Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Creation of Defensiveness in Social Interaction II: A Model of Defensive Communication among Romantic Couples

This investigation extends the work of Stamp, Vangelisti, and Daly (1992) and others by explicating the multifaceted process of defensive communication among romantic couples. Qualitative data were derived from self-reports about a distinct episode of defensive communication in individual interviews, as well as direct analysis of couples’ communication in joint interviews. The proposed theoretical model reflects a more comprehensive, holistic, and precise framework that accounts for the triggers, core episode, outcomes, and contexts of defensive communication. The detailed model, which draws attention to interactive and person-centered features of defensive communication, is illustrated through the narrative account of one couple. Eleven data-based postulates are offered to fuel and focus subsequent investigations.
A New Dynamic Max-to-Mean Ratio Energy Spectrum Sensing Model in 5G Cognitive Radio System

Abstract: Spectrum utilization is the most recent issue in the area of wireless communication. It became more important with the high traffic demand and increasing number of applications in 4G/5G communication systems. Cognitive Radio (CR) technology provides new capabilities that support dynamic spectrum access and spectrum sharing by allowing a secondary user to opportunistically access the available spectrum of a primary user without causing the interference. Spectrum sensing is considered as the first step and most important part in CR implementation. The current challenges issues of the CR spectrum sensing to solve the underutilization problem are sensing time, implementation complexity, background noise, and power consumption. An improved energy detection method for any signals in Gaussian noise is proposed in this study to replace the traditional energy detection method, which is based on different characteristics of the noise and the signal waveforms. This is due to the fact that most of the noise has a flat power density spectrum, which totally differ from the transmitted signals. Those different characteristics can be exploited to perform a very efficient detection. The results of the probability of detection are obtained and then compared with the conventional energy detection method. The results show a significant improvement in terms of achieving higher probability of detection with lower level of SNR.
Identification of a Novel Mycobacterial Histone H1 Homologue (HupB) as an Antigenic Target of pANCA Monoclonal Antibody and Serum Immunoglobulin A from Patients with Crohn's Disease

ABSTRACT pANCA is a marker antibody associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including most patients with ulcerative colitis and a subset with Crohn's disease. This study addressed the hypothesis that pANCA reacts with an antigen(s) of microbial agents potentially relevant to IBD pathogenesis. Using a pANCA monoclonal antibody, we have previously identified the C-terminal basic random-coil domain of histone H1 as a pANCA autoantigen. BLAST analysis of the peptide databases revealed H1 epitope homologues in open reading frames of theMycobacterium tuberculosis genome. Western analysis of extracts from six mycobacterial species directly demonstrated reactivity to a single, conserved ∼32-kDa protein. Direct protein sequencing, followed by gene cloning, revealed a novel 214-amino-acid protein, an iron-regulated protein recently termed HupB. Sequence analysis demonstrated its homology with the mammalian histone H1 gene family, and recombinant protein expression confirmed its reactivity with the 5-3 pANCA monoclonal antibody. Binding activity of patient serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) to HupB did not correlate with reactivity to histone H1 or pANCA, indicating the complex character of the pANCA antigen. However, anti-HupB IgA was strongly associated with Crohn's disease (P < 0.001). These findings indicate that the 5-3 pANCA monoclonal antibody detects a structural domain recurrent among mycobacteria and cross-reactive with a DNA-binding domain of histone H1. The association of HupB-binding serum IgA with IBD provides new evidence for the association of a mycobacterial species with Crohn's disease.
Globalization and the Nigerian banking industry: dynamics of context/process interaction

This paper applies a context/process interaction approach to study information technology (IT) and organizational change within the Nigerian banking system. A contextualist approach is a research method that studies the interaction between a particular phenomenon and the context within which it is taking place. In this study we attempt to assess how the context of banking interacts with and influences the implementation of new technology-enabled banking products/services. In discussing this interplay, we suggest that the implementation of technology-enabled products/services within the Nigerian banking system is both adapting to and transforming existing structures within the industry. At the level of practice, this highlights the importance of contextualizing technology-enabled banking products/services and further supports the view that an effective globalization strategy should take the local context into consideration.
High performance predictable histogramming on GPUs: exploring and evaluating algorithm trade-offs

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are suitable for highly data parallel algorithms such as image processing, due to their massive parallel processing power. Many image processing applications use the histogramming algorithm, which fills a set of bins according to the frequency of occurrence of pixel values taken from an input image. Histogramming has been mapped on a GPU prior to this work. Although significant research effort has been spent in optimizing the mapping, we show that the performance and performance predictability of existing methods can still be improved. In this paper, we present two novel histogramming methods, both achieving a higher performance and predictability than existing methods. We discuss performance limitations for both novel methods by exploring algorithm trade-offs. Both the novel and the existing histogramming methods are evaluated for performance. The first novel method gives an average performance increase of 33% over existing methods for non-synthetic benchmarks. The second novel method gives an average performance increase of 56% over existing methods and guarantees to be fully data independent. While the second method is specifically designed for newer GPU architectures, the first method is also suitable for older architectures.
Feature extraction for face detection and recognition

We propose a facial feature extraction method for face detection and recognition using image segmentation with adaptive thresholds and real coded genetic algorithm guided shape matching. The shapes template is constructed using the average outer edges of the lips and the eyes. Image segmentation is performed using a region growing method, whose seeds are determined using a hybrid method that combines histogram, random and pixel-by-pixel methods. Adaptive thresholds are calculated using color variance. Color spaces used are the YIQ, XYZ and the HIS. Color variance is worked out using square, star and plus kernels.
Organizational Responses to an Environmental Bill of Rights

Organizations are continually confronted by new regulatory pressures, but there is debate as to how much freedom organizations have to select a strategic response to such pressures. Organizations do not respond to a regulatory pressure in isolation, but rather in concert with, and in reaction to, the response of other relevant stakeholders and pressures within the environment. This inductive study contributes to the established resource dependence and institutional literature by examining organizational responses to a new external regulatory pressure, the Ontario (Canada) Environmental Bill of Rights, and the influences that motivated such responses. Results of the study challenge the mechanistic approach of organizational responses to external pressures, presenting evidence of the interactive nature of such responses. This research also revealed four organizational strategies and three influences, not previously identified in organizational theory, which motivate organizational responses.
A Parallel Nonlinear Least-Squares Solver: Theoretical Analysis and Numerical Results

The authors recently proposed a new parallel algorithm, based on the sequential Levenberg–Marquardt method, for the nonlinear least-squares problem. The algorithm is suitable for message-passing multiprocessor computers.In this paper a parallel efficiency analysis is provided and computational results are reported. The experiments were performed on an Intel iPSC/2 multiprocessor with 32 nodes: this paper presents experimental results comparing the given parallel algorithm with sequential MINPACK code executed on a single processor. These experimental results show that essentially full efficiency is obtained for problems where the row size is sufficiently larger than the number of processors.
NADPH oxidase p22phox gene expression in ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, which catalyzes the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in phagocytic cells, has five subunits: p67phox ("phox"refers to "phagocyte oxidase"), p47phox, p40phox, p22phox, and gp91phox (catalytic subunit). Oxidative stress resulting from the accumulation of ROS and/or defective removal of ROS by antioxidants has detrimental effects on cellular functions and may contribute to chronic inflammation. Disruption of the colonic mucosa due to the dysregulation of antioxidants or transformation enzymes may play a role in the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC) and influence the clinical features of this disease. In this study, we examined the expression of the gene encoding NADPH oxidase subunit p22phox cytochrome b-245, alphapolypeptidein the colonic mucosa to test its possible contribution in the pathogenesis of UC. MATERIALS AND METHODS Expression levels of mRNA in the inflamed and non-inflamed colonic mucosa (determined using colonoscopy)of 22 patients with UC and in the normal mucosa of 22 healthy controls were analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS Expression levels of mRNA were not significantly different between patients with inflamed and non-inflamed colonic mucosa (p>0.05) and betweenpatients with inflamed colonicmucosa and healthy controls (p>0.05). CONCLUSION Although our data suggest that expression of the gene encoding p22phox is not associated with chronic inflammation in patients with UC, other mechanisms can affect oxidative stress in these patients.
Perforin Is a Novel Immune Regulator of Obesity-Related Insulin Resistance

