Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DIALOGICALITY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF IDENTITY

Inspired by social-cognitive and dialogical theory of identity the research was focused on identity dynamics. It was assumed that there are two basic factors which influence identity organization: first, basic motives underlying identity formations which are: self-esteem, efficacy, continuity, distinctiveness, belonging and meaning (Vignoles et al, 2006); second, dialogical activity as an intrinsic property of the self (Hermans, 2003). The study explored the relation between identity structure and basic motives satisfaction as well as internal dialogical activity. It was hypothesized that the more identity element satisfies the motives and the higher its dialogical potential, the more it is privileged in the identity structure. Participants were 23 females and 19 males, aged 19-28. The research was conducted in the longitudinal design (2 stages in the space of two months). "Identity Ratings" questionnaire by Vignoles and collaborators (2006) was used to measure identity structure and motives satisfaction, and Questionnaire of Internal Dialogues Frequency by Puchalska-Wasyl (2006) as a measure of dialogicality. Because of the nested data structure (identity elements clustered within participants), multilevel regression was computed. The results confirmed that all abovementioned motives have to a certain extent important impact on identity (re)organization. Dialogicality proved to be good predictor of identity structure in its cognitive and behavioral dimension, that is perceived centrality of identity elements and their enactment. Identity structure is shaped by motivational influences as well as internal dialogical activity.
On the estimation of the degrees of freedom of indoor UWB channel

In this paper, we apply Akaike information criterion (AIC) and minimum description length (MDL) to estimate the number of degrees of freedom (DoF) of an ultra-wide band channel (UWB) in an indoor environment. We evaluate our solution under both scenarios, line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS). Based on AIC and the MDL criterion, we find that this number is large; this has important consequences on the receiver design. We show also, that in opposition to the accepted idea in the literature, the number of DoF does not increase linearly with the channel bandwidth.
An ethnic comparison of eating attitudes and associated body image concerns in adolescent South African schoolgirls.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate whether differences exist in eating attitudes and body shape concerns amongst adolescent schoolgirls representing South Africa's ethnically and culturally diverse population currently undergoing epidemiological transition. METHOD A questionnaire survey, including the Eating Attitudes Test, Body Shape Questionnaire and a Body Silhouette Chart, was administered to 228 South African schoolgirls (60 black, 83 mixed race and 85 white) aged 15-18 years from five secondary schools in the greater Cape Town area. RESULTS Black girls had significantly higher mean BMI values (24.1 (3.3)) than either white (21.9 (3.0)) or mixed race girls (22.1 (3.7)) (P < 0.05). Controlling for differences in BMI, white subjects scored significantly higher on the Body Shape Questionnaire than did mixed race or black subjects, whereas no ethnic differences were found for Eating Attitude Test scores. A comparable percentage (mean = 18.8%) of black, mixed race and white girls had scores indicative of eating disorder pathology on the Eating Attitudes Test, while a higher percentage of white, compared to mixed race and black, girls had abnormal scores on the Body Shape Questionnaire (33%, 26% and 20%, respectively; P < 0.05). The ideal body size desired by white girls was significantly smaller than that of the mixed race or black samples. Dissatisfaction with present body size was significantly higher in white, compared to black or mixed race girls (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION These findings suggest that the prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes is equally common in South African schoolgirls from different ethnic backgrounds. White girls exhibit greater body image concerns and body image dissatisfaction than mixed race or black individuals. These findings reinforce the notion that eating disorders are culture-reactive rather than culture-bound phenomena and provide insight into the extent of eating-related problems and body image issues in developing societies.
Are tropical herbivores more tolerant of chemically rich seaweeds than are temperate herbivores? A test of seaweed-herbivore coevolution

