Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimating loudness growth from tone-burst evoked responses.

Several studies have investigated the relationship between click-evoked auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) and loudness growth in human listeners. While some of these studies have reported promising results, showing a correlative relationship between click ABR and loudness growth as a function of level, additional studies are necessary to determine if similar results can be obtained with frequency-specific stimuli and more specific details of the loudness function can be derived from ABR recordings. The aims of this study, therefore, were to (1) develop a fully objective procedure that segments specific features of evoked, tone-burst ABR recordings, (2) investigate the feasibility of using information derived from these recordings for estimating frequency-specific loudness-growth functions, and (3) determine to what extent the loudness-growth estimation performance through ABR can be improved by controlling for residual noise levels and parametric fitting. Results from eight normal-hearing listeners using 1- and 4-kHz stimuli show that the average mean-square error of the loudness-growth estimation obtained through the procedure is comparable to that of standard psychoacoustical procedures used to estimate loudness growth. The data set has been made publicly available at www.physionet. org.
Design and Implementation of an Omnidirectional Wheelchair: Control System and Its Applications

With the accelerating development of aged tendency of population and rapid growth in the number of the disabled caused by diseases or injuries, the wheelchair with good performance for the aged and disabled is attracting the attention from the society. A wheelchair can provide the user with many benefits, such as maintaining mobility, continuing or broadening community and social activities, conserving strength and energy, and enhancing quality of life. The wheelchair body must be compact enough to go through narrow doorways. The wheelchair must be wide enough to prevent the patient from falling on the floor. A large footprint is therefore desirable for stability and safety, while wheelchairs must conform to dimensional constraints. For this reason, in this paper, we present the design and implementation of an omni directional wheelchair, which has a small size and can move easily in narrow spaces. We present the design of the proposed omni directional wheelchair and discuss some implementation and application issues.
The psychology of lottery gambling

Abstract This paper examines the major factors in the psychology of lottery gambling (including instant scratchcard lotteries and video lottery terminals) and argues that success is due to a number of simple and inter‐related factors. Part of the popularity of lotteries is that they offer a low cost chance of winning a very large jackpot prize, i.e. without the huge jackpot very few people would play. However, there are other important maintenance factors including: (i) successful advertising and television coverage; (ii) a general ignorance of probability theory; (iii) entrapment; (iv) manufacturing credibility; and (v) use of heuristics (e.g. illusion of control, flexible attributions, hindsight bias, availability bias, representativeness bias). The paper also argues that some types of lottery game (i.e. instant scratchcards and video lottery terminals) can stimulate excessive and problematic Play.
Purification of Native Survival of Motor Neurons Complexes and Identification of Gemin6 as a Novel Component*

The survival of motor neurons (SMN) protein, the product of the gene responsible for the motor neuron degenerative disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is part of a large macromolecular complex. The SMN complex is localized in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus and contains SMN, Gemin2, Gemin3, Gemin4, Gemin5, and a few not yet identified proteins. The SMN complex plays a key role in the biogenesis of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) and other ribonucleoprotein particles. As a step toward the complete characterization of the components of the SMN complex, we generated stable cell lines that express FLAG-tagged SMN or Gemin2 under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter. Native SMN complexes of identical protein composition to those isolated by immunoprecipitation with anti-SMN antibodies were purified by affinity chromatography from extracts of both cell lines. Here we report the identification by mass spectrometry of a novel protein component of the SMN complex termed Gemin6. Co-immunoprecipitation, immunolocalization, and in vitro binding experiments demonstrate that Gemin6 is a component of the SMN complex that localizes to gems and interacts with several Sm proteins of the spliceosomal snRNPs.
Leadership: a paradigm shift

