Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unidimensionality and Cumulativeness of the Loneliness Scale Using Mokken Scale Analysis for Polychotomous Items

The unidimensionality and cumulativeness of the Loneliness Scale of De Jong-Gierveld was investigated using the Mokken Scale Analysis for polychotomous items. 10 of the 11 items of the original Loneliness Scale constituted a unidimensional, cumulative scale, with a homogeneity coefficient H of 0.37 and a reliability coefficient rho of 0.88.
Discovery of context-specific Markov blankets

The notion of context-specific Markov blankets (CSMB) is a refinement of Markov blankets (MB). An important property of context specific Markov-blankets is that in the worst case they need as many parameters as a model using a standard Markov blanket, but frequently considerably fewer. The result is expected to be a much improved probabilistic model of the data in practice. An algorithm for discovery of the CSMB is presented, and empirical results show that it is capable of successfully recovering context specific (''local") structures.
Local graph-based distributed control for safe highway platooning

Using graph theory, this paper investigates how a group of vehicles, endowed with local positioning capabilities (range and bearing to other vehicles), can keep a predefined formation. We propose a longitudinal and lateral controller that stabilizes a system of several vehicles as well as a collision avoidance mechanism. The stability of our approach is supported by a mathematical analysis as well as realistic simulations.
Promoting Repeat Mammography Use: Insights From a Systematic Needs Assessment

This article describes the process and outcome of a needs assessment conducted to guide the development of interventions to increase repeat mammography use among participants in a federally funded cancer screening program. Health behavior theory and data from a phone survey are used to uncover key barriers to repeat mammography use and to identify fruitful intervention approaches for modifying them. Estimates of (a) compliance with mammography guidelines, (b) readiness to adopt regular mammography use, (c) the most common reasons for not being rescreened, and (d) population attributable risks associated with various predictors of repeat mammography use are presented and, with guidance from the transtheoretical model of behavior change, used to make inferences about the type of intervention strategies most appropriate for promoting repeat mammography use in this population.
Chapter 4: The Analysis of Multilevel Data in Educational Research and Evaluation

Much of what goes on in education occurs within some group context. Students typically come from family units with certain characteristics, both ascribed (size, socioeconomic status, educational background) and behav­ ioral (academic orientation, emphasis on reading). They receive schooling in classrooms located within schools, within school districts, and so on. Peer group associations also tend to be group-based. Schooling activities occur within hierarchical organizations in which the sources of educational influence on students occur in the groups to which an individual belongs. These groups (learning group within classrooms, classrooms within schools, schools within districts, families within communities, schools within communities) influence the thoughts, behav­ ior, and feelings of their members. This hierarchical structure gives rise to multilevel data. Although social scientists are well aware that the behavior of individuals and the groups to which they belong are inherently intertwined (e.g., Bronfenbręnner, 1976; Burstein, 1980; Cronbach, 1975, 1976; Mischel, 1977; Webb, 1977), not enough is known about how the effects of group context can be identified. It seems obvious that intensive and extensive examinations of group process in education are necessary to explain the complex influences of group settings on individual behavior, or for that
Optical Polarimetry of HH 135/HH 136

We present optical linear polarimetry in the line of sight to HH 135/HH 136. The polarimetry of the field stars reveals two populations: one corresponds to a foreground interstellar component; the other originates in the interstellar medium in the vicinity of the Herbig-Haro pair and, therefore, can be used to study the magnetic field in the star-forming region. Its direction is aligned with the jet of HH 135/HH 136, which could be an indication that the interstellar magnetic field is important in the outflow collimation. The interstellar magnetic field magnitude was estimated to be of order 90 μG. According to recent numerical simulations, an interstellar magnetic field of such strength can be important in the definition of the outflow direction. There is also evidence that the associated dark cloud has an elongation parallel to the magnetic field. Our image polarimetry of the extended emission associated with HH 135/HH 136 shows a centrosymmetric pattern pointing to knot E of HH 136. Previous near-infrared polarimetry traces a different illumination center, namely, IRAS 11101-5829, the probable exciting source of the system. This discrepancy can be explained if the young stellar object emission is completely blocked in optical wavelengths and the dominant optical source in the region is knot E, whose nature is uncertain. A discussion of the spectral energy distributions of HH 136-E and IRAS 11101-5829 is presented.
A Fully Conservative Eulerian-Lagrangian Stream-Tube Method for Advection-Diffusion Problems

