Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Limitations in actuarial risk assessment of sexual offenders: a methodological note

The assessment of risk of recidivism in sexual offenders is fundamental to clinical practice. It is widely accepted that, compared with actuarial measures of risk, unaided clinical judgment has generally been found to be of low reliability. Consequently, the literature has shown a surge in actuarial measures. However, a major difficulty in assessing risk in sex offenders is the low base rate, leading to an increased likelihood of making a false positive predictive error. To overcome this, risk assessment studies are increasingly using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), which displays the relationship between level of risk and decision choice. This note summarises the methodological issues in measuring predictive accuracy in assessing risk of re‐offending in sexual offenders, and identifies from the literature both static and dynamic risk factors associated with sexual offence recidivism.
Polarized light imaging of birefringence and diattenuation at high resolution and high sensitivity

Polarized light microscopy provides unique opportunities for analyzing the molecular order in man-made and natural materials, including biological structures inside living cells, tissues, and whole organisms. 20 years ago, the LC-PolScope was introduced as a modern version of the traditional polarizing microscope enhanced by liquid crystal devices for the control of polarization, and by electronic imaging and digital image processing for fast and comprehensive image acquisition and analysis. The LC-PolScope is commonly used for birefringence imaging, analyzing the spatial and temporal variations of the differential phase delay in ordered and transparent materials. Here we describe an alternative use of the LC-PolScope for imaging the polarization dependent transmittance of dichroic materials. We explain the minor changes needed to convert the instrument between the two imaging modes, discuss the relationship between the quantities measured with each instrument, and touch on the physical connection between refractive index, birefringence, transmittance, diattenuation, and dichroism.
Encoding of Information Into Neural Spike Trains in an Auditory Nerve Fiber Model With Electric Stimuli in the Presence of a Pseudospontaneous Activity

This paper presents an information-theoretic analysis of neural spike trains in an auditory nerve fiber (ANF) model stimulated extracellularly with Gaussian or sinusoidal waveforms in the presence of a pseudospontaneous activity of spike firings. In the computer simulation, stimulus current waveforms were applied repeatedly to a stimulating electrode located 1 mm above the 26th node of Ranvier, in an ANF axon model having 50 nodes of Ranvier, each consisting of stochastic sodium and potassium channels. From spike firing times recorded at the 36th node of Ranvier, a post-stimulus time histogram (PSTH) was generated, and raster plots were depicted for 30 stimulus presentations, in order to investigate the temporal precision and reliability of the spike firing times. Also, inter spike intervals were generated and then "total" and "noise" entropies were estimated to obtain the mutual information and the information rate of the spike trains. It was shown in the case of Gaussian electric stimuli that the temporal precision of spike firing times and the reliability of spike firings were found to increase as the standard deviation (SD) of the Gaussian electric stimuli increased. It was also shown in the case of sinusoidal electric stimuli where there was a specific amplitude of sinusoidal waveforms, the information rate being maximized. It was implied that setting the parameters of electric stimuli to the specific values which maximize the information rate might contribute to efficiently encoding information into the spike trains in the presence of a pseudospontaneous activity of spike firings
Molecular Evolution of the Sorghum Maturity Gene Ma3

Time to maturity is a critical trait in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) breeding, as it determines whether a variety can be grown in a particular cropping system or ecosystem. Understanding the nucleotide variation and the mechanisms of molecular evolution of the maturity genes would be helpful for breeding programs. In this study, we analyzed the nucleotide diversity of Ma3, an important maturity gene in sorghum, using 252 cultivated and wild sorghum materials from all over the world. The nucleotide variation and diversity were analyzed based both on race- and usage-based groups. We also sequenced 12 genes around the Ma3 gene in 185 of these materials to search for a selective sweep and found that purifying selection was the strongest force on Ma3, as low nucleotide diversity and low-frequency amino acid variants were observed. However, a very special mutation, described as ma3R, seemed to be under positive selection, as indicated by dramatically reduced nucleotide variation not only at the loci but also in the surrounding regions among individuals carrying the mutations. In addition, in an association study using the Ma3 nucleotide variations, we detected 3 significant SNPs for the heading date at a high-latitude environment (Beijing) and 17 at a low-latitude environment (Hainan). The results of this study increases our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms of the maturity genes in sorghum and will be useful in sorghum breeding.
Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk among patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotics in Malaysia.

