Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EFFECTS OF WITNESSING INTERPARENTAL VIOLENCE ON YOUNG ADULTS' INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

EFFECTS OF WITNESSING INTERPARENTAL VIOLENCE ON YOUNG ADULTS INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS By Kathryn J. Gaffey This study examined the impact of witnessing interparental violence (WIV) in childhood, quality of parental care, and witness perceptions of self-blame on the interpersonal relationships and schemas of college students. Approximately 500 male and female students were recruited from undergraduate psychology courses to participate. It was hypothesized that the quality of parental care would moderate the relationship between reports of WIV and maladaptive interpersonal outcomes, such that the quality of parental care would have a larger effect on individuals who had experiences of WIV. The amount of reported self-blame experienced by the offspring was hypothesized to be a mediating factor in this relationship. Self-blame was found to mediate the relationship between WIV and interpersonal distress, as well as between WIV and disrupted interpersonal schemas. Although parental care was not a significant moderator of this relationship, both reported maternal and paternal care were predictors of future interpersonal distress. EFFECTS OF WITNESSING INTERPARENTAL VIOLENCE ON YOUNG ADULTS INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Robust background subtraction in HSV color space

In the new MPEG-4 video coding standard, automatic video object segmentation plays a key role in supporting object-oriented coding and enabling content-based functionalities. Background subtraction is one of the basic automatic video object segmentation methods. But various environmental illumination conditions often make it hard to work. A robust background subtraction method is presented in this paper. A statistical background model is first setup in this algorithm. Then the hypothesis testing is applied to the following frames to segment the video objects. The HSV color model is used and its color components are efficiently analyzed and treated separately so that the proposed algorithm can adapt to different environmental illumination conditions. Shadows are detected and a new background update algorithm is also presented based on the observation that the illumination changes are temporal and will not influence all the following frames. All of them contribute to the robustness of the method. The experimental results show that the proposed background subtraction method can automatically segment video objects robustly and accurately in various illuminating environments.
Authoring Narrative Visualizations with Ellipsis

Data visualization is now a popular medium for journalistic storytelling. However, current visualization tools either lack support for storytelling or require significant technical expertise. Informed by interviews with journalists, we introduce a model of storytelling abstractions that includes state‐based scene structure, dynamic annotations and decoupled coordination of multiple visualization components. We instantiate our model in Ellipsis: a system that combines a domain‐specific language (DSL) for storytelling with a graphical interface for story authoring. User interactions are automatically translated into statements in the Ellipsis DSL. By enabling storytelling without programming, the Ellipsis interface lowers the threshold for authoring narrative visualizations. We evaluate Ellipsis through example applications and user studies with award‐winning journalists. Study participants find Ellipsis to be a valuable prototyping tool that can empower journalists in the creation of interactive narratives.
Flagellin-F1-V Fusion Protein Is an Effective Plague Vaccine in Mice and Two Species of Nonhuman Primates

ABSTRACT A number of studies have clearly demonstrated that flagellin is a potent adjuvant that promotes robust immune responses when it is given with a protein antigen. In view of the potential biological and practical benefits of a recombinant protein vaccine composed of a single fusion protein containing flagellin and antigen, we have evaluated the efficacy of a fusion protein composed of flagellin and two protective antigens of Yersinia pestis (F1 and V) in eliciting protection against respiratory challenge with Y. pestis. Flagellin-F1-V was produced and purified in high yield under good manufacturing practices conditions. The fusion protein retains full Toll-like receptor 5-stimulating activity in vitro. Using a prime-boost immunization protocol, we found that flagellin-F1-V elicits robust antigen-specific humoral immunity in mice and two species of nonhuman primates. Immune mice were fully protected against intranasal challenge with 150 mean tolerated doses of Y. pestis CO92. In immune mice, the bacteria were completely cleared within 3 days after challenge. Flagellin-F1-V exhibited full stability for at least 297 days at 4°C and at least 168 days at 25°C. At between 29 and 84 days at 37°C, the protein exhibited a loss of biological activity that appeared to be associated with a substantial change in protein diameter, possibly due to oligomerization. On the basis of our results, we believe that flagellin-F1-V is an outstanding candidate for evaluation in studies with humans.
Active progress bar: aiding the switch to temporary activities

