Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unobtrusive Sleep Monitoring

Summary In this paper we will briefly discuss the role of unobtrusive sleep monitoring in behavioral treatments of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders. Lack of sleep is an issue for a large number of people. Sleep quality metrics can help these people in getting an objective view upon the quality of their sleep and discover trends in that quality over time. The golden standard for diagnosis sleep disorder, polysomnography, is not suitable for this purpose because it is obtrusive and uncomfortable. Actigraphy is a better choice, but it is limited in the richness and the accuracy of its sleep metrics. In a persuasive setting, sleep hygiene and CBT-I approaches could benefit not only from unobtrusive sleep monitoring techniques, but also from monitoring of adherence to sleep hygiene rules and therapy compliance for CBT-I. Sleep and sleep quality Sleep is a universal phenomenon. All people and all animals sleep. In former times, sleep was highly associated with the night, but nowadays the association is weakened. In contrast to fires and candles, electrically-generated artificial light enables people to be active during the night. Sleep deprivation is not without risk, however, and adequate sleep is critical for optimal day-time functioning [1,2]. Insufficient sleep may cause neurobehavioral impairments, including lapses of attention, reduced working memory and depressed mood. Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with poor health. There is evidence that poor sleep has adverse endocrine, metabolic and inflammatory effects. The underlying causes of sleep deprivation are diverse. It may be caused by sleep disorders, but also medical conditions, occupational or social demands, and environmental conditions can hamper the quality of sleep. Many people suffer from a lack of sleep. An outcome of ‘Het Grote Slaaponderzoek 2008’ [3] was that one out of five people in the Netherlands sleep poorly. Fifteen percent report not sleeping well multiple nights per week, while 6% indicate they almost never experience a good night sleep. In the USA, the National Sleep Foundation found in the 2009 ‘Sleep in America poll’ [4] that 26% of the respondents experienced a good night sleep only a few times a week, while 24% reported experiencing a good night sleep only a few days a month or even less. In sleep science, sleep quality is a neglected area [5]. The term has not been rigorously defined and there is only a vague understanding of how objective measures relate to the subjective sleep quality experience. There is evidence that the need for sleep differs between individuals [1,2] and that there is variation between people in neurobehavioral responses to sleep restriction. Nevertheless, in both clinical and sleep research settings sleep metrics are applied that serve as a sleep quality indicator. Examples of metrics are sleep onset latency, total sleep time, number of awakenings, amount of REM-sleep and amount of deep sleep.
Robust stability of quasi-periodic hybrid dynamic uncertain systems

Considers the robust stability of quasi-periodic hybrid dynamic systems (HDSs) with polytopic uncertainties. The quasi-periodic HDSs has infinite switchings, but the switching sequence forms a cycle and the cycle is repeated. We derive the stability conditions for quasi-periodic HDS with uncertainties in continuous-variable dynamic systems, and with variations in both the "switching"-conditional set and the reset map by analyzing the behavior of the system along the cycle. The results require the Lyapunov function to be bounded by a continuous function along each continuous-variable dynamic system, and is nonincreasing along a subsequence of the "switchings. " They do not require the Lyapunov function to be nonincreasing along the whole sequence of the switchings.
H2AX Phosphorylation: Its Role in DNA Damage Response and Cancer Therapy

Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the most deleterious DNA lesions, which, if left unrepaired, may have severe consequences for cell survival, as they lead to chromosome aberrations, genomic instability, or cell death. Various physical, chemical, and biological factors are involved in DSB induction. Cells respond to DNA damage by activating the so-called DNA damage response (DDR), a complex molecular mechanism developed to detect and repair DNA damage. The formation of DSBs triggers activation of many factors, including phosphorylation of the histone variant H2AX, producing γH2AX. Phosphorylation of H2AX plays a key role in DDR and is required for the assembly of DNA repair proteins at the sites containing damaged chromatin as well as for activation of checkpoints proteins which arrest the cell cycle progression. In general, analysis of γH2AX expression can be used to detect the genotoxic effect of different toxic substances. When applied to clinical samples from cancer patients, evaluation of γH2AX levels may allow not only to monitor the efficiency of anticancer treatment but also to predict of tumor cell sensitivity to DNA damaging anticancer agents and toxicity of anticancer treatment toward normal cells.
Cross-linking/mass spectrometry as a new field and the proteomics information mountain of tomorrow