There is a greater quantity and diversity of lipophilic secondary metabolites produced by seaweeds within tropical relative to temperate regions. Coevolutionary arms-race theory predicts that tropical herbivores should more readily tolerate consuming chemically-rich seaweeds than do temperate herbivores, however, tests of this prediction are rare. We assessed the willingness to consume freeze-dried tissue from 10 species of chemically-rich seaweeds exhibited by multiple populations of the herbivorous amphipod Ampithoe longimana collected from cold-temperate, warm-temperate and subtropical estuaries along the east and Gulf coasts of North America. In contrast with the coevolutionary predictions, geographic patterns of consumption of chemically-rich seaweeds were not correlated with latitude. Rather, populations in North Carolina (34ºN) consumed more tissue from the diterpene-producing seaweed genus Dictyota than did New England (41ºN) or Florida (27ºN) populations. Amphipod populations did not differ in their feeding responses to tissue from chemically-rich seaweeds in the genera Amphiroa, Halimeda, Padina, Penicillus, nor Udotea . Thus, Floridean A. longimana have not locally evolved a feeding tolerance for chemical defenses produced by tropical seaweeds, as would be predicted by an arms-race hypothesis. Rather, the geographic patterns in feeding behaviors reflect the relative importance of these seaweeds to the ecology of local populations.
15-GHz fully integrated nMOS switches in a 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS process

Two fully integrated nMOS switches have been demonstrated at 15 GHz in a 0.13-/spl mu/m CMOS foundry process. One incorporates on-chip LC impedance transformation networks (ITNs) while the second one does not. The switches with and without ITNs achieve the same 1.8-dB insertion loss at 15 GHz, but 21.5 and 15 dBm input P/sub 1dB/, respectively. The degradation of insertion loss due to use of ITNs is compensated by reducing the mismatch loss caused by the bond pad parasitics. The switch without ITNs is suitable for 3.1-10.6 GHz ultra-wide-band (UWB) applications. The switch with ITNs has /spl sim/5 dB worse isolation than the switch without. The difference is due to the larger transistor size of the switch with ITNs, which introduces lower parasitic impedance path between Tx/Rx ports and antenna port.
New results from NOvA

The NOvA experiment at Fermilab uses a beam of neutrinos and two detectors separated by an 810 km baseline to observe muon neutrino disappearance and electron neutrino appearance. These measurements have the potential to reveal the remaining unknowns in neutrino oscillations, namely the mass hierarchy, the 23 octant, and perhaps even hint at the violation of CP in the neutrino sector. This paper describes the current status of the NOvA experiment and present results from two years of data taking, doubling the exposure of our initial results.
A set of μ-analysis based tools to evaluate the robustness properties of high-dimensional uncertain systems

This paper reviews a set of μ-analysis based tools developed by the authors during the last decade to evaluate the robustness properties of high-dimensional linear plants subject to numerous time-invariant uncertainties. These tools allow to compute both upper and lower bounds on the robust stability margin, the worst-case H∞ performance level, as well as the traditional gain, phase, modulus and time-delay margins. The key idea is to solve the problem on just a coarse frequency grid and to perform a fast validation on the whole frequency range, which results in guaranteed but conservative bounds on the aforementioned quantities. Some heuristics are then applied to determine a set of worst-case parametric configurations leading to over-optimistic bounds. A branch and bound scheme is finally implemented, so as to tighten these bounds with the desired accuracy, while still guaranteeing a reasonable computational complexity. The proposed algorithms are successfully assessed on a challenging real-world application.
Toward Protein Engineering for Phytoremediation: Possibilities and Challenges

The combination of rational protein engineering and directed evolution techniques allow for the redesign of enzymes with tailored properties for use in environmental remediation. This review summarizes current molecular methods for either altering or improving protein function and highlights examples of how these methods can address bioremediation problems. Although much of the protein engineering applied to environmental clean-up employs microbial systems, there is great potential for and significant challenges to translating these approaches to plant systems for phytoremediation purposes. Protein engineering technologies combined with genomic information and metabolic engineering strategies hold promise for the design of plants and microbes to remediate organic and inorganic pollutants.
Manual asymmetry in a complex coincidence-anticipation task: Handedness and gender effects

This study investigated the effects of handedness and gender on manual asymmetry in the performance of a complex coincidence-anticipation task. Left-handed (N=63) and right-handed (N=93) undergraduate students (78 males, 78 females) were required to press six buttons sequentially in conjunction with visual stimulation provided by a coincidence-anticipation apparatus. Participants were further separated into subgroups based on the degree of hand preference. Timing accuracy (AE, CE, VE) and timing response (IT, MT, AT) were analysed. Results showed that, concerning accuracy, (i) strong left-handers were more accurate than the other groups; (ii) performance with the preferred hand was superior to that of the non-preferred hand; and (iii) males outperformed females. Concerning timing response, (i) the preferred hand was faster than the non-preferred hand for movement time and (ii) males were faster in initiating the movement than females. These findings indicate that coincidence-anticipation competence appears to be influenced by hand preference, performing hand, and gender. In addition, findings are discussed in the framework of the hemispheric functional lateralisation for the planning and organisation of movement execution.
Gelsolin expression increases β1‐integrin affinity and L1210 cell adhesion

Integrins are functionally regulated by “inside‐out” signaling, in that stimulus‐induced signaling pathways act on the intracellular integrin tail to regulate the activity of the receptor on the outside. Both a change in conformation (affinity) and clustering (avidity/valency) of the receptors occurs, but the mechanisms that regulate inside out signaling are not completely understood. Previously, we identified gelsolin in a proteomics screen to identify proteins involved in inside‐out control of integrins using the lymphocytic leukemia cell line L1210. Furthermore, we showed that gelsolin was involved in affinity regulation of β1‐integrins in the leukemic cell line U937. Here, we examined how gelsolin regulates β1‐integrin affinity in the leukemia cell line L1210. We show that gelsolin is mainly expressed at the cell membrane and is present near β1‐integrins. The role for actin polymerization in integrin affinity regulation was examined using the actin modulating agent jasplakinolide, which decreased β1‐integrin affinity. Similarly, knock‐down of gelsolin in L1210 cells also decreased β1‐integrin affinity and cell adhesion to collagen. These data suggest that increased actin polymerization through gelsolin regulates β1‐integrin affinity and cell adhesion. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Simulation Study of Clock Recovery in QPSK and 9QPRS Systems

Computer simulation is employed to assess jitter performance of a clock recovery circuit as a function of the characteristics of the rectifier being used. Several types of rectifiers are compared, some operating at baseband, others at intermediate frequency (IF). It is shown that the best choice between them depends both on the modulation format and on the excess bandwidth factor of the pulse spectrum. In QPSK systems, fourth-law rectifiers outperform the others for rolloff factors up to 0.2 while, for higher values, baseband absolutevalue rectifiers are preferable. In the case of 9QPRS, baseband absolutevalue rectifiers provide jitter reductions of one order of magnitude at high signal-to-noise ratios.
Audio feature clustering for hearing aid systems

This paper presents a novel approach for classification of audio signals for a noise free hearing aid system. Due to the large number of people who suffer from hearing problems, the impact of developing such a system is significant. Using the proposed classification tool, we are able to discriminate the environmental noise from speech, and then prevent the noise signals from being magnified by the hearing aid. A set of features is extracted in the time-frequency domain due to the non-stationary nature of the signals. Then a novel classification method is applied, which is based on the self organizing tree maps clustering algorithm followed by a fuzzy labeling of the clusters. The result show an accuracy of 96% for sperating the human voice from the environmental noise.
Lck-dependent Fyn Activation Requires C Terminus-dependent Targeting of Kinase-active Lck to Lipid Rafts*

