Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of a Positive Youth Development Program for Secondary 1 Students in Macau: A Pilot Study

With the rapid change to society after the opening of the gaming licensure by the government and the potential attraction to youth caused by the casinos, a well-tested and comprehensive adolescent development program previously established in Hong Kong was adopted and modified to be used in Macau. It is expected to help our adolescents achieve positive growth and be better prepared for future challenges. The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the modified positive youth development program for Secondary 1 Students in Macau. Specifically, two research questions will be asked: (1) How does the positive youth development program affect positive growth for youth in Macau? ; and (2) Is youth growth related to different factors such as gender, age, family financial condition, and parents' marital status? A mixed research method with a quantitative approach using a pre- and post-test pre-experimental design, and a qualitative approach using a focus group for the participants is carried out. The study sample included 232 Secondary 1 Students in two schools. The objective outcome evaluation showed that, overall, 123 (53%) of the participants had significant improvement on the total scores of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS) and the two composite scores. However, there were some increases in the behavioral intention of alcohol drinking and participation in gambling activities. The “happiness of the family life” was found to have significant differences in the score of the CPYDS, which was shown to be the factor related to youth growth. The focus group interviews revealed that both positive and negative feedback was obtained from the discussion; however, the majority of the participants perceived benefits to themselves from the program. With reference to the principle of triangulation, the present study suggests that, based on both quantitative and qualitative evaluation findings, it should be concluded that there is positive evidence supporting the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of the Hong Kong Project P.A. T.H. S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes), which was adopted and modified for Macau. In addition, special attention should be paid to the behavioral intention of alcohol drinking and participation in gambling activities in the local context.
Sound segregation based on binaural zero-crossings

This paper presents a new method of sound segregation based on zero-crossings generated from binaural ﬁlter-bank outputs. In our approach, sound source directions are identiﬁed using the spatial cues such as inter-aural time differences (ITDs) and inter-aural intensity differences (IIDs). The estimation of ITDs is performed using zero-crossings generated from binaural ﬁlter-bank outputs to get more reliable ITD samples in noisy environments. We also consider the estimation of ITDs with the aid of IID samples to cope with the phase ambiguities of ITD samples in high frequencies. As a result, the proposed method is able to provide an accurate estimate of sound source directions which gives us a good masking scheme for sound segregation while offering signiﬁcantly less computational complexity compared to cross-correlation based methods.
Sidelobe Blanking with Generalized Swerling-Chi Fluctuation Models

The work presented here focuses on the performance analysis of the sidelobe blanking (SLB) system with noncoherent integration in the presence of white Gaussian noise and jammer entering through the sidelobes of the antenna. Closed-form performance probabilities, in terms of either the generalized Marcum or Nuttall Q-function, are derived for nonfluctuating target and jammer, both in the blanking and the detection regions. The analysis is then extended to account for arbitrary correlated, possibly nonidentically distributed, fluctuating target and/or jamming returns among a given number of integrated pulses. Finally, several numerical results are given, and the effects of typical SLB parameters are discussed.
Minimizing power consumption using virtualization

Computing requirements and Information technology infrastructure are growing exponentially in the present days. Computing has penetrated into all domains and henceforth consumes a major share of power. Technologies and hardware architectures focus on designing low power devices and power aware systems to gain effective power usage. One amongst the technology is NComputing virtualization for effective power utilization. This paper addresses the power usage effectiveness achieved by implementing NComputing virtualization in an institution.
Self-Affirmation and Mortality Salience: Affirming Values Reduces Worldview Defense and Death-Thought Accessibility

To the extent that cultural worldviews provide meaning in the face of existential concerns, specifically the inevitability of death, affirming a valued aspect of one’s worldview should render reminders of death less threatening. The authors report two studies in support of this view. In Study 1, mortality salience led to derogation of a worldview violator unless participants had first affirmed an important value. In Study 2, self-affirmation before a reminder of death was associated with reduced accessibility of death-related thoughts a short while thereafter. The authors propose that actively affirming one’s worldview alters reactions to reminders of mortality by reducing the accessibility of death-related thoughts, not by boosting self-esteem. These studies attest to the flexible nature of psychological self-defense and to the central role of cultural worldviews in managing death-related concerns.
An Implementation of the TDMA Baseband Modem for Voice Relay

This paper presents an implementation of the TDMA baseband modem to support M:N voice communications by using ad-hoc method. The designed baseband modem is applied to communicate a 14-node relay network. Each node can send and receive signals by its assigned time slot. When odd-numbered nodes of 14 nodes can transmit signals at the same time, even-numbered nodes can receive signals, and vice versa. To implement the relay function, the baseband modem has a cycle network controller, a priority dual-port I/O controller with an asynchronous serial device and data buffer memories, and has been programmed on Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA with Verilog HDL. Since the baseband modem configures a network for maximum 14-hop relay in serial, the communication distance is extended up to 1.4 Km. The baseband modem is tested and verified its functions for voice communications, and its measured maximum delay time is less than 230.4msec for the end-to-end voice transmission.
Highly Sensitive and Efficient Computer–Assisted System for Routine Surveillance for Surgical Site Infection