The European Proteomics Association (EuPA) 2012 Scientific Congress ‘New Horizons and Applications for Proteomics’, hosted by the British Society for Proteome Research (BSPR) Glasgow, Scotland, UK, 12 July 2012 Cross-linking/mass spectrometry ended decades of method developments and entered the era of applications at this year’s European Proteomics Association meeting. The train has started moving, with successful applications of this tool by multiple pioneering laboratories addressing biological and structural problems. Proteomics, on the other side, sees ever increasing data volumes, leading to questions as to how to store the data mountain publically, use it and convert it into testable hypotheses. The European Proteomics Association meeting has been complementary to the American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting in many ways, also thanks to its more manageable size and the vision of the organizers in inviting some of Europe’s best emerging minds.
An evaluation of a constructivist intervention for sexually abused boys.

AN EVALUATION OF A CONSTRUCTWIST INTERVENTION FOR SEXUALLY ABUSED BOYS FEBRUARY 1994 LYNN^ KELLNER, B.A., CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK M.Ed., UMVERSITY OF MASSACFFUSETTS AMHERST Ph.D., UNrVHERSFTY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Janine Roberts When families of children who have experienced extra-familial sexual abuse are included in treatment, they are often been by therapists who are viewed as experts using psychoeducational models. Such a framework does not emphasize how families discover their own resources or develop new meanings of their experiences. This study evaluated whether, and how, a program based on constructivist principles helped to empower a group of sexually abused boys and their families by creating a collaborative, rather than a hierarchical, therapeutic relationship. A posttreatment evaluation was performed by means of three semi-structured interviews and completion of two simple questionnaires. Through in-depth interviews with the boys and their families, information was gathered on the subjective experiences of the clients regarding both the abuse and the healing process. Themes were generated from the data in the final analysis to assess severity of FTSD symptoms and to describe the constructivist group process. A model was proposed for the treatment of extra-familial sexual abuse based on constructivist principles. v
Altered homologous and heterologous gap‐junctional intercellular communication in primary human liver tumors associated with aberrant protein localization but not gene mutation of connexin 32

Gap‐junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) in 20 primary human liver tumors with different degrees of malignancy has been studied at the functional and molecular levels. When GJIC capacity was determined by dye‐transfer assay performed directly with freshly removed tumor tissue, significant reduction was found in all samples, regardless of their morphology. In addition, a selective lack of GJIC between tumor and surrounding non‐tumorous cells was observed in some cases, probably due to the physical separation between them resulting from encapsulation of tumors. There was, however, no essential change in the level of expression of the major liver gap‐junction protein, connexin (ex) 32, in liver tumors as measured by Northern and Western blot analyses. Immunohistochemical study revealed aberrant localization of ex 32 in the majority of malignant liver tumors. Instead of cytoplasmic membrane localization at intercellular contacts, ex 32 was detected mainly either intracytoplasmically or in plasma membrane free from contact with other cells. We did not detect any mutation in the coding sequence of the ex 32 gene from any of the human liver tumors we tested. Thus it is likely that the aberrant localization of ex 32 in tumor cells is due to disruption of the mechanisms for establishment of this protein into gap‐junction plaques, rather than to structural abnormality of the ex 32 protein itself. Another member of the connexin family, ex 43, not detectable in non‐tumorigenic hepatocytes, was expressed in several tumors, especially in invasive areas, but was detected in only a few tumor cells and was localized intracytoplasmically, suggesting that ex 43 protein is not involved in GJIC in the tumors. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Joint Estimation of the Electric Vehicle Power Battery State of Charge Based on the Least Squares Method and the Kalman Filter Algorithm