Can we design an interface to help people make use of the idle time spent looking at progress bars? We propose to augment progress bars with user-controlled functionalities facilitating the switch to temporary activities. We propose a taxonomy of waiting period contexts and possible temporary tasks, then report on participatory design sessions, and a follow-up survey. Finally we describe an early prototype of active progress bar and report a small controlled experiment used to identify the impact of the tool on primary task satisfaction. The findings suggest that Active Progress Bars lead to significantly higher satisfaction when compared to a control condition.
N-CAM Exhibits a Regulatory Function in Pathological Angiogenesis in Oxygen Induced Retinopathy

Background Diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity are diseases caused by pathological angiogenesis in the retina as a consequence of local hypoxia. The underlying mechanism for epiretinal neovascularization (tuft formation), which contributes to blindness, has yet to be identified. Neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) is expressed by Müller cells and astrocytes, which are in close contact with the retinal vasculature, during normal developmental angiogenesis. Methodology/Principal Findings Notably, during oxygen induced retinopathy (OIR) N-CAM accumulated on astrocytes surrounding the epiretinal tufts. Here, we show that N-CAM ablation results in reduced vascular tuft formation due to reduced endothelial cell proliferation despite an elevation in VEGFA mRNA expression, whereas retinal developmental angiogenesis was unaffected. Conclusion/Significance We conclude that N-CAM exhibits a regulatory function in pathological angiogenesis in OIR. This is a novel finding that can be of clinical relevance in diseases associated with proliferative vasculopathy.
"To double business bound." Essays on Literature, Mimesis, and Anthropology

An individual desires an object, not for itself, but because another individual also desires it. This mimetic desire, Rene Girard contends, lies at the source of all human disorder and order. In brilliant readings of Dante, Camus, Nietzsche, Dostoevski, Levi-Strauss, Freud, and others, Girard draws out the thesis of mimetic desire -- and ponders its suppression in the West since Plato: "The historical mutilation of mimesis . was no mere oversight, no fortuitous 'error. ' Real awareness of mimetic desire threatens the flattering delusion we entertain not only about ourselves as individuals but also about the nature and origin of that collective self we call our society. "
Multi-Relational Factorization Models for Predicting Student Performance

Predicting student performance (PSP) is an important task in educational data mining, where we can give the students early feedbacks to help them improving their study results. A good and reliable model which accurately predicts the student performance may replace the current standardized tests, thus, reducing the pressure on teaching and learning for examinations as well as saving a lot of time and effort for both teachers and students [Feng et al. 2009; Thai-Nghe et al. 2011]. Precisely, PSP is the task where we would like to know how the students learn (e.g. generally or narrowly), how quickly or slowly they adapt to new problems or if it is possible to infer the knowledge requirements to solve the problems directly from student performance data [Corbett and Anderson 1995; Feng et al. 2009], and eventually, we would like to know whether the students perform the tasks (exercises) correctly (or with some levels of certainty). The benefits of PSP have been vastly discussed in the literature [Cen et al. 2006; Feng et al. 2009; Thai-Nghe et al. 2011]. To address the problem of PSP, several works have been published, e.g. as summarized in Romero et al. [2010], but most of them relied on traditional classification/regression techniques. For example, Corbett and Anderson [1995] proposed the Knowledge Tracing (KT) model, which is usually used for tracing the students’ knowledge in applying their skills as well as for PSP; Cen et al. [2006] proposed a semi-automated method for improving a cognitive model called Learning Factors Analysis that combines a statistical model, human expertise and a combinatorial search; Yu et al. [2010] used linear support vector machines together with feature engineering and ensembling techniques for predicting student performance. This approach, however, requires intensive computer memory and much human effort on data pre-processing. Recently, researchers have proposed using recommender system techniques, e.g. k-NN collaborative filtering and matrix factorization, for PSP [Cetintas et al. 2010; Toscher and Jahrer 2010; Thai-Nghe et al. 2011]. The literature have shown that PSP can be considered as rating prediction task in recommender systems since the student, task, and performance would become user, item, and rating, respectively. The authors also shown that matrix factorization is a promising approach for PSP.
Adaptive Rate Control Low Bit-Rate Video Transmission over Wireless Zigbee Networks

The emerging IEEE 802.15. 4 standard is designed for low data rate, low power consumption and low cost wireless personal area networks (WPANs). Video transmission over such networks is considered an issue since video traffic demands high data rates. In this paper, the TES (transform-expand-sample) methodology is used to model low rate MPEG4 video. The performance of a surveillance video application is evaluated over wireless Zigbee networks. A rate control algorithm (RC-VBR) adapted to MPEG4 variable bit rate (VBR) video coders is studied over Zigbee networks. The algorithm avoids unpredictable rate variations of the VBR coding and removes the coding delay in constant bit-rate (CBR) coders. A region of interest (ROI) encoding is added to the rate control algorithm in order to capture the important parts of the frame which is suitable for IEEE 802.15. 4 (Zigbee) networks. Zigbee networks will enable a large number of applications for surveillance networks. The ns-2 simulator is used to test and validate the MPEG4 real video and modeled video over ad hoc Zigbee networks and to test the different algorithms.
Cannabinoid Transmission in the Basolateral Amygdala Modulates Fear Memory Formation via Functional Inputs to the Prelimbic Cortex

The cannabinoid CB1 receptor system is critically involved in the control of associative fear memory formation within the amygdala–prefrontal cortical pathway. The CB1 receptor is found in high concentrations in brain structures that are critical for emotional processing, including the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the prelimbic division (PLC) of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). However, the precise role of CB1 receptor transmission within the BLA during the processing of fear memory is not fully understood. We examined the potential role of BLA CB1 receptor transmission during an olfactory fear-conditioning procedure in rats by pharmacologically modulating CB1 cannabinoid transmission directly within the BLA. We report that blockade of BLA CB1 receptor transmission prevents the acquisition of associative fear memory, while having no effect on the recall or consolidation of these memories. In contrast, intra-BLA activation of CB1 receptor transmission or blockade of endocannabinoid reuptake strongly potentiated the emotional salience of normally subthreshold fear-conditioning stimuli. In addition, pharmacological inactivation of the mPFC before intra-BLA CB1 activation blocked CB1-receptor-mediated potentiation of fear memory formation. In vivo single-unit electrophysiological recordings within the PLC revealed that modulation of BLA CB1 receptor transmission strongly influences neuronal activity within subpopulations of PLC neurons, with blockade of intra-BLA CB1 receptor transmission inhibiting spontaneous PLC neuronal activity and activation of CB1 receptors producing robust activation, in terms of neuronal firing frequency and bursting activity. Thus, cannabinoid transmission within the BLA strongly modulates the processing of associative fear memory via functional interactions with PLC neuronal populations.
Mercury Resistance and Mercuric Reductase Activities and Expression among Chemotrophic Thermophilic Aquificae

ABSTRACT Mercury (Hg) resistance (mer) by the reduction of mercuric to elemental Hg is broadly distributed among the Bacteria and Archaea and plays an important role in Hg detoxification and biogeochemical cycling. MerA is the protein subunit of the homodimeric mercuric reductase (MR) enzyme, the central function of the mer system. MerA sequences in the phylum Aquificae form the deepest-branching lineage in Bayesian phylogenetic reconstructions of all known MerA homologs. We therefore hypothesized that the merA homologs in two thermophilic Aquificae, Hydrogenobaculum sp. strain Y04AAS1 (AAS1) and Hydrogenivirga sp. strain 128-5-R1-1 (R1-1), specified Hg resistance. Results supported this hypothesis, because strains AAS1 and R1-1 (i) were resistant to >10 μM Hg(II), (ii) transformed Hg(II) to Hg(0) during cellular growth, and (iii) possessed Hg-dependent NAD(P)H oxidation activities in crude cell extracts that were optimal at temperatures corresponding with the strains' optimal growth temperatures, 55°C for AAS1 and 70°C for R1-1. While these characteristics all conformed with the mer system paradigm, expression of the Aquificae mer operons was not induced by exposure to Hg(II) as indicated by unity ratios of merA transcripts, normalized to gyrA transcripts for hydrogen-grown AAS1 cultures, and by similar MR specific activities in thiosulfate-grown cultures with and without Hg(II). The Hg(II)-independent expression of mer in the deepest-branching lineage of MerA from bacteria whose natural habitats are Hg-rich geothermal environments suggests that regulated expression of mer was a later innovation likely in environments where microorganisms were intermittently exposed to toxic concentrations of Hg.
Suicide in Cancer Patients in California, 1997–2006

