Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed Learning Automata-Based Clustering Algorithm in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

In ad hoc networks, the performance is significantly degraded as the size of the network grows. The network clustering is a method by which the nodes are hierarchically organized on the basis of the proximity and thus the scalability problem is alleviated. Finding the weakly connected dominating set (WCDS) is a well-known approach, proposed for clustering the wireless ad hoc networks. Finding the minimum WCDS in the unit disk graph is an NP-Hard problem, and a host of approximation algorithms have been proposed. In this paper, an approximation algorithm based on distributed learning automata is first proposed for finding a near optimal solution to the minimum WCDS problem in a unit disk graph. Then, a distributed learning automata-based algorithm is proposed for clustering the wireless ad hoc networks. This clustering method is a generalization of the algorithm proposed for solving the WCDS problem, in which the dominator nodes and their closed neighbors assume the role of the cluster-heads and cluster members, respectively. The proposed clustering algorithm, in an iterative process tries to find a policy that determines a cluster-head set with the minimum cardinality for the network. For both algorithms, the simulation results show that they outperform the best existing algorithms in terms of the number of hosts (nodes) in the cluster-head set (dominating set).
Differential effects of parathyroid hormone fragments on collagen gene expression in chondrocytes

The effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) in vivo after secretion by the parathyroid gland is mediated by bioactive fragments of the molecule. To elucidate their possible role in the regulation of cartilage matrix metabolism, the influence of the amino-terminal (NH2-terminal), the central, and the carboxyl-terminal (COOH-terminal) portion of the PTH on collagen gene expression was studied in a serum free cell culture system of fetal bovine and human chondrocytes. Expression of alpha1 (I), alpha1 (II), alpha1 (III), and alpha1 (X) mRNA was investigated by in situ hybridization and quantified by Northern blot analysis. NH2- terminal and mid-regional fragments containing a core sequence between amino acid residues 28-34 of PTH induced a significant rise in alpha1 (II) mRNA in proliferating chondrocytes. In addition, the COOH-terminal portion (aa 52-84) of the PTH molecule was shown to exert a stimulatory effect on alpha1 (II) and alpha1 (X) mRNA expression in chondrocytes from the hypertrophic zone of bovine epiphyseal cartilage. PTH peptides harboring either the functional domain in the central or COOH-terminal region of PTH can induce cAMP independent Ca2+ signaling in different subsets of chondrocytes as assessed by microfluorometry of Fura-2/AM loaded cells. These results support the hypothesis that different hormonal effects of PTH on cartilage matrix metabolism are exerted by distinct effector domains and depend on the differentiation stage of the target cell.
Diversity in rural communities: palliative care for the low German Mennonites

Multiculturalism is an important concept in Canada although there has been limited examination of its meaning in rural settings. To expand this knowledge base, this article presents the Low German (LG) Mennonites as a case example within a context of providing palliative care to this diverse population which is one of the Anabaptist groups that practice adult baptism and focus on a literal interpretation of the Bible. Findings from a mixed methods study and a graduate thesis conducted within the framework of this study focus on three main ideas to understand the perspectives related to death and dying among this group: faith-based healthcare facilities; family, community and mutual aid; and, keeping the dying connected. Implications of these concepts to health and social service providers are included. Canada has prided itself in being a multicultural country, but there has been little in-depth examination of cultural or religious diversity in rural settings. This article presents the research related to understanding death and dying among the Low German (LG) Mennonites as a case example to illustrate the complexity of providing care to a unique religious group in rural Canada. The mixed methods and qualitative research were conducted in both Canada and Mexico. The findings are presented according to the following three ideas: (1) faith-based healthcare facilities; (2) family, community and mutual aid; and, (3) keeping the dying connected. The significance of the findings for the provision of care of this group are also included. Keywords: religious diversity, Low German Mennonites, rural health, palliative care, rural community
Logical characterizations of heap abstractions

Shape analysis concerns the problem of determining “shape invariants” for programs that perform destructive updating on dynamically allocated storage. In recent work, we have shown how shape analysis can be performed using an abstract interpretation based on three-valued first-order logic. In that work, concrete stores are finite two-valued logical structures, and the sets of stores that can possibly arise during execution are represented (conservatively) using a certain family of finite three-valued logical structures. In this article, we show how three-valued structures that arise in shape analysis can be characterized using formulas in first-order logic with transitive closure. We also define a nonstandard (“supervaluational”) semantics for three-valued first-order logic that is more precise than a conventional three-valued semantics, and demonstrate that the supervaluational semantics can be implemented using existing theorem provers.
A Study of Norms for Body Form-Behavior Relationship