We present a new method for a two-dimensional linear advection-diffusion problem of a “tracer” within an ambient fluid. The problem should have isolated external sources and sinks, and the bulk fluid flow is assumed to be governed by an elliptic problem approximated by a standard locally conservative scheme. The new method, the fully conservative Eulerian-Lagrangian stream-tube method, combines the volume corrected characteristics-mixed method with the use of a stream-tube mesh. Advection of the tracer is approximated using characteristic tracing in time of regions of space, which maintains mass conservation. However, the shape of a characteristic trace-back region is numerically approximated, so its volume must also be correct to maintain accurate approximation of the tracer density (i.e., the mass of the ambient fluid must be conserved during the advection step). Our new method has the advantages that it is fully locally conservative (both tracer and ambient fluid mass is conserved locally), has low num.
GAC: Energy-Efficient Hybrid GPS-Accelerometer-Compass GSM Localization

Adding location to the available information enables a new category of applications. With the constrained battery on cell phones, energy-efficient localization becomes an important challenge. In this paper we introduce a low-energy calibration- free localization scheme based on the available internal sensors in many of today's phones. We start by energy profiling the different sensors that can be used for localization. Based on that, we propose GAC: a hybrid GPS/accelerometer/compass scheme that depends mainly on using the low-energy accelerometer and compass sensors and uses the GPS infrequently for synchronization. We implemented our system on Android-enabled cell phones and evaluated it in both highways and intra-city driving environments. Our results show that the proposed hybrid scheme has an exponential saving in energy, with a linear loss in accuracy compared to the GPS accuracy. We also evaluate the effect of the different parameters on the energy-accuracy tradeoff.
Classification of colorectal cancer based on correlation of clinical, morphological and molecular features

Over the last 20 years it has become clear that colorectal cancer (CRC) evolves through multiple pathways. These pathways may be defined on the basis of two molecular features: (i) DNA microsatellite instability (MSI) status stratified as MSI‐high (MSI‐H), MSI‐low (MSI‐L) and MS stable (MSS), and (ii) CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) stratified as CIMP‐high, CIMP‐low and CIMP‐negative (CIMP‐neg). In this review the morphological correlates of five molecular subtypes are outlined: Type 1 (CIMP‐high/MSI‐H/BRAF mutation), Type 2 (CIMP‐high/MSI‐L or MSS/BRAF mutation), Type 3 (CIMP‐low/MSS or MSI‐L/KRAS mutation), Type 4 (CIMP‐neg/MSS) and Type 5 or Lynch syndrome (CIMP‐neg/MSI‐H). The molecular pathways are determined at an early evolutionary stage and are fully established within precancerous lesions. Serrated polyps are the precursors of Types 1 and 2 CRC, whereas Types 4 and 5 evolve through the adenoma–carcinoma sequence. Type 3 CRC may arise within either type of polyp. Types 1 and 4 are conceived as having few, if any, molecular overlaps with each other, whereas Types 2, 3 and 5 combine the molecular features of Types 1 and 4 in different ways. This approach to the classification of CRC should accelerate understanding of causation and will impact on clinical management in the areas of both prevention and treatment.
File Sharing and the History of Computing: Or, Why File Sharing is Called “File Sharing”

Attempts by the state and the entertainment industry to impose the term “piracy” on practices of digital file sharing have been challenged by academics and activists alike. The notion of “file sharing,” however, seems to have escaped our attention. By placing that term in the context of the history of computing, where sharing of different kinds has always been a central feature, and by drawing on a nuanced understanding of the many meanings of “sharing,” this article shows that “file sharing,” unlike “piracy,” is a bottom-up term that has emerged from the field itself. The article shows that those who oppose the term “file sharing” certainly have good strategic reason to do so: sharing is by definition a positive social value and bestows a warm glow upon that which it touches. It is argued, though, that we should not allow the “war on piracy” metaphor to gain the ascendancy—not only because “piracy” is a such a negative term, and not only for strategic reasons, but also, and mainly, because when we call file sharing “file sharing” we are issuing a critical challenge to the current copyright regime.
Evidence for Chronic Kidney Disease-Mineral and Bone Disorder Associated With Metabolic Pathway Changes

AbstractAbnormalities in the levels of calcium, phosphorus, and parathyroid hormone (PTH) in serum are typical for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). They are used routinely to predict the onset of CKD-mineral and bone disorder (MBD). However, CKD-MBD associated with metabolic pathway imbalance is not well understood.The objective of the study was to identify endogenous metabolic signatures in patients with intact PTH using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. This study was a cross-sectional study. Ultra performance liquid chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight/mass spectrometry-based metabolic profiling was employed to analyze serum samples from 19 disease controls (DCs) (intact parathyroid hormone [iPTH] 150–300 pg/mL) and 19 secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) patients (iPTH >300 pg/mL) (the training data set) to identify metabolic biomarkers for CKD-MBD. Then, another set of samples including 19 DCs (iPTH 150–300 pg/mL) and 19 SHPT patients (iPTH >300 pg/mL) (the test data set) were used to validate the potential biomarkers identified.Metabolic profiling analyses revealed different patterns of endogenous metabolites between the SHPT and the DC groups. A total of 32 unique metabolites were identified and 30 metabolites were elevated in the iPTH compared with control serum pools. Cytidine and L-phenylalanine were downregulated in the SHPT patients. The metabolic signatures identified were assessed respectively by an internal 10-fold cross validation with an accuracy of 91.4% and an external validation with an accuracy of 71.1%, a sensitivity of 73.7%, and a specificity of 68.4%. Mass spectrometry-based metabolomic analyses for SHPT patients promises immense potential for early diagnosis and therapy monitoring. Our results indicated that the onset of CKD-MBD is associated with pathway changes of protein synthesis and metabolism, amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, and steroid hormone metabolism, with obvious promise for better understanding the pathogenesis of this disease. Several metabolic biomarkers were identified, which warrant further development.
Effectiveness of crawling attacks against web-based recommender systems