INTRODUCTION This study aimed to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotics in Malaysia. METHODS This cross-sectional study, conducted at multiple centres, involved 270 patients who fulfilled the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, were on antipsychotic medications for at least one year, and were screened for metabolic syndrome. Patients receiving mood stabilisers were excluded. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program ATP III criteria modified for Asian waist circumference. Risk for cardiovascular disease was assessed by using Framingham function (all ten-year CHD events). RESULTS The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 46.7% (126/270). Among all the antipsychotics used, atypical antipsychotics (monotherapy) were most commonly used in both the metabolic and non-metabolic syndrome groups (50.8% vs. 58.3%). The ten-year risk for CHD was significantly higher in patients with metabolic syndrome. The proportion of patients with high/very high risk for CHD (Framingham ≥ 10%) was greater in patients with metabolic syndrome than in those with non-metabolic syndrome (31.5% vs. 11.0%, odds ratio 3.9, 95% confidence interval 2.0-7.6; p < 0.001). The mean body mass index was higher in patients with metabolic syndrome than in those without (29.4 ± 5.1 kg/m2 vs. 25.0 ± 5.6 kg/m2; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotics in Malaysia have a very high incidence of metabolic syndrome and increased cardiovascular risk. Urgent interventions are needed to combat these problems in patients.
Organizational Climate, School Health, and Effectiveness: A Comparative Analysis

The theory-driven Organizational Health Inventory (OHI) was compared to the empirically derived Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ-RS) in predicting student achievement and teachers' commitment to the school. After controlling for the socioeconomic status of the 58 secondary schools in the sample, only academic emphasis, a subtest of the OHI, made a significant contribution to student achievement. While both instruments predicted commitment, the OHI explained more of the variance. The findings suggest that, at best, the influence of the principal is indirect on school achievement but direct on commitment. Further application of both the OHI and OCDQ-RS is recommended.
THE LOST-LETTER TECHNIQUE: A TOOL OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

This note describes briefly an experimental technique for assessing community orientations toward political groups and other institutions. The technique consists of dispersing in city streets (and other locations) a large number of unmailed letters. The letters are enclosed in envelopes that have addresses and stamps on them but that have not yet been posted. When a person comes across one of these letters on the street, it appears to have been lost. Thus he has a choice of mailing, disregarding, or actively destroying the letter. By varying the name of the organization to which the letter is addressed and distributing such "lost letters" in sufficient quantity, it is possible to obtain a return rate specific to the organization. The focus of the technique is not on the individual reaction to the lost letters but, rather, on the rate of response for a particular organization relative to other organizations that serve as controls. In a first study, 400 stamped, addressed envelopes were distributed in the city of New Haven, Connecticut. One hundred letters were assigned to each of the following addresses:
Identification of Fc Gamma Receptor Glycoforms That Produce Differential Binding Kinetics for Rituximab*

Fc gamma receptors (FcγR) bind the Fc region of antibodies and therefore play a prominent role in antibody-dependent cell-based immune responses such as ADCC, CDC and ADCP. The immune effector cell activity is directly linked to a productive molecular engagement of FcγRs where both the protein and glycan moiety of antibody and receptor can affect the interaction and in the present study we focus on the role of the FcγR glycans in this interaction. We provide a complete description of the glycan composition of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) expressed human Fcγ receptors RI (CD64), RIIaArg131/His131 (CD32a), RIIb (CD32b) and RIIIaPhe158/Val158 (CD16a) and analyze the role of the glycans in the binding mechanism with IgG. The interactions of the monoclonal antibody rituximab with each FcγR were characterized and we discuss the CHO-FcγRIIIaPhe158/Val158 and CHO-FcγRI interactions and compare them to the equivalent interactions with human (HEK293) and murine (NS0) produced receptors. Our results reveal clear differences in the binding profiles of rituximab, which we attribute in each case to the differences in host cell-dependent FcγR glycosylation. The glycan profiles of CHO expressed FcγRI and FcγRIIIaPhe158/Val158 were compared with the glycan profiles of the receptors expressed in NS0 and HEK293 cells and we show that the glycan type and abundance differs significantly between the receptors and that these glycan differences lead to the observed differences in the respective FcγR binding patterns with rituximab. Oligomannose structures are prevalent on FcγRI from each source and likely contribute to the high affinity rituximab interaction through a stabilization effect. On FcγRI and FcγRIIIa large and sialylated glycans have a negative impact on rituximab binding, likely through destabilization of the interaction. In conclusion, the data show that the IgG1-FcγR binding kinetics differ depending on the glycosylation of the FcγR and further support a stabilizing role of FcγR glycans in the antibody binding interaction.
The Novelty of 3D Product Presentations Online

Abstract The current research sought to understand the contribution of novelty to the positive outcomes that have been reported in the research on 3D interactions online and in e-commerce. The novelty of 3D product presentations was manipulated and examined along with the presentation of additional forms of information to determine if novelty is related to positive feelings associated with 3D products. Additional information was most compelling in product attitude formation, whereas novelty played a key role in shaping purchase intention. Novelty and information both impacted attitudes toward Web sites using 3D products. Directions for future research are suggested.
A Software Birthmark Based on System Call and Program Data Dependence

