Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of phenytoin in the prevention of motion sickness.

In a placebo-controlled double-blind crossover pilot study of acute Coriolis-induced motion sickness treatment/prevention in humans employing an anticonvulsant dose of phenytoin, a mean increase in tolerance to motion stress from 4.87 min (S.D. = 5.55) to 46.87 min (S.D. = 32.6) was obtained. This represents a greater than fourfold improvement in efficacy over any currently available single agent and is more than twice as effective as the scopolamine/dexadrine combination. There were none of the usual side effects of blurred vision, dizziness, dry mouth, or sedation.
UNED at RepLab 2012: Monitoring Task

This paper describes the UNED participation at RepLab 2012 Monitoring Task. Given an entity and a tweet stream containing the entity's name, the task consists on grouping the tweets in topics and then ranking the identied topics by priority. We tested three dierent systems to deal with the clustering problem: (i) an agglomerative cluster- ing based on term co-occurrences, (ii) a clustering method that considers 'wikied" tweets, where each tweet is represented with a set of Wikipedia entries that are semantically related to it and (iii) Twitter-LDA, a topic modeling approach that extends LDA considering some of the intrinsic properties of Twitter data. For the ranking problem, we rely on the in- sight that the priority of a topic depends on the sentiment expressed in the subjective tweets that refer to it. Although none of the proposed systems outperforms the ocial baseline
Distributed coordinated beamforming for multi-cell multigroup multicast systems

This paper considers coordinated multicast beam-forming in a multi-cell wireless network. Each multiantenna base station (BS) serves multiple groups of single antenna users by generating a single beam with common data per group. The aim is to minimize the sum power of BSs while satisfying user-specific SINR targets. We propose centralized and distributed multicast beamforming algorithms for multi-cell multigroup systems. The NP-hard multicast problem is tackled by approximating it as a convex problem using the standard semidefinite relaxation method. The resulting semidefinite program (SDP) can be solved via centralized processing if global channel knowledge is available. To allow a distributed implementation, the primal decomposition method is used to turn the SDP into two optimization levels. The higher level is in charge of optimizing inter-cell interference while the lower level optimizes beamformers for given inter-cell interference constraints. The distributed algorithm requires local channel knowledge at each BS and scalar information exchange between BSs. If the solution has unit rank, it is optimal for the original problem. Otherwise, the Gaussian randomization method is used to find a feasible solution. The superiority of the proposed algorithms over conventional schemes is demonstrated via numerical evaluation.
Large area hexagonal boron nitride monolayer as efficient atomically thick insulating coating against friction and oxidation

Coating is the most widely applied technology to improve surface properties of substrates, and nanotechnology has been playing an important role in enhancing the coating performance. However, the tunability of surface properties by a single atomic layer remains poorly understood. Here we demonstrate that a chemical vapor deposited hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer of large area and high quality can serve as a perfect coating to significantly improve friction, oxidation and electric resistance of the substrates. The exceptional low friction and insulation of h-BN monolayer coating facilitate the characterization of the h-BN film vividly by atomic force microscopy, showing the h-BN monolayer consists of domains with size within a few micrometers. This excellent coating performance together with the exceptional high thermal and chemical stability make the h-BN monolayer a promising coating material.
The boundary-spanning role of a cooperative support organization: managing the paradox of stability and change in non-traditional organizations

This project provides an interpretation of how one cooperative support organization, the Nebraska Cooperative Council, discursively functions to help its constituent cooperatives consolidate resources in order to better intersect with organizations in a larger bureaucratic system. In analyzing qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews, surveys, and organizational documents, we found the paradox of stability and change a revealing prism through which to make sense of participants' experiences. We work toward locating and describing how the Council, through its boundary-spanning activities, helps cooperatives manage the paradox of stability and change while protecting their core participatory ideologies. By providing networks of learning, promoting the legitimacy of cooperative forms of organizing, and protecting cooperatives' interests, the Council is an entity helping cooperatives to reconcile their internal requirements for democracy with the external demands of the marketplace.
Widening participation in postgraduate studies in Greece: mature working women attending an e‐learning programme

This article examines issues relating to widening participation in postgraduate study programmes in Greece. It focuses on a group of mature women and examines their experiences from attending a novel postgraduate e‐learning programme at the University of the Aegean. It presents findings from a study, which looked into mature women’s decision to return to higher education in relation to their responsibilities stemming from marriage, motherhood, work and housework. In particular it examines how these women balanced their different and often conflicting roles, managing to operate within very tight time schedules and demands from their postgraduate studies. The findings of this study have policy implications for issues of equality of educational opportunities and participation in higher education in Greece and elsewhere.
Involvement of people with dementia in making decisions about their lives: a qualitative study that appraises shared decision-making concerning daycare

