Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characteristics of the Activity-Affect Association in Inactive People: An Ambulatory Assessment Study in Daily Life

Acute and regular exercise as well as physical activity (PA) is related to well-being and positive affect. Recent studies have shown that even daily, unstructured physical activities increase positive affect. However, the attempt to achieve adherence to PA or exercise in inactive people through public health interventions has often been unsuccessful. Most studies analyzing the activity-affect association in daily life, did not report participants’ habitual activity behavior. Thus, samples included active and inactive people, but they did not necessarily exhibit the same affective reactions to PA in daily life. Therefore the present study investigated whether the association between PA and subsequent affective state in daily life can also be observed in inactive individuals. We conducted a pilot study with 29 inactive university students (mean age 21.3 ± 1.7 years) using the method of ambulatory assessment. Affect was assessed via electronic diary and PA was measured with accelerometers. Participants had to rate affect every 2 h on a six item bipolar scale reflecting the three basic mood dimensions energetic arousal, valence, and calmness. We calculated activity intensity level [mean Metabolic Equivalent (MET) value] and the amount of time spent in light activity over the last 15 min before every diary prompt and conducted within-subject correlations. We did not find significant associations between activity intensity and the three mood dimensions. Due to the high variability in within-subject correlations we conclude that not all inactive people show the same affective reactions to PA in daily life. Analyzing the PA-affect association of inactive people was difficult due to little variance and distribution of the assessed variables. Interactive assessment and randomized controlled trials might help solving these problems. Future studies should examine characteristics of affective responses of inactive people to PA in daily life. General assumptions considering the relation between affect and PA might not be suitable for this target group.
Detection of precast concrete beam defects using finite-difference time-domain modelling

Structural failures and concrete structure collapses still remain as an unsolved issue in the building and construction industry although many researches has been done on it. In recent years, ground penetrating radar (GPR) emerged as one of the most promising nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques for civil engineering applications, especially in concrete structures inspection. Although the use of precast concrete beam is gaining its popularity in building and construction industry, there are lacks of publication focusing on defects detection of precast concrete beam with GPR. Therefore, this study is conducted to test the capability of 2 GHz high frequency GPR antenna in monitoring the inner structure and detecting defects in precast concrete beam. The aim of this study is to detect the defects, such as cracks or voids in the precast concrete beam with the assistance of Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) numerical modelling. Results indicated that defects with different sizes can be detected; even fine cracks with 3mm can be detected. This proved that 2 GHz high frequency GPR antenna is an ideal NDT solution for concrete surveying, particularly for small size cracks. Results from this study offer new applications of GPR for building structural health assessment and maintenance.
Design of Broadband Element of Transmit-array with Polarization Transform

Transmit-array (TA) has advantages such as low profile, easy fabrication, flexible element structure, and multi-function etc. It receives spherical wave and adjust its phases to re-radiate forwards. TA avoids the effect of feed blockage existing in a reflect-array, can realize arbitrarily linear polarization transform well. In this paper two kinds of broadband element of TA with polarization transform are proposed, their properties of phase compensation, polarization transform and transmission efficiency are analyzed and compared
Landing of a Quadrotor on a Moving Target Using Dynamic Image-Based Visual Servo Control

This paper addresses the landing problem of a vertical take-off and landing vehicle, exemplified by a quadrotor, on a moving platform using image-based visual servo control. Observable features on a flat and textured target plane are exploited to derive a suitable control law. The target plane may be moving with bounded linear acceleration in any direction. For control purposes, the image of the centroid for a collection of landmarks is used as position measurement, whereas the translational optical flow is used as velocity measurement. The proposed control law guarantees convergence to the desired landing spot on the target plane, without estimating any parameter related to the unknown height, which is also guaranteed to remain strictly positive. Moreover, convergence is guaranteed even in the presence of bounded and possibly time-varying disturbances, resulting, for example, from the motion of the target plane, measurement errors, or wind-induced force disturbances. To improve performance, an estimator for unknown constant force disturbances is also included in the control law. Simulation and experimental results are provided to illustrate and assess the performance of the proposed controller.
Targeted Axl Inhibition Primes Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia B Cells to Apoptosis and Shows Synergistic/Additive Effects in Combination with BTK Inhibitors

