Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Co-occurring Substance Use on Gamma-hydroxybutyric Acid Withdrawal Syndrome

Objectives:Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) withdrawal is a complex syndrome which can be potentially life-threatening. Additionally, GHB-dependent patients frequently report co-occurring substance use of other psychoactive drugs. We assessed the add-on effect of co-use on GHB withdrawal symptoms. Methods:We conducted an open-label, pretest–posttest design study with 95 patients selected from 229 inpatients admitted for detoxification, who were divided into GHB only (GO, n = 40), GHB plus sedatives (GSE, n = 38), and GHB plus stimulants (GST, n = 17) groups. GHB withdrawal was evaluated by means of the Subjective Withdrawal Scale. Co-use add-on effects on the severity of withdrawal symptoms were evaluated 2.5 hours after the last illicit GHB self-administration (T1) when withdrawal was expected and 2.5 hours later, after administration of a very low dose of pharmaceutical GHB (T2). Results:The GO group reported high scores of psychomotor retardation symptoms at both T1 and T2, and also high cravings, agitation, and restlessness at T1, and anxiety at T2. The GSE group reported the highest score in psycho-autonomic distress symptoms at both T1 and T2, whereas the GST group reported the highest score in psycho-motor stress factor at T2. There was no significant difference in withdrawal intensity in all symptom clusters between T1 and T2 for both GSE and GO groups. However, after 5 hours, the GST group reported significant decreases in intensity for all symptoms except for psycho-motor stress. At T1, GST and GSE groups reported more muscle twitches than the GO group as a significant add-on effect to the GHB withdrawal. At T2, the GST group experienced more agitation (P = 0.009), restlessness (P = 0.001), and rapid pulse (P = 0.034) than the GO group. Conclusions:Co-use, especially of stimulants, caused an add-on effect on the GHB withdrawal symptoms within the first 5 hours.
MagBoard: Magnetic-Based Ubiquitous Homomorphic Off-the-Shelf Keyboard

One of the main methods for interacting with mobile devices today is the error-prone and inflexible touch-screen keyboard. This paper proposes MagBoard: a homomorphic ubiquitous keyboard for mobile devices. MagBoard allows application developers and users to design and print different custom keyboards for the same applications to fit different user's needs. The core idea is to leverage the triaxial magnetometer embedded in standard mobile phones to accurately localize the location of a magnet on a virtual grid superimposed on the printed keyboard. This is achieved through a once in a lifetime fingerprint. MagBoard also provides a number of modules that allow it to cope with background magnetic noise, heterogeneous devices, different magnet shapes, sizes, and strengths, as well as changes in magnet polarity. Our implementation of MagBoard on Android phones with extensive evaluation in different scenarios demonstrates that it can achieve a key detection accuracy of more than 91% for keys as small as 2cm × 2cm, reaching 100% for 4cm×4cm keys. This accuracy is robust with different phones and magnets, highlighting MagBoard promise as a homomorphic ubiquitous keyboard for mobile devices.
Association of Albuminuria and Cancer Mortality

Background: The objective was to evaluate the association of albuminuria with cancer mortalities in adults ages 50 and older. Methods: A total of 6,112 adults ages 50 years and above without a history of cancer at baseline in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994) were included in the analysis. Albuminuria was measured with urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) in mg/mmol. Cancer mortality was obtained from the NHANES III–linked follow-up database (up to December 31, 2006). Cox-regression models were used to examine the associations of interest. Results: Albuminuria was present in 705 men (17.5%) and 592 women (14.3%). During an average follow-up of 149 months, 613 subjects died of cancers including 184 lung cancers, 65 colorectal cancers, 55 prostate cancers, and 309 other cancers. There was an increased mortality risk associated with logarithmically transformed UACR for all-cancer [relative risk (RR), 1.20; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06-1.36], lung cancer (RR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.05-1.43), and prostate cancer mortality (RR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.01-1.95) in men. No associations between UACR and cancer were apparent in women. Conclusions: The analysis shows that albuminuria is associated with an increased risk of cancer death, specifically for all-cause, lung, and prostate cancers in men ages 50 and above. Impact: Further studies are needed to explore the relationship between albuminuria and specific cancers. Understanding the biological link between albuminuria and cancer will be critical for determining whether albuminuria represents an early marker or a potential therapeutic target. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 19(11); 2950–7. ©2010 AACR.
Misconceiving Regional/Local Tensions: Two case studies from Tasmania