An estimation of the power battery state of charge (SOC) is related to the energy management, the battery cycle life and the use cost of electric vehicles. When a lithium-ion power battery is used in an electric vehicle, the SOC displays a very strong time-dependent nonlinearity under the influence of random factors, such as the working conditions and the environment. Hence, research on estimating the SOC of a power battery for an electric vehicle is of great theoretical significance and application value. In this paper, according to the dynamic response of the power battery terminal voltage during a discharging process, the second-order RC circuit is first used as the equivalent model of the power battery. Subsequently, on the basis of this model, the least squares method (LS) with a forgetting factor and the adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) algorithm are used jointly in the estimation of the power battery SOC. Simulation experiments show that the joint estimation algorithm proposed in this paper has higher precision and convergence of the initial value error than a single AUKF algorithm.
Strategic Implications of Offense and Defense in Cyberwar

This paper examines the relative balance of offense and defense in international cyberspace conflict. Unlike previous partial assessments, this paper systematically applies "offense-defense theory" as previously developed by international relations theorists and historians. The preliminary analysis of this brief paper identifies several key distinct features of cyberspace relevant to the judgment. While concluding that most current factors point to offensive advantage in cyberspace, the analysis also indicates the limitations of evaluating only cyberspace factors. Within specified conditions, the state of the offense-defense balance can be critical to tactical and operational policy-making. But at the strategic level, the extensive interactions of cyber capabilities and other coercive means available to states necessitates evaluating how the advent of cyber technologies may be shifting balances of advantage between offense and defense in the military postures of states holistically. Note: The views expressed in this document are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.
Significance of MPEG-7 Textural Features for Improved Mass Detection in Mammography

The purpose of the study is to investigate the significance of MPEG-7 textural features for improving the detection of masses in screening mammograms. The detection scheme was originally based on morphological directional neighborhood features extracted from mammographic regions of interest (ROIs). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) was performed to evaluate the performance of each set of features independently and merged into a back-propagation artificial neural network (BPANN) using the leave-one-out sampling scheme (LOOSS). The study was based on a database of 668 mammographic ROIs (340 depicting cancer regions and 328 depicting normal parenchyma). Overall, the ROC area index of the BPANN using the directional morphological features was Az=0.85plusmn0. 01. The MPEG-7 edge histogram descriptor-based BPNN showed an ROC area index of Az=0.71plusmn0. 01 while homogeneous textural descriptors using 30 and 120 channels helped the BPNN achieve similar ROC area indexes of Az=0.882plusmn0. 02 and Az=0.877plusmn0. 01 respectively. After merging the MPEG-7 homogeneous textural features with the directional neighborhood features the performance of the BPANN increased providing an ROC area index of Az=0.91plusmn0. 01. MPEG-7 homogeneous textural descriptor significantly improved the morphology-based detection scheme
The Development of a Sustainable-Construction Planning System

Since construction is considered as one of the main sources of environmental pollution in the world, the level of knowledge and awareness of project participants, especially project managers, regarding the construction impacts on the environment are required to be enhanced. The aim of this paper is to develop a prototype of a Sustainable-Construction Planning System (SCPS) in order to mitigate the negative impacts of the construction industry on the environment. To achieve this aim, frequency and severity of known environmental impacts of construction process of residential buildings were investigated through interviews with a safety expert panel in Malaysia. Then, risk level associated with each environmental impact was calculated based on the relevant risk matrix. The SCPS extracts current construction activities from any computer-based schedule (Microsoft Project® in this study) and identifies sustainable strategies, and environmental impacts related to each activity as a report. The SCPS was presented to an expert panel who was asked to assess the reliability and usability of the SCPS. It can be concluded that the SCPS is efficient and helpful in mitigating construction related impacts on the environment. The practical implication of this study is to promote sustainable construction by promoting the project participants’ knowledge and awareness of significant environmental impacts related to construction operations. This study could be a platform for developing automated sustainable planning systems that can be used broadly in construction projects.
Bedürfnis nach Struktur und Furcht vor Festlegung