Purpose: B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is an incurable disease despite aggressive therapeutic approaches. We previously found that Axl receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) plays a critical role in CLL B-cell survival. Here, we explored the possibility of using a high-affinity Axl inhibitor as a single agent or in combination with Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors for future clinical trial to treat patients with CLL. Experimental Design: Expression/activation status of other members of the TAM (e.g., Tyro3, Axl, and MER) family of RTKs in CLL B cells was evaluated. Cells were treated with a high-affinity orally bioavailable Axl inhibitor TP-0903 with or without the presence of CLL bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). Inhibitory effects of TP-0903 on the Axl signaling pathway were also evaluated in CLL B cells. Finally, cells were exposed to TP-0903 in combination with BTK inhibitors to determine any synergistic/additive effects of the combination. Results: CLL B cells overexpress Tyro3, but not MER. Of interest, Tyro3 remains as constitutively phosphorylated and forms a complex with Axl in CLL B cells. TP-0903 induces massive apoptosis in CLL B cells with LD50 values of nanomolar ranges. Importantly, CLL BMSCs could not protect the leukemic B cells from TP-0903–induced apoptosis. A marked reduction of the antiapoptotic proteins Mcl-1, Bcl-2, and XIAP and upregulation of the proapoptotic protein BIM in CLL B cells was detected as a result of Axl inhibition. Finally, combination of TP-0903 with BTK inhibitors augments CLL B-cell apoptosis. Conclusions: Administration of TP-0903 either as a single agent or in combination with BTK inhibitors may be effective in treating patients with CLL. Clin Cancer Res; 21(9); 2115–26. ©2015 AACR.
Efficacy of Bicalutamide 150-mg Monotherapy Compared With Combined Androgen Blockade in Patients With Locally Advanced Prostate Cancer

Purpose We compared the efficacy, survival rate, and adverse events between bicalutamide 150-mg monotherapy and combined androgen blockade (CAB) in men with locally advanced prostate cancer. Materials and Methods From March 2003 to July 2012, we retrospectively included 74 patients who were treated for more than 3 months and were followed up for more than 6 months. 25 men were treated with bicalutamide 150-mg only (group 1) and 49 men received CAB (group 2). Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) change, survival rate, and adverse events were compared between the 2 groups. Results The PSA levels before and after treatment were 37.0±32.8 ng/mL and 9.5±27.0 ng/mL in group 1 (p<0.001) and 50.2±40.0 ng/mL and 20.0±35.8 ng/mL in group 2 (p<0.001). Mean survival rates were 78.9% in group 1 and 52.3% in group 2 (p=0.055). There were no statistically significant differences in adverse events between the 2 groups (p=0.304). The International Index of Erectile Function 5 (IIEF-5) score before treatment was 19.3±5.9 in group 1 and 18.3±5.8 in group 2 (p=0.487). The IIEF-5 score after treatment was 17.1±6.3 in group 1 and 14.0±6.1 in group 2, which was a statistically significant difference (p=0.036). Conclusions The PSA change, mean survival rate, and adverse events in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer treated with bicalutamide 150-mg and CAB did not differ significantly. However, sexual function was better in the bicalutamide 150-mg group. Therefore, bicalutamide 150-mg monotherapy could be considered as a treatment for locally advanced prostate cancer in patients concerned about sexual function.
Formal Specification of Substitutability Property for Fault-Tolerance in Reactive Autonomic Systems

Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) have been widely proposed and applied to various application domains, such as space exploration missions. MAS can offer greater redundancy, efficiency, and scalability; however, they also raise new challenges, for instance, complex and often unexpected emergent group behavior, which require a formal specification as well as verification. Therefore, we have proposed a formal approach, named Reactive Autonomic Systems Framework (RASF), based on category theory to tackle those challenges. In this paper, we focus on the formal specification of substitutability property for the fault-tolerance and illustrate our approach through a Mars-world case study implemented as MAS using JADEX.
Sampling Theorem for Fractional Bandlimited Signals: A Self-Contained Proof. Application to Digital Holography

This letter provides a self-contained proof of the sampling theorem for fractional bandlimited signals. An interpolation formula for the fractional spectrum of a given signal is explicitely written. The chosen proof also leads to an explicit process for recovering the original signal from its periodized fractional spectrum. Both interpolation and signal recovering process are shown to be useful in computing digital holograms in the Fresnel domain
OPTIMIZATION OF SOME CULTURE CONDITIONS FOR IMPROVED BIOMASS AND ANTIBIOTIC PRODUCTION BY STREPTOMYCES SPECTABILIS ISOLATED FROM SOIL

