Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new epistemic model

Meier (2012) gave a "mathematical logic foundation" of the purely measurable universal type space (Heifetz and Samet, 1998). The mathematical logic foundation, however, discloses an inconsistency in the type space literature: a finitary language is used for the belief hierarchies and an infinitary language is used for the beliefs. In this paper we propose an epistemic model to fix the inconsistency above. We show that in this new model the universal knowledgebelief space exists, is complete and encompasses all belief hierarchies. Moreover, by examples we demonstrate that in this model the players can agree to disagree Aumann (1976)'s result does not hold, and Aumann and Brandenburger (1995)'s conditions are not sufficient for Nash equilibrium. However, we show that if we substitute selfevidence (Osborne and Rubinstein, 1994) for common knowledge, then we get at that both Aumann (1976)'s and Aumann and Brandenburger (1995)'s results hold.
The Bind that Ties: Socioemotional Wealth Preservation in Family Firms

A growing body of research shows that family firms are different from other organizations in significant ways. In this paper we review this literature by examining how family firms differ from nonfamily firms along five broad categories of managerial decisions. These categories encompass a set of key organizational choices concerning management processes, firm strategies, corporate governance, stakeholder relations and business venturing. We argue that socioemotional wealth or affective endowment of family owners explain many of these choices. We also examine some contingency factors (namely family stage, firm size, firm hazard, and the presence of nonfamily shareholders) that moderate the influence of socioemotional wealth preservation as a point of reference when making managerial decisions in family firms. Lastly, we explore the firm performance consequences of family ownership.
Effects of Environmental Stimulation on Recognition of Mealtimes in Patients with Dementia

ABSTRACT Aims: The effects of the environmental setting with passive visual and auditory stimulation on the recognition of lunchtime were investigated in 20 elderly with dementia in a care facility. Methods: Visual and auditory stimulation, comprising a tablecloth with a vase of flowers on the table and background music was provided in the usual environment at lunch. Results: The recognition of lunchtime significantly improved with the stimulation, more with audio-visual stimulation than with visual stimulation alone. The effects on the memory of lunch were lost 1 hr after lunch or at other meals. Conclusions: We considered that the environmental stimulation facilitated their cognitive function, possibly via an implicit memory of lunch, but there was no effect on the memory of the lunch.
Discrete weighted transforms and large-integer arithmetic

It is well known that Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) techniques may be used to multiply large integers. We introduce the concept of Discrete Weighted Transforms (DWTs) which, in certain situations, substantially improve the speed of multiplication by obviating costly zero-padding of digits. In particular, when arithmetic is to be performed modulo Fermât Numbers 22"1 + 1 , or Mersenne Numbers 29 1 , weighted transforms effectively reduce FFT run lengths. We indicate how these ideas can be applied to enhance known algorithms for general multiplication, division, and factorization oflarge integers.
Striatal Astrocytes Act as a Reservoir for L-DOPA

L-DOPA is therapeutically efficacious in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), although dopamine (DA) neurons are severely degenerated. Since cortical astrocytes express neutral amino acid transporter (LAT) and DA transporter (DAT), the uptake and metabolism of L-DOPA and DA in striatal astrocytes may influence their availability in the dopaminergic system of PD. To assess possible L-DOPA- and DA-uptake and metabolic properties of striatal astrocytes, we examined the expression of L-DOPA, DA and DAT in striatal astrocytes of hemi-parkinsonian model rats after repeated L-DOPA administration, and measured the contents of L-DOPA, DA and their metabolite in primary cultured striatal astrocytes after L-DOPA/DA treatment. Repeated injections of L-DOPA induced apparent L-DOPA- and DA-immunoreactivities and marked expression of DAT in reactive astrocytes on the lesioned side of the striatum in hemi-parkinsonian rats. Exposure to DA for 4h significantly increased the levels of DA and its metabolite DOPAC in cultured striatal astrocytes. L-DOPA was also markedly increased in cultured striatal astrocytes after 4-h L-DOPA exposure, but DA was not detected 4 or 8h after L-DOPA treatment, despite the expression of aromatic amino acid decarboxylase in astrocytes. Furthermore, the intracellular level of L-DOPA in cultured striatal astrocytes decreased rapidly after removal of extracellular L-DOPA. The results suggest that DA uptaken into striatal astrocytes is rapidly metabolized and that striatal astrocytes act as a reservoir of L-DOPA that govern the uptake or release of L-DOPA depending on extracellular L-DOPA concentration, but are less capable of converting L-DOPA to DA.
Theory and evidence relating cerebral processes to conscious will

