Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attention Bias in Children of Patients with Panic Disorder

Cognitive models of panic disorder have emphasized the role of cognitive distortions in the maintenance of this disorder. Several studies have produced results consistent with this hypothesis, but it is still unclear whether cognitive biases precede anxiety disorders or whether they are a consequence of the disorder. In the present study, we compared children of individuals with panic disorder, children of individuals with animal phobia, and children of normal controls with respect to attentional bias with an emotional Stroop task, which included three types of words: panic-relevant, animal phobia-relevant, and neutral words. Our results revealed that children of panic patients did not show an attentional bias for panic-relevant stimuli. Results will be discussed in the context of theoretical models explaining the etiological factor of cognitive biases for the development of anxiety disorders.
Trustworthy interaction balancing in mixed service-oriented systems

Web-based collaboration systems typically require dynamic and context-based interactions between people and services. To support such complex interaction scenarios, we introduce a mixed service-oriented system that is composed of both humans and software services, collaborating and interacting to perform certain activities. As an example, consider a professional online help and support community spanning interactions between human participants and software-based services. Trust between these members is essential for successful collaborations and has been extensively studied in the context of social and collaborative networks. In this paper, we discuss trust from a collaborative and social point of view instead of a security perspective. Our approach follows an interaction monitoring and an interpretative rule-based trust inference model established on previous behavior. However, trust relations encourage network members to continue interacting with successful (and thus trusted) collaboration partners, and to avoid, or even refuse, interactions with unknown actors. This behavior has negative side-effects from a global community perspective. Given the help and support environment, a small number of popular network members will become increasingly overloaded with support requests. We solve this load and interaction balancing problem by the means of trustworthy request delegations.
Preamplification Procedure for the Analysis of Ancient DNA Samples

In ancient DNA studies the low amount of endogenous DNA represents a limiting factor that often hampers the result achievement. In this study we extracted the DNA from nine human skeletal remains of different ages found in the Byzantine cemetery of Abdera Halkidiki and in the medieval cemetery of St. Spiridion in Rhodes (Greece). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to detect in the extracts the presence of PCR inhibitors and to estimate the DNA content. As mitochondrial DNA was detected in all samples, amplification of nuclear targets, as amelogenin and the polymorphism M470V of the transmembrane conductance regulator gene, yielded positive results in one case only. In an effort to improve amplification success, we applied, for the first time in ancient DNA, a preamplification strategy based on TaqMan PreAmp Master Mix. A comparison between results obtained from nonpreamplified and preamplified samples is reported. Our data, even if preliminary, show that the TaqMan PreAmp procedure may improve the sensitivity of qPCR analysis.
Video-based reconstruction of animatable human characters

We present a new performance capture approach that incorporates a physically-based cloth model to reconstruct a rigged fully-animatable virtual double of a real person in loose apparel from multi-view video recordings. Our algorithm only requires a minimum of manual interaction. Without the use of optical markers in the scene, our algorithm first reconstructs skeleton motion and detailed time-varying surface geometry of a real person from a reference video sequence. These captured reference performance data are then analyzed to automatically identify non-rigidly deforming pieces of apparel on the animated geometry. For each piece of apparel, parameters of a physically-based real-time cloth simulation model are estimated, and surface geometry of occluded body regions is approximated. The reconstructed character model comprises a skeleton-based representation for the actual body parts and a physically-based simulation model for the apparel. In contrast to previous performance capture methods, we can now also create new real-time animations of actors captured in general apparel.
Polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E and angiotensin-converting enzyme genes and carotid atherosclerosis in heavy drinkers.

AIMS To investigate the influence of apolipoprotein E (APOE) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphisms on carotid artery atherosclerosis in alcoholism. METHODS Polymorphism of both genes was identified by DNA analysis in 130 male alcohol-dependent patients. Intima-media thickness (IMT) was measured ultrasonographically. RESULTS Multivariate regression analysis showed that of all the known risk factors the greatest impact on carotid atherosclerosis in alcoholics was exerted by age, hypertension, LDL cholesterol and fasting plasma glucose levels. Subjects carrying the APO E epsilon4 allele were more liable to develop atherosclerotic changes in carotid arteries compared with subjects with the epsilon3/3 genotype, which showed statistical significance in patients under 50 years of age. No association was shown between ACE I/D polymorphism and carotid atherosclerosis. CONCLUSIONS APO E polymorphism can increase the risk of carotid atherosclerosis development in an alcoholic subject. The association of the APO E epsilon4 allele with carotid atherosclerosis was significant in younger patients. Since the elevated carotid IMT is considered to be a good marker of increased risk of generalized atherosclerosis the consequences could involve both cardiac and cerebrovascular events.
Cooperative Computing in Sensor Networks