Zusammenfassung: Deutsche Kurzformen der englischen Skalen “Personal Need for Structure” (PNS), “Personal Fear of Invalidity” (PFI) und “Need for Closure” (NFC) werden vorgestellt. Die Reliabilitaten waren zufrieden stellend und denen der englischen Skalen vergleichbar. Konfirmatorische Faktorenanalysen sprachen gegen die Eindimensionalitat des Konstruktkomplexes und bestatigen ein mehrdimensionales Modell, das im weiteren fur die Auftrennung in die beiden Skalen PNS und PFI spricht. Erste Validierungsuntersuchungen mit den deutschen Skalen zeigen Zusammenhange der PFI-Skala mit dem Konzept der Handlungs- vs. Lageorientierung sowie der erlebten Ambivalenz und der Handlungsbereitschaft in einem Entscheidungsszenario.
Histochemical changes in neocortex and corpus callosum after intracranial injection.

The penetration of a syringe needle or electrode into the brain, causing localized physical changes such as a high compression front with displacement of whole cells and other cells suffering from various degrees of temporary distortion, would be expected to produce disturbances in metabolism. Subsequent intracranial injection of small quantities of fluid may produce changes in pH, electrolyte concentration, ionic strength, temperature, and the disequilibrium of colloidal suspensions. Less clearly defined effects on metabolism due to inflammatory processes and trauma would also be likely to occur. This paper reports the effects of intracranial penetration of a microneedle and subsequent injection of p,l. physiological saline on the meta- bolic activities of enzymes controlling important metabolic pathways Two areas were investigated-namely, the cerebral cortex and the callosum. the were allowed to and observations on enzymes of and phosphate metabolism, amine oxidation, and acetylcholinesterase within nerve cells and glia during the period of 31 days post-operation were made by histochemical techniques.
IκΒα inhibits apoptosis at the outer mitochondrial membrane independently of NF‐κB retention

IκBα resides in the cytosol where it retains the inducible transcription factor NF‐κB. We show that IκBα also localises to the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM) to inhibit apoptosis. This effect is especially pronounced in tumour cells with constitutively active NF‐κB that accumulate high amounts of mitochondrial IκBα as a NF‐κB target gene. 3T3 IκBα−/− cells also become protected from apoptosis when IκBα is specifically reconstituted at the OMM. Using various IκBα mutants, we demonstrate that apoptosis inhibition and NF‐κB inhibition can be functionally and structurally separated. At mitochondria, IκBα stabilises the complex of VDAC1 and hexokinase II (HKII), thereby preventing Bax recruitment to VDAC1 and the release of cytochrome c for apoptosis induction. When IκBα is reduced in tumour cells with constitutively active NF‐κB, they show an enhanced response to anticancer treatment in an in vivo xenograft tumour model. Our results reveal the unexpected activity of IκBα in guarding the integrity of the OMM against apoptosis induction and open possibilities for more specific interference in tumours with deregulated NF‐κB.
Antiherpesviral and anticellular effects of 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-E-5-(2-halogenovinyl) uracils

1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-E-5-(2-bromovinyl) uracil (BV-ara-U) and 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl-E-5-(2-chlorovinyl)uracil (CV-ara-U) were tested for their anti-herpesviral activity in virus rating method, a plaque reduction method, and a virus yield reduction method, using human embryonic lung fibroblast (HEL-F) cells, At a concentration as low as 0.1 microgram/ml, both drugs exerted a marked inhibitory effect on the development of cytopathogenic effect induced by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection and on the multiplication and plaque formation of HSV-1. Neither BV-ara-U nor CV-ara-U was significantly active against HSV type 2 (HSV-2). They scarcely inhibited growth of HEL-F cells, mouse L, and murine leukemia cells. Compared with 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylthymine and 5-iodo-deoxyuridine, BV-ara-U and CV-ara-U were more than 10 times as active against HSV-1 and much less active against HSV-2. BV-ara-U was as active as E-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine against HSV-1 and less inhibitory to growth of HEL-F cells. Cellular deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis was not significantly influenced by the new derivatives of arabinosyluracil, even at a concentration as high as 300 microgram/ml. The derivatives showed extremely marked inhibition of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in HSV-1-infected cells, whereas their inhibitory effect on deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in HSV-2-infected cells was much lower than that in HSV-1-infected cells. These findings indicate that BV-ara-U and CV-ara-U are selectively inhibitory to HSV-1 multiplication.
A low cost adaptive digital predistorter for linearization of power amplifiers in MIMO transmitters