Objective To explore how people with dementia, their informal caregivers and their professionals participate in decision making about daycare and to develop a typology of participation trajectories. Design A qualitative study with a prospective, multiperspective design, based on 244 semistructured interviews, conducted during three interview rounds over the course of a year. Analysis was by means of content analysis and typology construction. Setting Community settings and nursing homes in the Netherlands. Participants 19 people with dementia, 36 of their informal caregivers and 38 of their professionals (including nurses, daycare employees and case managers). Results The participants’ responses related to three critical points in the decision-making trajectory about daycare: (1) the initial positive or negative expectations of daycare; (2) negotiation about trying out daycare by promoting, resisting or attuning to others; and (3) trying daycare, which resulted in positive or negative reactions from people with dementia and led to a decision. The ways in which care networks proceeded through these three critical points resulted in a typology of participation trajectories, including (1) working together positively toward daycare, (2) bringing conflicting perspectives together toward trying daycare and (3) not reaching commitment to try daycare. Conclusion Shared decision making with people with dementia is possible and requires and adapted process of decision making. Our results show that initial preferences based on information alone may change when people with dementia experience daycare. It is important to have a try-out period so that people with dementia can experience daycare without having to decide whether to continue it. Whereas shared decision making in general aims at moving from initial preferences to informed preferences, professionals should focus more on moving from initial preferences to experienced preferences for people with dementia. Professionals can play a crucial role in facilitating the possibilities for a try-out period.
Redox Homeostasis and Antioxidant Signaling: A Metabolic Interface between Stress Perception and Physiological Responses

Low molecular weight antioxidants, such as ascorbate, glutathione, and tocopherol, are information-rich redox buffers that interact with numerous cellular components. In addition to crucial roles in defense and as enzyme cofactors, cellular antioxidants influence plant growth and development by modulating processes from mitosis and cell elongation to senescence and death (De Pinto and De Gara, 2004; Potters et al., 2004; Tokunaga et al., 2005). Most importantly, antioxidants provide essential information on cellular redox state, and they influence gene expression associated with biotic and abiotic stress responses to maximize defense. Growing evidence suggests a model for redox homeostasis in which the reactive oxygen species (ROS)–antioxidant interaction acts as a metabolic interface for signals derived from metabolism and from the environment. This interface modulates the appropriate induction of acclimation processes or, alternatively, execution of cell death programs.
who gets ahead? cognitive responses to heteroglossia in American political culture

Theories of social practice too often ignore the mediating role of cognitive schemas. This is especially the case in studies of blue-collar workers, whose discourse, taken out of context, seems so inconsistent as to suggest the absence of organized beliefs. This article analyzes the discourse of some Rhode Island workingmen and proposes that they internalize conflicting social ideologies in one of three ways. These three forms of cognitive organization, obscured by superficially similar discourse, mediate behavior differently and respond differently under pressure to change. This model challenges traditional theories of belief. [ideology, cognitive schemas, discourse analysis, working-class consciousness, American political culture]
Comparison of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. occurrence in two types of retail chicken samples

The aim of this study is to compare the occurrence of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in chicken retail at wet markets and hypermarkets. Campylobacter contaminations in chicken samples from wet market (70.7%) were comparatively lower than chicken samples sold in hypermarket (91.4%). Of the 77 Campylobacter isolates, 59 (76.6%) were identified as Campylobacter jejuni and 18 (23.4%) isolates were identified as C. coli. All Campylobacter isolates are multi-resistant to the antimicrobial agents. Most of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline (92.2%) and erythromycin (98.7%). This study concluded that chicken samples from both wet market and hypermarket were contaminated with Campylobacter, most of which are antimicrobial-resistant strains.
The Impact of a Literature-Based Program on Literacy Achievement, Use of Literature, and Attitudes of Children from Minority Backgrounds.

