Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sleep aid use during and following breast cancer adjuvant chemotherapy

Background: Knowledge of sleep aid use is limited despite the high prevalence of insomnia among women before, during, and following breast cancer adjuvant chemotherapy treatments (CTX). This study's purpose was to (1) determine the frequency and characteristics of participants taking sleep aid(s); (2) identify the frequency and percentage of sleep aid use by category (prescription sedative/hypnotics, prescription anti‐depressants, prescription analgesics, prescription anti‐emetics, over‐the‐counter (OTC) analgesics, OTC cold/flu/sinus, OTC sleep, alcohol, and herbal supplements); and (3) compare sleep aid use by category in the experimental and control groups within a randomized‐controlled clinical trial (RCT).
Nested Rollout Policy Adaptation for Multiagent System Optimization in Manufacturing

In manufacturing there are not only flow lines with stations arranged one behind the other, but also more complex networks of stations where assembly operations are performed. The considerable difference from sequential flow lines is that a partially ordered set of required components are brought together in order to form a single unit at the assembly stations in a competitive multiagent system scenario. In this paper we optimize multiagent control for such flow production units with recent advances of Nested Monte-Carlo Search. The optimization problem is implemented as a single-agent game in a generic search framework. In particular, we employ Nested Monte-Carlo Search with Rollout Policy Adaptation and apply it to a modern flow production unit, comparing it to solutions obtained with a simulator and with a model checker.
Reflections of Chinese students on a university subject on leadership and intrapersonal development

Abstract Students were invited to write personal reflections about the subject, called “Tomorrow’s Leaders,” to examine its effectiveness in promoting holistic development in students. Based on the reflections of 104 students, data were separately rated by two independent raters using a standardized rating form. Intra-rater and inter-rater reliability analyses revealed that the coding of reflections was reliable. Results showed that the informants generally had positive feedbacks about the subject and lecturers. Furthermore, they perceived that the subject promoted their overall development in different domains. Exemplar cases were highlighted in this paper.
Prosodic feature based speech emotion recognition at segmental and supra segmental levels

Speech emotion recognition has an increasingly significant role in human - computer interfaces as well as in the communication among human beings. This paper presents the results of investigations in emotion recognition based on the prosodic features of 1050 segmental and 1400 supra segmental speech wave files in English. The investigations were done in neutral and six basic emotions collected from ten female speakers of Indian English. The features considered in this investigation are intensity, pitch, and duration or speech rate; which were statistically analyzed. The role of each feature in emotion recognition was quantitatively assessed in terms of the classification rates of the K-Nearest Neighbor, Naive Bayes and the Artificial Neural Network classifiers. At the segmental level, all emotions could be classified, with an average emotion classification rate of 95.91%, based on the prosodic feature set, and these results were validated. The obtained results indicate saving of time and effort by the classification of emotions from minimum inputs and is therefore significant. Besides, the existence of prosody has been acknowledged at the supra segmental level only, as per available literature. At the supra segmental level, all emotions have been recognized at an average classification of 91.96%.
Reconsidering Music and Trance: Cross-cultural Differences and Cross-disciplinary Perspectives

A small but significant body of recent research has successfully crossed the boundaries between ethnomusicology and psychology, and both disciplines are demonstrating a growing interest in charting interactions between music, context and individual consciousness. The phenomenon of trance is a clear example of the interaction of mind with specific cultural contexts, and cross-disciplinary approaches would appear highly relevant to future research. However, outside ethnomusicology and anthropology, despite the burgeoning field of music and consciousness studies, attitudes towards the constructs of trance and altered states of consciousness as reputable areas of scholarly enquiry are somewhat ambivalent. One reason for this is a continued lack of academic consensus over definitions of the terms ‘trance’ and ‘altered states’. This paper re-assesses the different ways in which trance has been conceptualised in the literature. It argues that the continued ethnomusicological focus on high arousal models of trance has led to the neglect (or exclusion) of other types of trancing, particularly specific instances of European–American secular trancing, and associated literature. I draw on my own UK-based study of solitary musical involvement in daily life, which has been informed by both psychological and ethnomusicological perspectives.
STAT1-Dependent Innate Immunity to a Norwalk-Like Virus

Norwalk-like caliciviruses (Noroviruses) cause over 90% of nonbacterial epidemic gastroenteritis worldwide, but the pathogenesis of norovirus infection is poorly understood because these viruses do not grow in cultured cells and there is no small animal model. Here, we report a previously unknown murine norovirus. Analysis of Murine Norovirus 1 infection revealed that signal transducer and activator of transcription 1–dependent innate immunity, but not T and B cell–dependent adaptive immunity, is essential for norovirus resistance. The identification of host molecules essential for murine norovirus resistance may provide targets for prevention or control of an important human disease.
Secure Data Aggregation Technique for Wireless Sensor Networks in the Presence of Collusion Attacks

Due to limited computational power and energy resources, aggregation of data from multiple sensor nodes done at the aggregating node is usually accomplished by simple methods such as averaging. However such aggregation is known to be highly vulnerable to node compromising attacks. Since WSN are usually unattended and without tamper resistant hardware, they are highly susceptible to such attacks. Thus, ascertaining trustworthiness of data and reputation of sensor nodes is crucial for WSN. As the performance of very low power processors dramatically improves, future aggregator nodes will be capable of performing more sophisticated data aggregation algorithms, thus making WSN less vulnerable. Iterative filtering algorithms hold great promise for such a purpose. Such algorithms simultaneously aggregate data from multiple sources and provide trust assessment of these sources, usually in a form of corresponding weight factors assigned to data provided by each source. In this paper we demonstrate that several existing iterative filtering algorithms, while significantly more robust against collusion attacks than the simple averaging methods, are nevertheless susceptive to a novel sophisticated collusion attack we introduce. To address this security issue, we propose an improvement for iterative filtering techniques by providing an initial approximation for such algorithms which makes them not only collusion robust, but also more accurate and faster converging.
Pulling Punches: Congressional Constraints on the Supreme Court's Constitutional Rulings, 1987-2000