T his article is rooted in the spirit of dissidence. As such, its intention is to provoke reaction, to prompt discussion based on the re-evaluation of the assumptions in which much of the present understanding of ‘leadership’ is bogged-down. It advances a new paradigm for leadership that requires nothing less than metannoia, a total turn about in perception, preconception and I would add, misconception of the term. As such, it engages a broad sweep of human history to highlight specific areas for discussion and inevitable argument. It does not simply offer enlightenment, but rather seeks to throw the conceptual lens through which we view power and its relationships into confusion. It offers no easy answers, just difficult – but necessary – questions. It not only demands a deconstruction of much of our present understanding of ‘leadership’ in which the focus on ‘leader’ is rejected, but asserts that the so-called ‘leadership’ that relies on ‘leaders’ is essentially flawed to such as extent that over the centuries it has done immeasurable damage to ourselves, our world and possibly our future as a species. By attacking definitions of leadership that rely on designations of “leader” and “led” I hope that constructive dialogues can be engendered that will lead to active discussion at all levels to enable the formulation of a new paradigm of leadership that allows the inclusion for the overall benefit of all. Mention ‘leadership’and the word evokes images of historical leaders, boards of management, heads of industry, of education and the public service sector, as well as leading political figures. The aim of this article is to overturn this inadequate and ineffective picture of leadership and to replace it with a much more concrete, coherent and factual understanding that will greatly benefit development both at the individual and organisational level of human enterprise. To achieve this we will need to challenge the current, and generally accepted, notion of leadership and directly address its inherent contradictions, contradictions that tend to lessen the possibility of any positive results that the exercise of leadership could bring. So the task is to deconstruct much of our present notion of leadership, and to do so by focusing on the tangled issue of leaders and leadership with the aim of disconnecting the former from the latter. The same needs to be done in relation to the present confusion that tends to exist between management and leadership, as well as examining the possibility of establishing a more authentic understanding of leadership that can be applied throughout organisational life for the benefit of all. Once we have established leadership as a positive entity in its own right, only then can the adoption and exercise of leadership play a decisive and constructive role in organisational development. I have called this article ‘Leadership: a Paradigm Shift’. For the reason why it is so-called let us turn to the work of the philosopher Michael Polanyi. In his 1958 book ‘Personal Knowledge’ and ‘The Study of Man’ (1959) he expounded his new philosophy of Leadership: a paradigm shift
Some generalizations of linear cyclic pursuit

In this paper, the behaviour of a group of autonomous mobile agents under cyclic pursuit is studied. Cyclic pursuit is a simple distributed control law, in which the agent i pursues agent i+1 modulo n. The agents are assumed to be linear and identical, with no kinematic constraints on motion. It is shown here that the point of convergence of the system of agents is a function of the controller gain. The bounds on the controller gain for convergence to occur is also studied. The results generalize available results in the literature.
Hierarchies of local-optimality characterizations in decoding Tanner codes

Recent developments in decoding Tanner codes with maximum-likelihood certificates are based on a sufficient condition called local optimality. We define hierarchies of locally optimal codewords with respect to two parameters. One parameter is related to the minimum distance of the local codes in Tanner codes. The second parameter is related to the finite number of iterations used in iterative decoding. We show that these hierarchies satisfy inclusion properties as these parameters are increased. In particular, this implies that a codeword that is decoded with a certificate using an iterative decoder after h iterations is decoded with a certificate after k·h iterations, for every integer k.
AMD 3DNow! technology: architecture and implementations

The AMD-K6-2 microprocessor is the first implementation of AMD 3DNow! , a technology innovation for the x86 architecture that drives today's personal computers. 3DNow! technology is a set of 21 new instructions designed to open the traditional processing bottlenecks for floating-point-intensive and multimedia applications. Using these instructions, applications can implement more powerful solutions to create a more entertaining and productive PC platform. Examples of the type of improvements that 3DNow! technology enables are faster frame rates on high-resolution scenes, better physical modeling of real-world environments, sharper and more detailed 3D imaging, smoother video playback, and near theater-quality audio. Future AMD processors such as the AMD-K7, designed to operate at frequencies greater than 500 MHz, should provide even higher performance implementations of 3DNow! technology.
The Effects of Self-Talk and Augmented Feedback on Learning the Tennis Forehand

This study compared the effects of self-talk strategy (ST) and knowledge of performance (KP) feedback on learning the forehand tennis groundstroke. Three experimental groups met during their regular tennis class for seven days to examine the interactions between ST and feedback (FB). The instructors (N = 3) taught three groups of eight randomly assigned participants using scripted lessons, one group under each condition (ST with KP, ST without KP, and KP only). Four dependent measures: (a) outcome scores, (b) movement sequence scores, (c) percentage of correct trials, and (d) feedback statement analyses were examined separately. The movement sequence scores of the participants using ST strategy significantly exceeded those of the FB group. An examination of the percentage of correct trials during acquisition revealed the positive impact of ST early in the learning process, and displayed reasons for the marked differences in KP provided to each group. The findings indicate that ST can enhance learning the tennis forehand even when KP is unavailable.
Human Papillomavirus Vaccination of Boys and Extended Catch-up Vaccination: Effects on the Resilience of Programs.