With the rapid development of software technology and open source projects, software industry becomes more and more threatened by software piracy. As an excellent detection technique of software piracy, software birthmark, which can describe the unique characteristic of a program, has obtained more and more attention. In this paper, we propose a software birthmark called SCDG-DDGB (System Call Dependence Graph - C Data Dependence Graph Birthmark) which combines system call dependence with program data dependence. SCDG-DDGB keeps the advantages of system call based software birthmark and expands the scope of detection. What's more, SCDG-DDGB also can be used to detect algorithm plagiarism. We demonstrate the accuracy of SCDG-DDGB and evaluate the robustness with many powerful obfuscation techniques. The result shows that SCDG-DDGB is reliable and effective in detecting software piracy.
Pedagogy and content in sexuality education courses in US colleges and universities

Most research on sexuality courses in US higher education was conducted in the 1980s and 1990s. Less is known about what is being taught in undergraduate sexuality courses today; this study sought to fill that gap. Reviewing content based on 161 courses (provided by 150 different instructors) from all regions of the USA, this study examined overall descriptions of course content and pedagogical strategies in relation to the academic position of the instructor, region of the country and course enrolment size. Results indicated similar content and pedagogical strategies employed with limited differences based on demographic characteristics. The most commonly taught subjects were sexual orientation (95.0%), communication (93.8%), gender identity (93.2%) and gender roles (93.2%). Most courses included reference to contraception (89.4%), HIV and AIDS (88.2%) and STIs (85.7%). Some notable differences included the fact that tenured or tenure-track instructors were more likely to lecture compared to non-tenure-track instructors, and 100% of courses in the West and Northeast addressed sexual orientation compared to 96% for the Midwest and 85% for the South. Most courses included discussion of pleasure (91.1%) and incorporated sexually explicit content (61.9%). The benefits and challenges of having guidelines for sexuality courses at the university/college level were explored.
Simplicity and Strong Reductions

A set is called NP-immune if it does not contain any infinite NP subsets, and NP-simple if it lies in NP, and its complement is NP-immune. Hartmanis, Li and Yehsa proved in 1986 that no m-hard (many-one hard) set for NP is NP-immune unless NP is contained in SUBEXP. On the other hand we can exhibit a relativized world in which there is an \NP-simple set that is complete under Turing reductions, even conjunctive reductions. We can therefore ask to what extent the original result generalizes to reductions which lie in strength in between many-one and Turing reductions. We show that no positive bounded truth-table complete set for NP is NP-simple, unless UP is contained in SUBEXP. Under the stronger assumption that the intersection of UP and co UP is not contained in SUBEXP it is even true that no bounded truth-table complete set for NP is NP-simple. Further results for different reductions are shown including a similar theorem about NEXP which does not require any assumptions. We derive the results by the use of inseparable sets. This technique turns out to be very powerful in the study of truth-table and even (honest) Turing reductions.
Triangular Decomposition Methods for Solving Reducible Nonlinear Systems of Equations

This paper generalizes to the nonlinear case a standard way to solve general sparse systems of linear equations. In particular, Duff [J. Inst. Math. Appl. , 19 (1977), pp. 339–342] has suggested that row and column interchanges be applied to permute the coefficient matrix of a linear system into block lower triangular forma The linear system then can be solved by using the associated block Gauss–Seidel or forward block substitution scheme. This is the approach taken in the Harwell MA28 routine. If more than one matrix with the same sparsity pattern is to be factored, then the reordering need not be redone. In extending this approach to nonlinear problems, it is necessary to assume as in the linear case that component equations can be evaluated separately from equations in other blocks. The algorithm for doing the reordering is very fast, and if the equations can be put into block lower triangular form with each block size much less than the dimension of the system, then a large savings is in order because .
Acculturation, Premigration Traumatic Experiences, and Depression Among Vietnamese Americans

Summary This study investigated the role of acculturation as a potential mediator or moderator for premigration traumatic experiences (PTE) and depression. The mediator effect refers to an effect in which acculturation mediates the negative impact of PTE on depression. On the other hand, the moderator effect signifies an interaction effect in which acculturation buffers the impact of PTE on depression. In other words, the negative impact of PTE on depression is hypothesized to vary according to different levels of acculturation. These two competing hypotheses were tested in a community-based sample of 261 adult Vietnamese Americans aged 25 and over. The sample consisted of 48% males and 64% of the sample were married. The average length of residence in the U.S. was 7 years. Multiple regression analyses did not support the mediator effect of acculturation, but did support its moderator effect as a buffer of PTE. Specifically, PTE had a much stronger effect on depression among those with lower levels of acculturation than those with higher levels of acculturation. Implications for future research and clinical practices are discussed.
The Kernel Kalman Rule - Efficient Nonparametric Inference with Recursive Least Squares