Objectives. Surveillance of surgical site infections (SSIs) is effective in reducing the rates of these complications, but it is extremely time-consuming and, consequently, underused. We determined the sensitivity and specificity of a computer-assisted surveillance system, compared with a conventional method involving review of medical records, and the time saved with the computer-assisted system. Method. A prospective study was conducted from January 1 to December 31, 2001. With the computer-assisted method, screening for SSIs relied on identification in the laboratory database of positive results of microbiological tests of surgical-site specimens; confirmation was obtained via computer-generated questionnaires completed by the surgeon in charge of the patient. In the conventional method, SSIs were identified by exhaustive chart review. The time spent on surveillance was recorded for both methods. Setting. A 25-bed gastrointestinal surgery unit in a tertiary care hospital. Patients. A total of 766 consecutive patients who underwent gastrointestinal surgery. Results. The sensitivity of the computer-assisted method was 84.3% (95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.94); the specificity was 99.9%. For the 807 surgical procedures in the study, 197 had an SSI identified by culture of a surgical-site specimen. After elimination of 63 duplicate cultures with positive results, 134 questionnaires were sent to the surgeons, who confirmed 27 SSIs. The conventional method identified 32 SSIs. The computer-assisted method required 60% less time than the conventional method (90 hours vs 223 hours). Conclusion. Surveillance for SSIs using computer-assisted, laboratory-based screening and case confirmation by surgeons is as efficient as and far less time-consuming than the conventional method of chart review. This method permits routine surveillance for SSIs with reliable accuracy.
Incorporación de HCI: Modelo de Ecosistema, Eje Cafetero Colombia

RESUMEN En este artículo se presenta la experiencia obtenida por los investigadores del grupo SINFOCI de la Universidad del Quindío en Colombia, a partir de la aplicación de la estrategia de inclusión del área HCI en el currículo colombiano, propuesta inicialmente en el año 2007. De acuerdo con dicha experiencia, se presenta también una propuesta para abordar la enseñanza de HCI de tal forma que tenga un impacto positivo en el sector productivo de la industria del software en Colombia.
Robust group LASSO over decentralized networks

This paper considers the recovery of group sparse signals over a multi-agent network, where the measurements are subject to sparse errors. We first investigate the robust group LASSO model and its centralized algorithm based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), which requires a central fusion center to compute a global row-support detector. To implement it in a decentralized network environment, we then adopt dynamic average consensus strategies that enable dynamic tracking of the global row-support detector. Numerical experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
Commercial Landscapes of Long-distance Contacts in Western Asia, c. 3200 – 1600 BC: Perspectives from Material Culture

To our knowledge, this dataset represents the largest existing repository of archaeological material culture data for Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia, and northern Levant during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (ca. 3,200 – 1,600 BC). Here we present four types of objects (lapis lazuli and ivory artefacts, Syrian bottles, and balance pan weights) that can be analysed as tracers of long-distance contacts for assessing what exchange patterns and socio-economic dynamics (e.g. gifts, trade, marriage alliances, tribute, market profit, reciprocity, etc.) are responsible for the allocation and distribution of these materials in the Near East.
Cervical mycobacterial infection

THE pattern of mycobacterial infection has changed in recent years, the incidence of the pulmonary form having decreased, whilst the extrapulmonary has not shown a similar tendency (Llewelyn and Dorman, 1971; Newcombe, 1971; Hooper, 1972). Whilst laryngeal (Maran and Stewart, 1971) and aural (Palva et al., 1973) tuberculosis are by no means rarities, the most common form of mycobacterial infection encountered in otolaryngological practice presents as a cervical adenitis (Toremalm and Wihl, 1968). Recent publications have indicated that the incidence of the latter may be increasing (Newcombe, 1971; Ord and Matz, 1974; Wong and Jafek, 1974). Kent (1967) regarded tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis as a local manifestation of a systemic infection, but a striking feature of many reports in the literature is the infrequent occurrence of systemic, and especially pulmonary, involvement (Wilmot et al., 1957; Black and Chapman, 1964; Newcombe, 1971; Ord and Matz, 1974; Wong and Jafek, 1974). It ha been recognized for centuries that tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis, or scrofula, had often a benign course, and spontaneous resolution may have accounted for the apparent efficacy of the king's touch. A possible explanation is that at least some of the cases of scrofula may have been due to an unrecognized infection with atypical mycobacteria. Human tuberculosis is due to infection either with Mycobacterium tuberculosis or M. bovis. It has been known since the turn of the century that other forms of mycobacteria are to be found widely distributed in nature, but these were for a long time regarded as non-pathogenic for humans. Following the introduction of effective anti-tuberculous chemotherapy, it became apparent that forms of mycobacteria other than M. tuberculosis and M. bovis were occasionally recoverable from patients with diseases similar to tuberculosis. These organisms have been termed atypical, or anonymous, mycobacteria, and have been classified according to their bacteriological growth characteristics into the following four groups: group 1, photochromogens; group II, scotochromogens; group III, non-photochromogens, and group IV, rapid growers (Runyon, 1959). The first descriptions of cervical lymphadenitis due to atypical mycobacterial infection appeared in 1956 (Prissick and Masson, 1956; Weed
Integration of virtual platform models into a system-level design framework