A Streptomyces strain was isolated from soil and was identified as Streptomyces spectabilis on the basis of 16 S rRNA gene sequencing. On screening for its ability to produce antimicrobial compounds, it was found to be active only against Gram positive bacteria. Attempts were made to optimize the culture conditions for the production of antimicrobial compounds. Basal medium supplemented with glucose as a carbon source was found to be the best for growth but not for antibiotic production. Antibiotic production proved to be highest in the medium amended with cellobiose. Jack bean meal (JBM) and peptone were the best nitrogen sources for growth and antibiotic production respectively. Antibiotic production appeared to start after 48 hours and reached a maximum on the fourth day. Maximum growth and antibiotic production occurred when the initial pH was adjusted to 5. INTRODUCTION: Microbial natural products are the origin of most of the antibiotics on the market today. There is an alarming scarcity of new antibiotics currently under development in the pharmaceutical industry. Still, microbial natural products remain the most promising source of novel antibiotics, although new approaches are required to improve the efficiency of the discovery process. Actinomycetes have provided important bioactive compounds of high commercial value and continue to be routinely screened for new bioactive substances 1 . These searches have been remarkably successful and approximately two-thirds of naturally occurring antibiotics, including many of medical importance, have been isolated from
An Effectively Utilized Histogram Modification Based Watermarking Scheme

In this paper, we propose a Copyright Protection (CP) watermarking scheme, which is a robust, blind, and reversible watermarking scheme; aimed at protecting the copyright of color images against geometrical attacks. It is a development of an already existing watermarking scheme. Watermark embedding in this scheme, as well as in its counterpart, mainly depends on the permutation of the histogram bins. However, we present a new embedding rule, which increased the average capacity by about 55 bits, and it increased the quality, PSNR, of the watermarked image from 35.01 dB to 38.05 dB. The embedded watermark demonstrates 100 % robustness against a variety of geometrical attacks, like Flipping (H, V, and Both), Rotation (90°, 180°, and 270°), Scattering, Warping, Skewing, and their combinations. Finally, our proposed CP watermarking scheme showed a faster watermark embedding process than that of its counterpart by an average reduction in time equals, 4.84 seconds.
Number 2 , December 2008 AN OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE MODEL FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Most occupational choice models introduce only two options for agents: entrepreneurial activities or wage-employment. However, these models represent inadequately the labor force distribution from developing countries, where an important proportion of the total work force are self-employed workers. Some models introduce self-employment as an occupational choice. These works have a common feature: when in equilibrium, wage earners belong to the lower end of the income distribution. Nevertheless, for a large set of developing countries, peasants and small proprietors are part of a self-employment sector that can mostly be found in the lower end of the income distribution. In contrast with previous efforts, in this work self-employment formation is consistent with data from most developing countries. We pay special attention to the conditions under which either the economy ends in a low income equilibrium where self-employment is the only form of production, or alternatively, the economy ends in a high income equilibrium with a well developed labor market. We study some public policy issues, paying special attention to role of capital markets and the efficiency of schooling.
A Mobile Crowdsensing Ecosystem Enabled by a Cloud-Based Publish/Subscribe Middleware

We are witnessing the rise of a novel class of wearable devices equipped with various sensing capabilities as well as further miniaturization of sensing components that are nowadays being integrated into mobile devices. The inherent mobility of such devices has the capacity to produce dense and rich spatiotemporal information about our environment creating the mobile Internet of Things (IoT). The management of mobile resources to enable sensor discovery and seamless integration of mobile geotagged sensor data with cloud-based IoT platforms creates new challenges due to device dynamicity, energy constraints, and varying sensor data quality. The paper presents an ecosystem for mobile crowdsensing applications which relies on the CloUd-based PUblish/Subscribe middleware (CUPUS) to acquire sensor data from mobile devices in a context-aware and energy-efficient manner. The ecosystem offers the means for location management of mobile Internet-connected objects and adaptive data acquisition from such devices. In addition, our solution enables filtering of sensor data on mobile devices in the proximity of a data producer prior to its transmission into the cloud. Thus it reduces both the network traffic and energy consumption on mobile devices. We evaluate the performance of our mobile CUPUS application to investigate its performance on mobile phones in terms of scalability and CPU, memory and energy consumption under high publishing load.
Does Acupuncture Therapy Alter Activation of Neural Pathway for Pain Perception in Irritable Bowel Syndrome?: A Comparative Study of True and Sham Acupuncture Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background/Aims Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are characterized by abnormal central processing with altered brain activation in response to visceral nociceptive signals. The effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on IBS patients is unclear. The study is set to study the effect of EA on brain activation during noxious rectal distension in IBS patients using a randomized sham-controlled model. Methods Thirty IBS-diarrhea patients were randomized to true electroacupuncture or sham acupuncture. Functional MRI was performed to evaluate cerebral activation at the following time points: (1) baseline when there was rectal distension only, (2) rectal distension during application of EA, (3) rectal distension after cessation of EA and (4) EA alone with no rectal distension. Group comparison was made under each condition using SPM5 program. Results Rectal distension induced significant activation of the anterior cingulated cortex, prefrontal cortex, thalamus, temporal regions and cerebellum at baseline. During and immediately after EA, increased cerebral activation from baseline was observed in the anterior cingulated cortex, bilateral prefrontal cortex, thalamus, temporal regions and right insula in both groups. However, true electroacupuncture led to significantly higher activation at right insula, as well as pulvinar and medial nucleus of the thalamus when compared to sham acupuncture. Conclusions We postulate that acupuncture might have the potential effect of pain modulation in IBS by 2 actions: (1) modulation of serotonin pathway at insula and (2) modulation of mood and affection in higher cortical center via ascending pathway at the pulvinar and medial nucleus of the thalamus.
Women as Bioethical Points of Articulation: Maude Jacobs and Public Remembrance of the Cincinnati Whole-Body Irradiation Study