The objective of this study was to measure suicide risk in cancer patients and compare it with the general population. Suicide rates were based on 1,168 suicides in 1,123,528 cancer patients in California from 1997–2006 and were studied by race/ethnicity, sex, site, stage, and marital status. Suicide in cancer patients is 2.3 times the general population with 81% in the non-Hispanic Whites, and half within the first 2 years post diagnosis. In men, it rapidly increases by age to a high plateau in the early forties. Metastatic cancers and those of the prostate, lung and bronchus, pancreas, stomach, esophagus, and oral cavity in men and breast in women were associated with significantly higher risk. Cancer patients are at higher risk of suicide and should be specifically targeted for preventive efforts post diagnosis.
Highly Sensitive Quantitative Real-Time PCR for the Detection of Plasmodium Liver-Stage Parasite Burden following Low-Dose Sporozoite Challenge

The pre-erythrocytic stages of Plasmodium spp. are increasingly recognised as ideal targets for prophylactic vaccines and drug treatments. Intense research efforts in the last decade have been focused on in vitro culture and in vivo detection and quantification of liver stage parasites to assess the effects of candidate vaccines or drugs. Typically, the onset of blood stage parasitaemia is used as a surrogate endpoint to estimate the efficacy of vaccines and drugs targeting pre-erythrocytic parasite stages in animal models. However, this provides no information on the parasite burden in the liver after vaccination or treatment and therefore does not detect partial efficacy of any vaccine or drug candidates. Herein, we describe a quantitative RT-PCR method adapted to detect and quantitate Plasmodium yoelii liver stages in mice with increased sensitivity even after challenge with as few as 50 cryopreserved sporozoites (corresponding to approximately 5-10 freshly isolated sporozoites). We have validated our quantitative RT-PCR assay according to the MIQE (Minimum Information for Publication of Quantitative Real-Time PCR Experiments) guidelines and established high reproducibility and accuracy. Our assay provides a rapid and reproducible assessment of liver stage parasite burden in rodent malaria models, thereby facilitating the evaluation of the efficacy of anti-malarial drugs or prophylactic vaccines with high precision and efficacy.
MicroRNA-155 Regulates Japanese Encephalitis Virus Induced Inflammatory Response by 1 Targeting src Homology 2-Containing Inositol Phosphatase-1 ( SHIP 1 ) 2 3

25 MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single stranded small RNA molecules that regulate various cellular 26 processes. miR-155 regulates various aspects of innate and adaptive immune response and plays 27 a key role in various viral infections and resulting neuroinflammation. In the present study, 28 evaluated the involvement of miR-155 in modulating Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV)29 induced neuroinflammation. We observed that miR-155 expression was up regulated during JEV 30 infection of mouse primary microglia, BV-2 microglia cell line, and in both mouse and human 31 brain. In vitro and in vivo knockdown of miR-155 minimized JEV-induced inflammatory 32 responses. In the present study, we confirmed targeting of SHIP1 3'UTR by miR-155 in the 33 context of JEV infection. Inhibition of SHIP1 by miR-155 resulted in higher interferon beta 34 (IFN) and pro-inflammatory cytokine production through activation of TANK-binding kinase 35 1 (TBK-1). Based on these observations we conclude that miR-155 modulates 36 neuroinflammatory response during JEV infection via negative regulation of SHIP1 expression. 37 Thus, modulation of miR-155 could be a novel strategy to regulate JEV induced 38 neuroinflammation. 39
Heterogeneous Genomic Molecular Clocks in Primates