Voluntary acts are preceded by electrophysiological "readiness potentials" (RPs). With spontaneous acts involving no preplanning, the main negative RP shift begins at about —550 ms. Such RPs were used to indicate the minimum onset times for the cerebral activity that precedes a fully endogenous voluntary act. The time of conscious intention to act was obtained from the subject's recall of the spatial clock position of a revolving spot at the time of his initial awareness of intending or wanting to move (W). W occurred at about -200 ms. Control experiments, in which a skin stimulus was timed (S), helped evaluate each subject's error in reporting the clock times for awareness of any perceived event. For spontaneous voluntary acts, RP onset preceded the uncorrected Ws by about 350 ms and the Ws corrected for S by about 400 ms. The direction of this difference was consistent and significant throughout, regardless of which of several measures of RP onset or W were used. It was concluded that cerebral initiation of a spontaneous voluntary act begins unconsciously. However, it was found that the final decision to act could still be consciously controlled during the 150 ms or so remaining after the specific conscious intention appears. Subjects can in fact "veto" motor performance during a 100-200-ms period before a prearranged time to act. The role of conscious will would be not to initiate a specific voluntary act but rather to select and control volitional outcome. It is proposed that conscious will can function in a permissive fashion, either to permit or to prevent the motor implementation of the intention to act that arises unconsciously. Alternatively, there may be the need for a conscious activation or triggering, without which the final motor output would not follow the unconscious cerebral initiating and preparatory processes.
A cross-national multi-level study of family meals

This article aims to broaden the understanding of the factors that predict the frequency of meals a family takes as a unit, as well as to assess the potential role country-level variables may have in accounting for cross-national differences in the frequency of family meals. Logistic regression and logistic hierarchical modeling are employed to achieve this goal. Findings indicate that family functioning and family composition predict the frequency of family meals and that country-level values help to explain international variations. The article concludes with directions for future research.
Restoring connection in the face of disconnection: an integrative approach to understanding and treating anorexia nervosa

This article explores the role of disconnection as a mediating process that creates the conditions for the development of anorexia nervosa (AN) and its intractability with regard to treatment. Intrapersonal (e.g. biological and psychological) and interpersonal (e.g. behavioral and affective) processes that contribute to the disconnections characterizing AN are described and an integrative model of disconnection is presented. Discussion of this model is followed by a description of a Relational/Motivational Multifamily Therapy Group that involves patients and family of origin as well as extra-familial members who have an emotional investment in the patient. This group, informed by Relational–Cultural Theory, Stages of Change Theory, Motivational Interviewing, and preliminary research findings and developed in partnership with patients and families, specifically identifies and repairs disconnections associated with AN. A clinical vignette from this group shows how a Relational–Motivational Multifamily Therapy Group facilitates the restoration or development of connections on individual, dyadic, and ‘group-as-a-whole’ levels. The article ends with implications for research related to viewing AN as a disease of disconnection.
Synthetic Population Generation with Multilevel Controls: A Fitness‐Based Synthesis Approach and Validations

The application of disaggregate models for predictions and policy evaluations requires as inputs detailed information on the socioeconomic characteristics of the population. The early procedure developed for population synthesis involved the generation of a joint multiway distribution of all attributes of interest using iterative proportional fitting (IPF). Recognizing its limitations, including the inability to deal with multilevel controls, several alternate methods have been proposed in the last few years. This article presents a methodology called the fitness‐based synthesis (FBS) that directly generates a list of households to match several multilevel controls without the need for determining a joint multiway distribution. The application and validation results demonstrate both the feasibility of the approach and its improved performance relative to the IPF and methods using fewer control tables. This article also presents a comprehensive validation of the synthetic populations against the true populations and thereby demonstrates the ability of the FBS method to generate the multidimensional correlations among the attributes. The number of iterations to terminations is found to be between one and three times the number of households to be synthesized. In sum, the FBS is an efficient and scalable methodology that is easy to implement and as such is a valuable tool for generating the detailed socioeconomic characteristics need for applying disaggregate travel‐demand forecasting models.
QUESTION FORMAT AND REPRESENTATIONS: DO HEURISTICS AND BIASES APPLY TO STATISTICS STUDENTS?