Mechanisms regulating the activation and delivery of function of Lck and Fyn are central to the generation of the most proximal signaling events emanating from the T cell antigen receptor (TcR) complex. Recent results demonstrate that lipid rafts (LR) segregate Lck and Fyn and play a fundamental role in the temporal and spatial coordination of their activation. Specifically, TcR-CD4 co-aggregation-induced Lck activation outside LR results in Lck translocation to LR where the activation of LR-resident Fyn ensues. Here we report a structure-function analysis toward characterizing the mechanism supporting Lck partitioning to LR and its capacity to activate co-localized Fyn. Using NIH 3T3 cells ectopically expressing FynT, we demonstrate that only LR-associated, kinase-active Y505FLck reciprocally co-immunoprecipitates with and activates Fyn. Mutational analyses revealed a profound reduction in the formation of Lck-Fyn complexes and Fyn activation, using kinase domain mutants K273R and Y394F of Y505FLck, both of which have profoundly compromised kinase activity. The only kinase-active Lck mutants tested that revealed impaired physical and enzymatic engagement with Fyn were those involving truncation of the C-terminal sequence YQPQP. Remarkably, sequential truncation of YQPQP resulted in an increasing reduction of kinase-active Lck partitioning to LR, in both fibroblasts and T cells. This in turn correlated with an ablation of the capacity of these truncates to enhance TcR-mediated interleukin-2 production. Thus, Lck-dependent Fyn activation is predicated by proximity-mediated transphosphorylation of the Fyn kinase domain, and targeting kinase-active Lck to LR is dependent on the C-terminal sequence QPQP.
Unusual low plasma levels of zinc in non-pregnant Congolese women

Zn is an essential trace element required throughout the life cycle. Although suboptimal Zn status is thought to be common in many sub-Saharan countries, there is a paucity of data in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The objective of the study was to determine Zn status in non-pregnant Congolese women. We measured plasma Zn and indicators of nutritional status (albumin, prealbumin, retinol-binding protein) and inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP), ceruloplasmin, α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP)) in seventy-seven lactating and thirty non-lactating women (mean age 28 and 31 years, respectively). Blood samples were collected in summer 1989 in rural Bas-Congo during a survey on Fe status. Mean lactation period was 8·3 months. Mean parity was higher in lactating (3·6) than in non-lactating (2·2) women (P < 0·05). Mean biochemical indicators of nutritional status, CRP and ceruloplasmin were within normal range and not different between groups. Mean AGP concentrations were above normal (>1·2 g/l) and higher in lactating (1·365 g/l) than in non-lactating (1·178 g/l) women (P < 0·05). Mean Zn concentration (540 μg/l) of the overall study population was below normal (700 μg/l); and the mean was lower in lactating (455 μg/l) than in non-lactating (759 μg/l) women (P < 0·05). Multiple regression analysis suggested that parity (P < 0·05), but not inflammation, was the most important factor associated with low Zn levels. Despite the lack of data on dietary intake, the results suggest that suboptimal Zn status may be common in the studied population.
Spurious Memory in Non-Equilibrium Stochastic Models of Imitative Behavior

The origin of the long-range memory in the non-equilibrium systems is still an open problem as the phenomenon can be reproduced using models based on Markov processes. In these cases a notion of spurious memory is introduced. A good example of Markov processes with spurious memory is stochastic process driven by a non-linear stochastic differential equation (SDE). This example is at odds with models built using fractional Brownian motion (fBm). We analyze differences between these two cases seeking to establish possible empirical tests of the origin of the observed long-range memory. We investigate probability density functions (PDFs) of burst and inter-burst duration in numerically obtained time series and compare with the results of fBm. Our analysis confirms that the characteristic feature of the processes described by a one-dimensional SDE is the power-law exponent $3/2$ of the burst or inter-burst duration PDF. This property of stochastic processes might be used to detect spurious memory in various non-equilibrium systems, where observed macroscopic behavior can be derived from the imitative interactions of agents.
Color Interpolation Algorithms in Visualizing Results of Numerical Simulations