Using data from primates, we show that molecular clocks in sites that have been part of a CpG dinucleotide in recent past (CpG sites) and non-CpG sites are of markedly different nature, reflecting differences in their molecular origins. Notably, single nucleotide substitutions at non-CpG sites show clear generation-time dependency, indicating that most of these substitutions occur by errors during DNA replication. On the other hand, substitutions at CpG sites occur relatively constantly over time, as expected from their primary origin due to methylation. Therefore, molecular clocks are heterogeneous even within a genome. Furthermore, we propose that varying frequencies of CpG dinucleotides in different genomic regions may have contributed significantly to conflicting earlier results on rate constancy of mammalian molecular clock. Our conclusion that different regions of genomes follow different molecular clocks should be considered when inferring divergence times using molecular data and in phylogenetic analysis.
The Key Ingredients of Personality Traits

The trait and social cognitive perspectives are considered disparate approaches to understanding personality. We suggest an integrative view in which three elements derived from the social cognitive perspective (i.e., situations, behaviors, and explanations [SBEs]) form the basis of personality traits. Study 1 demonstrated strong associations between traits and SBEs across the Big Five dimensions. Studies 2 through 7 tested the discriminative validity, internal structure, and unique contributions of the individual components of SBEs. Studies 8 and 9 demonstrated that the strong associations between traits and SBEs generalize to different cultures. The present work suggests that SBEs may be a universal folk psychological mechanism underlying personality traits.
Two Takes on a One-Level Account of Consciousness

My presentation will discuss two one-level accounts of consciousness, a Brentanian and a Husserlian. I will address some of the relevant differences—I will mainly focus on the question of whether pre-reflective self-consciousness is to be understood as (i) an extraordinary object-consciousness or (ii) not as an object-consciousness at all—and argue in favour of the Husserlian account.
The ups and downs of Diplocraterion in the Glen Rose Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas (USA)

Diplocraterion, a U-shaped burrow attributed to infaunal invertebrates, is normally a shallow-marine trace fossil and not part of a continental vertebrate ichnoassemblage. Hence, the Glen Rose Formation (Aptian–Albian) of Texas (USA) presents an opportunity to study Diplocraterion associated with a world-class dinosaur tracksite. Most Diplocraterion are in a bioclastic wackestone–packstone bed just above the Taylor Tracklayer, a significant dinosaur track horizon. Diplocraterion are consistently sized, but with variable depths; most have protrusive spreiten and northeast–southwest trends. Smaller Arenicolites co-occur with Diplocraterion, and other trace fossils include Rhizocorallium and a large theropod trackway. Based on our analysis, a sea-level rise buried the Taylor Tracklayer, with a shallow-marine carbonate mud colonised by Diplocraterion and Arenicolites tracemakers. Protrusive Diplocraterion, eroded burrow tops, Rhizocorallium, and other criteria point towards firming and net erosion of the bed caused by a stillstand. The depositional environment of the Diplocraterion bed was possibly a subtidal lagoon that covered shoreward sediments impacted by large theropods. Burrow orientations suggest bidirectional currents consistent with trends of theropod trackways, implying each were controlled by a shoreline. The results of our study demonstrate how marine invertebrate and continental vertebrate trace fossils can be used together to define fine-scale changes in former carbonate shorelines.
Machine Translation and Monolingual Postediting: The AFRL WMT-14 System

This paper describes the AFRL statistical MT system and the improvements that were developed during the WMT14 evaluation campaign. As part of these efforts we experimented with a number of extensions to the standard phrase-based model that improve performance on Russian to English and Hindi to English translation tasks. In addition, we describe our efforts to make use of monolingual English speakers to correct the output of machine translation, and present the results of monolingual postediting of the entire 3003 sentences of the WMT14 Russian-English test set.