While tensions between the imperatives of regional, state and national development and local autonomy are common, there is no necessary trade-off between the two since regional development can co-exist with a vibrant system of local government. However, this is often not readily appreciated in Australian policy debates, which frequently juxtapose regional and local governance structures. This paper examines two cases studies of this approach in Tasmania, which have generated bitter controversy, in the form of the Southern Tasmania Council Association (STCA) sponsored Independent Panel into Local Government in the Southern Tasmania regional area which produced a Final Report (the 'Munro Report') entitled Independent Review of Structures for Local Governance and Service Delivery in Southern Tasmania and the Tasmanian Division of the Property Council of Australia sponsored Deloitte Access Economics (2011) Report entitled Local Government Structural Reform in Tasmania. It is argued that both documents err poorly in both conceptual and empirical terms and this renders their recommendations for radical local government amalgamation fatally flawed.
Virtual View Synthesis using Visual Hulls

Virtual view synthesis refers to the process of generating a novel view of a scene, or object, from a set of reference views. The novel view represents what would be seen from a particular viewpoint that does not coincide with the reference cameras. This paper discusses the implementation and evaluation of two approaches to virtual view synthesis. They are both based on the concept of the visual hull of an object and are therefore suited to generating novel views of objects rather than of whole scenes. The evaluation of the implementations is based exclusively on the visual quality of the synthesized view. The novel views that are generated are compared to additional views of the scene that were not used in the synthesis process. For this purpose a measure of error is formulated to quantify the differences between the rendered virtual views and the
Zum Dilemma der medikamentösen Frühintervention bei präpsychotischen Zuständen in der Adoleszenz

Es gilt als inzwischen weitgehend erwiesen, dass die Fruhbehandlung von schizophrenen Psychosen den ansonsten in der Mehrzahl ungunstigen Verlauf der Erkrankung positiv beeinflusst. Der Aufsatz fasst klinisch relevantes Wissen uber die Fruherkennung und -behandlung schizophrener Psychosen in der Adoleszenz zusammen. Es wird auf die Schwierigkeiten in der Differentialdiagnose und Besonderheiten in der Therapie in dieser Altersgruppe hingewiesen. Eine umfassende wiederholte Diagnostik bei Verdacht auf prodromale Symptome einer Schizophrenie bzw. bei psychotischen Zustanden ist vonnoten. Es wird fur eine fruh einsetzende einschleichende niederdosierte Therapie mit atypischen Neuroleptika pladiert, um die "psychotische Katastrophe", also den Ausbruch des vollen Krankheitsbildes zu verhindern. Die Pharmakotherapie sollte in einen intensiven multimodalen Behandlungsplan eingebettet sein. Die langfristige Therapie- und Beziehungskontinuitat scheinen den Erfolg positiv zu beeinflussen. Schlagworter: Psychose - Schizophrenie - Adoleszenz - Fruhintervention - Pharmakotherapie It will be largely supposed that early intervention in schizophrenia improves the outcome of the illness. The paper summarizes the up today significant knowledge about the early recognition and treatment of schizophrenic psychosis in the adolescence. It will be pointed at the diagnostic difficulties and peculiarities in this age group. A comprehensive repeated assessment is necessery if prodromal symptoms of schizophrenia respectively psychotic states have to be taken in account. It will be pleaded for a early low dosis therapy with atypical neuroleptics to prevent the "psychotic catastrophe", that means the full outbreak of the disease. The pharmacotherapy schould be a part of an intensive multimodal treatment programm. The longstanding continuity of the relations to one and the same treatment setting and therapist responsible for it seems to influence the outcome positively. Keywords: psychosis - schizophrenia - adolescence - early intervention - pharmacotherapy
A Flexible Bayesian Model for Studying Gene–Environment Interaction