We envision that during the next decade the advances in technology will make sensor networks more powerful. Therefore, they will become part of a larger class of networks of embedded systems that have sufficient computing, communication, and energy resources to support distributed applications. The current software architectures and programming models are not suitable for these new computing environments. We present a distributed computing model, Cooperative Computing, and the Smart Messages software architecture for programming large networks of embedded systems. In Cooperative Computing, distributed applications are dynamic collections of migratory execution units, called SmartMessages, working to achieve a common goal. Virtually, any userdefined distributed application can be implemented using ourmodel. To illustrate this flexibility, we describe the implementation, using Smart Messages, of two previously proposed applications for sensor networks, SPIN and Directed Diffusion. The simulation results for these applications together with micro-benchmark results for our prototype implementation demonstrate that Cooperative Computing is a viable solution for programming networks of embedded systems.
Does Economic Growth Reduce Corruption? Theory and Evidence from Vietnam

Government corruption is more prevalent in poor countries than in rich countries. This paper uses cross-industry heterogeneity in growth rates within Vietnam to test empirically whether growth leads to lower corruption. We find that it does. We begin by developing a model of government officials' choice of how much bribe money to extract from firms that is based on the notion of inter-regional tax competition, and consider how officials' choices change as the economy grows. We show that economic growth is predicted to decrease the rate of bribe extraction under plausible assumptions, with the benefit to officials of demanding a given share of revenue as bribes outweighed by the increased risk that firms will move elsewhere. This effect is dampened if firms are less mobile. Our empirical analysis uses survey data collected from over 13,000 Vietnamese firms between 2006 and 2010 and an instrumental variables strategy based on industry growth in other provinces. We find, first, that firm growth indeed causes a decrease in bribe extraction. Second, this pattern is particularly true for firms with strong land rights and those with operations in multiple provinces, consistent with these firms being more mobile. Our results suggest that as poor countries grow, corruption could subside
On elliptic cylindrical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation for surface waves

is derived for surface gravity waves with nearly-elliptic front, generalising the cylindrical KP equation for nearly-concentric waves. We discuss transformations between the derived equation and two existing versions of the KP equation, for nearly-plane and nearly-concentric waves. The transformations are used to construct important classes of exact solutions of the derived equation and corresponding approximate solutions for surface waves.
Experimental study of continuous variable quantum key distribution

It has been proven in the literature that the main technological factors limiting the communication rates of quantum cryptography systems by single photon are mainly related to the choice of the encoding method. In fact, the efficiency of the used sources is very limited, at best of the order of a few percent for the single photon sources and the photon counters can not be operated beyond a certain speed and with a low order of detection efficiency. In order to overcome partially these drawbacks, it is advantageous to use continuous quantum states as an alternative to standard encodings based on quantum qubits. In this context, we propose a new reconciliation method based on Turbo codes. Our theoretical model assumptions are supported by experimental results. Indeed, our method leads to a significant improvement of the protocol security and a large decrease of the QBER. The gain is obtained with a reasonable complexity increase. Also, the novelty of our work is that it tested the reconciliation method on a real photonic system under VPItransmissionMaker.
Cultural Dimensions as Moderators of the UTAUT Model: a Research Proposal in a Healthcare Context

While a variety of information technology (IT) acceptance and use models have been extensively examined and validated in numerous contexts, most studies have been conducted in western cultures, and thus not much is known about the probable moderating role of culture on the relationships between the constructs in those models. To fill this gap in the literature, we propose to empirically investigate the probable moderating roles of national cultural differences on the relationships between the constructs in the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT): a model that consolidates the most prominent eight previous IT acceptance and use models. Hofstede’s five national cultural dimensions that provide a framework for national cultural differences are employed as the moderators. A self-administered survey questionnaire will be sent to healthcare practitioners in ten major healthcare organizations, five each from Taiwan and the U.S., to solicit their responses regarding their acceptance and use of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs). The findings from this proposed research are expected to generate both theoretical and practical implications.
Origin and Early Evolution of Angiosperms

Contributions from paleobotany, phylogenetics, genomics, developmental biology, and developmental genetics have yielded tremendous insight into Darwin's “abominable mystery”—the origin and rapid diversification of the angiosperms. Analyses of morphological and molecular data reveal a revised “anthophyte clade” consisting of the fossils glossopterids, Pentoxylon, Bennettitales, and Caytonia as sister to angiosperms. Molecular estimates of the age of crown group angiosperms have converged on 140–180 million years ago (Ma), older than the oldest fossils (132 Ma), suggesting that older fossils remain to be discovered. Whether the first angiosperms were forest shrubs (dark‐and‐disturbed hypothesis) or aquatic herbs (wet‐and‐wild hypothesis) remains unclear. The near‐basal phylogenetic position of Nymphaeales (water lilies), which may include the well‐known fossil Archaefructus, certainly indicates that the aquatic habit arose early. After initial, early “experiments,” angiosperms radiated rapidly (≤5 million years [Myr]), yielding the five lineages of Mesangiospermae (magnoliids and Chloranthaceae as sisters to a clade of monocots and eudicots + Ceratophyllaceae). This radiation ultimately produced approximately 97% of all angiosperm species. Updated estimates of divergence times across the angiosperms conducted using nonparametric rate smoothing, with one or multiple fossils, were older than previous reports, whereas estimates using PATHd8 were typically younger. Virtually all angiosperm genomes show evidence of whole‐genome duplication, indicating that polyploidy may have been an important catalyst in angiosperm evolution. Although the flower is the central feature of the angiosperms, its origin and subsequent diversification remain major questions. Variation in spatial expression of floral regulators may control major differences in floral morphology between basal angiosperms and eudicot models.
Similar Structures inside RDF-Graphs

RDF is the common data model to publish structured data on the Web. RDF data sets are given as subject-predicateobject triples and typically are represented as directed edgelabeled graphs. To make the information represented by such graphs comprehensible, RDF-schema (RDFS) provides concepts to dene a class-structure as part of the given RDFgraph and thus supports a more abstract view on the data set. In this paper we follow a dierent approach and propose to make an RDF graph more comprehensible by reducing its size by partitioning to discover subgraphs which are similar with respect to their structure. The methods applied to derive a partition are based on bisimulation and agglomerative clustering. We demonstrate the usefulness of the approach by applying it on several synthetic and one real world RDF datasets.
Scour Monitoring System for Subsea Pipeline Based on Active Thermometry: Numerical and Experimental Studies

A scour monitoring system for subsea pipeline based on active thermometry is proposed in this paper. The temperature reading of the proposed system is based on a distributed Brillouin optical fiber sensing technique. A thermal cable acts as the main component of the system, which consists of a heating belt, armored optical fibers and heat-shrinkable tubes which run parallel to the pipeline. The scour-induced free span can be monitored through different heat transfer behaviors of in-water and in-sediment scenarios during heating and cooling processes. Two sets of experiments, including exposing different lengths of the upper surface of the pipeline to water and creating free spans of various lengths, were carried out in laboratory. In both cases, the scour condition was immediately detected by the proposed monitoring system, which confirmed the system is robust and very sensitive. Numerical study of the method was also investigated by using the finite element method (FEM) with ANSYS, resulting in reasonable agreement with the test data. This brand new system provides a promising, low cost, highly precise and flexible approach for scour monitoring of subsea pipelines.
Mutant generation for analog circuit designs

A mutant generation approach for analog circuit designs is proposed, which adopts the methodology from the software testing domain and is capable to generate a batch of mutants automatically. Several mutation operators, which can cover most of the common faults in a practical circuit, are introduced to carry out the mutant generation. The implementation of these operators is based on an undirected graph which serves as an independent intermediate form to facilitate the generation process and to enhance the flexibility of the method. A Spice oriented mutant generation tool is developed and the experimental results prove that the approach and the tool are useful and efficient.
Malicious Codes Detection in Distributed Environment. (Modèle de protection contre les codes malveillants dans un environnement distribué)

La these contient deux parties principales: la premiere partie est consacree a l’extraction du format des messages, la deuxieme partie est consacree a l’obfuscation des comportements des malwares et la detection. Pour la premiere partie, nous considerons deux problemes: "la couverture des codes" et "l’extraction du format des messages". Pour la couverture des codes, nous proposons une nouvelle methode basee sur le "tainting intelligent" et sur l’execution inversee. Pour l’extraction du format des messages, nous proposons une nouvelle methode basee sur la classification de messages en utilisant des traces d’execution. Pour la deuxieme partie, les comportements des codes malveillants sont formalises par un modele abstrait pour la communication entre le programme et le systeme d’exploitation. Dans ce modele, les comportements du programme sont des appels systemes. Etant donne les comportements d’un programme benin, nous montrons de facon constructive qu’il existe plusieurs programmes malveillants ayant egalement ces comportements. En consequence, aucun detecteur comportemental n’est capable de detecter ces programmes malveillants
Protective Effects of Tamarillo (Cyphomandra betacea) Extract against High Fat Diet Induced Obesity in Sprague-Dawley Rats

This study aims to investigate the protective effect of Cyphomandra betacea in adult male Sprague-Dawley rats fed with high fat diet. Rats were fed on either normal chow or high fat diet for 10 weeks for obesity induction phase and subsequently received C. betacea extract at low dose (150 mg kg−1), medium dose (200 mg kg−1), or high dose (300 mg kg−1) or placebo via oral gavages for another 7 weeks for treatment phase. Treatment of obese rats with C. betacea extracts led to a significant decrease in total cholesterol and significant increase in HDL-C (p < 0.05). Also there was a trend of positive reduction in blood glucose, triglyceride, and LDL-C with positive reduction of body weight detected in medium and high dosage of C. betacea extract. Interestingly, C. betacea treated rats showed positive improvement of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity along with a significant increase of total antioxidant status (TAS) (p < 0.05). Further, rats treated with C. betacea show significantly lower in TNF-α and IL-6 activities (p < 0.05). This study demonstrates the potential use of Cyphomandra betacea extract for weight maintenance and complimentary therapy to suppress some obesity complication signs.
Probability-Dependent Gain-Scheduled Filtering for Stochastic Systems With Missing Measurements

This brief addresses the gain-scheduled filtering problem for a class of discrete-time systems with missing measurements, nonlinear disturbances, and external stochastic noise. The missing-measurement phenomenon is assumed to occur in a random way, and the missing probability is time-varying with securable upper and lower bounds that can be measured in real time. The multiplicative noise is a state-dependent scalar Gaussian white-noise sequence with known variance. The addressed gain-scheduled filtering problem is concerned with the design of a filter such that, for the admissible random missing measurements, nonlinear parameters, and external noise disturbances, the error dynamics is exponentially mean-square stable. The desired filter is equipped with time-varying gains based primarily on the time-varying missing probability and is therefore less conservative than the traditional filter with fixed gains. It is shown that the filter parameters can be derived in terms of the measurable probability via the semidefinite program method.
Norms Regulating Emotional Expressions Relate to National Level Generalized Trust

A number of evolutionarily inspired theories have proposed that facial expressions of emotion can serve as signals of trustworthiness due to their automatic and uncontrollable nature. However, facial expressions of emotion can be concealed and modified in a number of ways, and the nature of this modification can vary across cultures. In this study, we use national level data to examine the relation between generalized trust and variability in cultural norms, known as display rules, which regulate the emotional expressions of individuals on a societal level. Based on research which suggests that the development of generalized trust requires individuals to be able to make dispositional rather than situational attributions for behavior, we argue that the development of trust is inhibited in countries where individuals are likely to conceal or modify their emotional expressions depending on context, rather than express their emotions consistently across situations. We show that generalized trust is lower in countries where there is more within-individual variability in the cultural norms regulating emotional expressions, and that overall emotional expressiveness tends to be positively related with generalized trust only in countries with lower within-individual variability in norms regulating emotional expression.
A Resolution-Independent Representation for Pen-and-Ink Illustrations

This paper describes a compact resolutionand scale-independent representation for penand-ink illustrations. The proposed representation consists of a low-resolution grey-scale image, augmented by a set of discontinuity segments. We also present a new reconstruction algorithm that magnifies the low-resolution image while keeping the image sharp along the discontinuities. By storing pen-and-ink illustrations in this representation, we can produce high-fidelity illustrations at any scale and resolution by generating an image of the desired size and filling that image with pen-and-ink strokes.
Centre de Referència en Economia Analítica Barcelona Economics Working Paper Series Working Paper n o 138 Is Seniorty-Based Pay used as a Motivation Device ? Evidence from Plant Level Data

In this paper we use data from industrial plants to investigate if seniority-based pay is used as a motivational device for production workers. Alternatively, seniority-based pay could simply be a wage setting rule not necessarily related to the provision of incentives. Unlike previous papers, we use a direct measure of seniority-based pay as well as measures of monitoring devices and piece-rates. We find that firms that offer seniority-based pay are less likely to offer explicit incentives. They are also less likely to invest in monitoring devices. We also find that firms that offer seniority-based pay are more likely to engage in other human resource management policies that result in long employment relationships. Overall these results suggest that seniority-based pay is indeed used as a motivation device. JEL codes: M52, M12, J30.
P-WLPA algorithm research on parallel framework Spark

Weighted Label Propagation Algorithm with Probability Threshold (P-WLPA) with typical serial execution prototype is proposed to be applied in data classification. Meanwhile on distributed computing system Spark, parallel P-WLPA algorithm for labeling big data is conducted. The algorithm sets prior conditions when configuring undirected graph and optimizes parameter learning in P-WLPA process. Through experiments, we analyze the relationship between Iterations for convergence, sample stability threshold and error rate. Finally Serial and parallel P-WLPA performance comparison demonstrates the feasibility and efficiency of the parallel P-WLPA algorithm implementation on Spark.