Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quadratic time-frequency distribution selection for seizure detection in the newborn

Several, recently proposed, newborn EEG seizure detection techniques use quadratic time-frequency distributions (QTFDs) to generate the time-frequency representations (TFRs) at their core. The specific type of QTFD that provides the best discrimination between the TFR of nonseizure and seizure epochs of EEG, however, has yet to be thoroughly investigated. This paper proposes the selection of an optimal QTFD that maximises the the absolute error between seizure and nonseizure QTFDs calculated on a database of newborn EEG. The optimisation procedure is a data driven process that selects the optimal QTFD based on the distribution of the absolute error between nonseizure/nonseizure QTFDs and the seizure/nonseizure QTFDs. Several non-adaptive QTFDs were selected for comparison and those selected were subjected to a restriction on the kernel's volume to ensure that the QTFD can accurately represent the time-frequency distribution of signal energy. The results show that a lag independent or narrowband QTFD such as the modified B distribution provides a QTFD that best highlights the difference in time-frequency signal energy between newborn EEG seizure and nonseizure.
Saline-jet aspiration thrombectomy catheter.

Purpose: To evaluate hydraulic thrombectomy using a saline-jet aspiration thrombectomy catheter in the treatment of venous thrombosis.Material and Methods: Ten patients underwent 12 hydraulic thrombectomy procedures using 2.7 or 4.0 mm catheters. The site of the thrombus was either central, peripheral or in portal veins. The age of the thrombi was between 2 and 60 days (mean 19.7 days). The efficacy of hydraulic thrombectomy was evaluated based on the aspirated thrombus ratio (ATR), i.e. the volume of the thrombus aspirated divided by the volume of the thrombus before thrombectomy. ATR was estimated by comparing the angiograms of the lesion before and after thrombectomy.Results: Soft thrombi were usually rapidly removed. ATR was >2/3 in 3, 2/3-1/3 in 2, 1/3-0 in 4, and 0 in 1 patient. The activation time of the injector was 23–224 s (mean 102 s) and the volume of aspirated blood was 30–680 ml (mean 250 ml). Compensatory infusion of saline was performed for blood loss, and 400 ml of packed red blood cells .
Should we reject animal source foods to save the planet? A review of the sustainability of global livestock production

Within the next 40 years, the global livestock industry will have to considerably increase production in order to supply the population with animal-source foods, yet the industry must concurrently improve the three metrics of sustainability – economic viability, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Environmental stewardship is currently the area for which animal agriculture is under the most scrutiny, as many consumers perceive that animal-source foods have an unacceptable environmental cost. These concerns are intensified by activist group campaigns propounding that reducing meat consumption will have significant environmental mitigation effects. Animal-source foods have been shown to be essential dietary components for improving health of inhabitants in developing regions, for whom such foods are often economically unavailable. Moreover, reducing meat consumption in developed countries has a negligible effect upon national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and leads to further questions with regards to the implications for use of animal and plant by-products, and the difficulty of producing human food crops on grazed pasturelands. Improving livestock productivity has positive sustainability implications as it reduces resource use and GHG emissions whilst improving economic viability, yet it is often difficult to attain consumer acceptance of modern best practices and technologies. Productivity metrics that enhance sustainability include milk and meat yield, growth rates, feed efficiency, calving rate, parasite control and use of growth-enhancing technologies. Keywords: Beef, dairy, carbon footprint, environmental impact, economics, social responsibility, resource use
Developmental and Regional Expression and Localization of mRNAs Encoding Proteins Involved in RNA Translocation

RNA localization is a regulated component of gene expression of fundamental importance in development and differentiation. Several RNA binding proteins involved in RNA localization during development in Drosophila have been identified, of which Y14, Mago, Pumilio, and IMP-1 are known to be expressed in adult mammalian intestine. The present study was undertaken to define the developmental and regional expression of these proteins, as well as Staufen-1, in mouse intestinal cells and in other tissues and cell lines using RT-PCR, and localization using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Staufen-1, Y14, Mago-m, and Pumilio-1 were expressed in intestinal epithelial cells of both villus and crypt and in Caco-2 and IEC-6 cells. In contrast, expression of IMP-1 was age- and region-specific, showing clear expression in distal fetal and newborn intestine, but very low or no expression in adult. The mRNAs were cytosolic, with more apical than basal expression in enterocytes. Staufen protein showed a similar localization pattern to that of its cognate mRNA. Overall, the data suggest an essential role for these proteins in intestinal cells. Age and regional expression of IMP-1 may indicate a role in regulation of site-specific translation of intestinal genes or in RNA localization.
Unintended Consequences of Cooperation Inducing and Maintaining Mechanisms in Public Goods Dilemmas: Sanctions and Moral Appeals