An important follow-up step after genetic markers are found to be associated with a disease outcome is a more detailed analysis investigating how the implicated gene or chromosomal region and an established environment risk factor interact to influence the disease risk. The standard approach to this study of gene–environment interaction considers one genetic marker at a time and therefore could misrepresent and underestimate the genetic contribution to the joint effect when one or more functional loci, some of which might not be genotyped, exist in the region and interact with the environment risk factor in a complex way. We develop a more global approach based on a Bayesian model that uses a latent genetic profile variable to capture all of the genetic variation in the entire targeted region and allows the environment effect to vary across different genetic profile categories. We also propose a resampling-based test derived from the developed Bayesian model for the detection of gene–environment interaction. Using data collected in the Environment and Genetics in Lung Cancer Etiology (EAGLE) study, we apply the Bayesian model to evaluate the joint effect of smoking intensity and genetic variants in the 15q25.1 region, which contains a cluster of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor genes and has been shown to be associated with both lung cancer and smoking behavior. We find evidence for gene–environment interaction (P-value = 0.016), with the smoking effect appearing to be stronger in subjects with a genetic profile associated with a higher lung cancer risk; the conventional test of gene–environment interaction based on the single-marker approach is far from significant.
Decentralized Information Particle Filter for Passive Tracking in Sensor Networks

A decentralized information particle filtering (IPF) algorithm for improving the passive tracking performance and reducing communication amount in wireless sensor networks is proposed in this paper. Dynamic clusters are organized according to the current position of the target, and the decentralized information extended Kalman filter is used to deal with passive tracking problem. The information filter framework is used to incorporate the newest observation into the proposal distribution of the IPF, and detailed implementation steps of the IPF are deduced based on dynamic clustering scheme. Computer simulation is conducted to compare tracking performance and analyze communication amount. Simulation results show that the dynamic clustering structure reduces the communication amount during the tracking, and the IPF has similar good performance in tracking accuracy but lower communication cost than the centralized particle filter.
Familial influences on the full range of variability in attention and activity levels during adolescence: A longitudinal twin study

Abstract To investigate familial influences on the full range of variability in attention and activity across adolescence, we collected maternal ratings of 339 twin pairs at ages 12, 14, and 16, and estimated the transmitted and new familial influences on attention and activity as measured by the Strengths and Weaknesses of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Normal Behavior Scale. Familial influences were substantial for both traits across adolescence: genetic influences accounted for 54%–73% (attention) and 31%–73% (activity) of the total variance, and shared environmental influences accounted for 0%–22% of the attention variance and 13%–57% of the activity variance. The longitudinal stability of individual differences in attention and activity was largely accounted for by familial influences transmitted from previous ages. Innovations over adolescence were also partially attributable to familial influences. Studying the full range of variability in attention and activity may facilitate our understanding of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder's etiology and intervention.
Estimation of large toeplitz covariance matrices and application to source detection

In this paper, performance results of two types of Toeplitz covariance matrix estimators are provided. Concentration inequalities for the spectral norm for both estimators have been derived showing exponential convergence of the error to zero. It is shown that the same rates of convergence are obtained in the case where the aggregated matrix of time samples is corrupted by a rank one matrix. As an application based on this model, source detection by a large dimensional sensor array with temporally correlated noise is studied.
LDL Cholesterol Modulates Human CD34+ HSPCs through Effects on Proliferation and the IL-17 G-CSF Axis