The fields of System-On-Chip (SOC) and Embedded Systems Design have received a lot of attention in the last years. As part of an effort to increase productivity and reduce the time-to-market of new products, different approaches for Electronic System-Level Design frameworks have been proposed. These different methods promise a transparent co-design of hardware and software without having to focus on the final hardware/software split. In our work, we focused on enhancing the component database, modeling and synthesis capabilities of the System-On-Chip Environment (SCE). We investigated two different virtual platform emulators (QEMU and OVP) for integration into SCE. Based on a comparative analysis, we opted on integrating the Open Virtual Platforms (OVP)
A New Approach to Estimating Coccolithophore Calcification Rates From Space

The production and ultimate fate of calcium carbonate in the global ocean has implications for the efficiency of the biological carbon and alkalinity pumps. Historically, sediment trap flux data and/or mass balance equations have been used to estimate the rate of particulate inorganic carbon production in the ocean. More recently, satellite data have been used to provide a more comprehensive global overview of this important biogeochemical process based on relationships determined from multilinear regression of measured calcification rates against a number of measurable variables. Here we describe a simple model to estimate calcification rate based around elements of coccolithophore physiology that can be easily parametrized with satellite ocean color data. The model output conforms to our understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of coccolithophores and performs relatively well at reproducing global rates that are of the correct order of magnitude, while capturing the variability in such a complex, natural process when compared to field calcification rate measurements (slope = 0.98; R2 = 0.28; p < 0.05; RMSE = 0.53 mg C · m−3 · day−1). Average, global, euphotic zone depth‐integrated calcification rate is estimated to be 1.42 ± 1.69 Pg particulate inorganic carbon/year with the oceanic gyres contributing the greatest influence.
The Ekpyrotic universe: Colliding branes and the origin of the hot big bang

We propose a cosmological scenario in which the hot big bang universe is produced by the collision of a brane in the bulk space with a bounding orbifold plane, beginning from an otherwise cold, vacuous, static universe. The model addresses the cosmological horizon, flatness and monopole problems and generates a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of density perturbations without invoking superluminal expansion (inflation). The scenario relies, instead, on physical phenomena that arise naturally in theories based on extra dimensions and branes. As an example, we present our scenario predominantly within the context of heterotic M theory. A prediction that distinguishes this scenario from standard inflationary cosmology is a strongly blue gravitational wave spectrum, which has consequences for microwave background polarization experiments and gravitational wave detectors.
Improvement of heterojunction silicon solar cell efficiency by Au nanoparticles

The application of metallic nanoparticles on heterjunction (HJ) silicon solar cell was investigated in recent years. In this paper, the gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) colloidal solution diluted with different concentration was coated on the surface of crystalline silicon (c-Si) and embedded in p-type amorphous silicon (a-Si) emitter layer and indium tin oxide (ITO) in order to enhance the light trapping of the HJ silicon solar cell. The density of Au NPs is very important to improve the performances of the HJ silicon solar cell. At the optimum process parameters, HJ silicon solar cell improved the power conversion efficiency and the short-circuit current (Jsc) by Au NPs coated on c-Si surface.
Concept and Verbal Ability as Related to the Cerebral Hemispheres

A new theory of human brain function is outlined in terms of the cooperative interaction of the cerebral hemispheres. The well-established verbal, symbolic functions of the left hemisphere and the wholistic, spatial functions of the right hemisphere are seen as separate and independent manifestations of the normally integrated verbal-analytic (or “error detector”) and conceptual (or “goal state”) functions of the left and right, respectively. The relationship between the hemispheres is described in terms of the “goal-directed” system of cybernetics and then compared with related ideas previously presented by Dimond, Penfield, and Piaget.
Reduced risk of breast cancer associated with recreational physical activity varies by HER2 status