Nonparametric inference techniques provide promising tools for probabilistic reasoning in high-dimensional nonlinear systems.Most of these techniques embed distributions into reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces (RKHS) and rely on the kernel Bayes' rule (KBR) to manipulate the embeddings. However, the computational demands of the KBR scale poorly with the number of samples and the KBR often suffers from numerical instabilities. In this paper, we present the kernel Kalman rule (KKR) as an alternative to the KBR.The derivation of the KKR is based on recursive least squares, inspired by the derivation of the Kalman innovation update.We apply the KKR to filtering tasks where we use RKHS embeddings to represent the belief state, resulting in the kernel Kalman filter (KKF). We show on a nonlinear state estimation task with high dimensional observations that our approach provides a significantly improved estimation accuracy while the computational demands are significantly decreased.
Degradation of platelet-von Willebrand factor complexes by plasmin: an alternative/backup mechanism to ADAMTS13.

ADAMTS13 (a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type I repeats-13) is a plasma protease that cleaves von Willebrand factor (VWF) and regulates its thrombogenicity. VWF is a multimeric glycoprotein that plays a key role in hemostasis and thrombosis by stabilizing factor VIII and initiating platelet adhesion and aggregation at sites of vascular injury.1 VWF is stored as ultralarge VWF (ULVWF) multimers in platelet α granules and endothelial storage granules called Weibel-Palade bodies.2 ULVWF multimers, which are considered to be prothrombotic, are not normally present in the plasma of healthy humans but are released into the circulation from Weibel-Palade bodies on endothelial cell activation or injury. During the process of secretion, ULVWF multimers remain transiently bound to the endothelial surface, in which they are cleaved by ADAMTS13 into smaller and less thrombotic VWF multimers that support normal hemostasis.3 The essential role of VWF in hemostasis is evidenced clinically in patients with von Willebrand disease, a bleeding disorder caused by a lack of functional VWF.4 Conversely, deficiency of ADAMTS13 increases plasma levels of prothrombotic ULVWF multimers and causes increased susceptibility to thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a disorder of thrombotic microangiopathy.5 Interestingly, episodes of TTP occur sporadically in patients with hereditary ADAMTS13 deficiency,6 suggesting the existence of other modifying factors that trigger attack of microvascular thrombosis.7 Moreover, patients with acquired (autoantibody-mediated) ADAMTS13 deficiency can achieve remission of TTP despite the persistence of severe depletion of ADAMTS13,8 …
Cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea studied with the gamma scintillation camera.

Although relatively uncommon, cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea poses one of the most difficult diagnostic problems in neurosurgery. Occasionally it is diffi cult to establish whether or not a rhinorrhea is of spinal-fluid origin, and identifying the exact site of the leak is frequently impossible before an explora tory craniotomy. Many patients must be placed on prophylactic doses of antibiotics for extended periods to prevent repeated bouts of meningitis, which are the usual result of CSF rhinorrhea. Most cases of CSF rhinorrhea occur as a result of head trauma although nontraumatic (spontaneous) CSF rhinorrhea has been reported (1). The usual sites of leak are shown in Fig. 1. A number of diagnostic procedures have been tried in the past to demonstrate the site of a CSF leak. These procedures have included radiographie (2,3) and radioisotopic (4,5) techniques as well as methods using dyes (6) and fluorescent sub stances (7,8). However, these methods have seldom provided a clear correlation between the site of leak and the anatomy of the intracranial cisternal spaces. For example, even if a basal skull fracture can be demonstrated by x-ray tomography, there is no assurance that this area is the one associated with the discontinuity in the dura and arachnoid mem brane responsible for the CSF leakage. Pneumoencephalography is rarely capable of demonstrating the site of leak because it is usually impossible to cause air to pass through the meningeal-bony disruption. Radiographie techniques using iodinated contrast agents such as Pantopaque have been only rarely successful (9-12). The technique of radioisotope cisternography was first described by one of us (Di Ghiro, 13); in this method 100 /Â¿eof high-specific-activity ml-labeled human serum albumin was injected into the lumbar subarachnoid space. Serial rectilinear scanning of the head provided an opportunity to visualize the normal flow of spinal fluid in areas never before observed without significantly altering the hydrodynamics of the CSF. With this technique it has been possible to demonstrate the site of leak in a number of cases of CSF rhinorrhea (14,15). These studies are all performed with the patient's head either in the
Distorted Speech Rejection for Automatic Speech Recognition in Wireless Communication

SUMMARY This letter introduces a pre-rejection technique for wireless channel distorted speech with application to automatic speech recognition (ASR). Based on analysis of distorted speech signals over a wireless communication channel, we propose a method to reject the channel distorted speech with a small computational load. From a number of simulation results, we can discover that the pre-rejection algorithm enhances the robustness of speech recognition operation.