Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Decision-Theoretic Computational Framework for Planning (Preliminary Report)

We describe a computational framework for decisiontheoretic planning, suitable for uncertain, dynamic domains in which temporal relationships between state variables can be described probabilistically. This system explicitly incorporates uncertainty and precise notions of temporal change within a relatively simple framework, extending previous work on the use of temporal probabilistic networks for planning. This framework compiles a symbolic rule-base augmented with probabilities and utilities into a temporal probabilistic network. The network is constructed incrementally, leading to more efficient and flexible networks. A variety of temporal reasoning assumptions can be specified parametrically using different parameterized time-series processes to govern the temporal evolution of the system. Plans can be assessed and refined in several ways. For example, the plan with highest expected utility can be computed, given a partial ordering on (i.e. utility values assigned to) outcomes, using standard decision-theoretic notions of utility maximization. Moreover, the probability of a single variable of interest to the problem-solver can be computed at an arbitrary future time point without generating the entire plan.
Effects of pH and Temperature on the Composition of Polar Lipids in Thermoplasma acidophilum HO-62

ABSTRACT Thermoplasma acidophilum HO-62 was grown at different pHs and temperatures, and its polar lipid compositions were determined. Although the number of cyclopentane rings in the caldarchaeol moiety increased when T. acidophilum was cultured at high temperature, the number decreased at low pHs. Glycolipids, phosphoglycolipids, and phospholipids were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with an evaporative light-scattering detector. The amount of caldarchaeol with more than two sugar units on one side increased under low-pH and high-temperature conditions. The amounts of glycolipids increased and those of phosphoglycolipids decreased under these conditions. The proton permeability of the liposomes obtained from the phosphoglycolipids that contained two or more sugar units was lower than that of the liposomes obtained from the phosphoglycolipids that contained one sugar unit. From these results, we propose the hypothesis that T. acidophilum adapts to low pHs and high temperatures by extending sugar chains on their cell surfaces, as well as by varying the number of cyclopentane rings.
Indigenous Peoples, Postcolonial Contexts and Genomic Research in the Late 20th Century: A View from Amazonia (1960—2000)

In the 1960s the human geneticist James V. Neel and collaborators launched a research program aimed at investigating the human biology of South American indigenous populations, which would become one of the most influential such studies in the second half of the 20th century. In the first part of this article I explore the trajectory of some components of the Amazonian research program and situate it in the context of worldwide human biological research in the 1960s and 1970s. In the second half I suggest that the comparative analysis of previous research on the human biology of indigenous peoples might provide insights into highly debated issues pertaining to contemporaneous research agendas, including the `Human Genome Diversity Project' (HGDP).
FOCUS: ComplexityandPsychology Guest Editors: Giuseppe Mininni and Mauro Maldonato

Abstract Recently the complexity of discursive practices has been widely acknowledged by the humanities and social sciences. In fact, to know anything is to know in terms of one or more discourse. The “discursive turn” in psychology may be considered as a new paradigm oriented to a correct study of (wo)man only if it is able to grasp the semiotical ground of psychic experience both as an “effort after meaning” and as a “struggle over meaning. ” In this sense the notion of “diatext” has been proposed as a contribution in working out a psychosemiotical approach to understand how the discursive practices assign subject-positions to the agents of each interlocution scenario.
Frail Older Adults' Self-Report of Their Most Important Assistive Device

The increasing number of older individuals, especially those in the oldest-old age group, has resulted in a significant increase in the number of people with disabilities. Assistive technology offers the potential of increasing independence and quality of life for older individuals with disabilities, as well as reducing health-related costs. To increase our understanding of the value older individuals themselves place on their assistive devices, this study interviewed 1,016 home-based older individuals in western New York and northern Florida, specifically asking them what they considered their “most important” assistive device and why. Not considering the number of users, the top five most important devices were eyeglasses, canes, wheelchairs, walkers, and telephones. Controlling for the number of people using the device, the top five most important devices were oxygen tanks, dentures, 3-in-1 commodes, computers, and wheelchairs. This study suggests that older individuals with disabilities view certain assistive devices as important in maintaining independence.
Self-deception, social desirability, and psychopathology

Social desirability can be conceived as a proxy for self-deception, as it involves a positive attribution side and a denial side. People with mental disorders have lower scores on measures of social desirability, which could depend on cognitive load caused by symptoms. This suggests that self-deception is an active strategy and not merely a faulty cognitive process.
MIREX 2011 AMS-AUDIO SIMILARITY VIA METRIC LEARNING

