Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does One Year of Schooling Improve Children’s Cognitive Control and Alter Associated Brain Activation?

The “5-to-7-year shift” refers to the remarkable improvements observed in children’s cognitive abilities during this age range, particularly in their ability to exert control over their attention and behavior—that is, their executive functioning. As this shift coincides with school entry, the extent to which it is driven by brain maturation or by exposure to formal schooling is unclear. In this longitudinal study, we followed 5-year-olds born close to the official cutoff date for entry into first grade and compared those who subsequently entered first grade that year with those who remained in kindergarten, which is more play oriented. The first graders made larger improvements in accuracy on an executive-function test over the year than did the kindergartners. In an independent functional MRI task, we found that the first graders, compared with the kindergartners, exhibited a greater increase in activation of right posterior parietal cortex, a region previously implicated in sustained attention; increased activation in this region was correlated with the improvement in accuracy. These results reveal how the environmental context of formal schooling shapes brain mechanisms underlying improved focus on cognitively demanding tasks.
DDos Attack against Proxy in PRE and PRS

Abstract— In 1998, Blaze, Bleumer, and Strauss proposednew kind of cryptographic primitives called proxy re-encryption (PRE) and proxy re-signature (PRS). In proxy re-encryption, a proxy can transform a ciphertext computedunder Alice’s public key into one that can be opened underBob’s decryption key. In proxy re-signature, a proxy cantransform a signature computed under Alice’s secret keyinto one that can be verified by Bob’s public key. In 2005,Ateniese et al proposed a few new re-encryption schemesand discussed its several potential applications especially inthe secure distributed storage. In 2006, they proposedanother few proxy re-signature schemes and also discussedits several potential applications. They predicated thatproxy re-encryption and proxy re-signature will play animportant role in our life. Since then, researchers aresparked to give new lights to this area. Many excellentschemes have been proposed. In this paper, we introducea new attack- DDos attack against proxy in the proxy re-cryptography. Although this attack can also be implementedagainst other cryptographic primitives, the danger caused byit in proxy re-cryptography seems more serious. We revisitthe current literature, paying attention on their resistingDDos attack ability. We suggest a solution to decline theimpact of DDos attacking. Also we give a new efficient re-encryption scheme which can achieve CCA2 secure basedon Cramer-Shoup encryption scheme and prove its security.We point out this is the most efficient proxy re-encryptionschemes for the proxy which can achieve CCA2 secure inthe literature. At last we give our conclusions with hoping researchers give more attention on this attack.
Treating Sleep Problems in Patients with Schizophrenia

Background: Sleep disturbance is increasingly recognized as a major problem for patients with schizophrenia but it is rarely the direct focus of treatment. The main recommended treatment for insomnia is cognitive behavioural therapy, which we have been evaluating for patients with current delusions and hallucinations in the context of non-affective psychosis. Aims: In this article we describe the lessons we have learned about clinical presentations of sleep problems in schizophrenia and the adaptations to intervention that we recommend for patients with current delusions and hallucinations. Method: Twelve factors that may particularly contribute to sleep problems in schizophrenia are identified. These include delusions and hallucinations interfering with sleep, attempts to use sleep as an escape from voices, circadian rhythm disruption, insufficient daytime activity, and fear of the bed, based upon past adverse experiences. Specific adaptations for psychological treatment related to each factor are described. Conclusions: Our experience is that patients want help to improve their sleep; sleep problems in schizophrenia should be treated with evidence-based interventions, and that the interventions may have the added benefit of lessening the psychotic experiences. A treatment technique hierarchy is proposed for ease of translation to clinical practice.
Griseofulvin/Carrier Blends: Application of Partial Least Squares (PLS) Regression Analysis for Estimating the Factors Affecting the Dissolution Efficiency

The main aim of the present study was to estimate the carrier characteristics affecting the dissolution efficiency of Griseofulvin (Gris) containing blends (BLs) using partial least squares (PLS) regression analysis. These systems were prepared at three different drug/carrier weight ratios (1/5, 1/10, and 1/20) by the solvent evaporation method, a well-established method for preparing solid dispersions (SDs). The carriers used were structurally different including polymers, a polyol, acids, bases and sugars. The BLs were characterised at the solid-state by spectroscopic (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), thermoanalytical (differential scanning calorimetry) and X-ray diffraction studies and their dissolution behaviours were quantified in terms of dissolution efficiencies (log DE/DEGris). The correlation between the selected descriptors, including parameters for size, lipophilicity, cohesive energy density, and hydrogen bonding capacity and log DE/DEGris (i.e., DE and DEGris are the dissolution efficiencies of the BLs and the pure drug, respectively) was established by PLS regression analysis. Thus two models characterised by satisfactory coefficient of determination were derived. The generated equations point out that aqueous solubility, density, lipophilic/hydrophilic character, dispersive/polar forces and hydrogen bonding acceptor/donor ability of the carrier are important features for dissolution efficiency enhancement. Finally, it could be concluded that the correlations developed may be used to predict at a semiquantitative level the dissolution behaviour of BLs of other essentially neutral drugs possessing hydrogen bonding acceptor groups only.
Elucidation of Amyloid-Protein Oligomerization Mechanisms : Discrete Molecular Dynamics Study