Background Hypercholesterolemia plays a critical role in atherosclerosis. CD34+ CD45dim Lineage- hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) give rise to the inflammatory cells linked to atherosclerosis. In mice, high cholesterol levels mobilize HSPCs into the bloodstream, and promote their differentiation to granulocytes and monocytes. The objective of our study was to determine how cholesterol levels affect HSPC quantity in humans. Methods We performed a blinded, randomized hypothesis generating study in human subjects (n=12) treated sequentially with statins of differing potencies to vary lipid levels. CD34+ HSPC levels in blood were measured by flow cytometry. Hematopoietic colony forming assays confirmed the CD34+ population studied as HSPCs with multlineage differentiation potential. Mobilizing cytokine levels were measured by ELISA. Results The quantity of HSPCs was 0.15 ± 0.1% of buffy coat leukocytes. We found a weak, positive correlation between CD34+ HSPCs and both total and LDL cholesterol levels (r2=0.096, p < 0.025). Additionally, we tested whether cholesterol modulates CD34+ HSPCs through direct effects or on the levels of mobilizing cytokines. LDL cholesterol increased cell surface expression of CXCR4, G-CSFR affecting HSPC migration, and CD47 mediating protection from phagocytosis by immune cells. LDL cholesterol also increased proliferation of CD34+ HSPCs (28 ± 5.7%, n=6, p < 0.03). Finally, the HSPC mobilizing cytokine G-CSF (r2=0.0683, p < 0.05), and its upstream regulator IL-17 (r2=0.0891, p < 0.05) both correlated positively with LDL cholesterol, while SDF-1 levels were not significantly affected. Conclusions Our findings support a model where LDL cholesterol levels positively correlate with CD34+ HSPC levels in humans through effects on the levels of G-CSF via IL-17 promoting mobilization of HSPCs, and by direct effects of LDL cholesterol on HSPC proliferation. The findings are provocative of further study to determine if HSPCs, like cholesterol levels, are linked to CVD events.
A cloud model of active galactic nuclei: the iron Kα line diagnostics

The origin and the profile of the iron Kα line from active galactic nuclei are studied. The model with a quasi-spherical distribution of clouds around a compact galactic nucleus is explored, in which the intrinsic spectral feature around 6–7 keV is substantially affected by Comptonization of primary X-rays. The predicted spectral profiles are influenced mainly by the motion of the clouds in the strong gravitational field of the centre, and by the orientation of the source with respect to the observer. The case of the Seyfert galaxy MCG–6-30-15 is examined in more detail and free parameters of the model are determined. A robust result is obtained: acceptable fits to the observed profile correspond to a spherical distribution of the clouds with strong self-obscuration effects and with a rather high value of ionization parameter. This is a different situation from that considered in the model of a cold illuminated disc. Nevertheless, geometrically flat (disc-type) configurations are not rejected.
Neuroscience of Leadership

Abstract This chapter overviews how neuroscience can provide a new lens to understand leadership processes in organizations. We describe how neurological scanning can be applied to leadership research, as well as its potential advantages over more traditional techniques, such as surveys. Research to date is summarized pertaining to how neuroscience can inform such conceptualizations as transformational, complex/adaptive, and ethical forms of leadership. Findings indicate that effective versus not-so-effective leaders can be distinguished neurologically, and such assessment can benefit the prediction of important leadership outcomes. We caution that context needs to be taken into account in that not only can neurological variables associated with leaders affect organizational behavior and outcomes, but it is equally important to understand how the context can affect neurological qualities of individuals. Finally, we describe how it may be possible to use neurofeedback techniques to help develop leadership qualities of people in industry and in education programs, such as those in business schools.
Role of divalent metal ions in the hammerhead RNA cleavage reaction.