Researchers in the field of psychology studying subjects’ reasoning abilities and decision-making processes have identified certain common errors that are made, particularly on probability questions standard in introductory statistics courses. In addition, they have identified modifications to problems and training that promote normative reasoning in laboratory subjects. This study attempts to replicate, in the context of a statistics classroom, the results of one particular type of probability question, a two-stage conditional probability problem. The psychology literature suggests two possible implications for teaching probability. Although no effect for format modification was found, the representations training effects were replicated. The implications of these results for teaching and directions for future research are discussed. First published November 2009 at Statistics Education Research Journal: Archives
Dynamic dosimetry and edema detection in prostate brachytherapy: a complete system

Purpose: Brachytherapy (radioactive seed insertion) has emerged as one of the most effective treatment options for patients with prostate cancer, with the added benefit of a convenient outpatient procedure. The main limitation in contemporary brachytherapy is faulty seed placement, predominantly due to the presence of intra-operative edema (tissue expansion). Though currently not available, the capability to intra-operatively monitor the seed distribution, can make a significant improvement in cancer control. We present such a system here. Methods: Intra-operative measurement of edema in prostate brachytherapy requires localization of inserted radioactive seeds relative to the prostate. Seeds were reconstructed using a typical non-isocentric C-arm, and exported to a commercial brachytherapy delivery system. Technical obstacles for 3D reconstruction on a non-isocentric C-arm include pose-dependent C-arm calibration; distortion correction; pose estimation of C-arm images; seed reconstruction; and C-arm to TRUS registration. Results: In precision-machined hard phantoms with 40-100 seeds and soft tissue phantoms with 45-87 seeds, we correctly reconstructed the seed implant shape with an average 3D precision of 0.35 mm and 0.24 mm, respectively. In a DoD Phase-1 clinical trial on 6 patients with 48-82 planned seeds, we achieved intra-operative monitoring of seed distribution and dosimetry, correcting for dose inhomogeneities by inserting an average of 4.17 (1-9) additional seeds. Additionally, in each patient, the system automatically detected intra-operative seed migration induced due to edema (mean 3.84 mm, STD 2.13 mm, Max 16.19 mm). Conclusions: The proposed system is the first of a kind that makes intra-operative detection of edema (and subsequent re-optimization) possible on any typical non-isocentric C-arm, at negligible additional cost to the existing clinical installation. It achieves a significantly more homogeneous seed distribution, and has the potential to affect a paradigm shift in clinical practice. Large scale studies and commercialization are currently underway.
Written medical discharge communication from an acute stroke service: a project to improve content through development of a structured stroke-specific template

Abstract Specific guidelines for the content of discharge summaries from acute stroke services do not currently exist. The aims of this project were to assess the strengths and weaknesses of stroke discharge communication from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, to develop a structured template to guide completion, and to re-audit discharge communication following its implementation. The audit compared local performance against record standards from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (1), which was augmented by criteria generated from the British Association of Stroke Physicians (BASP) Stroke Service Standards (2). Discharge information was examined within the Trust’s Electronic Discharge Communication (EDC) system to determine the recording of selected items for consecutively discharged patients from the hyperacute and acute stroke units. The audit was repeated following implementation of a newly developed stroke-specific discharge summary template. Fifty-one EDC summaries were examined at baseline (July 2012) and 30 summaries at re-audit (January 2013). The criteria which showed low adherence initially and which showed the most significant improvement following the introduction of the template were the guidance on blood pressure and lipids targets (increased from 2% and 0% respectively at baseline, to 93% post intervention), and the driving and flying advice (from 3% to 79%). Documentation was also seen to improve for measures of physical and cognitive function, discharge arrangements, and follow up plans. This audit cycle has demonstrated improvement in the consistency of content within written discharge communication following the introduction of a structured stroke-specific template adhering to combined criteria from identified standards.
Foundation of Evidence-Based Decision Making for Health Care Managers, Part 1: Systematic Review

Evidence-based decision making has become a benchmark of best practice. Sources of evidence are systematic reviews and meta-analyses. To support their decision making, health care managers and supervisors need to be able to critically read and interpret systematic reviews and meta-analyses. They also need to be able to determine the applicability of the evidence to their problems and settings. This 2-part series of articles aims to equip health care managers and supervisors with these skills. This article, part 1, explains the types of systematic reviews, defines key terms, and outlines the process of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Part 2 focuses on the additional procedures associated with meta-analyses, describes the potential shortcomings of both systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and finally, provides a way to appraise the applicability of their results.
Targeting signals and subunit interactions in coated vesicle adaptor complexes