Oligomers of amyloid -protein (A ) play a central role in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Of the two predominant A alloforms, A 1-40 and A 1-42, A 1-42 is more strongly implicated in the disease. We elucidated the structural characteristics of oligomers of A 1-40 and A 1-42 and their Arctic mutants, [E22G]A 1-40 and [E22G]A 1-42. We simulated oligomer formation using discrete molecular dynamics (DMD) with a four-bead protein model, backbone hydrogen bonding, and residue-specific interactions due to effective hydropathy and charge. For all four peptides under study, we derived the characteristic oligomer size distributions that were in agreement with prior experimental findings. Unlike A 1-40, A 1-42 had a high propensity to form paranuclei (pentameric or hexameric) structures that could self-associate into higherorder oligomers. Neither of the Arctic mutants formed higher-order oligomers, but [E22G]A 1-40 formed paranuclei with a similar propensity to that of A 1-42. Whereas the best agreement with the experimental data was obtained when the charged residues were modeled as solely hydrophilic, further assembly from spherical oligomers into elongated protofibrils was induced by nonzero electrostatic interactions among the charged residues. Structural analysis revealed that the C-terminal region played a dominant role in A 1-42 oligomer formation whereas A 1-40 oligomerization was primarily driven by intermolecular interactions among the central hydrophobic regions. The N-terminal region A2-F4 played a prominent role in A 1-40 oligomerization but did not contribute to the oligomerization of A 1-42 or the Arctic mutants. The oligomer structure of both Arctic peptides resembled A 1-42 more than A 1-40, consistent with their potentially more toxic nature.
JSMAA: open source software for SMAA computations

Most software for multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) implement a small set of compatible methods as a closed monolithic program. With such software tools, the decision models have to be input by hand. In some applications, however, the model can be generated using external information sources, and thus it would be beneficial if the MCDA software could integrate in the comprehensive information infrastructure. This article motivates for the need of model generation in the methodological context of stochastic multicriteria acceptability analysis (SMAA), and describes the JSMAA software that implements SMAA-2, SMAA-O and SMAA-TRI methods. JSMAA is an open source and divided in separate graphical user interface and library components, enabling its use in systems with a model generation subsystem.
Assembly of hepatic lobule-like microtissue with repetitive single-step contact manipulation

This paper reported a cell system that fabricates hepatic lobule-like microtissue (HLLM) based on alginate-Calcium electrodeposition and cell microcapsule method. The property of the fabricated HLLM includes: 1) With a shape similar to our native hepatic lobule tissue. 2) High cell dense (∼108). 3) Easily be moved and retrieved for further 3D assembly. Therefore, we proposed a repetitive single-step manipulation method to assemble these single HLLM into 3D multilayer hepatic lobule model. The pick-up success rate was approximating 90%. The assembly speed was about 0.4 microtissue/min and the cell viability was higher than 80%. Unlike other assembly methods, our method is sufficiently repeatable and easy to assemble many single micro modules. The fabricated 3D hepatic lobule model with high cell density is essential for tissue engineering applications.
A Programming Model for Hybrid Collaborative Adaptive Systems

Hybrid Diversity-aware Collective Adaptive Systems (HDA-CAS) are a new generation of socio-technical systems where both human and machine peers collectively participate in complex cognitive and physical tasks. These systems are characterized by the fundamental properties of hybridity and collectiveness, hiding from users the complexities associated with managing the collaboration and coordination of human-machine teams. The SmartSociety platform is a set of integrated software components that jointly provide a number of advanced HDA-CAS functionalities. As part of the CAS initiative, we have developed a programming model and Java APIs that make the use of those functionalities easy and accessible to application developers. In this paper we present the SmartSociety programming model elements, including the principal contributions – Collectives and Collective-based Tasks. We describe and discuss their functionality, implementation and runtime environment. Finally, we qualitatively evaluate the programming model and the language constructs with respect to the desired HDA-CAS properties.
Fast Image Blending and Deghosting for Panoramic Video