Abstract: The paper addresses the application of graphical replenishment (GR) color interpolation algorithms for visualizing numerical simulation of physical processes in order to enhance the information density of the graphic interpretation of these processes. The GR algorithms presented here may be successfully applied to two‐ and three‐dimensional grids, and grids of various structures.
Clinical applications PET imaging in radiation oncology : clinical drivers , workflow and future applications

Diagnosis & staging F-FDG PET/CT* has become an essential tool for staging and restaging of various types of malignant tumors. For example, it can improve the accuracy of preoperative staging for ovarian cancer, especially for detection of metastatic disease outside of the pelvis (Figure 1). It has also been shown to have a significant impact on patient management [1, 2]. For example, Hillner et al. [3] showed that FDG imaging on patients scheduled to undergo biopsy rendered the interventional procedure unnecessary in approximately 70% of the cases.
A Prototype Biomarker Detector Combining Biomarker Extraction and Fixed Temperature PCR

PCR is the most sensitive molecular diagnostic available for infectious diseases. The goal for low-resource settings is a simple, inexpensive instrument. Toward this goal, we previously published a self-contained sample preparation instrument that uses magnetics and prearrayed reagents in thin tubing to extract nucleic acids and perform isothermal amplification and detection of extracted biomarkers. To incorporate PCR thermal cycling, after biomarker is magnetically extracted from a patient sample, the section of tubing containing the extracted biomarker and PCR reagents is alternately positioned within two constant temperature blocks. This instrument was evaluated initially by extracting and amplifying a 140 bp fragment of the IS6110 sequence of tuberculosis from TE buffer. The mean cycle threshold for 5 × 106 copies of IS6110 was 25.5 ± 1.5 cycles (n = 4), which was significantly different from negative control samples (34.0 ± 2.6 cycles; n = 3). Using a more clinically relevant sample, we extracted and amplified Plasmodium falciparum DNA from malaria-infected human blood cultures. The average cycle threshold for 1% parasitemia samples was 24.7 ± 1.5 cycles (n = 3) and significantly different from negatives (31.5 ± 2.1 cycles; n = 3). This approach integrates biomarker extraction, PCR amplification, and detection in a simple, linear tubing design with potential for use as a low-resource instrument.
Refractured Well Selection for Multicriteria Group Decision Making by Integrating Fuzzy AHP with Fuzzy TOPSIS Based on Interval-Typed Fuzzy Numbers

Multicriteria group decision making (MCGDM) research has rapidly been developed and become a hot topic for solving complex decision problems. Because of incomplete or non-obtainable information, the refractured well-selection problem often exists in complex and vague conditions that the relative importance of the criteria and the impacts of the alternatives on these criteria are difficult to determine precisely. This paper presents a new model for MCGDM by integrating fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with fuzzy TOPSIS based on interval-typed fuzzy numbers, to help group decision makers for well-selection during refracturing treatment. The fuzzy AHP is used to analyze the structure of the selection problem and to determine weights of the criteria with triangular fuzzy numbers, and fuzzy TOPSIS with interval-typed triangular fuzzy numbers is proposed to determine final ranking for all the alternatives. Furthermore, the algorithm allows finding the best alternatives. The feasibility of the proposed methodology is also demonstrated by the application of refractured well-selection problem and the method will provide a more effective decision-making tool for MCGDM problems.
State estimator for multisensor systems with irregular sampling and time-varying delays

This article addresses the state estimation in linear time-varying systems with several sensors with different availability, randomly sampled in time and whose measurements have a time-varying delay. The approach is based on a modification of the Kalman filter with the negative-time measurement update strategy, avoiding running back the full standard Kalman filter, the use of full augmented order models or the use of reorganisation techniques, leading to a lower implementation cost algorithm. The update equations are run every time a new measurement is available, independently of the time when it was taken. The approach is useful for networked control systems, systems with long delays and scarce measurements and for out-of-sequence measurements.