Our submissions (ML1, ML2, ML3) to the Audio Music Similarity (AMS) task are based upon learning an optimal distance metric over vector quantized MFCC histograms. ML1 is optimized to predict similarity derived from a collaborative filter; ML2 is optimized to predict genre similarity; ML3 is an unsupervised baseline which uses a native distance metric. This abstract details the system architecture and parameter settings.
Using Pedagogical Practices in an Online Learning Environment to Enhance Motivation and Self-directed Learning of Part-time Students

Part-time students, working full-time have many problems that need to be addressed while juggling work, study and home commitments. Assumptions about student motivation and how they handle their busy lifestyle need to be factored into study routines and curriculum structures. This research investigated the factors affecting full-time teacher progress in undertaking a tertiary part-time course. Using an action research methodology and an online learning management system to support pedagogical practices, two University of Hong Kong instructors attempted to help their students take responsibility for their own learning and develop appropriate self-directed learning abilities in two consecutive modules using a combination of flexible learning, face-to-face and e-learning strategies. The findings have verified the attempts to better tailor teaching and learning to meet students' needs and also have been informative for other part-time undergraduate programmes. The results support the need for strategies to accommodate an expected increase in part-time tertiary students who are also working full time.
Repentance, Psychotherapy, and Healing Through a Jewish Lens

The author discusses important connections between the notion of repentance, particularly as conceived in Jewish religious thought, and psychotherapy. She writes that the Jewish concept of repentance, or teshuvah, provides a path of return to one's true spiritual nature, a path that reunites the individual with a larger spiritual community. In comparison, psychotherapy provides a secular path toward a sense of individual psychic wholeness. The author proceeds to investigate the steps involved in teshuvah and the psychological importance and implications of these steps, including the important issue of the role of morality in psychotherapy.
Top-down control of eye movements: Yarbus revisited

Alfred Yarbus (1967) reported that an observer's eye movement record varied based on high-level task. He found that an observer's eye movement patterns during freeview were dramatically different than when given tasks such as “Remember the clothes worn by the people. ” Although Yarbus’ work is often cited to demonstrate the task-dependence of eye movements, it is often misrepresented; Yarbus reported results for only one observer, but authors commonly refer to Yarbus’ “observers”. Additionally, his observer viewed the painting for 21 minutes with optical stalks attached to the sclera and with his head severely restricted. Although eye movements are undoubtedly influenced by high-level tasks, it is not clear how Yarbus’ results reflect his unique experimental conditions. Because of Yarbus’ role in the literature, it is important to determine the extent to which his results represent a sample of naïve observers under more natural conditions. We replicated Yarbus’ experiment using a head-free eyetracker with 17 naïve observers. The presentations were self-paced; viewing times were typically an order of magnitude shorter than the times Yarbus imposed. Eye movement patterns were clearly task dependent, but some of the differences were much less dramatic than those shown in Yarbus’ now-classic observations.
What You Should Know about Hypersexual Disorder

For many of us, the possible inclusion of Hypersexual Disorder (APA, 2010) in the DSM-V comes with mixed emotions. Like you, I am thrilled to see years of hard work, research, and advocacy finally being recognized. Furthermore, I recognize the importance of providing our clients with a tangible diagnosis that provides them with an understanding that they are not alone and hope for treatment that we know can work. Yet, the term hypersexual disorder seems very sterile. I know what it means when my clients say they are a “sex addict. ” I understand how the addiction model guides the formation of this problem and how using an addiction sensitive approach we can treat it. What will it mean for our clients and us when we start using the diagnosis hypersexual disorder? A few weeks ago, I was interviewed for Good Morning America about the possible inclusion of hypersexual disorder in the DSM-V. Unfortunately, the interview never made the air due to a string of current events that was more pressing. During the interview, I kept slipping up. I continued to refer to sexual addiction. At one point the interviewer asked me, “You keep using the term sexual addiction instead of hypersexual disorder, is that OK? ” For this editorial, I thought I would describe how I would answer certain questions about hypersexual disorder should I be interviewed again. It is still uncertain whether hypersexual disorder will make the DSM. It is possible it will be included in the appendix or eliminated all together. It will not make the main pages in this first pass. Regardless, over the next several years we are going to have to respond to this new diagnosis. We will have to include it in our vocabulary and educate patients, families, and the public about it. The following answers are more extensive than media sound bites. They represent my thinking on this disorder. I encourage each of you to come up with your own answers to these questions. Who knows, a producer may knock on your door unexpectedly.
English Learners in California Schools: Unequal resources, unequal outcomes