Research suggests that contribution to public goods (i.e. cooperation) will increase when groups use sanctions. We argue that when groups use rewards and punishments to induce members to cooperate in a social dilemma, individuals' natural propensity to cooperate may be reduced. Results from two laboratory experiments provide consistent support for our hypothesis. Specifically, we found that cooperation (in groups that adopted sanctioning systems, including both reward and punishment) decreased significantly following the removal of sanctioning systems. We also found that a moral appeal to cooperate was as effective as sanctions in inducing cooperation. Moreover, cooperation induced through appeals was more likely to sustain than that induced through sanctions. We found that people's trust in others' cooperation mediated the relationship between the use of sanctions and appeals and the level of cooperation after these inducing practices were removed. Implications of these results are discussed in the group and organizational context.
Molecular Signalling Mediating the Protective Effect of A1 Adenosine and mGlu3 Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Activation against Apoptosis by Oxygen/Glucose Deprivation in Cultured Astrocytes

Astrocyte death may occur in neurodegenerative disorders and complicates the outcome of brain ischemia, a condition associated with high extracellular levels of adenosine and glutamate. We show that pharmacological activation of A1 adenosine and mGlu3 metabotropic glutamate receptors with N6-chlorocyclopentyladenosine (CCPA) and (–)2-oxa-4-aminocyclo-[3.1. 0]hexane-4,6-dicarboxylic acid (LY379268), respectively, protects cultured astrocytes against apoptosis induced by a 3-h exposure to oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD). Protection by CCPA and LY379268 was less than additive and was abrogated by receptor blockade with selective competitive antagonists or pertussis toxin. Both in control astrocytes and in astrocytes exposed to OGD, CCPA and LY379268 induced a rapid activation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, which are known to support cell survival. In cultures exposed to OGD, CCPA and LY379268 reduced the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38/MAPK, reduced the levels of the proapoptotic protein Bad, increased the levels of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-XL, and were highly protective against apoptotic death, as shown by nuclear 4′-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining and measurements of caspase-3 activity. All of these effects were attenuated by treatment with 1,4-diamino-2,3-dicyano-1,4-bis(methylthio)butadiene (U0126) and 2-(4-morpholinyl)-8-phenyl-1(4H)-benzopyran-4-one hydrochloride (LY294002), which inhibit the MAPK and the PI3K pathways, respectively. These data suggest that pharmacological activation of A1 and mGlu3 receptors protects astrocytes against hypoxic/ischemic damage by stimulating the PI3K and ERK1/2 MAPK pathways.
Interaction between Btk TH and SH3 domain.

Several mechanisms are involved in the regulation of cellular signaling. Bruton tyrosine kinase (Btk) of the Tec family contains in the Tec homology (TH) domain a proline-rich region (PRR) capable of interacting with several SH3 domains. The Btk has the SH3 domain adjacent to the TH domain. CD and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to study the binding of two peptides corresponding to segments in the PRR to the Btk SH3 domain. The peptide for the N-terminal half of the PRR binds specifically, whereas the other peptide had hardly any affinity. The TH domain has about four times lower affinity to the SH3 domain than the peptide, 17.0 vs 3.9 microM. The interaction was further tested with an SH3 domain construct that contained the PRR. The two peptides cannot compete for the binding to the extended protein and the TH domain has two times lower affinity to the extended SH3 domain. The intra- or intermolecular interaction between the TH and SH3 domain might have regulatory function also in the other Tec family members.
"They May Be Pixels, But They're MY Pixels: " Developing a Metric of Character Attachment in Role-Playing Video Games

This paper proposes a new and reliable metric for measuring character attachment (CA), the connection felt by a video game player toward a video game character. Results of construct validity analyses indicate that the proposed CA scale has a significant relationship with self-esteem, addiction, game enjoyment, and time spent playing games; all of these relationships are predicted by theory. Additionally, CA levels for role-playing games differ significantly from CA levels of other character-driven games.
Fast Jacobi algorithm for non-orthogonal joint diagonalization of non-symmetric third-order tensors

We consider the problem of non-orthogonal joint diagonalization of a set of non-symmetric real-valued third-order tensors. This appears in many signal processing problems and it is instrumental in source separation. We propose a new Jacobi-like algorithm based on an LU decomposition of the so-called diagonalizing matrices. The parameters estimation is done entirely analytically following a strategy based on a classical inverse criterion and a fully decoupled estimation. One important point is that the diagonalization is directly done on the set of third-order tensors and not on their unfolded version. Computer simulations illustrate the overall good performances of the proposed algorithm.
The interplay of heuristic and systematic processing of social information

The heuristic-systematic model (HSM) provides a general theory of social information processing. It features two modes of social information processing, a relatively effortless, top-down heuristic mode and a more effortful, bottom-up systematic mode. The model assumes that social perceivers strike a balance between effort minimization and achieving confidence in their social judgments. The HSM emphasizes three broad motivational forces: accuracy, defence, and impression motivation. Both heuristic and systematic processing can serve either of the three motives and are capable of co-occurring in an additive or interactive fashion under specified conditions. In this chapter, we describe the HSM and present illustrative research based on the model in the areas of mood and persuasion as well as minority influence.
The effect of oral honey and pollen on postoperative intraabdominal adhesions.

