Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attentional Bias to Direct Gaze in a Dot-Probe Paradigm

Previous research has suggested that a singly presented facial stimulus having a direct gaze holds spatial attention. This study examined whether facial stimulus having a direct gaze can also capture spatial attention in a relative dot-probe paradigm (facial stimulus having a direct gaze was presented concurrently with that having an averted gaze). The results showed that participants oriented their spatial attention to a facial stimulus having a direct gaze rather than to that with an averted gaze. This attentional bias depended on gaze-perception mechanisms as observed in the lack of attentional bias to a direct gaze from unnatural-looking eyes (i.e., white pupil/iris and black sclera). These findings raise the possibility that the attentional effect implicated in the perception of a direct gaze is induced regardless of the stimulus context.
The role of PGE2 receptor EP4 in pathologic ocular angiogenesis.

PURPOSE PGE(2) binds to PGE(2) receptors (EP(1-4)). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of the EP(4) receptor in angiogenic cell behaviors of retinal Müller cells and retinal microvascular endothelial cells (RMECs) and to assess the efficacy of an EP(4) antagonist in rat models of oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) and laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (LCNV). METHODS Müller cells derived from COX-2-null mice were treated with increasing concentrations of the EP(4) agonist PGE(1)-OH, and wild-type Müller cells were treated with increasing concentrations of the EP(4) antagonist L-161982; VEGF production was assessed. Human RMECs (HRMECs) were treated with increasing concentrations of L-161982, and cell proliferation and tube formation were assessed. Rats subjected to OIR or LCNV were administered L-161982, and the neovascular area was measured. RESULTS COX-2-null mouse Müller cells treated with increasing concentrations of PGE(1)-OH demonstrated a significant increase in VEGF production (P < or = 0.0165). Wild-type mouse Müller cells treated with increasing concentrations of L-161982 demonstrated a significant decrease in VEGF production (P < or = 0.0291). HRMECs treated with increasing concentrations of L-161982 demonstrated a significant reduction in VEGF-induced cell proliferation (P < or = 0.0033) and tube formation (P < 0.0344). L-161982 treatment significantly reduced pathologic neovascularization in OIR (P < 0.0069) and LCNV (P < or = 0.0329). CONCLUSIONS Preliminary investigation has demonstrated that EP(4) activation or inhibition influences the behaviors of two retinal cell types known to play roles in pathologic ocular angiogenesis. These findings suggest that the EP(4) receptor may be a valuable therapeutic target in neovascular eye disease.
Massively Parallel Hierarchical Scene Processing with Applications in Rendering

We present a novel method for massively parallel hierarchical scene processing on the GPU, which is based on sequential decomposition of the given hierarchical algorithm into small functional blocks. The computation is fully managed by the GPU using a specialized task pool which facilitates synchronization and communication of processing units. We present two applications of the proposed approach: construction of the bounding volume hierarchies and collision detection based on divide‐and‐conquer ray tracing. The results indicate that using our approach we achieve high utilization of the GPU even for complex hierarchical problems which pose a challenge for massive parallelization. The results indicate that using our approach we achieve high utilization of the GPU even for complex hierarchical problems which pose a challenge for massive parallelization.
An In-Service Teacher Education Program's Effect on Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes

Abstract Changes in teacher efficacy and attitudes toward teaching were examined throughout a teacher education program as teachers worked to integrate new skills into their science curriculum. Correlation coefficients were calculated for the changes. Positive correlation was observed between changes in attitude and self-efficacy. Negative correlation was observed between changes in self-efficacy at the beginning of the school year and changes in self-efficacy at the end of the program.
Identifying management training needs for social service workers in Madrid, Spain

This is a report on a project which assessed the training needs of social service workers in Madrid in the area of policy, planning and administration. The project was funded by the US-Spanish Joint Committee for Cultural and Educational Cooperation under the auspices of the Agreement of Friendship, Defense, and Cooperation between the United States and the Kingdom of Spain (Flynn and Diaz, 1987). The project was conducted with the support and cooperation of the Instituto Regional de Estudios de Salud y Bienestar Social de la Consejeria de Salud y Bienestar Social de la Communidad de Madrid from September 1986 through March 1987.
Asymmetric spacer layer tunnel diode (ASPAT), quantum structure design linked to current-voltage characteristics: A physical simulation study

