Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of early emotional neglect in alexithymia.

Alexithymia is a personality trait associated with difficulties in identifying and communicating personal feelings. It is shown to be a risk factor for affective disorders. Previous studies have demonstrated the co-occurrence of alexithymia and early life stress in clinical samples; however, research in the absence of psychological and somatic disorders rarely exists. We therefore investigated alexithymia and early life stress in a high alexithymic but healthy community sample (n 46) in comparison with low alexithymic healthy subjects (n 44). Alexithymia was assessed by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and BermondVorst Alexithymia Questionnaire. Emotional functioning was also measured using the Emotional Experience Scales. Early life stress was assessed by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Early Trauma Inventory. There was a significantly positive correlation between alexithymia and early emotional neglect (EN) in the total sample (r .37; p .001), while physical or sexual traumata were not associated with high alexithymic features. EN also predicted the overall level of alexithymia. Within the high alexithymic group only, EN was related to significantly increased emotional dysfunction when controlling for alexithymia. The results show a first indication of differentiation between a “neglect” and a “nonneglect” subtype of alexithymia. We therefore conclude that EN should be taken into account in future studies on psychological functioning in alexithymia.
Lack of effects of HER-2/neu on prognosis in colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The prognostic value of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2/neu) for survival of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) is still ambiguous. We therefore performed a meta-analysis to evaluate its prognostic significance. MATERIALS AND METHODS We searched the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for published literature investigating associations between HER-2/neu status and overall survival of patients with CRC. A meta-analysis was performed using a DerSimonian-Laird model and publication bias was investigated by Begg's and Egger's tests. Subgroup analysis was also conducted according to the study design type, study quality score, cut-off value for HER-2/neu overexpression, publication region, patient number and publication year. RESULTS A total of 17 eligible studies involving 2,347 patients were identified for this meta-analysis. The combined hazard ratio (HR) was 1.31 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.96-1.79), suggesting that HER-2/neu overexpression was not significantly associated with overall survival of patients with CRC. However, subgroup analysis revealed that HER-2/neu overexpression had an unfavorable impact on survival when the analysis was restricted to subgroups of study quality score ≤ 5 (HR=1.56, 95%CI: 1.17-2.10), Asian patients (HR=1.74, 95%CI: 1.22-2.49), patient number ≤ 106 (HR=1.57, 95%CI: 1.01-2.44), publication year before 2003 (HR=1.59, 95%CI: 1.02-2.49), and prospectively designed study (HR=3.62, 95%CI: 1.42-9.24). The effect disappeared in subgroups of study quality scores > 5 (HR=0.69, 95%CI: 0.33-1.44), non Asian patients (HR=1.14, 95%CI: 0.77-1.70), patients' number > 106 (HR=1.07, 95%CI: 0.67-1.72), publication year after 2003 (HR=1.13, 95%CI: 0.76-1.69), and retrospectively designed study (HR=1.22, 95%CI: 0.89-1.67). CONCLUSIONS Our meta-analysis suggests that HER-2/neu overexpression might not be a significantly prognostic indicator for patients with CRC. Further studies are required to confirm these results.
Causality estimates among brain cortical areas by Partial Directed Coherence: simulations and application to real data

The problem of the definition and evaluation of brain connectivity has become a central one in neuroscience during the latest years, as a way to understand the organization and interaction of cortical areas during the execution of cognitive or motor tasks. Among various methods established during the years, the Partial Directed Coherence (PDC) is a frequency-domain approach to this problem, based on a multivariate autoregressive modeling of time series and on the concept of Granger causality. In this paper we propose the use of the PDC method on cortical signals estimated from high resolution EEG recordings, a non invasive method which exhibits a higher spatial resolution than conventional cerebral electromagnetic measures. The principle contributions of this work are the results of a simulation study, testing the performances of PDC, and a statistical analysis (via the ANOVA, analysis of variance) of the influence of different levels of Signal to Noise Ratio and temporal length, as they have been systematically imposed on simulated signals. An application to high resolution EEG recordings during a foot movement is also presented.
Licensing Novel Role-Governed Categories: An ERP Analysis

Markman and Stilwell (2001) argued that many natural categories name roles in relational systems, and so they are role-governed categories. This view predicts instantiating a novel relational structure licenses the creation of novel role-governed categories. This paper supports this claim and helps to specify the mechanisms underlying this licensing. Event-related potentials were recorded while participants read passages of text. Participants instantiated novel relational representations by interpreting novel verbs derived from nouns during reading. Sentences later, comprehension of novel role terms derived from the novel verb was facilitated relative to a control condition where the novel verb was paraphrased using the root noun in its familiar form. This comprehension facilitation was marked by a reduced negativity elicited from the role term in the Novel Verb condition relative to the Paraphrase from 400 to 500 ms post-stimulus-onset. This relative difference in negativity is consistent with both the N400, which is a marker of semantic integration, and the Nref effect, which reflects the working memory load required to resolve reference. Additionally, because this increased negativity persisted until 670 ms post-stimulus-onset, and not that the Paraphrase condition elicited an increased positivity (i.e., the P600), we ruled out that the licensing effect is rooted in morphosyntactic processes.
Influence of joint position on electromyographic and torque generation during maximal voluntary isometric contractions of the hamstrings and gluteus maximus muscles.

STUDY DESIGN Repeated measures analysis of joint angle effects on hip and knee muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity. OBJECTIVES To simultaneously determine angle-dependent changes in maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque and EMG activity during hip extension and knee flexion. BACKGROUND Procedures for normalizing EMG data and for determining torque-angle relationships for various joint motions both entail asking subjects to exert an MVIC. The implicit assumption in these paradigms is that magnitude of the EMG response is at a constant, maximum level so that observed angle-dependent variations in torque are due to mechanical factors, such as muscle length and muscle moment arm. METHODS AND MEASURES Fifty subjects (25 men and 25 women) participated in this study (age, 23.5 +/- 4.6 y; range, 18-38 y). Subjects performed maximal isometric knee flexion at 4 knee angles and maximal isometric hip extension at 4 hip angles. The dependent variables were normalized root-mean-square EMG and torque. The process for normalizing EMG and torque data consisted of determining the largest mean value for each subject across testing positions for the muscle of interest. That value was designated as corresponding to 100% MVIC, and all other data for that muscle were expressed as a percentage of the MVIC value. Repeated measures was used to determine angle-dependent changes in normalized MVIC-torque and MVIC-EMG values for each muscle group. RESULTS Mean torque-angle relationships were generally consistent with previous reports, though considerable intersubject variability was observed. There were significant angle-dependent differences in maximal EMG for both the hamstring and gluteus maximus muscles. Mean percentages of hamstring MVIC-EMG at knee angles of 30 degrees (81 +/- 19) and 60 degrees (82 +/- 22) were greater than at 0 degrees (68 +/- 20) or 90 degrees (74 +/- 20). The mean percentage of gluteus maximus MVIC-EMG at a hip angle of 0 degrees (94 +/- 10) was greater than at 30 degrees (84 +/- 13), 60 degrees (80 +/- 14), or 90 degrees (64 +/- 20), and gluteus maximus maximal voluntary isometric EMG at 90 degrees was less than at all other angles. These differences could not be explained solely by muscle length-dependent effects on EMG amplitude, suggesting that despite instructions for maximal effort, motor unit activation was not maintained at a constant, maximal level throughout the range of motion. The form of the EMG/angle relationships differed markedly from the torque-angle relationships. CONCLUSIONS These findings have implications for the use of MVIC-EMG for reference values in EMG normalization procedures and for the interpretation of mechanisms underlying the torque-angle relationships observed in vivo.
Comparing variability in speech motor control in dysarthria with perceptual and acoustic assessments

This study examined the relationship of speech variability indices extracted from audio recordings with a range of perceptual and acoustic measures of dysarthric speech. Twenty speakers with hypokinetic dysarthria due to Parkinson’s Disease and ten speakers with ataxic dysarthria due to different underlying neuropathologies engaged in a series of speech and non-speech tasks. Functional Data Analysis was applied to obtain spatial and temporal variability of loudness, fundamental frequency and formant contours extracted from sentence repetitions. Syllable length and maximum vowel intensity were measured in diadochokinetic tasks. Perceptual measures of intelligibility in sentence and passage reading as well as spontaneous speech were obtained by means of a scaling experiment and orthographic transcription. Linear regression models were applied to explore the relationship between spatial and temporal variability and the acoustic and perceptual assessments. The results will be compared separately for the different dysarthria types and discussed with respect to their respective underlying etiologies.
Teaching Games for Understanding and Situated Learning: Rethinking the Bunker-Thorpe Model

Bunker and Thorpe first proposed Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) in 1982 as an alternative to traditional, technique-led approaches to games teaching and learning. Despite interest from teachers and researchers, there has been no attempt to review the TGfU model. This is an oversight, given the important advances in educational learning theory and ecological approaches to motor control since the early 1980s. The purpose of this paper is to present a new version of the TGfU model that draws on a situated learning perspective. The paper describes the TGfU approach, overviews recent research on TGfU, and outlines a situated learning perspective. This perspective is then applied to rethinking the TGfU model. The intended outcome of the paper is the provision a more robust and sophisticated version of the TGfU model that can inform future directions in the practice of and research on TGfU.
A Transistor-Based Analog Predistorter With Unequal Delays for Memory Compensation