Many investigators, the most important of whom are Kretschmer ('51), Connolly ('39), Sheldon ('42), have demonstrated a relationship between human body form and behavior. Although the studies conducted by Kretschmer and Connolly were concerned with behavior in its extreme forms as manifested by the psychotic personality, both investigators agreed with the later work of Sheldon in holding that the relationship also existed for the non-psychotic personality. The basis of the relationship mentioned above has been more discussed than studied. An excellent review of the whole problem has been presented by Tucker and Lessa ('40). The theories as to a basis represent a dichotomy of thought. There is the theory that both behavior and body form represent or mirror an underlying genetic and functional biologic structure. Another theory holds that socio-cultural norms or expectations exist which channel the behavior of the individual in accordance with his body form. A third theory which has not been proposed in the literature, which seems equally credible, is one that would combine the two previously mentioned theories. It would hold that a biological basis for the relationship does exist, that the relationship between body form and behavior has been
An application of mixture distributions in modelization of length of hospital stay

Length of hospital stay (LOS) is an important indicator of the hospital activity and management of health care. The skewness exhibited by this variable poses problems in statistical modeling. The aim of this work is to model the variable LOS within diagnosis‐related groups (DRG) through finite mixtures of distributions. A mixture of the union of Gamma, Weibull and Lognormal families is used in the model, instead of a mixture of a unique distribution family. Some theoretical questions regarding the model, such as the identifiability and study of asymptotic properties of ML estimators, are analyzed. The EM algorithm is proposed for performing these estimators. Finally, this new proposed model is illustrated by using data from different DRGs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TEDDY BEAR SAYS: STUDY HARD, DON T BE LAZY EXPLORING THE SYMBOLIC INTERACTION WITH MUNDANE OBJECTS THROUGH IMAGINARY CONVERSATIONS.

This article explores the symbolical interaction with mundane objects in the private life of individuals. The paper derives from the following question that was asked in an international diary study: ‘Imagine that things could speak, what would they say? ’. The main findings can be summarized in two parts: a) when asked to imagine talking objects most of the participants selected mundane domestic objects to speak about private concerns, and b) the participants constructed narratives mostly of scolding and complaining character. The narrative analysis is based on symbolic theory and conversation analysis, and it is argued that material objects can be used in private life as inner ‘coconversationalists’ to discuss the morality of conduct of one self. It is suggested that material objects in people’s private realm are not only props within interpersonal interaction order, but also tools for inner negotiation as well as for self-regulation.
The mystery ingredients: sweeteners, flavorings, dyes, and preservatives in analgesic/antipyretic, antihistamine/decongestant, cough and cold, antidiarrheal, and liquid theophylline preparations.

OBJECTIVE Pharmaceutical preparations may contain a variety of excipients ("inert ingredients"). These excipients are generally inactive; however, rare adverse effects caused by excipients have been reported. Information about the excipients in a particular preparation is not readily available. METHODS The information about sweeteners, flavorings, dyes, and preservatives for the chewable and liquid preparations of over-the-counter and prescription products of antidiarrhea, cough and cold, antihistamine/decongestant, analgesic/antipyretic, and liquid theophylline medications was collected. RESULTS Information about excipients in 102 chewable and liquid preparations was compiled. An average preparation contained two sweeteners. Saccharin and sucrose were the most common sweeteners found--each was present in 52 preparations--followed by sorbitol, glucose, fructose, and others. For 36 of the 102 preparations, type of flavoring was not specified. In the remaining preparations, cherry was the most common flavoring, followed by vanilla and lemon. Twenty-one different dyes and coloring agents were used. Red dye No. 40 was the most common (42/102), followed by yellow No. 6 (27/102). Of the eight preservatives used, sodium benzoate and methylparabens were present in 42 and 27 of the preparations, respectively. Tables detailing these excipients and adverse effects reported are presented. CONCLUSIONS The tables should be helpful to physicians in selecting preparations containing different excipients when an adverse reaction occurs. The mandatory labeling of excipients in all pharmaceutical preparations is the only way that physicians and patients can be fully informed.
Differential diagnosis of elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein levels: a rheumatology perspective.