BACKGROUND Decreasing human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine prices makes scaling up of vaccination programs attractive for countries that initially targeted 1 or a few birth cohorts of girls and/or achieved low coverage. This article aims to compare the impact of alternative HPV vaccination strategies, using data from Sweden, a high-income country that has experienced vaccine price changes. METHODS Using an HPV transmission model, we compared the existing vaccination program to alternatives, accounting for a 1-time catch-up vaccination of 22-26-year-old women, with or without routine vaccination of school-age boys, and for a 1-time catch-up vaccination of males aged 13-26 years. We also assessed the resilience of vaccination alternatives to coverage reduction. RESULTS On the basis of an HPV16/18 prevalence of 12% before the HPV vaccine era, extended catch-up vaccination for females and males yielded relative reductions in the HPV prevalence of 49.4% and 55.6%, respectively, during the first 10 years after the start of each vaccination strategy, whereas the existing program yielded a relative reduction of 38.6% during the same period. The increased prevalence reduction due to catch-up vaccination continued for about 30 years. As compared to female-only routine and extended catch-up vaccination, routine vaccination of males with or without catch-up was, respectively, 12.6-fold and 7.2-fold more resilient to coverage reduction. CONCLUSIONS Vaccination strategies based on catch-up vaccination of females and males are effective for accelerating HPV prevalence reduction. Inclusion of routine male vaccination improves the resilience of vaccination programs.
Piezo‐Phototronic Effect on Selective Electron or Hole Transport through Depletion Region of Vis–NIR Broadband Photodiode

Silicon underpins nearly all microelectronics today and will continue to do so for some decades to come. However, for silicon photonics, the indirect band gap of silicon and lack of adjustability severely limit its use in applications such as broadband photodiodes. Here, a high‐performance p‐Si/n‐ZnO broadband photodiode working in a wide wavelength range from visible to near‐infrared light with high sensitivity, fast response, and good stability is reported. The absorption of near‐infrared wavelength light is significantly enhanced due to the nanostructured/textured top surface. The general performance of the broadband photodiodes can be further improved by the piezo‐phototronic effect. The enhancement of responsivity can reach a maximum of 78% to 442 nm illumination, the linearity and saturation limit to 1060 nm light are also significantly increased by applying external strains. The photodiode is illuminated with different wavelength lights to selectively choose the photogenerated charge carriers (either electrons or holes) passing through the depletion region, to investigate the piezo‐phototronic effect on electron or hole transport separately for the first time. This is essential for studying the basic principles in order to develop a full understanding about piezotronics and it also enables the development of the better performance of optoelectronics.
Research Note - Can't Buy Me Love...Or Can I? Social Capital Attainment Through Conspicuous Consumption in Virtual Environments

Conspicuous consumption affects anyone who cares about social status; it has intrigued sociologists and economists for more than 100 years. The idea that conspicuous consumption can increase social status, as a form of social capital, has been broadly accepted, yet researchers have not been able to test this effect empirically. In this work, we provide empirical evidence by analyzing the digital footprints of purchases and social interactions in different virtual worlds. We use a multimethod approach, such that we both analyze transactional data and conduct a randomized field experiment. Virtual worlds, as artificial laboratories, offer the opportunity to analyze the social capital of their inhabitants, subsequent to their purchase of virtual prestige goods, which provides a means to empirically test hypotheses that would be nearly impossible to test in real-world settings. Our results are consistent with the notion that conspicuous consumption represents an investment in social capital.
Learning to Build a Better Mousetrap

The state of research on media effects is one of the most notable embarrassments of modern social science. The pervasiveness of the mass media and their virtual monopoly over the presentation of many kinds of information must suggest to reasonable observers that what these media say and how they say it has enormous social and political consequences. Nevertheless, the scholarly literature has been much better at refuting, qualifying, and circumscribing the thesis of media impact than at supporting it. (Bartels, 1993, p. 267) *As director, adjunct professor, and former student, respectively.
Characterization of graph-cover pseudocodewords of codes over F3

Linear-programming pseudocodewords play a pivotal role in our understanding of the linear-programming decoding algorithms. These pseudocodewords are known to be equivalent to the graph-cover pseudocodewords. The latter pseudocodewords, when viewed as points in the multidimensional Euclidean space, lie inside a fundamental cone. This fundamental cone depends on the choice of a parity-check matrix of a code, rather than on the choice of the code itself. The cone does not depend on the channel, over which the code is employed. The knowledge of the boundaries of the fundamental cone could help in studying various properties of the pseudocodewords, such as their minimum pseudoweight, pseudoredundancy of the codes, etc. For the binary codes, the full characterization of the fundamental cone was derived by Koetter et al. However, if the underlying alphabet is large, such characterization becomes more involved. In this work, a characterization of the fundamental cone for codes over F3 is discussed.
Appendages of the Cyanobacterial Cell