The technology of panoramic image construction is widely used in many conditions. As the increasingly demand of monitoring system application, the attribute of real-time is more important during the panoramic construction. This paper describes a method of fast building panoramic video and output frames in real-time. SURF algorithm is employed to extract features and a new method is developed to eliminate matching mistakes in this work. As traditional transform method use only one homography matrix, the stitch error in detail is obvious. In this paper the modified dual-homography is proposed to improve the stitch performance. Ghosting effect is a universal problem in image stitching and difficult to avoid. This topic use image subtraction and smooth transition blending method to avoid ghost. Since this topic skips the seam finding process, so the time consumption is low and the method can achieve real-time requirement.
Fusing Complementary Operators to Enhance Foreground/Background Segmentation

Foreground/background segmentation is an active research area for moving object analysis. We combine two probabilistic approaches one of which estimates foreground/background probabilistic density and the other uses prior knowledge to decompose the colour space. The observed performance advantages are associated with the fusion of operators with completely different basis. Tests on outdoor and indoor sequences confirm the efficacy of this approach. The new algorithms can successfully identify and remove shadows and highlights with improved moving-object segmentation. A particular advantage of our evaluation is that it is the first approach that compares foreground/ background labelling with results obtained from labelling by broadcast techniques.
Outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with coronary chronic total occlusions with versus without type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Nowadays, due to advanced techniques and well-trained interventionists in catheter labs, new scientific research has shown percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to be a safe treatment procedure in patients with chronic total occlusion (CTO). However, no study has systematically compared PCI outcomes in CTO patients with versus without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Therefore, through this meta-analysis we aimed to systematically solve this issue. Methods: Between September 2016 and June 2017, the Cochrane Database of Randomized Trials, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases were carefully searched for publications comparing PCI outcomes in CTO patients with versus without T2DM. Long-term (≥1 year) adverse clinical outcomes were considered the endpoints. Discontinuous data were analyzed by RevMan 5.3 whereby odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were the statistical parameters. Results: This analysis consisted of 1 randomized trial and 6 observational studies with a total number of 4571 patients with CTO (1915 patients with T2DM and 2656 patients without T2DM). Patients’ enrollment was between the years 1998 and 2015. During this long-term follow-up (≥1 year), mortality was significantly higher in CTO patients with T2DM (OR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.05–2.31; P = .03, I2 = 0%). Major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) and repeated revascularization were also significantly higher in patients with T2DM (OR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.06–1.58; P = .01, I2 = 10%) and (OR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.06–1.59; P = .01, I2 = 36%) respectively. However, myocardial infarction was not significantly different (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.61–1.67; P = .96, I2 = 26%). Conclusion: During this longer follow-up period post-PCI, mortality, MACEs and repeated revascularization in CTO patients with T2DM were significantly higher compared with similar patients without T2DM. Nevertheless, whether this hypothesis is relevant or not should be confirmed in larger trials.
A neural network model of hierarchical category development

Object recognition and categorization is a fundamental aspect of cognition in humans and animals. Models have been implemented around the idea that categories are sets of frequently co-occurring features. Out of these models a question has been raised, namely what is the mechanism by which we learn a hierarchically organized set of categories, including types and subtypes? In this paper we introduce such a model, the Dominant Property Assembly Network (DPAN). DPAN uses an unsupervised neural network to model an agent which develops a hierarchy of object categories based on highly correlated object features. Initially, the network generates representations of high-level object types by identifying commonly co-occurring sets of features. Over time, the network will start to use an inhibition of return (IOR) operation to examine the features of a categorized object that make it unusual as an instance of its identified category. The result is a network which, early in training, represents classes of objects using coarse-grained categories and recognizes objects as members of these general classes, but eventually is able to recognize subtle differences between subtypes of objects within the broad classes, and represent objects using these more fine-grained categories.
Rapid remodeling of airway vascular architecture at birth

Recent advances have documented the development of lung vasculature before and after birth, but less is known of the growth and maturation of airway vasculature. We sought to determine whether airway vasculature changes during the perinatal period and when the typical adult pattern develops. On embryonic day 16.5 mouse tracheas had a primitive vascular plexus unlike the adult airway vasculature, but instead resembling the yolk sac vasculature. Soon after birth (P0), the primitive vascular plexus underwent abrupt and extensive remodeling. Blood vessels overlying tracheal cartilage rings regressed from P1 to P3 but regrew from P4 to P7 to form the hierarchical, segmented, ladder‐like adult pattern. Hypoxia and HIF‐1α were present in tracheal epithelium over vessels that survived but not where they regressed. These findings reveal the plasticity of airway vasculature after birth and show that these vessels can be used to elucidate factors that promote postnatal vascular remodeling and maturation. Developmental Dynamics 239:2354–2366, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Reduced sulfur compound oxidation by Thiobacillus caldus