The work presented here reports on studies of an Asymmetric Spacer Layer Tunnel (ASPAT) Diode device characteristics exploiting in-house fabricated 4×4 μm2 GaAs/AlAs and In0.53Ga0. 47As/AlAs mesa diodes, grown by the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique. In this study, a successfully developed numerical model, which is capable of reproducing the strong nonlinear current-voltage characteristics and which is in excellent agreement with measured data, was utilized for further investigations of the diode behaviour. The modelling was developed in Silvaco Atlas utilising the Semiconductor-Insulator-Semiconductor (SIS) model. Owing to the accurate numerical simulation, influences of the barrier width, as well as ratio of the emitter to collector spacers on the I-V characteristics were investigated to gain insight into physical device performances. This work lays the foundations for predictive modelling and analysis of the effect of these important parameters on ASPAT diodes characteristics.
Output feedback control of linear systems with input and output quantization

A considerable amount of research has been done on the use of logarithmic quantizers for networked feedback control systems. However, most results are developed for the case of a single quantizer (either measurement or control signal quantization). In this paper, we investigate the case of simultaneous input and output quantization for SISO linear output feedback systems. Firstly, we show that the problem of quadratic stabilization via quantized feedback can be addressed with no conservativeness by means of the sector bound approach. Secondly, we provide a bound on the maximal admissible sector bound via a scaled H¿ optimization problem.
Dissection of Mechanisms of a Chinese Medicinal Formula: Danhong Injection Therapy for Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury In Vivo and In Vitro

Traditional Chinese medicine uses a systemic treatment approach, targeting multiple etiological factors simultaneously. Danhong injection (DHI), a very popular Chinese medicine injection, is reported to be effective for many cardiovascular conditions. The primary active ingredients of DHI, and their systemic and interrelated mechanism have not been evaluated in an established myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) model. We identified the main active constituents in DHI, including hydroxysafflor yellow A (A), salvianolic acid B (B), and danshensu (C), by HPLC fingerprint analysis and assessed their effect on MI/R rats and cardiomyocytes. These 3 compounds and DHI all decreased the levels of IL-1, TNF-α, and MDA, increased those of IL-10 and SOD activity in vivo and in vitro, and had antiapoptotic effects, as shown by flow cytometric analysis and TUNEL assay. Moreover, these compounds increased phosphorylation of Akt and ERK1/2 in cardiomyocytes. Interestingly, we found compound A exerted a more prominent anti-inflammatory effect than B and C, by decreasing NF-κB levels; compound B had more powerful antioxidative capacity than A and C, by increasing Nrf2 expression; compound C had stronger antiapoptotic ability than A and B, by lowering caspase-3 activity. Our results elucidate the mechanisms by which DHI protects against MI/R induced injury.
Cold-start Problems in Recommendation Systems via Contextual-bandit Algorithms

In this paper, we study a cold-start problem in recommendation systems where we have completely new users entered the systems. There is not any interaction or feedback of the new users with the systems previoustly, thus no ratings are available. Trivial approaches are to select ramdom items or the most popular ones to recommend to the new users. However, these methods perform poorly in many case. In this research, we provide a new look of this cold-start problem in recommendation systems. In fact, we cast this cold-start problem as a contextual-bandit problem. No additional information on new users and new items is needed. We consider all the past ratings of previous users as contextual information to be integrated into the recommendation framework. To solve this type of the cold-start problems, we propose a new efficient method which is based on the LinUCB algorithm for contextual-bandit problems. The experiments were conducted on three different publicly-available data sets, namely Movielens, Netflix and Yahoo! Music. The new proposed methods were also compared with other state-of-the-art techniques. Experiments showed that our new method significantly improves upon all these methods.
Predicting young Chinese consumers' mobile viral attitudes, intents and behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Palka et al.'s model to predict young Chinese consumers' mobile viral attitudes, intents and behavior.Design/methodology/approach – A paper survey was administered to 835 college students in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, and Liuzhou in summer and fall, 2010. The data were subject to statistic analyses including Pearson correlation, structural equation modeling, and backward regression with SPSS and AMOS.Findings – The SEM model testing results confirmed the chain of young Chinese consumers' viral attitudes to intents to actual behavior. Subjective norm, perceived cost and pleasure were significant predictors of their viral attitudes. Their viral attitudes, perceived utility and subjective norm predicted their intent to pass along entertaining electronic messages. Their intent to forward useful electronic messages was determined by their viral attitudes, perceived utility and market.
FINAL: flexible and scalable composition of file system name spaces

Group file operations enable tools and middleware to operate upon a large group of files located across thousands of independent servers in a scalable fashion, a necessary requirement for effective use of today's largest distributed systems. Our initial prototype of group file operations showed scalability benefits for several tools, but also revealed the importance of having a scalable method for defining useful groups. We have developed a language called FINAL for describing name space composition in a flexible and scalable manner. Clients of our TBON-FS distributed file system can use this language to compose a single-system image (SSI) name space that automatically creates useful groups in a scalable fashion. We provide many examples of traditional and SSI name space compositions that can be described using FINAL, and report how TBON-FS can compose a global name space from tens of thousands of independent name spaces in one-quarter second.
A Selective Etching Solution for Use with Patterned Self-Assembled Monolayers of Alkanethiolates on Gold