OBJECTIVE In the case of high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, the diagnosis of the underlying disease can be challenging especially in serologically unrevealing patients who have nonspecific clinical findings. We aimed to investigate the final distribution of definitive diagnoses in patients who initially presented with nonspecific clinical findings and sustained elevations in serum ESR/CRP levels. MATERIAL AND METHODS The medical records of patients hospitalized in a rheumatology clinic between January 2010 and January 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were classified into two main groups: those with previously diagnosed underlying rheumatic disease (RD) and those without. The groups were analyzed for the final distribution of definitive diagnoses. RESULTS Out of 112 patients in the general study population, 47 had a previous RD and 65 had no previous history of RD. In these 65 patients, the most common etiology of nonspecific elevations in ESR/CRP levels was new onset RD (52.3%). Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) was the most common new onset RD (38% of all new onset RD) followed by seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. The incidences of infections and malignancies were 24.6% and 9.2%, respectively. CRP levels were significantly higher in infections when compared with new onset RD or malignancies (p<0.05). In patients with previous RD, the flare of the underlying disease was the most common etiology of nonspecific elevations in ESR/CRP levels (n=39, 83%, 20 female/19 male). CONCLUSION Extraordinarily high levels of serum CRP in a patient with nonspecific clinical findings should raise suspicion for non-rheumatic diagnoses, such as infection and malignancy, even in the presence of a previously diagnosed RD. Advanced radiological investigation is justified in these cases to rule out malignancy.
Examining Applicant Reactions to Different Media Types in Character‐Based Simulations for Employee Selection

While the influence of technology and medium of assessment administration on applicant reactions has been a topic for recent discussion, scant research has considered reactions to various forms of media types in employee character‐based simulations. In a series of two studies, we focused on the influence of various media types on a variety of applicant reaction criteria. In Study 1, we explored (1) differences in procedural justice perceptions and company impressions between a text and 3D animated simulation, (2) spillover mechanisms by which applicant reactions influences company perceptions, and (3) the influence of media richness on perceptions of other assessments types within a battery. In a second study, we focused on applicant reactions to and rankings of three media types (i.e., 2D animation, 3D animation, and live‐action video) in a character‐based simulation. Our results indicated support for a mediated effect of procedural justice rules on company perceptions. Across studies, favorable reaction ratings and rankings for 3D animation and live‐action video were found.
A Study on Emotional Literacy Scale Development.

Emotional literacy is described as being aware of our own feelings in order to improve our personal power and life quality as well as people’s life quality around us. In this study, the aim is to develop a Likert scale which measures people’s emotional literacy in order to be used both in descriptive and experimental researches. Related literature was reviewed in accordance with this aim. Composition study was conducted and assessed with a group of experts in the field of psychological counseling (n=25) regarding emotional literacy. Initial form which consists of 52 items were administered to 272 university students who were receiving education from different faculties in a university located at the west of Turkey. Afterwards, the final form which contains 34 items was applied to 345 university students. According to the results of explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis, the scale has five dimensions with 34 items. The Cronbach Alpha Coefficient is 0.80; test-retest validity which was repeated twice in 15 days’ time with 45 students has been calculated as 0.89. In conclusion, a reliable and valid scale which can be used to measure people’s emotional literacy was developed.
The crystal structure of zwitterionic 2-{[(4-iminiumyl-3-methyl-1,4-dihydropyridin-1-yl)methyl]carbamoyl}benzoate hemihydrate

The molecular and crystal structure of zwitterionic 2-{[(4-iminiumyl-3-methyl-1,4-dihydropyridin-1-yl)methyl]carbamoyl}benzoate hemihydrate is reported. The crystal structure is stabilized by a variety of hydrogen bonds and offset π–π stacking interactions.
Traceroute-Based Fast Peer Selection without Offline Database

The extreme heterogeneity in the P2P Internet environment causes the connections to candidate peers to vary significantly. Thus, selecting good candidate peers is critical to P2P networking performance. While most research in the literature focus on selecting peers with low latency, high uploading bandwidth, and high serving stability by time-consuming end-to-end measurement, we address how to quickly narrow the scope of good candidate peers. In this paper, we proposed to pick out the close peers from the same location or with low round-trip time from each other, by observing that close peers share routers along the traceroute path to the same destination. Our method only maintains online peers's traceroute records, without any offline database. Experiments with real traceroute records from 352 different IP addresses around the world verify the efficiency of our method
Canonical Number and NutCracker: Heuristic Algorithms for the Graph Isomorphism Problem using Free Energy

This paper develops two heuristic algorithms to solve graph isomorphism, using free energy encoding. The first algorithm uses four types of encoding refinement techniques such that every graph can be distinguished by a canonical number computed by the algorithm. The second algorithm injects energy into the graph to conduct individualization such that the correspondence relation between a pair of isomorphic graphs can be found. The core principle behind the two algorithms is encoding discrete structures as real numbers. A large set of experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of our algorithms.
ROCCER: An Algorithm for Rule Learning Based on ROC Analysis