An adaptive digital predistortion (PD) technique is proposed for linearization of power amplifiers (PAs) in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmitters. We consider a PD structure equipped with only one combined feedback path while conventional systems have multiple feedback paths. Hence, the proposed structure is much simpler than that of multiple feedback paths. Based on the structure, a new PD algorithm is derived. The simulation results show that linearization performance of the proposed method is almost the same as the conventional multiple feedback technique while the former is much simpler to implement than the latter.
UNINTENTIONAL LIES IN THE MEDIA: DON'T BLAME JOURNALISTS FOR WHAT WE DON'T TEACH

It’s easy to find misleading and even harmful reporting of statistical results. For example, a 2008 study titled “You Are What Your Mother Eats,” asserted that children born to mothers who eat breakfast cereal are more likely to be boys than are children born to mothers who do not eat breakfast cereal. A 2009 analysis by statistician Stan Young and colleagues showed that the result was almost surely a false positive, but by then the study had gained widespread media attention. Many students who take introductory statistics come away from the course able to compute a standard deviation, yet unable to spot an egregious example of poor statistical reporting such as the one illustrated by this example. We are doing an inadequate job of educating the next generation of medical researchers, journal referees, policy-makers, journalists, and so on. I will discuss some ways we can do a better job.
Studies of the Extracellular Glycocalyx of the Anaerobic Cellulolytic Bacterium Ruminococcus albus 7

ABSTRACT Anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria are thought to adhere to cellulose via several mechanisms, including production of a glycocalyx containing extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). As the compositions and structures of these glycocalyces have not been elucidated, variable-pressure scanning electron microscopy (VP-SEM) and chemical analysis were used to characterize the glycocalyx of the ruminal bacterium Ruminococcus albus strain 7. VP-SEM revealed that growth of this strain was accompanied by the formation of thin cellular extensions that allowed the bacterium to adhere to cellulose, followed by formation of a ramifying network that interconnected individual cells to one another and to the unraveling cellulose microfibrils. Extraction of 48-h-old whole-culture pellets (bacterial cells plus glycocalyx [G] plus residual cellulose [C]) with 0.1 N NaOH released carbohydrate and protein in a ratio of 1:5. Boiling of the cellulose fermentation residue in a neutral detergent solution removed almost all of the adherent cells and protein while retaining a residual network of adhering noncellular material. Trifluoroacetic acid hydrolysis of this residue (G plus C) released primarily glucose, along with substantial amounts of xylose and mannose, but only traces of galactose, the most abundant sugar in most characterized bacterial exopolysaccharides. Linkage analysis and characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance suggested that most of the glucosyl units were not present as partially degraded cellulose. Calculations suggested that the energy demand for synthesis of the nonprotein fraction of EPS by this organism represents only a small fraction (<4%) of the anabolic ATP expenditure of the bacterium.
NextGen Sequencing Technology-based Dissection of Physiological Systems Transcriptional profiling by RNA-Seq of peri-attachment porcine embryos generated by a variety of assisted reproductive technologies

S. Clay Isom, John R. Stevens, Rongfeng Li, William G. Spollen, Lindsay Cox, Lee D. Spate, Clifton N. Murphy, and Randall S. Prather Animal Dairy & Veterinary Sciences Department, Utah State University, Logan, Utah; Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, Logan, Utah; Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri; and Informatics Research Core Facility; University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri