiple tools demonstrated by such studies to improve or enhance the service, ForusCare shows a clinical/logistical/financial path to expansion of telemedicine in the developing world to the benefit of the neediest. We emphasise this integration over the technical means.
The Likely Near-Infrared Counterpart to the Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 1E 1048.1–5937

We report our discovery of the likely near-infrared counterpart to the anomalous X-ray pulsar (AXP) 1E 1048.1-5937, using observations from the 6.5 m Baade (Magellan I) telescope in Chile. We derived a precise position for the X-ray source using archival data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. This position is inconsistent with a position reported earlier from XMM-Newton, but we show that the originally reported XMM-Newton position suffered from attitude reconstruction problems. Only two of the infrared objects in a 17′′ × 17′′ field containing the target have unusual colors, and one of these has colors consistent with those of the identified counterparts of two other AXPs. The latter object is also the only source detected within the 0. ″6 Chandra error circle, and we identify it as the counterpart to 1E 1048.1-5937. This is the first AXP counterpart detected in multiple infrared bands, with magnitudes J = 21.7(3), H = 20.8(3), and K = 19.4(3). There is marginal evidence for spectral flattening at longer wavelengths.
Recombination events after transient infection and stable integration of DNA into mouse cells

To investigate the recombinational machinery of mammalian cells, we have constructed plasmids that can be used as substrates for homologous recombination. These plasmids contain two truncated nontandem, but overlapping, segments of the neomycin resistance gene, separated by the transcription unit for the xanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase gene. Recombination between the two nonfunctional neomycin gene sequences generates an intact neomycin resistance gene that is functional in both bacteria and mammalian cells. Using these plasmid substrates, we have characterized the frequencies and products of recombination events that occur in mouse 3T6 cells soon after transfection and also after stable integration of these DNAs. Among the chromosomal recombination events, we have characterized apparent deletion events that can be accounted for by intrachromatid recombination or unequal sister chromatid exchanges. Other recombination events like chromosomal inversions and possible gene conversion events in an amplification unit are also described.
Towards a Model Driven eLearning Framework to Improve Quality of Teaching

There is a significant dearth of time and qualified teachers to make 200 million adult illiterates of India spread across 22 Indian Languages literate and it would take massive effort to address the scale and variety challenges. In this paper, we summarize four and half years of our experience of analyzing and improving a decade-long technology to adult literacy problem. Based on this experience and extensive interviews with teachers/learners and with the goal of devising quality instruction at attractive productivity rates through technology, we propose GAMBLE as a unified modelling framework and technical platform to organize instructional material in the form of data (facts, cases, rules and models). Essentially GAMBLE allows learners to perform well at all levels (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create) of Bloom'sTaxonomy. We briefly present the case of applying GAMBLE framework to adult literacy and discuss its broad applications for school education as well.
DETC 2011-47728 KINEMATIC MAPPING AND CALIBRATION OF THE THUMB MOTIONS FOR TELEOPERATING A HUMANOID ROBOT HAND

Mapping and calibration from a human hand to a robot hand pose a challenge due to their differences in kinematic structures. This paper uses the CyberGlove as the input device for telemanipulating an object with the thumb and the index finger of the Shadow Dexterous HandTM, with the focus not only on the position but also on the orientation of the thumb fingertip because it is found through experiments conducted on the Shadow Hand that the calibration of tip position alone can lead to unacceptable grasping postures. This paper develops an experiment protocol and proposes a nonlinear optimization formulation that makes the normals of the surfaces of the thumb and index fingertips within the friction cone while subject to fingertip position constraint. The results are verified to be accurate enough to conduct the telemanipulation.