ABSTRACT In 1993, the federal government announced it had funded experiments with radiation on Americans. One of those experiments was conducted in Cincinnati by Eugene Saenger, who exposed cancer patients to radiation that many believe hastened their deaths. Maude Jacobs was one of those patients—a single mother with metastatic breast cancer who died 25 days after radiation exposure. She became a key figure in debates about the research and later attempts to remember the research. The use of Jacobs in public memory highlights how depictions of powerless women vivify bioethical public memory. The degree to which these women are silenced facilitates the use of problematic gender stereotypes to craft public memory.
Transluminal Stent-assisted Angioplasty of the Intracranial Vertebrobasilar System for Medically Refractory, Posterior Circulation Ischemia: Early Results

OBJECTIVESymptomatic vertebrobasilar artery stenosis portends a poor prognosis, even with medical therapy. Surgical intervention is associated with considerable morbidity, and percutaneous angioplasty alone has demonstrated mixed results, with significant complications. Recent advances in stent technology have allowed for a novel treatment of symptomatic, medically refractory, vertebrobasilar artery stenosis. We report on a series of patients with medically refractory, posterior circulation stenosis who were treated with transluminal angioplasty and stenting at two medical centers in the United States. METHODSA retrospective analysis of data for 11 consecutive patients with symptomatic, medically refractory, intracranial, vertebral or basilar artery stenosis was performed. All patients were treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting. Short-term clinical and angiographic follow-up data were obtained. RESULTSAmong 11 patients who were treated with stent-assisted angioplasty of the basilar or vertebral arteries, there were three periprocedural deaths and one delayed death after a pontine stroke. Other complications included a second pontine infarction, with subsequent residual diplopia. The remaining seven patients (64%) experienced symptom resolution and have resumed their preprocedural activities of daily living. Angiographic follow-up examinations demonstrated good patency of the stented lesions for five of seven survivors (71%); one patient exhibited minimal intrastent intimal hyperplasia, and another patient developed new stenosis proximal to the stent and also developed an aneurysm within the stented portion of the basilar artery. The last patient exhibited 40% narrowing of the treated portion of the vessel lumen. CONCLUSIONRecent advances in stent technology allow negotiation of the proximal posterior circulation vasculature. Although the treatment of vertebrobasilar artery stenosis with angioplasty and stenting is promising, long-term angiographic and clinical follow-up monitoring of a larger patient population is needed.
Redefining the Invisible Victims of Incarceration: Survival Strategies of Young Girls of Incarcerated Mothers in Ghana

The number of incarcerated mothers in Ghana has increased in the last few years, with the vulnerabilities of their children also increasing. Though much research has been carried out on children whose mothers have been incarcerated, their voices are often missing. Girls develop interpersonal relationships with their mothers when they start menstruating in order to learn more about their sexuality and how to perform adult roles in their homes and communities. The absence of mothers therefore causes emotional instabilities and engenders a number of risks in the lives of young girls. During maternal incarceration, most girls live with relatives or alone without any family support. Some family members abandon the children of their relatives who have been incarcerated due to the shame, stigma and legal issues surrounding incarceration. The child protection policy in Ghana does not address the needs of children whose mothers have been incarcerated. In the face of family and policy neglect, young girls depend on their creativities, friends and spiritual affiliations for survival. In this paper, I refer to these girls as ‘invisible victims’ because of their non-recognition by government policies and programmes such as the child and family welfare policy and the LEAP programme. Findings from this research revealed that these invisible victims become silent, stigmatized and suffer during maternal incarceration. Maternal incarceration has led to the truncation of some of these girls education and some have become single mothers in the process of fighting to leverage their vulnerabilities. Intergenerational poverty and child parenting are some cyclical deleterious effects of maternal incarceration thus it is recommended that policy makers and organisations should appreciate and recognize the struggles and vulnerabilities of these invisible victims and provide support such as extension of the current social protection programme (LEAP) to address their specific needs as right holders.