A transistor-based analog predistorter (APD) with memory effect compensation is represented. The nonlinearity of a gain amplifier generated by a low supply voltage is used as an error generator. The predistorted signal by the unequal-delayed nonlinear paths improves the linearity by compensating for memory effects of the power amplifier (PA). For verification, the proposed APD with three-branch nonlinear paths is implemented with a 30-W class-AB PA and tested using two-tone and various wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) signals at 2.14 GHz. From the measured results, the proposed APD significantly improves the linearity of the PA with memory effects.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about NFS Trace Analysis, but Were Afraid to Ask

The past two decades in file system design have been driven by the sequence of trace-based file system studies that have informed the research community of the general access patterns applied to secondary storage systems. Those same two decades have witnessed a radical shift in the types of people who use computer systems and a resulting change in the workloads to which today’s systems are subjected. In this paper, we continue the tradition of trace-based studies, but with some important differences. First, we use passive monitoring of NFS traffic to collect our data; we believe that the non-invasive nature of this technique will improve the community’s ability to collect a wider range of workloads. Second, we focus on two different types of workloads, the traditional CS departmental load typically used in such studies and the load from a campus-wide, ISP-like environment. As might be expected, these workloads differ dramatically. The departmental workload does not follow previous predictions as directly as might have been expected and the ISP-like workload turns out to provide a detailed analysis of file-system-based mail handling. Our findings demonstrate that the set of static parameters and heuristics that most file systems provide is inadequate to adapt to complex, specialized workloads.
An Energy Efficient Distributed Approach-Based Agent Migration Scheme for Data Aggregation in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract The use of mobile agents for collaborative processing in wireless sensor network has gained considerable attention. This is when mobile agents ar e used for data aggregation to exploit redundant and correlated data. The efficiency of agent-based data aggregation depends on the agent migration scheme. However, in general, most of the proposed schemes are centralized approach-based schemes where the sink node determines the migration paths for the agents before dispatching them in the sensor network. The main limitations with such schemes are that they need global network topology information for deriving the migration paths of the agents, which incurs additional communication overhead, since each node has a very limited communication range. In addition, a centralized approach does not provide fault tolerant and adaptive migration paths. In order to solve such problems, we have proposed a distributed approach-based scheme for determining the migration path of the agents where at each hop, the local information is used to decide the migration of the agents. In addition, we also propose a local repair mechanism for dealing with the faulty nodes. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme performs better than existing schemes in the presence of faulty nodes within the networks, and manages to report the aggregated data to the sink faster.
In the wake of the Wenchuan earthquake: the function of story-sharing in rebuilding communities in the quake disaster zone

In May 2008, a massive earthquake of 8.0 on the Richter scale struck China's Sichuan Province. This study investigated survivors’ communication practices in two communities in Beichuan during summer 2009, focusing on survivors’ sharing of earthquake stories, which was a pervasive phenomenon in those communities. Four major purposes were identified in quake survivors’ narratives: (1) memorializing loved ones and the past, (2) clarifying conflicting emotions, (3) reappraising reality and life values, and (4) rebuilding community. This study suggests that sharing such stories serves a therapeutic purpose that helps survivors of earthquakes and similar natural disasters cope with negative experiences and emotions, and to rebuild their communities.
Association of Negative Life Event Stress With Coagulation Activity in Elderly Alzheimer Caregivers

Objective Part of the excess coronary disease rate and overall mortality reported with caregiving stress could relate to a hypercoagulable state. Physiological responses to the chronic distress of caregiving may involve hyperactive sympathetic nervous system responses to superimposed stressors. We wondered whether negative life stress might affect hemostatic function in caregivers. Methods The three procoagulant measures thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT), fibrin D-dimer (DD), and von Willebrand factor (vWF) antigen were assessed in 54 spousal Alzheimer caregivers (mean age, 73 ± 6 years). Subjects completed a semistructured interview (Psychiatric Epidemiologic Research Interview, PERI) that assessed for non–caregiving-related life stress (ie, number of negative life events) over the 4-week period before blood sampling. Results Caregivers reported an average of 2.6 negative life events (range, 0–6). The number of negative life events showed a direct association with plasma DD levels (p = .010). In multiple regression analyses, body mass index (BMI) and life stress were the only significant predictors of DD. Together, BMI, hypertension status, gender, and depression accounted for 23% of the variance in DD (p = .022). After these variables had been controlled for, life stress explained an additional 9% (p = .021) of the variance in DD. On the other hand, the number of life-events did not significantly predict TAT or vWF. Conclusions The findings suggest that superimposed life stress on top of the chronic stress of Alzheimer caregiving may elicit a hypercoagulable state that could contribute to coronary disease and to increased overall mortality in this population.
O Estado da Arte do Burnout no Brasil 1

pesar de ser atribuido a Freudenberger, (1974), o primeiro artigo versando sobre burn-out, segundo Schaufeli &Ezmann (1998), em 1969, Bradley ja havia publicado um artigo em que se utilizava da expressao staff burn-out, referindo-se ao desgaste de profissionais e propondo medidas organizacionais de enfrentamento. Entretanto, devemos a Freudenberger e posteriormente a Maslach & Jackson (1981) a difusao e o interesse que se seguiu a partir de seus estudos. Desta forma vemos que, apesar da primeira publicacao datar do final da decada de 60, passando a se consolidar na decada seguinte, em nosso pais, mesmo sendo prevista como doenca do trabalho, ainda e desconhecida entre boa parte de nossos profissionais. A
Research Advances in SIW, HMSIW and FHMSIW