The Williams vs the State of California class action suit on behalf of poor children in that state argues that California provides a fundamentally inequitable education to students based on wealth and language status. This article, an earlier version of which was prepared as background to that case, reviews the conditions of schooling for English learners in the state with the largest population of such students, totaling nearly 1.6 million in 2003, and comprising about 40 percent of nation’s English learners. We argue, with evidence, that there are seven aspects of the schooling of English language learners where students receive an education that is demonstrably inferior to that of English speakers. For example, these students are assigned to less qualified teachers, are provided with inferior curriculum and less time to cover it, are housed in inferior facilities where they are often segregated from English speaking peers, and are assessed by invalid instruments that provide little, if any, information about their actual achievement. We end with suggestions for ways in which teachers, administrators, and policymakers can begin to address these inequities, even while legal remedies may remain in the distant future.
Predictable and Unpredictable Changes in Party Support: A Method for Long-Range Daily Election Forecasting from Opinion Polls

Abstract This paper outlines several methods for forecasting the next British general election on a daily basis from 20 months prior using opinion polls. It discusses their performance for previous electoral cycles and shows that the two models with the best historical record lead to substantially different predictions for 2015, but they can be averaged. The historical relationship between the polls and the vote suggests that government support rises substantially in the run up to elections, that Conservatives outperform but Labour underperform relative to the polls, and parties generally recover from low points or decline from high ones. Approximate prediction intervals and probabilities for key events are also generated. Despite the Conservatives trailing in the polls by 7 points in early October 2013, the models suggest a substantial Conservative lead at the 2015 election with a 64% chance of being the largest party and 42% chance of an overall majority. The estimated probability of a hung parliament (40%) is instructive for understanding the operation of the electoral system.
Automatic image cropping using sparse coding

Image cropping is a technique to help people improve their taken photos' quality by discarding unnecessary parts of a photo. In this paper, we propose a new approach to crop the photo for better composition through learning the structure. Firstly, we classify photos into different categories. Then we extract the graph-based visual saliency map of these photos, based on which we build a dictionary for each categories. Finally, by solving the sparse coding problem of each input photo based on the dictionary, we find a cropped region that can be best decoded by this dictionary. The experimental results demonstrate that our technique is applicable to a wide range of photos and produce more agreeable resulting photos.
Determining Subjectivity in Text: The Case of Backward Causal Connectives in Dutch

This article addresses the question of how to systematically determine the degree of subjectivity expressed in a text, more specifically, the degree of subjectivity expressed in causal coherence relations. The main hypothesis is that the distribution of Dutch backward causal connectives (want, omdat, aangezien, and doordat) can be explained by the degree of subjectivity of the participant primarily involved in the causal relation (the causally primary participant or CP). The notion of subjectivity is defined on the basis of 2 different conceptions of subjectivity: speaker subjectivity and perspective. On the basis of this notion, a set of 8 text features is established, namely the CP's role in the causality, his or her nature, the mode in which his or her words or thoughts are represented, referential choice (presence and type of referential expression), and predicate features (tense, voice, polarity). This set of features is subsequently applied to an analysis of backward causal connectives in Dutch. The results of a series of corpus analyses are reported. The results show that the distribution of these connectives can successfully be explained in terms of the concept of subjectivity as developed in this article, and they underline the importance of investigating the expression of the self in text.
Effects of noise, image resolution, and ROI definition on the accuracy of standard uptake values: a simulation study.

UNLABELLED Semiquantitative standard uptake values (SUVs) are used for tumor diagnosis and response monitoring. However, the accuracy of the SUV and the accuracy of relative change during treatment are not well documented. Therefore, an experimental and simulation study was performed to determine the effects of noise, image resolution, and region-of-interest (ROI) definition on the accuracy of SUVs. METHODS Experiments and simulations are based on thorax phantoms with tumors of 10-, 15-, 20-, and 30-mm diameter and background ratios (TBRs) of 2, 4, and 8. For the simulation study, sinograms were generated by forward projection of the phantoms. For each phantom, 50 sinograms were generated at 3 noise levels. All sinograms were reconstructed using ordered-subset expectation maximization (OSEM) with 2 iterations and 16 subsets, with or without a 6-mm gaussian filter. For each tumor, the maximum pixel value and the average of a 50%, a 70%, and an adaptive isocontour threshold ROI were derived as well as with an ROI of 15 x 15 mm. The accuracy of SUVs was assessed using the average of 50 ROI values. Treatment response was simulated by varying the tumor size or the TBR. RESULTS For all situations, a strong correlation was found between maximum and isocontour-based ROI values resulting in similar dependencies on image resolution and noise of all studied SUV measures. A strong variation with tumor size of > or =50% was found for all SUV values. For nonsmoothed data with high noise levels this variation was primarily due to noise, whereas for smoothed data with low noise levels partial-volume effects were most important. In general, SUVs showed under- and overestimations of > or =50% and depended on all parameters studied. However, SUV ratios, used for response monitoring, were only slightly dependent of ROI definition but were still affected by noise and resolution. CONCLUSION The poor accuracy of the SUV under various conditions may hamper its use for diagnosis, especially in multicenter trials. SUV ratios used to measure response to treatment, however, are less dependent on noise, image resolution, and ROI definition. Therefore, the SUV might be more suitable for response-monitoring purposes.
Proximal Change Experiments With Couples: A Methodology for Empirically Building a Science of Effective Interventions for Changing Couples' Interaction