Nl icrocontact pr int ing t r rCPtr is a technique that generates patterned self-assembled monolayers lSAtr{s t2 of' alkanethiolates t typically, hexadecanethiolate ) on the surfaces of goid,1 silver,l l and copper,l and of alkylsiloxanes on hydroxyl-terminated surf'aces.r' Patterned SAI{s of alkanethiolates serve as nanomc.ter-thick resists in certain etching solutions: the one we i.rave. used most extensively when gold is the underiving substrate has been aqueous KCN so lu t ion (p l l ' . 1 t . ICN ] . . ,0 .1 M) saturated with 0z.6 Llsing this etchant. t l-re patterns in the SAMs can be transf'erred faithfuih' into the thin fi lms of gold; the resulting patterns of gold can be used subsequently as secondarv masks for the etching (isotropic or anisotropic ) of' underlving la.vers of sil icon dioxide and si l icon; ' or i ls funct ional e lements ( for example, for microerlectrodese and diffraction gratingsi0). Microcontact printing is renrarkablv convenient fbr the fabrication of structures rvith feature sizes of 1 zrm and larger: it can be r-rsed. rvith more diff iculty and less reliabil itv. to fabricate f 'eatures with sizes down to 100
Using knowledge management to revise software‐testing processes

Purpose – This paper aims to use a knowledge management (KM) approach to effectively revise a utility retailer's software testing process. This paper presents a case study of how the utility organisation's customer services IT production support group improved their test planning skills through applying the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) KM framework to define a software‐testing process. This included the ongoing maintenance and use of a business knowledge repository comprising software test cases.Design/methodology/approach – An action learning approach was used for workplace training facilitated by one of the authors. Applying and refining learnings gained in a series of three workshops achieved these outcomes. The first two workshops focused on improving test‐planning skills and the third on introducing KM concepts, the APQC KM framework and the development of a KM based software‐testing process that combined explicit and tacit knowledge.Findings – The combination of workshop outputs, .
Microelectronic Interactive Distance Course with On-line Measurement Laboratory

This paper presents a Microelectronics Course syllabus, adapted to the criteria established by the new European Higher Education Area (EHEA). The main objectives are achieved using an e-learning methodology, which includes access to a remote laboratory for the practical work, as well as a sequential program of exercises offered by means of WebCT internet tools.
20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic Acid Impairs Endothelial Insulin Signaling by Inducing Phosphorylation of the Insulin Receptor Substrate-1 at Ser616

20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) induces endothelial dysfunction and is correlated with diabetes. This study was designed to investigate the effects of 20-HETE on endothelial insulin signaling.Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) or C57BL/6J mice were treated with 20-HETE in the presence or absence of insulin, and p-ERK1/2, p-JNK, IRS-1/PI3K/AKT/eNOS pathway, were examined in endothelial cells and aortas by immunoblotting. eNOS activity and nitric oxide production were measured. 20-HETE increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation and IRS-1 phosphorylation at Ser616; these effects were reversed by ERK1/2 inhibition. We further observed that 20-HETE treatment resulted in impaired insulin-stimulated IRS-1 phosphorylation at Tyr632 and subsequent PI3-kinase/Akt activation. Furthermore, 20-HETE treatment blocked insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of eNOS at the stimulatory Ser1177 site, eNOS activation and NO production; these effects were reversed by inhibiting ERK1/2. Treatment of C57BL/6J mice with 20-HETE resulted in ERK1/2 activation and impaired insulin-dependent activation of the IRS-1/PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway in the aorta. Our data suggest that the 20-HETE activation of IRS-1 phosphorylation at Ser616 is dependent on ERK1/2 and leads to impaired insulin-stimulated vasodilator effects that are mediated by the IRS-1/PI3K/AKT/eNOS pathway.
Template Based Recognition of On-Line Handwriting