Obesity-related insulin resistance is associated with an influx of pathogenic T cells into visceral adipose tissue (VAT), but the mechanisms regulating lymphocyte balance in such tissues are unknown. Here we describe an important role for the immune cytotoxic effector molecule perforin in regulating this process. Perforin-deficient mice (Prf1null) show early increased body weight and adiposity, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance when placed on high-fat diet (HFD). Regulatory effects of perforin on glucose tolerance are mechanistically linked to the control of T-cell proliferation and cytokine production in inflamed VAT. HFD-fed Prf1null mice have increased accumulation of proinflammatory IFN-γ–producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and M1-polarized macrophages in VAT. CD8+ T cells from the VAT of Prf1null mice have increased proliferation and impaired early apoptosis, suggesting a role for perforin in the regulation of T-cell turnover during HFD feeding. Transfer of CD8+ T cells from Prf1null mice into CD8-deficient mice (CD8null) resulted in worsening of metabolic parameters compared with wild-type donors. Improved metabolic parameters in HFD natural killer (NK) cell–deficient mice (NKnull) ruled out a role for NK cells as a single source of perforin in regulating glucose homeostasis. The findings support the importance of T-cell function in insulin resistance and suggest that modulation of lymphocyte homeostasis in inflamed VAT is one possible avenue for therapeutic intervention.
'I'm in and you're out . . . '

This paper reports on a qualitative investigation of explanations for teenage girls' indirect aggression (e.g., spreading false rumours, excluding peers from the group) which is part of a larger study on the nature of teenage girls' indirect aggression. Focus groups were conducted with fifty-four 15-16-year-old girls. These focus group data were supplemented with interviews with six pairs of girls and a focus group discussion with a pilot group of eight 16-year-olds and separate individual interviews with ten key teachers. The overall aim of this part of the study was to explore why girls are indirectly aggressive to their peers. The key explanations proposed by the girls and their teachers were a desire to create excitement in girls' lives together with a range of friendship and group processes, centred around having close intimate relationships and belonging to the peer group. This study enriches our understanding of girls' indirect aggression and adds to earlier research conducted mainly using quantita.
International comparisons in science studies: what and why do we compare?

This article is based on experiences with EU-funded research projects over the last 10 years. They have posed many methodological difficulties: many classifications do not fit the objects and actual issues are not measured or observed. They question the effectiveness of comparative research in the social sciences as it is being conducted now. We need new methodologies to make comparisons without overlooking specific contexts and effective tools to analyze large amounts of data, taking into account translation problems and mixing various types of data: qualitative, quantitative, more or less certain, first-hand and second-hand, statistical, from case studies. Furthermore, international comparisons assume that we can identify good practice and common indicators. Scientific governance is based on such assumptions, but what happens to that model if the comparative methodology is not so relevant? Rethinking methodology for social sciences and humanities in science studies could lead to rethinking the governance of science itself.
Miscanthus: a fast‐growing crop for biofuels and chemicals production

Miscanthus represents a key candidate energy crop for use in biomass‐to‐liquid fuel‐conversion processes and biorefineries to produce a range of liquid fuels and chemicals; it has recently attracted considerable attention. Its yield, elemental composition, carbohydrate and lignin content and composition are of high importance to be reviewed for future biofuel production and development. Starting from Miscanthus, various pre‐treatment technologies have recently been developed in the literature to break down the lignin structure, disrupt the crystalline structure of cellulose, and enhance its enzyme digestibility. These technologies included chemical, physicochemical, and biological pre‐treatments. Due to its significantly lower concentrations of moisture and ash, Miscanthus also represents a key candidate crop for use in biomass‐to‐liquid conversion processes to produce a range of liquid fuels and chemicals by thermochemical conversion. The goal of this paper is to review the current status of the technology for biofuel production from this crop within a biorefinery context.
Linking Social Environments With the Well-being of Adolescents in Dual-Earner and Single Working Parent Families

This investigation examined the relationships between middle school-aged children’s perceptions of their social environments (home, school, neighborhood, and parental work) with self-reports of well-being. In the present study, well-being was defined by measures of physical health and psychological happiness. Data from the Nurturing Families Study were collected during in-person interviews with adolescents in dual-earner and single working parent families. Adolescents’ subjective assessments were analyzed through two hierarchical regression models: mothers’ (N = 149) and fathers’ (N = 150). Findings suggest that child gender, perceptions of the school environment, and parents coming home from work in a good mood significantly predict the variability in adolescent self-reports of well-being. The school environment was found to have the strongest predictive power over variations in adolescents’ well-being. Implications for practice and research, including improving supports within schools and focusing more attention on parental mood after work, are discussed.
Where the Wild Dreams Are

I come back from seeing my counselor, exhausted and inarticulate, yet strangely calm. I write. I come back from working with a group of clients/coresearchers. We write. I awake from a strange dream about an impossible, yet vivid conversation between two people long since dead. I write. I end up piecing together disconnected fragments of writing that leave traces, as if they are “a simultaneity of stories so far” across the spaces between therapy, writing as inquiry, coresearch, and autoethnography.
The Validity of the Different Versions of the Hamilton Depression Scale in Separating Remission Rates of Placebo and Antidepressants in Clinical Trials of Major Depression