A hammerhead self-cleaving domain composed of two oligoribonucleotides was used to study the role of divalent metal ions in the cleavage reaction. Cleavage rates were measured as a function of MgCl2, MnCl2, and CaCl2 concentration in the absence or presence of spermine. In the presence of spermine, the rate vs metal ion concentration curves are broader, and lower concentrations of divalent ions are necessary for catalytic activity. This suggests that spermine can promote proper folding of the hammerhead and one or more divalent ions are required for the reaction. Six additional divalent ions were tested for their ability to support hammerhead cleavage. In the absence of spermine, rapid cleavage was observed with Co2+ while very slow cleavage occurred with Sr2+ and Ba2+. No detectable specific cleavage was observed with Cd2+, Zn2+, or Pb2+. However, in the presence of 0.5 mM spermine, rapid cleavage was observed with Zn2+ and Cd2+, and the rate with Sr2+ was increased, indicating that while these three ions could not promote proper folding of the hammerhead they were able to stimulate cleavage. These results suggest certain divalent ions either participate directly in the cleavage mechanism or are specifically involved in stabilizing the tertiary structure of the hammerhead. Additionally, an altered divalent metal ion specificity was observed when a unique phosphorothioate linkage was inserted at the cleavage site. The substitution of a sulfur for a nonbridging oxygen atom substantially reduced the affinity of an important Mg2+ ion necessary for efficient cleavage. In contrast, the reaction proceeds normally with Mn2+, presumably due to its ability to coordinate with both oxygen and sulfur. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Switching activity estimation of large circuits using multiple Bayesian networks

Switching activity estimation is a crucial step in estimating dynamic power consumption in CMOS circuits. In this work, we propose a new strategy for efficient segmentation of large circuits so that they can be mapped to Multiple Bayesian Networks (MBN). The goal here is to achieve higher accuracy while reducing the memory requirements during the computation. In order to capture the correlations among the boundaries of segments, a tree dependent (TD) distribution is proposed between the segment boundaries such that the TD distribution is closest to the actual distribution of switching variable with some distance criterion. We use a Maximum Weight Spanning Tree (MWST) based approximation using mutual information between two variables at the boundary as the weight of the edge between the variables. Experimental results for ISCAS'85 circuits show that the proposed method improves accuracy significantly over other methods.
Performance Improvement in the Analysis and Classification of Telugu Emotion Speech Signals Based on FFBNN

Speech processing is the study of speech signals, and the methods used to process them. In application such as speech coding, speech synthesis, speech recognition and speaker recognition technology, speech processing is employed. In speech classification, the computation of prosody effects from speech signals plays a major role. In emotional speech signals pitch and frequency is a most important parameters. Normally, the pitch value of sad and happy speech signals has a great difference and the frequency value of happy is higher than sad speech. But, in some cases the frequency of happy speech is nearly similar to sad speech or frequency of sad speech is similar to happy speech. In such situation, it is difficult to recognize the exact speech signal. To reduce such drawbacks, in this paper we propose a Telugu speech emotion classification system with three features and use neural network for the classification. Features are extracted with optimal window size from the speech signals and given to the FFBNN. The well trained FFBNN is tested with more number of speech signals with prosody effects. The implementation result shows the effectiveness of proposed speech emotion classification system in classifying the Telugu speech signals based on their prosody effects. The performance of the proposed speech emotion classification system is evaluated by change the window size while extracting the features.
Comparative study of the intestinal strongylid communities of equidae in the Askania-Nova biosphere reserve, Ukraine

SummaryComparative studies of the intestinal strongylid communities of 14 ponies, 6 donkeys and 9 zebras from the “Askania-Nova” Biosphere reserve (Ukraine) were carried out after deworming the hosts with aversectin drug. Faecal sampling (200 g each) was performed at 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 hours after treatment; all nematodes expelled were collected and identified. Thirty strongylid species from 12 genera were found; 7 species from the Strongylinae and 23 species from Cyathostominae. In ponies 27 species were found (range 8–23; mean 14 ± 3.8). In donkeys 23 species were found (range 11–15; mean 12 ± 1.3). Cyathostomum tetracanthum a species specific for donkeys was found for the first time in Ukraine. In zebras 17 species were found (range 2–13; mean 7 ± 3.6). The results obtained confirmed the specificity of the intestinal strongylid fauna of different equid species grazing on the same pastures in the “Askania-Nova” reserve.
Sample-based talking-head synthesis

An automotive door latch mechanism comprising a rotatable latch bolt in the form of a fork, and a bolt-supporting shaft, said shaft being enlarged at a part with which a striker pin is engageable thereby permitting its tight engagement with the striker pin for preventing the lowering of the vehicle door relative to the stationary member thereof.