In this paper, the research advances in substrate integrated waveguide (SIW), half mode SIW (HMSIW) and folded HMSIW (FHMSIW) in the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves (SKLMMW), Southeast University are reviewed, including the applications of SIW/HMSIW/FHMSIW in filters, diplexers, directional couplers, power dividers, antennas, frequency selective surfaces (FSSs), and RF subsystems etc.
Interspecific Small Molecule Interactions between Clinical Isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus from Adult Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are the most prevalent pathogens in airway infections of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. We studied how these pathogens coexist and interact with each other. Clinical isolates of both species were retrieved from adult CF patients. Culture supernatants from 63 P. aeruginosa isolates triggered a wide range of biofilm-stimulatory activities when added to the culture of a control S. aureus strain. The extent of biofilm formation by S. aureus was positively correlated to the levels of the 2-alkyl-4-(1H)-quinolones (AQs) Pseudomonas Quinolone Signal (PQS) and 2-heptyl-4-hydroxy quinoline N-oxide (HQNO) produced by the P. aeruginosa isolates. Supernatants from P. aeruginosa isogenic mutants deficient in PQS and HQNO production stimulated significantly less biofilm formation by S. aureus than that seen with the parental strain PA14. When studying co-isolated pairs of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus retrieved from patients showing both pathogens, P. aeruginosa supernatants stimulated less biofilm production by the S. aureus counterparts compared to that observed using the control S. aureus strain. Accordingly, some P. aeruginosa isolates produced low levels of exoproducts and also some of the clinical S. aureus isolates were not stimulated by their co-isolates or by PA14 despite adequate production of HQNO. This suggests that colonization of the CF lungs promotes some type of strain selection, or that co-existence requires specific adaptations by either or both pathogens. Results provide insights on bacterial interactions in CF.
Sociological Research at the College Entrance Examination Board

THE HISTORY OF the College Entrance Examination Board is associated with a long tradition of psychometric research and development. In recent years, however, the College Board has become increasingly concerned with an array of research problems that bear upon the interests of several disciplines-particularly the sociology of education. The purpose of this note is to describe briefly the research interests and activities of the College Board. But, first, it may be helpful to say something of the organization and role of the Board so that these research concerns can be viewed in a broader educational context. The Board was founded as a non-profit association in 1900, but remained relatively small until the mid-1950's. During the past decade the College Board has witnessed a tenfold increase in the number of students it serves and in its member institutions, which now number some 640 colleges and universities, 230 secondary schools, and 46 educational associations. These member institutions represent, if not proportionally, all regions of the country and all forms of higher education. The primary purpose of the College Board is to facilitate the effective transition of students from secondary to higher education through the collective action of its membership and through its service programs. This period of transition must be broadly defined, since it begins as early as grade seven and encompasses a wide variety of social forces, procedures and problems. These include student aspirations, institutional goals, financial restraints, social mobility, manpower utilization, guidance and admissions procedures, education policy, and the massive process whereby students from 25,000 secondary schools are sorted into 2,500 institutions of higher learning. In this context research should lead not only to an improved understanding of these forces and problems but also to the development of effective national programs that will promote rational access to higher education in keeping with the aspirations and abilities of students and the standards and purposes of institutions. As more specific objectives, research should
Fast Elliptic Curve Cryptography Using Optimal Double-Base Chains

In this work, we propose an algorithm to produce the doublebase chains that optimize the time used for computing an elliptic curve cryptosystem. The double-base chains is the representation that combining the binary and ternary representation. By this method, we can reduce the Hamming weight of the expansion, and reduce the time for computing the scalar point multiplication (Q = rS), that is the bottleneck operation of the elliptic curve cryptosystem. This representation is very redundant, i.e. we can present a number by many expansions. Then, we can select the way that makes the operation fastest. However, the previous works on double-bases chain have used a greedy algorithm, and their solutions are not optimized. We propose the algorithm based on the dynamic programming scheme that outputs the optimized the double-bases chain. The experiments show that we have reduced the time for computing the scalar multiplication by 3.88-3.95%, the multiscalar multiplication by 2.55-4.37%, and the multi-scalar multiplication on the larger digit set by 3.5-12%.