A methodological innovation called "proximal change experiments" for use with couples is proposed in this article. The objective of proximal change experiments is to improve the second of two conflict discussions to increase the stability of a couple's positive affect during conflict discussions, a characteristic of the "masters" of marriage. With general systems concepts in mind, our nonlinear mathematical model for marital interaction and its parameters are described as well as the measurement network for evaluating proximal change interventions for distressed couples. To promote positive affect, the goal is to integrate a positive "attractor" into the marital system. The results of a randomized clinical trial with five theoretically distinct brief interventions are then presented in terms of their ability to change the second of two conflict discussions. Differential treatment effects were obtained. Positive attractors were added when there were improved friendship and conflict management components in the intervention. The implications of these results are discussed.
Leadership style and the process of organizational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify processes which may contribute to followers’ positive reactions to change. By focusing on the relationship between change antecedents and explicit reactions, the authors investigate the direct and indirect relationships between leadership styles (transformational and transactional) and followers’ appraisal of change through manager engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Using data from a longitudinal survey among 351 followers in two Danish organizations, the study tracked the planned implementation of team organization at two different times. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Findings – Transformational and transactional leadership styles were positively related to the engagement of managers. Managers’ engagement was associated with followers’ appraisal of change. The two leadership styles also had a direct, long-term effect on followers’ change appraisal; positive for transformational leadership and negative for transactional le.
Characterization of Lymphocyte Subsets in Patients with Common Variable Immunodeficiency Reveals Subsets of Naive Human B Cells Marked by CD24 Expression

Increased proportions of naive B cell subset and B cells defined as CD27negCD21negCD38neg are frequently found in patients with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) syndrome. Current methods of polychromatic flow cytometry and PCR-based detection of κ deletion excision circles allow for fine definitions and replication history mapping of infrequent B cell subsets. We have analyzed B cells from 48 patients with CVID and 49 healthy controls to examine phenotype, frequency, and proliferation history of naive B cell subsets. Consistent with previous studies, we have described two groups of patients with normal (CVID-21norm) or increased (CVID-21lo) proportions of CD27negCD21negCD38neg B cells. Upon further analyses, we found two discrete subpopulations of this subset based on the expression of CD24. The B cell subsets showed a markedly increased proliferation in CVID-21lo patients as compared with healthy controls, suggesting developmental arrest rather than increased bone marrow output. Furthermore, when we analyzed CD21pos naive B cells, we found two different subpopulations based on IgM and CD24 expression. They correspond to follicular (FO) I and FO II cells previously described in mice. FO I subset is significantly underrepresented in CVID-21lo patients. A comparison of the replication history of naive B cell subsets in CVID patients and healthy controls implies refined naive B cell developmental scheme, in which human transitional B cells develop into FO II and FO I. We propose that the CD27negCD21negCD38neg B cells increased in some of the CVID patients originate from the two FO subsets after loss of CD21 expression.
A novel functional MRI-based immersive tool for dementia disease severity prediction via spectral clustering and incremental learning

An image-based immersive tool is proposed to diagnose the severity of the dementia disease based on arterial spin labeling images for the first time in this paper. A Gaussian form of mahalanobis distance is incorporated to measure the pair-wise similarity of images, and its with-in full matrix is automatically determined via spectral clustering and incremental learning techniques. There are totally 350 demented patients belonging to three groups, i.e., Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and non cognitive impairment, utilized for experimental evaluation. Several other methods are also implemented and compared with the newly proposed method from the statistical perspective. It is concluded that the new method outperforms others in this dementia diagnosis study.