Abstract Our objective was to validate the different versions of the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) both psychometrically (scalability) and clinically in discriminating antidepressants from placebo in terms of remission rates in an 8-week clinical trial in the acute treatment of major depression. The traditional HAM-D17 version was compared with the shorter HAM-D6 and the longer HAM-D21 or HAM-D24 in a fixed-dose placebo-controlled vortioxetine study. Clinical Global Impression of Severity scores were used to establish standardized cutoff scores for remission across each scale. Using these cutoff scores, we compared the ability of each scale to separate drug-placebo remission rates, evaluated by the number needed to treat for clinical evidence. The HAM-D6 was superior to HAM-D17 in separating drug-placebo remission rates at the end point, defined as number needed to treat of less than 10. More items in the longer HAM-D versions indicated smaller discriminating validity over placebo. The HAM-D6 indicated a dose effect on remission for vortioxetine in both moderate and severe major depression. The brief HAM-D6 was thus found superior to HAM-D17, HAM-D21, and HAM-D24 both in terms of scalability and in discriminating antidepressants from placebo.
Speaking to power: Tony Blair, complex multicultures and fragile white English identities

This paper reflects on one example of knddowledge transfer conducted by the ESRC Identities and Social Action Programme which involved briefing Tony Blair for his December 2006 speech on multiculturalism and extremism. Two key themes in the report prepared for Blair and his speech-writer are described — the nature of contemporary complex multicultures and the `fragility' of white English identities. These are contrasted with themes in Blair's speech which, in general, celebrated (white) British national character and took a traditional `divided communities' perspective on UK multiculturalism while introducing further measures to encourage `integration'. The paper describes the dilemmas and challenges faced in formulating a report for this context, in particular issues about developing a narrative in a highly contested field, complicity with power and credentials to speak. It argues, too, that although ostensibly an exceptional opportunity, more mundane acts of knowledge transfer might be more effective.
Plastic cortical changes induced by learning to communicate with non-speech sounds

With Morse code, an acoustic message is transmitted using combinations of tone patterns rather than the spectrally and temporally complex speech sounds that constitute the spoken language. Using MEG recordings of the mismatch negativity (MMN, an index of permanent auditory cortical representations of native language speech sounds), we probed the dominant hemisphere for the developing Morse code representations in adult Morse code learners. Initially, the MMN to the Morse coded syllables was, on average, stronger in the hemisphere opposite to the one dominant for the MMN to native language speech sounds. After a training period of 3 months, the pattern reversed, however: the mean Morse code MMN became lateralized to the hemisphere that was predominant for the speech-sound MMN. This suggests that memory traces for the Morse coded acoustic language units develop within the hemisphere that already accommodates the permanent traces for natural speech sounds. These plastic changes manifest, presumably, the close associations formed between the neural representations of the tone patterns and phonemes.
A New Perspective on Learning Linear Separators with Large \(L_qL_p\) Margins

We give theoretical and empirical results that provide new insights into large margin learning. We prove a bound on the generalization error of learning linear separators with large LqLp margins (where Lq and Lp are dual norms) for any nite p 1. The bound leads to a simple data-dependent sucient condition for fast learning in addition to extending and improving upon previous results. We also provide the rst study that shows the benets of taking advantage of margins with p < 2 over margins with p 2. Our experiments conrm that our theoretical results are relevant in practice.
Mixed Network Former Effect in Ion-Conducting Alkali Borophosphate Glasses: Structure/Property Correlations in the System [M2O]1/3[(B2O3)x(P2O5)1–x]2/3 (M = Li, K, Cs)

Glasses in the system [M2O]1/3[(B2O3)x(P2O5)1–x]2/3(M = Li, K, Cs) (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) were prepared by standard melt-quenching procedures, and their physical properties were characterized by thermal analysis, density measurements, and impedance spectroscopy. Their atomic level structures were comprehensively characterized by Raman spectroscopy, by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and by 11B, 31P, and 7Li as well as 133Cs high resolution solid state magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR techniques. 31P MAS NMR peak assignments were aided by the presence or absence of homonuclear indirect 31P–31P spin–spin interactions, “J-coupling”, as detected via refocused INADEQUATE techniques. Consistent speciations of the phosphate and borate network former components in terms of the various PnmB and BnmP units, where n is the number of bridging oxygens (BOs) and m is the number of B or P units bonded to P or B, respectively, present in these glasses were derived from 11B MAS NMR, combined with both 31P MAS NMR and XPS l.