The oxidation of reduced inorganic sulfur compounds was studied by using resting cells of the moderate thermophile Thiobacillus caldus strain KU. The oxygen consumption rate and total oxygen consumed were determined for the reduced sulfur compounds thiosulfate, tetrathionate, sulfur, sulfide, and sulfite in the absence and in the presence of inhibitors and uncouplers. The uncouplers 2,4-dinitrophenol and carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl-hydrazone had no affect on the oxidation of thiosulfate, suggesting that thiosulfate is metabolized periplasmically. In contrast, the uncouplers completely inhibited the oxidation of tetrathionate, sulfide, sulfur, and sulfite, indicating that these compounds are metabolized in the cytoplasm of T. caldus KU. N-Ethylmaleimide inhibited the oxidation of tetrathionate and thiosulfate at the stage of elemental sulfur, while 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide stopped the oxidation of thiosulfate, tetrathionate, and elemental sulfur at the stage of sulfite. The following intermediates in the oxidation of the sulfur compounds were found by using uncouplers and inhibitors: thiosulfate was oxidized to tetrathionate, elemental sulfur was formed during the oxidation of tetrathionate and sulfide, and sulfite was found as an intermediate of tetrathionate and sulfur metabolism. On the basis of these data we propose a model for the metabolism of the reduced inorganic sulfur compounds by T. caldus KU.
Specialization, Integration, and Multi-sourcing: A study of Large IT Outsourcing Projects

IT outsourcing has three broad forms: (i) Single-Sourcing, where the client outsources to one primary vendor, (ii) Single-Sourcing with subcontracting , where the primary vendor involves other/secondary vendors in the project, and (iii) Multi-Sourcing, where the client outsources to multiple primary vendors. Using a dataset of large IT outsourcing contracts from the SCD database with 22,031 large IT outsourcing contracts from 1989-2009 we examine the antecedents of choice with respect to the form of outsourcing arrangements that firms have. Our results indicate that higher value projects are more likely to be single-sourced with subcontracting; however, a highly modularized project is more likely to be multi-sourced. Further, client and vendor experience dictate whether multi-sourcing or single-sourcing is chosen due to tradeoffs involved in benefits from specialization in one case versus the cost of coordination in the other. Finally, as the IT outsourcing industry matures, single-sourcing with subcontracting and multi-sourcing increase.
FPGA implementation of an efficient adaptive predistortion algorithm

In modern wireless communication systems, the adaptive digital predistortion (DPD) is widely used to compensate for the nonlinearity in the radio front-end. In the DPD implementation, the conventional coefficient estimation algorithm is computationally intensive and prevents the application of complex DPD models. In [1], we have derived an efficient coefficients estimation algorithm based on orthonormal basis functions that achieves the low computational complexity while maintaining the estimation accuracy. In this paper, we focus on the implementation of this efficient coefficients estimation algorithm on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) platform. Compared with the conventional recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm, the low complexity algorithm can achieve the same linearization performance while saving about 80% hardware resources.
Flexible Modeling and Product Derivation in Software Product Lines

Software Product Line development entails planned reuse of development assets for creating applications in a specific domain. SPL development can benefit from incorporating soft constraints in both Domain and Application Engineering. Increased expressiveness is attained and important domain knowledge that would otherwise be lost can be included, allowing improved configuration support to be provided. The stakeholders’ goals for a specific product can also be represented with soft constraints, allowing incomplete and inconsistent specifications to be inputted and then be automatically processed and analyzed. The approach is supported by a tool, which is capable of detecting inconsistencies, identifying the required trade-offs and explaining them to the stakeholder, who can then make an informed trade-off decision.
Open Education: Fact or Fiction?

The quality of being open has been endowed with many meanings. One common assumption is that open education relates to a mass of youngsters milling around in a large open space. The image is that of schools without classroom walls and children without direction. Yet some of the best open schools in Britain are solid old buildings with walls like fortresses, and the approach has many flexible but obvious structures to direct and support individual children. It is a far cry from a chaotic environment within which the child is expected to identify, select, and integrate activities by himself on the presumption that it is the best way for him to learn. Open schools are not analogous to the large supermarket in which people are encouraged to wander and buy according to fancy rather than real needs. A better comparison may be made with a well-stocked speciality shop where the owner is sensitive to the nature of his customers and tries to meet a range of their needs by making high-quality provisions available and giving guidance whenever necessary.
Mean field games with poisson point processes and impulse control

This paper considers mean field games in a continuous time competitive Markov decision process framework. Each player's state has pure jumps modelled by a self-weighted compound Poisson process subject to impulse control. We focus on analyzing the steady-state (or stationary) equation system of the mean field game. The best response is determined as a threshold policy and the stationary distribution of the state is derived in terms of the threshold value. The numerical solution of the equation system is developed.