There are two clathrin-coated vesicle adaptor complexes in the cell, one associated with the plasma membrane and one associated with the TGN. The subunit composition of the plasma membrane adaptor complex is alpha-adaptin, beta-adaptin, AP50, and AP17; while that of the TGN adaptor complex is gamma-adaptin, beta'-adaptin, AP47, and AP19. To search for adaptor targeting signals, we have constructed chimeras between alpha-adaptin and gamma-adaptin within their NH2-terminal domains. We have identified stretches of sequence in the two proteins between amino acids approximately 130 and 330-350 that are essential for targeting. Immunoprecipitation reveals that this region determines whether a construct coassemblies with AP50 and AP17, or with AP47 and AP19. These observations suggest that these other subunits may play an important role in targeting. In contrast, beta- and beta'-adaptins are clearly not involved in this event. Chimeras between the alpha- and gamma-adaptin COOH-terminal domains reveal the presence of a second targeting signal. We have further investigated the interactions between the adaptor subunits using the yeast two-hybrid system. Interactions can be detected between the beta/beta'-adaptins and the alpha/gamma- adaptins, between the beta/beta'-adaptins and the AP50/AP47 subunits, between alpha-adaptin and AP17, and between gamma-adaptin and AP19. These results indicate that the adaptor subunits act in concert to target the complex to the appropriate membrane.
Discrete-Time Elasto-Plastic Friction Estimation

For control applications involving small displacements and velocities, friction modeling and compensation can be very important, especially around velocity reversal. We previously described single-state friction models that are based on elasto-plastic presliding, something that reduces drift while preserving the favorable properties of existing models (e.g., dissipativity) and that provide a comparable match to experimental data. In this paper, for this class of models, discrete estimation for friction force compensation is derived. The estimator uses only position and velocity (not force) measurements and integrates over space rather than time, yielding a discrete-time implementation that is robust to issues of sample size and sensor noise, reliably renders static friction and is computationally efficient for real-time implementation. Boundedness with respect to all inputs, convergence during steady sliding and dissipativity are established for the discrete-time formulation.
Biophysics of directional hearing in the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

Physiological and anatomical studies have suggested that alligators have unique adaptations for spatial hearing. Sound localization cues are primarily generated by the filtering of sound waves by the head. Different vertebrate lineages have evolved external and/or internal anatomical adaptations to enhance these cues, such as pinnae and interaural canals. It has been hypothesized that in alligators, directionality may be enhanced via the acoustic coupling of middle ear cavities, resulting in a pressure difference receiver (PDR) mechanism. The experiments reported here support a role for a PDR mechanism in alligator sound localization by demonstrating that (1) acoustic space cues generated by the external morphology of the animal are not sufficient to generate location cues that match physiological sensitivity, (2) continuous pathways between the middle ears are present to provide an anatomical basis for coupling, (3) the auditory brainstem response shows some directionality, and (4) eardrum movement is directionally sensitive. Together, these data support the role of a PDR mechanism in crocodilians and further suggest this mechanism is a shared archosaur trait, most likely found also in the extinct dinosaurs.
Perturbation recovery of biped walking by updating the footstep

Biped walking is sensitive to large perturbation because of the limited foothold and unstable nature. This paper proposed a strategy of dynamic updating the footstep for humanoid robots to recover their balance from an unexpected perturbation with one step. The proposed strategy consists of a desired footstep calculator and a swing leg controller. The desired footstep calculator consists of three stages: perturbation detection, rapid adaption, and capturabililty inspection. In the perturbation detection stage, the acceleration and the jerk of the pelvis are used to detect whether the perturbation occurs. In the rapid adaption stage, the robot modifies the desired step location quickly according to the integration of the changed acceleration during the perturbation. In the capturability inspection stage, capture region is calculated to inspect whether the desired foot step is inside the capture region. The swing leg controller is to generate the joint trajectories and torques of the swing leg based on the desired footstep online. Simulations of walking of a 12-DOF humanoid robot show that the proposed method is effective in recovering its balance even when it is perturbed from different directions by an impulse of 20 [Ns].
The consequences of additional cognitive load on performing musicians

When musicians play music, they seem to be fully concentrating and occupied with their performance. But what happens when concentration is affected, such as during examinations or concert performances? Our hypothesis was that the expressiveness of the music would be affected due to the fact that an additional cognitive load would occupy the cognitive resources that are needed for the timing and articulation of the musical action. To test this hypothesis, we asked experienced musicians to perform a musical piece with and without a secondary task (dual task condition). Jury judgements revealed that pieces performed under an additional cognitive load suffered a decrease in expressiveness. An analysis of the audio recordings revealed that for almost all performances, the durations of the pauses in between musical phrases during the performance in dual task conditions were significantly shorter than those performed without a secondary task, while the musical phrases themselves were not affected in their duration. We attribute this phenomenon to the fact that musicians can base the timing during playing on a (non-cognitive) corporeal reference, while during the pauses, this reference is lost. Insight into this effect may lead to educational practices that teach how to cope with additional load.