A miniature type, rechargeable atomizing spray mechanism including a receptacle for the liquid to be atomized, and further including a cap and axially aligned first and second pressure chambers, one of which depends within the receptacle while the other projects above the cap. A reciprocable spray head is arranged to cooperate with plural pistons, one each of which are slidably arranged in said first and second pressure chambers. Upper and lower valve members are available to control the emission of spray. The upper valve is maintained closed by a spring element, and the lower valve is opened by reciprocation of the spray head to permit withdrawal of the liquid from the container so that it may pass through a bore provided between the plural pistons and be emitted as a spray from the spray head.
Constraint-Based Automatic Test Data Generation

A novel technique for automatically generating test data is presented. The technique is based on mutation analysis and creates test data that approximate relative adequacy. It is a fault-based technique that uses algebraic constraints to describe test cases designed to find particular types of faults. A set of tools (collectively called Godzilla) that automatically generates constraints and solves them to create test cases for unit and module testing has been implemented. Godzilla has been integrated with the Mothra testing system and has been used as an effective way to generate test data that kill program mutants. The authors present an initial list of constraints and discuss some of the problems that have been solved to develop the complete implementation of the technique. >
Measurement-based coalescing control for 802.3az

IEEE 802.3az standard (EEE), is the energy-aware alternative to legacy Ethernet. To save energy by extending the sojourn in the Low Power Idle state of EEE, packet coalescing has been proposed. While coalescing improves by far the energy efficiency of EEE, it is still far from achieving energy consumption proportional to traffic. Moreover, coalescing can introduce high delays. In this work, we use sensitivity analysis to evaluate the impact of coalescing timers and buffer sizes, and to shed light on the delay incurred by adopting coalescing schemes. Accordingly, we design and study measurement-based coalescing control solutions that tune the coalescing parameters on-the-fly, thus adapting the link to the instantaneous load and controlling the coalescing delay experienced by the packets. Our results show that, by relying on run-time delay measurements, simple and practical adaptive coalescing schemes outperform traditional static and dynamic coalescing. Notably, our schemes double the energy saving benefit of legacy EEE coalescing and allow to control the coalescing delay.
Insertion of irregular-shaped logos in the compressed DCT domain

This paper addresses the problem of the insertion of irregular-shaped objects, such as logos or subtitles, in video signals in the compressed DCT domain. To achieve this objective, a different approach from the usual pixel domain compositing operation is adopted, in order to avoid the presence of undesired semi-transparent regions around the inserted objects. The transposition of this technique to the frequency domain is presented, as well as the inclusion of a logo insertion module in the architecture of a compressed domain video transcoder.
Technological Trends in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa between MIS 7 and MIS 3

The range of technological elements that marks the Middle Stone Age originated more than 300,000 years ago and formed the basic tool kit for an extended period of time. No spatial and chronological patterns can be identified from the Early Middle Stone Age until marine isotope stage (MIS) 5, and there is no cumulative trend of increasing complexity and diversity; instead, periods of complexity come and go. The Howiesons Poort and Still Bay techno-complexes, broadly associated with MIS 4, are recognized across various ecological zones of South Africa. These techno-complexes contain relatively more retouched tools and exhibit heightened levels of what is described as innovative practices. The Howiesons Poort is the best understood industry in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa. Its unifying technological characteristic is the almost exclusive use of a blade and bladelet production system, but subtle changes in types of backed artefacts, other retouched tools, and raw material exploitation patterns occur through time. Technological preferences change in the ensuing MIS 3 period, and other strategies and implement types become popular, particularly unifacial points, but trends once again are less clear. This historical review of the technological diversity in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa emphasizes that the roots of some innovations may lie in the earlier Middle Stone Age and that innovation is best understood within the context of local historical trajectories of technological change in South Africa.
“At-Risk” Positioning and Hip Biomechanics of the Peewee Ice Hockey Sprint Start

Background Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) is becoming a prevalent overuse injury diagnosis among hockey players. In the adult ice hockey stride, the “at-risk” hip position, defined by internal rotation during flexion and external rotation during abduction, reportedly increases hip vulnerability to labral injury as a result of FAI. Hypothesis Peewee youth ice hockey players display the kinematics for both described at-risk hip positions (internal rotation during flexion and external rotation during abduction) in the ice hockey sprint start. Study Design Descriptive laboratory study. Methods Twelve healthy male Peewee ice hockey players (mean age, 10.8 ± 0.6 years) participated in this study. Thirty-five anatomic landmarks were used to analyze the 3-dimensional kinematic and kinetic variables of the hip associated with the ice hockey sprint start. Ten high-speed (120-Hz) infrared cameras recorded the trials, which were subsequently analyzed with Motion Monitor software. The sprint start was recorded over 4 defined periods of motion: start, push, swing, and even. Results In the “push” period, 11.5° of external rotation was observed concurrently with 13.2° of abduction in the push leg, and 6.8° of internal rotation occurred with 33.8° of flexion in the lead leg. During the recovery phase of the “swing” period, maximum internal rotation was 5.6° with concurrent hip flexion of 44.2° in the push leg, while lead leg internal rotation reached a maximum of 10.8° with hip flexion of 35.1° during the “even” period. Conclusion During the sprint start, youth ice hockey players externally rotate in abduction during the push-off phase and internally rotate through increasing hip flexion during the recovery phase, displaying the at-risk hip positions of the ice hockey skating stride. Clinical Relevance During the sprint start, youth ice hockey players position their hips in a manner that can cause impingement of the femoral neck against the acetabulum and potentially lead to labral tears and/or articular cartilage damage. This knowledge could be applied to assist in the prevention of overuse injuries of the hip as youth hockey players mature and increase in skill level.
Understanding The Role of Perception in the Evolution of Human Language