BACKGROUND/AIMS We evaluated the effect of oral usage of honey and pollen, either separately or together, on postoperative intraabdominal adhesions. METHODS Forty rats were randomly separated into 4 groups of 10 rats each. Abrasion was performed on the cecum, and a patch of peritoneum located opposite to the cecal abrasion was completely dissected. Group 1 rats received no treatment; Group 2 rats received 4 g/kg/day honey; Group 3 rats received 4 g/kg/day pollen; and Group 4 rats received 4 g/kg/day honey and pollen mixed in equal amounts, in addition to the standard feeding for postoperative 21 days. All the rats were sacrificed on the 21st day. Following the adhesion scoring, tissue specimens of the peritoneum and bowel were subjected to histopathological investigation. The tissue and blood specimens were also taken for biochemical analysis to investigate the antioxidant capacity. RESULTS Adhesion scores were significantly different between the control and other groups. No dense adhesion was observed in the treatment groups. Tissue malondialdehyde levels were significantly different between the control and honey and honey+pollen groups. Superoxide dismutase and glutathione-peroxidase levels were significantly different between the control and other groups. Catalase levels were different between the control and honey groups. Plasma antioxidant levels were different between the control and other groups. The pathological scores for fibrosis and inflammation were significantly different between the control and other groups. CONCLUSIONS Honey and pollen were found to be effective in preventing postoperative intraabdominal adhesions, and these effects were thought to be a result of their antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties.
The IC model and code-switching

In his contribution Green proposes a very interesting model of bilingual speech processing, the inhibitory control (IC) model. The model's aim is to account for the way in which bilinguals control their two language systems. Although the model was not developed to account for code-switching, the author explicitly goes into implications of his model for code-switching and this makes it very relevant for linguists working in that field. Until now, psycholinguistic aspects of code-switching have received far less attention in the literature than the syntactic aspects of code-switching. The model therefore offers an excellent starting point for incorporating insights from psycholinguistics into code-switching research and vice versa.
Feature Selection and Classification of Spam on Social Networking Sites

Social networking sites (SNSs) see a variety of spam and scams targeted at their users. In contrast to the limited amounts of information available beyond message text and headers when analyzing email spam, spam on SNSs is often accompanied by a wealth of data on the sender, which can be used to build more accurate detection mechanisms. We analyze 4 million private messages as well as other public and private data from a popular social network in order to gain insight into the various features of spam messages and the accompanying user accounts data available to site operators. We use these insights to choose features that best differentiate spammers from legitimate, “ham,” users. Finally, we extract these features from the site’s data and use them to train and evaluate classifiers.
The Impact of Socio-Cultural Issues for African Students in the South African Distance Education Context

Open Distance Learning (ODL) takes place within different environments that are influenced by the social, cultural and political fields in which a student lives. This is particularly significant in South Africa where distance learning has been identified as the main system that should provide access to higher education for most students in the country. Through ODL, disadvantaged students can have access to higher education. This paper uses a socio-cultural framework to examine distance education students’ accounts of their experiences of learning. This study reveals aspects of the socio-cultural contexts that tend to be marginalised by ODL institutions. Resume L’apprentissage ouvert et a distance (AOD) se deroule dans divers environnements qui sont influences par les milieux social, culturel et politique dans lesquels un etudiant vit. Ceci est particulierement vrai en Afrique du Sud ou l’apprentissage a distance a ete identifie comme etant le principal dispositif pouvant offrir un acces aux etudes superieures, a la plupart des etudiants du pays. Par le biais de l’AOD, les etudiants moins fortunes peuvent acceder aux etudes superieures. Cette recherche emploie un cadre de reference socioculturel pour etudier les temoignages rendus par les etudiants au sujet de leurs experiences d’apprentissage. L’etude revele certains volets des contextes socioculturels qui tendent a etre marginalises par les etablissements d’AOD.
The Attitudes of Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers' towards Teaching Profession and Their Self-Efficacy about Using Instruction Materials