Convincing epidemiologic evidence indicates that physical activity is inversely associated with breast cancer risk. Whether this association varies by the tumor protein expression status of the estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), or p53 is unclear. We evaluated the effects of recreational physical activity on risk of invasive breast cancer classified by the four biomarkers, fitting multivariable unconditional logistic regression models to data from 1195 case and 2012 control participants in the population‐based Women's Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences Study. Self‐reported recreational physical activity at different life periods was measured as average annual metabolic equivalents of energy expenditure [MET]‐hours per week. Our biomarker‐specific analyses showed that lifetime recreational physical activity was negatively associated with the risks of ER‐positive (ER+) and of HER2‐negative (HER2−) subtypes (both Ptrend ≤ 0.04), but not with other subtypes (all Ptrend > 0.10). Analyses using combinations of biomarkers indicated that risk of invasive breast cancer varied only by HER2 status. Risk of HER2–breast cancer decreased with increasing number of MET‐hours of recreational physical activity in each specific life period examined, although some trend tests were only marginally statistically significant (all Ptrend ≤ 0.06). The test for homogeneity of trends (HER2– vs. HER2+ ) reached statistical significance only when evaluating physical activity during the first 10 years after menarche (Phomogeneity = 0.03). Our data suggest that physical activity reduces risk of invasive breast cancers that lack HER2 overexpression, increasing our understanding of the biological mechanisms by which physical activity acts.
High Speed Continuous-Time Bandpass Σ∆ADC for Mixed Signal VLSI Chips

With the unremitting progress in VLSI technology, there is a commensurate increase in performance demand on analog to digital converter and are now being applied to wideband communication systems. sigma Delta (Σ∆) converter is a popular technique for obtaining high resolution with relatively small bandwidth. Σ∆ ADCs which trade sampling speed for resolution can benefit from the speed advantages of nm-CMOS technologies. This paper compares various Band pass sigma Delta ADC architectures, both continuous-time and discrete-time, in respect of power consumption and SNDR. Design of 2 nd order multibit continuous time band pass Σ∆ modulator is discussed with the methods to resolve DAC non-idealities.
Genotypic Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, we studied the chromosomes of spotted fever group rickettsiae. We digested the DNA of 16 species currently known to belong to this group with SmaI, EagI, and BssHII. The genome size of 13 rickettsiae was between 1,200 and 1,300 kb. "Ricketisia massiliae" and "R. helvetica" genome sizes were 1,370 and 1,397 kb, respectively, and that ofR. bellii was 1,660 kb. It was possible to obtain distinctive patterns for each species, but in R. conorii, 10 isolates exhibited the same profiles, showing that pulsed-field gel electrophoresis is a good interspecies identification tool. We achieved a phylogenetic analysis of these bacteria by using the Dice coefficient and UPGMA and Package Philip programming. We established a dendrogram of the genetic relationships between the different species showing the existence of a cluster in the spotted fever group rickettsiae including R. conorii, R. rickettsii, R. parkeri, R. sibirica, "R. africae," "R. slovaca," Thai tick typhus rickettsia, and Israeli tick typhus rickettsia. We located three genes previously cloned and sequenced (genes encoding the R. rickettsii surface proteins of 120 and 190 kDa and the R. prowazekii citrate synthase gene), using Southern hybridization. The genes encoding citrate synthase and the surface protein of 190 kDa were usually located on the same band, and it is hypothesized that they are relatively close on the chromosome. lysed proteinase K a phenol-chloroform extraction were carried out after aqueous-phase The precipitated
Immune Response and Protective Efficacy of a Heterologous DNA-Protein Immunization with Leishmania Superoxide Dismutase B1

Growing evidence shows that antioxidant proteins of Leishmania could be used as vaccine candidates. In this study, we report the efficacy of Leishmania donovani iron superoxide dismutase B1 (LdFeSODB1) as a vaccine antigen in BALB/c mice in a DNA-protein prime-boost immunization regimen in the presence or absence of murine granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (mGMCSF) DNA adjuvant. The expression study confirmed that LdFeSODB1 is expressed in mammalian cells and mGMCSF fusion mediates the secretion of the recombinant protein. Heterologous immunization with LdFeSODB1 induced a strong antibody- and cell-mediated immune response in mice. Immunization triggered a mixed Th1/Th2 response as evidenced by the ratio of IgG2a to IgG1. Antigen-stimulated spleen cells from the immunized mice produced high level IFN-γ. Multiparametric flow cytometry data showed that immunization with LdFeSODB1 induced significantly higher expression of TNF-α or IL-2 by antigen-stimulated T cells. Eight weeks after L. major infection, immunization with the antigen shifted the immune response to a more Th1 type than the controls as demonstrated by IgG2a/IgG1 ratio. Moreover, IFN-γ production by antigen-stimulated spleen cells from immunized mice remained high. The footpad swelling experiment showed that immunization with LdFeSODB1 resulted in partial protection of mice from a high dose L. major infection.