Software for recognition of handwriting has been available for several decades now and research on the subject have produced several different strategies for producing competitive recognition accuracies, especially in the case of isolated single characters. The problem of recognizing samples of handwriting with arbitrary connections between constituent characters (emph{unconstrained handwriting}) adds considerable complexity in form of the segmentation problem. In other words a recognition system, not constrained to the isolated single character case, needs to be able to recognize where in the sample one letter ends and another begins. In the research community and probably also in commercial systems the most common technique for recognizing unconstrained handwriting compromise Neural Networks for partial character matching along with Hidden Markov Modeling for combining partial results to string hypothesis. Neural Networks are often favored by the research community since the recognition functions are more or less automatically inferred from a training set of handwritten samples. From a commercial perspective a downside to this property is the lack of control, since there is no explicit information on the types of samples that can be correctly recognized by the system. In a template based system, each style of writing a particular character is explicitly modeled, and thus provides some intuition regarding the types of errors (confusions) that the system is prone to make. Most template based recognition methods today only work for the isolated single character recognition problem and extensions to unconstrained recognition is usually not straightforward. This thesis presents a step-by-step recipe for producing a template based recognition system which extends naturally to unconstrained handwriting recognition through simple graph techniques. A system based on this construction has been implemented and tested for the difficult case of unconstrained online Arabic handwriting recognition with good results. (Less)
Genome-wide association meta-analysis of human longevity identifies a novel locus conferring survival beyond 90 years of age

The genetic contribution to the variation in human lifespan is ∼25%. Despite the large number of identified disease-susceptibility loci, it is not known which loci influence population mortality. We performed a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 7729 long-lived individuals of European descent (≥85 years) and 16 121 younger controls (<65 years) followed by replication in an additional set of 13 060 long-lived individuals and 61 156 controls. In addition, we performed a subset analysis in cases aged ≥90 years. We observed genome-wide significant association with longevity, as reflected by survival to ages beyond 90 years, at a novel locus, rs2149954, on chromosome 5q33.3 (OR = 1.10, P = 1.74 × 10−8). We also confirmed association of rs4420638 on chromosome 19q13.32 (OR = 0.72, P = 3.40 × 10−36), representing the TOMM40/APOE/APOC1 locus. In a prospective meta-analysis (n = 34 103), the minor allele of rs2149954 (T) on chromosome 5q33.3 associates with increased survival (HR = 0.95, P = 0.003). This allele has previously been reported to associate with low blood pressure in middle age. Interestingly, the minor allele (T) associates with decreased cardiovascular mortality risk, independent of blood pressure. We report on the first GWAS-identified longevity locus on chromosome 5q33.3 influencing survival in the general European population. The minor allele of this locus associates with low blood pressure in middle age, although the contribution of this allele to survival may be less dependent on blood pressure. Hence, the pleiotropic mechanisms by which this intragenic variation contributes to lifespan regulation have to be elucidated.
Using Free-breathing Proton Ventilation MRI to Evaluate Treatment Response in Asthma

Purpose: Hyperpolarized noble gas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides a way to map both functional and structural pulmonary information. Specifically in asthmatics, inhaled hyperpolarized gas MRI has been used to evaluate bronchoconstriction (methacholine-challenge [MCh]) and bronchodilation (salbutamol), showing ventilation defects that respond to MCh and salbutamol [1]. Fourier decomposition of pulmonary proton (H) MRI (FDMRI) acquired during free-tidal breathing patients over the course of a few minutes has emerged as a non-contrast enhanced method to generate ventilation images by exploiting non-rigid registration and fast MR image acquisition techniques [2]. Here our objective was to evaluate asthmatics using FDMRI and directly compare with hyperpolarized noble gas MRI following MCh and salbutamol. We hypothesized that the ventilation defects measured using FDMRI would increase after a MCh and would decrease after salbutamol administration and thought that ventilation defects observed using all MR ventilation imaging methods would be quantitatively and spatially related.
Systemic lupus erythematosus with aortoarteritis.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disorder, the incidence of which, in prepubertal children is quite rare(l). The diagnostic clinical criteria as suggested by the American Rheumatology Association (ARA) are well known(2). The most specific diagnostic laboratory finding is the presence of antibody to double-standard DNA (ds DNA)(3). We report a child with SLE and idiopathic aortoarteritis an hitherto unreported association.
Indoor Localization Using Multiple Wireless Technologies

Indoor localization techniques using location fingerprints are gaining popularity because of their cost-effectiveness compared to other infrastructure-based location systems. However, their reported accuracy fall short of their counterparts. In this paper, we investigate many aspects of fingerprint-based location systems in order to enhance their accuracy. First, we derive analytically a robust location fingerprint definition, and then verify it experimentally as well. We also devise a way to facilitate under-trained location systems through simple linear regression technique. This technique reduces the training time and effort, and can be particularly useful when the surrounding or setup of the localization area changes. We further show experimentally that because of the positions of some access points or the environmental factors around them, their signal strength correlates nicely with distance. We argue that it would be more beneficial to give special consideration to these access points for location computation, owing to their ability to distinguish locations distinctly in signal space. The probability of encountering such access points will be even higher when we denote a location's signature using the signals of multiple wireless technologies collectively. We present the results of two well- known localization algorithms (K-Nearest Neighbor and Bayesian Probabilistic Model) when the above factors are exploited, using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals. We have observed significant improvement in their accuracy when our ideas are implemented.