In this paper, we propose a flexible modeling framework for studying the role of perception in language learning and language evolution. This is achieved by augmenting some novel and some existing evolutionary signaling game models with existing techniques in machine learning and cognitive science. The result is a “grounded” signaling game in which agents must extract relevant information from their environment via a cognitive processing mechanism, then learn to communicate that information with each other. The choice of cognitive processing mechanism is left as a free parameter, allowing the model to be tailored to a wide variety of problems and tasks. We present results from simulations using both a Bayesian perception model and a neural network based perception model, which demonstrate how perception can “preprocess” environmental data in a way that is well suited for communication. Lastly, we discuss how the model can be extended to study other roles that perception may play in language learning.
Borrelia burgdorferi Binding of Host Complement Regulator Factor H Is Not Required for Efficient Mammalian Infection

ABSTRACT The causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is naturally resistant to its host's alternative pathway of complement-mediated killing. Several different borrelial outer surface proteins have been identified as being able to bind host factor H, a regulator of the alternative pathway, leading to a hypothesis that such binding is important for borrelial resistance to complement. To test this hypothesis, the development of B. burgdorferi infection was compared between factor H-deficient and wild-type mice. Factor B- and C3-deficient mice were also studied to determine the relative roles of the alternative and classical/lectin pathways in B. burgdorferi survival during mammalian infection. While it was predicted that B. burgdorferi should be impaired in its ability to infect factor H-deficient animals, quantitative analyses of bacterial loads indicated that those mice were infected at levels similar to those of wild-type and factor B- and C3-deficient mice. Ticks fed on infected factor H-deficient or wild-type mice all acquired similar numbers of bacteria. Indirect immunofluorescence analysis of B. burgdorferi acquired by feeding ticks from the blood of infected mice indicated that none of the bacteria had detectable levels of factor H on their outer surfaces, even though such bacteria express high levels of surface proteins capable of binding factor H. These findings demonstrate that the acquisition of host factor H is not essential for mammalian infection by B. burgdorferi and indicate that additional mechanisms are employed by the Lyme disease spirochete to evade complement-mediated killing.
Algebra of quantum computations with higher dimensional systems

Here is discussed application of the Weyl pair to construction of universal set of quantum gates for high-dimensional quantum system. An application of Lie algebras (Hamiltonians) for construction of universal gates is revisited first. It is shown next, how for quantum computation with qubits can be used two-dimensional analog of this Cayley-Weyl matrix algebras, i.e. Clifford algebras, and discussed well known applications to product operator formalism in NMR, Jordan-Wigner construction in fermionic quantum computations. It is introduced universal set of quantum gates for higher dimensional system ("qudit"), as some generalization of these models. Finally it is briefly mentioned possible application of such algebraic methods to design of quantum processors (programmable gates arrays) and dsicussed generalization to quantum computation wiht continuous variables.
Rangoli: space management in deduplication environments

Space management is the activity of monitoring and ensuring adequate free space on all volumes in a clustered storage system. Volumes that exceed used space limits are typically relieved by migrating a part of their data to other under utilized volumes. Without deduplication, space reclamation is simple as one has to just migrate as much data as the desired space reclamation. However, in deduped volumes there is no direct relation between the logical size of the file and the physical space occupied by it. Therefore, optimal space reclamation is hard as: a)migrating few files may produce little or zero bytes of free space, but still incur significant network costs. b)migrating a heavily shared file destroys the disk sharing relationships in that volume and increases the physical space consumption of that dataset. In this work, we have designed and built a fast and efficient tool Rangoli, that identifies the optimal set of files for space reclamation in a deduped environment. It can scale to millions of files and terabytes of data, running in tens of minutes. We show by experimenting on real world datasets, that alternate strategies such as those based on finding unique files or using MinHash, impact physical space consumption by a wide margin (up to 35 times) as compared to Rangoli.