Extracellular non-flagellar appendages, called pili or fimbriae, are widespread in gram-negative bacteria. They are involved in many different functions, including motility, adhesion, biofilm formation, and uptake of DNA. Sequencing data for a large number of cyanobacterial genomes revealed that most of them contain genes for pili synthesis. However, only for a very few cyanobacteria structure and function of these appendages have been analyzed. Here, we review the structure and function of type IV pili in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and analyze the distribution of type IV pili associated genes in other cyanobacteria. Further, we discuss the role of the RNA-chaperone Hfq in pilus function and the presence of genes for the chaperone-usher pathway of pilus assembly in cyanobacteria.
Fabrication and Characterization of a Tunable In-plane Resonator with Low Driving Voltage

This study presents the fabrication and characterization of a micromechanical tunable in-plane resonator. The resonator is manufactured using the commercial 0.35 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The resonator is made of aluminum, and the sacrificial layer is silicon dioxide. The post-process involves only one maskless etching step using an etchant to remove the sacrificial layer. The resonator includes three parts: a driving part to provide a driving force, a sensing part that is used to detect a change in capacitance when the resonator is vibrating, and a tuning part that changes the resonant frequency of the resonator. The main advantages of the tunable resonator are a low driving voltage and compatibility with the CMOS process. The resonant frequency of the resonator can be changed upon applying a dc voltage to the tuning part. To reduce the driving voltage, the driving part is designed as comb-finger rows. Experimental results show that the resonator has a resonant frequency of about 183 kHz and a driving voltage of 10 V; the resonant frequency increases 14 kHz when a tuning voltage of 30 V is applied. The resonator has a maximum frequency–tuning ratio of 7.6%.
Knapsack Problems: A Parameterized Point of View

The knapsack problem (KP) is a very famous NP-hard problem in combinatorial optimization. Also its generalization to multiple dimensions named d-dimensional knapsack problem (d-KP) and to multiple knapsacks named multiple knapsack problem (MKP) are well known problems. Since KP, d-KP, and MKP are integer-valued problems defined on inputs of various informations, we study the fixed-parameter tractability of these problems. The idea behind fixed-parameter tractability is to split the complexity into two parts - one part that depends purely on the size of the input, and one part that depends on some parameter of the problem that tends to be small in practice. Further we consider the closely related question, whether the sizes and the values can be reduced, such that their bit-length is bounded polynomially or even constantly in a given parameter, i.e. the existence of kernelizations is studied. We discuss the following parameters: the number of items, the threshold value for the profit, the sizes, the profits, the number d of dimensions, and the number m of knapsacks. We also consider the connection of parameterized knapsack problems to linear programming, approximation, and pseudo-polynomial algorithms.
Identifying the Shortest Path in Large Networks using Boolean Satisfiability

Today, most routing problems are solved using Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. Many efficient implementations of Dijkstra's algorithm exist and can handle large networks in short runtimes. Despite these advances, it is difficult to incorporate user-specific conditions on the solution when using Dijkstra's algorithm. Such conditions can include forcing the path to go through a specific node, forcing the path to avoid a specific node, using any combination of inclusion/exclusion of nodes in the path, etc. In this paper, we propose a new approach to solving the shortest path problem using advanced Boolean satisfiability (SAT) techniques. SAT has been heavily researched in the last few years. Significant advances have been proposed and has lead to the development of powerful SAT solvers that can handle very large problems. SAT solvers use intelligent search algorithms that can traverse the search space and efficiently prune parts that contain no solutions. These solvers have recently been used to solve many problems in engineering and computer science. In this paper, we show how to formulate the shortest path problem as a SAT problem. Our approach is verified on various network topologies. The results are promising and indicate that using the proposed approach can improve on previous techniques
Correlates of Suicidal Ideation and Attempts in a Community Sample of Junior High and High School Students

We administered a questionnaire anonymously to 1,384 junior high and high school students. Results indicated that 36% of these adolescents had experienced suicidal thoughts in the past year; 7% reported having made a suicide attempt. Nearly half (n = 48) of the students experiencing "extremely troubling" suicidal ideation reported having made an attempt. Females, ninth graders, and students of low socioeconomic status (SES) were most at risk for experiencing suicidal thoughts, whereas females and low-SES students were most at risk for suicide attempts. Suicidal ideation and attempts were associated with more negative life events, lower levels of family support, and lower levels of adjustment. Finally, analyses revealed that, whereas demographic variables were only weak predictors of suicidal ideation and attempts, subsets of other variables such as life events, social support, and adjustment strongly enhanced the ability to predict suicidal behavior.