We introduce a rule selection algorithm called ROCCER, which operates by selecting classification rules from a larger set of rules - for instance found by Apriori - using ROC analysis. Experimental comparison with rule induction algorithms shows that ROCCER tends to produce considerably smaller rule sets with compatible Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) values. The individual rules that compose the rule set also have higher support and stronger association indexes.
Cross Validation of Cepstral Coefficients in Classifying Suicidal Speech from Depressed Speech

suicidal patients from depressed patients using mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients. Distinguishing high risk suicidal patients from the depressed patients is an important problem. A solution to this problem may help to prevent loss of many lives. In this study, the vocal characteristics of female and male patients' speech samples were analyzed and ten mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients were used to classify high risk suicidal patients and depressed patients. The cross validation scheme was used to observe the classification performance. There were two different types of speech samples from both male and female patients. One of them was the speech samples during the interview and the other one is speech samples during the reading session.
Stable centred tetragonal phases in the hard core Yukawa system

The hard core Yukawa system, consisting of particles with an impenetrable core and interacting via a repulsive Yukawa pair potential, is known to solidify either in a bcc or fcc crystal. Using optimization strategies based on genetic algorithms we give evidence that at zero temperature an additional centred tetragonal phase structure in the range of high packing fractions emerges.
Endoscopic submucosal dissection for large colorectal epithelial neoplasms

Abstract Colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a technically difficult procedure with a higher risk of complications, especially for large colorectal epithelial neoplasms. This study aimed to report our experience and clinical outcomes, and to estimate the factors associated with incomplete resection and complications. One hundred forty one colorectal epithelial neoplasms in 130 consecutive patients treated by ESD at the endoscopy center of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from January 2013 to January 2016 were included. Factors associated with the incomplete resection and perforation were evaluated. The mean colorectal epithelial neoplasm size was 26.5 ± 9.5 (15.0–60.0) mm, the mean procedure time of colorectal ESD was 76.1 ± 48.7 (36.5–195.0) minutes. The en bloc resection rate, the en bloc R0 resection rate, and the curative resection rate, were 93.6% (132/141), 91.5% (129/141), and 88.7% (125/141), respectively. Perforation during colorectal ESD occurred in 7 patients (4.9%), postoperative bleeding occurred in 4 patients (2.8%). There was no recurrence occurred in all patients during follow periods of 13.2 ± 8.6 (6.0–36.0) month. Submucosal fibrosis was the only independent factor related to both incomplete resection (odds ratio [OR] 12.425; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.501–61.734; P = .002) and perforation (OR 10.646; 95%CI 1.188–95.421; P = .035) of colorectal ESD. Colorectal ESD is a safe and effective technique for en bloc resection of large colorectal epithelial neoplasms. Submucosal fibrosis was independently related to incomplete resection and perforation.
MULTILEVEL SELECTION AND THE PARTITIONING OF COVARIANCE: A COMPARISON OF THREE APPROACHES

Abstract Where the evolution of a trait is affected by selection at more than one hierarchical level, it is often useful to compare the magnitude of selection at each level by asking how much of the total evolutionary change is attributable to each level of selection. Three statistical partitioning techniques, each designed to answer this question, are compared, in relation to a simple multilevel selection model in which a trait's evolution is affected by both individual and group selection. None of the three techniques is wholly satisfactory: one implies that group selection can operate even if individual fitness is determined by individual phenotype alone, whereas the other two imply that group selection can operate even if there is no variance in group fitness. This has significant implications both for our understanding of what the term “multilevel selection” means and for the traditional concept of group selection.
Headmasters’ Effectiveness in Making Decisions through an Emotional Intelligence Approach

Headmasters as leaders are responsible for the advancement of the organization of their schools. To commit their duties, they deal with more human than technical aspects. They have to use an emotional approach to making rapports with their subordinates in order to cooperate with them productively and emotionally. Effective competencies the headmasters should possess are building ties, collaboration and cooperation, and team ability. The team members should also make a cooperation through a healthy interaction, the interaction which enables them to make an in-debth, open debate, tested against others’ critical opinions. They keywords in such a successful interaction is an emotional intelligence such as self-intelligence, empathy, and communication.
Open Education in the Wild: The Dynamics of Course Production in the Peer 2 Peer University

The Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU) is an online, open education platform where any user can create a course, contribute content, or join an existing course as a learner. P2PU represents an experiment in organizing the production of entirely user-generated, open education. However, the open model of P2PU rests on the critical assumption that members can successfully coordinate and produce a sufficient supply of courses and motivate others to join in. In this paper, we use log data from P2PU to describe the dynamics of organizers -- members who try to produce and launch open courses -- and explore the factors related to their ability to successfully create courses on this open platform. We find that a critical predictor of successful course development is quickly finding like-minded organizers to collaborate with, suggesting that creating new education systems based on open, social computing platforms requires facilitation of key aspects of social coordination beyond providing platform and content resources.