Accepted: 31.07. 2013 In this study, the attitudes of the pre-service social studies teachers to their teaching professions and their own perceptions towards the use of instruction materials have been determined; the relation between their attitude and own perception of self-sufficiency has been examined and the parameters such as university, gender and studying varieties have also been tried to be determined. The working group of this research that handled in survey model was consisted of 352 pre-service social studies teachers who have already taken “Instruction Technologies and Material Design” course. While analyzing the received data two way MANOVA and correlation analysis techniques were used. As a result of the research it was determined that the attitudes of the pre-service social studies teachers towards the teaching profession are positive; their perceptions towards the use of instruction materials are high and there is an intermediate positive relation between their attitudes towards the teaching profession and their perception of selfsufficiency towards teaching. It has been stated that the role of the gender is significant towards the attitude to teaching profession and teachers’ own perception of self-sufficiency about the use of instruction materials; the role of studying varieties and university is insignificant.
Exploring nomological link between automated service quality, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions with CRM performance indexing approach: Empirical evidence from Indian banking industry

Automation in service delivery has increased the consumers' expectation with regard to service quality and subsequently the perception of the same. Technology-driven services redefined quality dimensions and their subsequent impact on the behavioural outcomes of the consumers with specific reference to attitudinal loyalty and propensity to switch. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has further reinforced the operational aspects of a service provider by integrating the behavioural perspectives with technology. This paper attempts to explore the nomological link between automated service quality and its behavioural consequences with specific reference to consumers' attitudinal loyalty and their intention to switch or defect from their present service provider. The study further takes into consideration the moderating effects of the performance of the dimensions and attributes of customer relationship management by introducing a novel approach to CRM performance indexing. The cross-sectional study was carried out with the customers of State Bank of India at Asansol, Durgapur, Bolpur and Santiniketan in West Bengal, India. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to assess and validate the nomological relationship between the variables.
Association Between Rating of Respiratory Distress and Vital Signs, Severity of Illness, Intubation, and Mortality in Acutely Ill Subjects

BACKGROUND: When deciding whether mechanical ventilation is indicated, physicians integrate their findings on physical examination in a gestalt known as respiratory distress. Despite its importance, this gestalt is poorly understood. This study aims to describe the association between the rating of the severity of respiratory distress and vital signs, severity of illness, use of mechanical ventilation, and death. A prospective observational study with 1,134 consecutive subjects with uncertain triage evaluated by a critical care consult team was carried out in a public inner city teaching hospital. METHODS: After the initial evaluation of each patient, a critical care physician rated the level of respiratory distress. We recorded vital signs, diagnosis, and laboratory results and calculated the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score. We recorded if mechanical ventilation was initiated by 72 h and if the subject died during the hospitalization. RESULTS: The most common diagnoses were respiratory illnesses. Higher distress levels were associated with higher breathing frequency (20, 22, 27, and 30 breaths/min, P < .001) and heart rate (96, 101, 109, and 116 beats/min, P < .001) and lower SpO2 (97, 95, 93, and 92%, P < .001). These variables explain only a small portion of the variance of distress. Distress correlated weakly with the APACHE II score (r = 0.22, P = .001). Blood pressure, temperature, Glasgow coma scale score, and laboratory data were unrelated to the levels of distress. However, higher levels of distress correlated with intubation rates (5, 13, 27, and 41%, P < .001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for respiratory distress predicting intubation (0.72) was larger than that for breathing frequency (0.65). Distress was an independent predictor of intubation but not of death. CONCLUSIONS: A physician's rating of respiratory distress is independently predictive of intubation in 72 h. Vital signs explain only a small proportion of variance in distress; the other observations contributing to a physician's rating of distress must be determined.
An Adaptive and Integrated Low-Power Framework for Multicore Mobile Computing

Employing multicore in mobile computing such as smartphone and IoT (Internet of Things) device is a double-edged sword. It provides ample computing capabilities required in recent intelligent mobile services including voice recognition, image processing, big data analysis, and deep learning. However, it requires a great deal of power consumption, which causes creating a thermal hot spot and putting pressure on the energy resource in a mobile device. In this paper, we propose a novel framework that integrates two well-known low-power techniques, DPM (Dynamic Power Management) and DVFS (Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling) for energy efficiency in multicore mobile systems. The key feature of the proposed framework is adaptability. By monitoring the online resource usage such as CPU utilization and power consumption, the framework can orchestrate diverse DPM and DVFS policies according to workload characteristics. Real implementation based experiments using three mobile devices have shown that it can reduce the power consumption ranging from 22% to 79%, while affecting negligibly the performance of workloads.
The Touristic Construction of the "Emblematic" Sámi 1

This article examines the representations of Sámi culture in tourism. It is argued that Sámi culture is displayed in an "emblematic" form that promotes an idea of the Sámi as traditional and radically different from modern Norwegian culture. This touristic way of exhibiting culture is also found in other fields than tourism, and is in danger of reinforcing clear-cut ethnic boundaries in an area that should rather be understood by concepts such as hybridity. Finally, it is discussed how this touristic way of representing indigenous culture proceeds from a reasoning also found in political discourse.