The modeling of Web user navigational patterns is a critical component of many Web applications such as those involving Web personalization, recommender systems, and Web analytics. Because such open adaptive systems depend on users’ input, malicious third parties may seek to distort the system’s behavior by generating false clickstreams. Recent research in collaborative recommender systems has shown that personalization systems that use explicit user feedback in the form of ratings are vulnerable to such attacks. In this paper, we extend this work to the area of adaptive systems that use implicit measures of user behavior such as the navigational patterns employed in Web personalization. We find that, although such usage-based Web recommender systems use different recommendation algorithms, they are nevertheless subject to similar manipulation through appropriate attacks. In this paper, we introduce several examples of “crawling attacks” and demonstrate their effectiveness against some common Web personalization algorithms.
Discourse analysis: exploring action, function and conflict in social texts

Focuses on discourse analysis, a recent development in social psychological methodology, concerned with how language is used to construct accounts of the social world which are used intentionally in attempts at persuasion and legitimization. Views language as the site of contradiction, paradox and contested power and focuses on its social rather than linguistic organization. Describes the methodology and illustrates it through references to published work in psychology and consumer research. Proposes a wide range of possible applications in marketing and gives warnings in relation to difficulties in practice and validation.
Adapting Music Instruction for Students with Dyslexia

ecause up to 20 percent of the general population could be identified as having some form of dyslexia,1 most music teachers will have dyslexic students during their teaching careers. As a musician with dyslexia, I appreciate both how difficult and how rewarding the study of music can be. And as a music educator, I recognize how challenging and satisfying teaching a student with dyslexia can be. Unfortunately, little information is available about how to adapt music instruction for students with dyslexia in a way that provides a more successful and less stressful learning experience. Many of these students may find that the very traits that make their core academic classes unusually difficult are the same traits that can help them succeed in music. For example, in compensating for impaired visual or auditory functioning, a dyslexic student may rely heavily on the kinesthetic learning style that is necessary for learning to play an instrument. Or, a student may have developed excellent listening skills in response to persistent difficulties understanding written directions-which may result in the ability to hear and match pitches exceptionally well. music classroom
The Oncogenic Capacity of HRX-ENL Requires the Transcriptional Transactivation Activity of ENL and the DNA Binding Motifs of HRX

ABSTRACT The HRX gene (also called MLL,ALL-1, and Htrx) at chromosome band 11q23 is associated with specific subsets of acute leukemias through translocations that result in its fusion with a variety of heterologous partners. Two of these partners, ENL and AF9, code for proteins that are highly similar to each other and as fusions with HRX induce myeloid leukemias in mice as demonstrated by retroviral gene transfer and knock-in experiments, respectively. In the present study, a structure-function analysis was performed to determine the molecular requirements for in vitro immortalization of murine myeloid cells by HRX-ENL. Deletions of either the AT hook motifs or the methyltransferase homology domain of HRX substantially impaired the transforming effects of HRX-ENL. The methyltransferase homology domain was shown to bind non-sequence specifically to DNA in vitro, providing evidence that the full transforming activity of HRX-ENL requires multiple DNA binding structures in HRX. The carboxy-terminal 84 amino acids of ENL, which encode two predicted helical structures highly conserved in AF9, were necessary and sufficient for transformation when they were fused to HRX. Similarly, mutations that deleted one or both of these conserved helices completely abrogated the transcriptional activation properties of ENL. This finding correlates, for the first time, a biological function of an HRX fusion partner with the transforming activity of the chimeric proteins. Our studies support a model in which HRX-ENL induces myeloid transformation by deregulating subordinate genes through a gain of function contributed by the transcriptional effector properties of ENL.
Polarization Multiplexing and Demultiplexing for Appearance-Based Modeling

Polarization has been used in numerous prior studies for separating diffuse and specular reflectance components, but in this work we show that it also can be used to separate surface reflectance contributions from individual light sources. Our approach is called polarization multiplexing and it has a significant impact in appearance modeling where the image as a function of illumination direction is needed. Multiple unknown light sources can illuminate the scene simultaneously, and the individual contributions to the overall surface reflectance are estimated. Polarization multiplexing relies on the relationship between the light source direction and the intensity modulation. Inverting this transformation enables the individual intensity contributions to be estimated. In addition to polarization multiplexing, we show that phase histograms from the intensity modulations can be used to estimate scene properties including the number of light sources
Using Focus Maps to Ease Map Reading - Developing Smart Applications for Mobile Devices

Maps are good means for representing spatial knowledge. They are commonly used to aid in spatial tasks. Today, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow for the construction of digital maps on the fly, but the process of map reading still involves a lot of cognitive work. We aim at the development of GIS components that create maps taking into account that different tasks demand different affordances. In this paper we present the concept of Focus Maps. Focus Maps ease map reading in that they focus a user’s attention on the region of a map that is currently of interest to her.
Triamcinolone and Bevacizumab as Adjunctive Therapies to Panretinal Photocoagulation for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

Purpose. To evaluate efficacy of intravitreal triamcinolone (IVT) and bevacizumab (IVB) as adjunctive treatments to panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Methods. In 60 eyes of 45 patients with PDR, PRP (PRP group), PRP with IVT (IVT group), or PRP with IVB (IVB group) was performed. Regression of new vessels (NV), changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), and contrast sensitivity at 1,2, and 6 months were evaluated. Results. Initial mean numbers of active NV and BCVA were 3.45 and 67.35 in the PRP group, 4.35 and 76.65 in the IVT group, and 4.79 and 75.53 in the IVB group. At the 6-month follow-up, numbers of active NV were 2.5 (P = 0.064), 1.11 (P = 0.000), and 1.11 (P = 0.002), and there was a mean loss of 2,6 (P = 0.055), 3.9 (P = 0.011), and 0.9 letters (P = 0.628) in the PRP, IVT, and IVB groups, respectively. Changes in CMT in the PRP and IVT groups were not significant, but significantly increased in the IVB group (P = 0.032). Contrast sensitivity remained stable in PRP and IVB groups and slightly decreased in IVT group. Conclusions. Adjunctive use of both triamcinolone and bevacizumab with PRP lead to a greater reduction of active NV than PRP alone in PDR, although no differences were seen between the two of them.
Tetradic Encounters of Wistar Rats (Rattus Norvegicus) After Social Deprivation: Spatial, Social, and Non-Social Behaviour

The influences of social deprivation on behavioural performances were studied in young male albino rats (Wistar). To distinguish between sensory and motor components of deprivation and between short and long durations of isolation four different housing conditions were used: group housing of four individuals (G), short term isolation (8 h; SI), long term isolation (3-4 weeks; LI), and contact housing (C). After three weeks tetradic encounters of 15 min, each were performed in the open field. The time budget of the behaviour during the encounter sessions revealed significant differences between SI/G and LI/C. There were only minor differences between SI and G and between LI and C. In comparison to the former, the latter were nearly twice as active, preferred the proximity to conspecifics, entered more often into the center of the arena, performed more playful and less resting behaviour, and revealed a higher probability of aggressive events mostly embedded in sequences of play. In regard to exploration and social investigation the differences were less expressed. Since the possibility to exchange communicative signals in C individuals did not alter their encounter behaviour compared to LI it was concluded that the motor component of deprivation rather than the sensory one accounts for the raised social motivation. The lower motivational level in non-deprived or shortly deprived animals was interpreted as effect of a negative feed back caused by social activity.
“A Bad Neighbour Is as Great a Plague as a Good One Is a Great Blessing”: On Negative Relationships between Neighbours

With research on social relations hitherto, it is not clear how and why negative relationships between neighbours emerge. In this study, arguments are developed on the conditions within neighbourhoods and on individual characteristics that facilitate negative relations amongst neighbours. The arguments are divided according to three perspectives: diversity, uncertainty and social influence. In the Dutch context, most support is found for the social influence perspective, and both the neighbourhood and the individual level seem important in explaining negative relationships. Important factors that explain the likelihood for negative relationships are the willingness of residents to intervene on behalf of the neighbourhood, religious diversity and individually perceived conflicts in the neighbourhood. However, people who have more relationships outside the neighbourhood, undergo less influence of perceived conflict.
A Perception Based, Domain Specific Expert System for Question-Answering Support

The current search engine technologies mostly use a keyword based searching mechanism, which does not have any deductive abilities. There is an urgent need for a more intelligent question-answering system that will provide a more intuitive, natural language interface, and more accurate and direct search results. The introduction of computing with words (CwW) provides a new theoretical base for developing frameworks with support for dealing with information in natural language. This paper proposes a domain specific question-answering system based on fuzzy expert systems using CwW. In order to perform the translation of natural language based information into a standard format for use with CwW, probabilistic context-free grammar is used