To date, no study has found evidence that the U.S. Supreme Court is constrained by Congress in its constitutional decisions. We addressed the selection bias inherent in previous studies with a statute-centered, rather than a case-centered, analysis, following all congressional laws enacted between 1987 and 2000. We uncovered considerable congressional constraint in the Court's constitutional rulings. In particular, we found that the probability that the Rehnquist Court would strike a liberal congressional law rose between 47% and 288% as a result of the 1994 congressional elections, depending on the legislative model used.
The Taliban Did Not Create the Taliban, Imperialism Did

Sir Karl Popper’s (2002) method of historicism has been neglected in the analysis of the radicalisation of Afghanistan’s society in the form of the Taliban. Popper’s historicism is the idea that the past may allow the forecasting of the future by understanding the state of the present in one specific line of historical inquiry. It is argued herein that by analysing periods of imperialism—those eras of social injustice, violence and oppression—it is seen that such imperialism led to radical fundamentalism, as many had no choice but to lash out. The push to strenuous religious identity, heavily laden with violent tactics, was the natural response of peoples trying to maintain their identities and collective destiny from imperial domination. Furthermore, as evidence continues to show, most often those individuals that are first to radicalise are the poorest of the poor, the dispossessed, or those who have experienced violent injustices. Using Popper’s method, it is possible to explain how imperialism breeds radicalism (using Afghanistan as an example) and as such provide some general recommendations to swing the pendulum in reverse so as to minimise radical behaviour. This article has implications for international relations, foreign policies and aid.
GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR PLASTICITY AT EXCITATORY SYNAPSES IN THE BRAIN

1 Synapse plasticity, defined as an activity dependent change in the strength of synapses, was first described in 1973 and, since those seminal experiments were reported, the field of synapse plasticity has expanded into one of the most widely studied areas in neuroscience. 2 Significant effort has been focused on determining the expression mechanisms of the changes in synapse strength. The present review will focus on the changes in the post‐synaptic expression of glutamate receptors that have been shown to occur during the expression of synapse plasticity. 3 Biochemical studies of excitatory synapses in the central nervous system have revealed a high density of proteins concentrated at dendritic spines. These proteins appear to play critical roles in synaptic structure, plasticity and in trafficking receptors to synapses. 4 There is growing evidence that synapse plasticity could be the cellular basis of certain forms of learning and memory. Determining the behavioural correlates of this fundamental synaptic process will continue to be addressed in current and future research.
Experimental comparison of torque control methods on an ankle exoskeleton during human walking

Few comparisons have been performed across torque controllers for exoskeletons, and differences among devices have made interpretation difficult. In this study, we designed, developed and compared the torque-tracking performance of nine control methods, including variations on classical feedback control, model-based control, adaptive control and iterative learning. Each was tested with four high-level controllers that determined desired torque based on time, joint angle, a neuromuscular model, or electromyography. Controllers were implemented on a tethered ankle exoskeleton with series elastic actuation. Measurements were taken while one human subject walked on a treadmill at 1.25 m·s-1 for one hundred steady-state steps. The combination of proportional control with damping injection and iterative learning resulted in the lowest errors for all high-level controllers. With time-based desired torque, root-mean-squared errors were 0.6 N·m (1.3% of peak desired torque) step by step, and 0.1 N·m (0.2%) on average. These results indicate that model-free, integration-free feedback control is suited to the uncertain dynamics of the human-robot system, while iterative learning is effective in the cyclic task of walking.
Survivor Feedback on a Safety Decision Aid Smartphone Application for College-Age Women in Abusive Relationships

College-age women are at high risk for dating violence and tend to seek services at rates lower than older adults. Young women are more likely to look to their peers or to technology as a forum for accessing safety resources. This study explores a prototype smart phone application (“app”) that is a safety decision aid for female survivors of dating violence. The app is intended to assist young women to assess the danger in their abusive relationship, set priorities for safety, and develop a personalized safety plan. Through focus group sessions and individual interviews, 38 female college students in 4 states (Arizona, Maryland, Missouri, and Oregon) who self-identified as survivors of abusive relationships reviewed and provided feedback on the usefulness, understandability, appropriateness, and comprehensiveness of the app. The focus group sessions and interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Participants were positive about the potential of the app to provide personalized information about abusive dating relationships and appropriate resources in a private, safe, and nonjudgmental manner. Detailed feedback from survivors and recommendations for further development of the app are discussed.
Side effects take the blame

We introduce several blame strategies for gradual effect systems. Blame strategies are the part of a language semantics that aims to identify the cause of a runtime check failure. Gradual effect systems are a framework that combines static and dynamic checking of invariants about the side effects performed by a program. We present a minimal language that performs dynamic checks over an effect discipline, and we explore the design space of blame assignment strategies for effects in this language. We also present usefulness criteria against which we compare these strategies.
The Cyanobacterial Photoactive Orange Carotenoid Protein Is an Excellent Singlet Oxygen Quencher[C][W]

This work shows that the cyanobacterial photoactive orange carotenoid protein (OCP) protects Synechocystis cells from photoinhibition even under conditions in which it is unable to quench excess energy absorbed by phycobilisomes. OCP plays a dual role under light stress conditions, protecting cells against photooxidative stress by quenching excess energy and singlet oxygen. Cyanobacteria have developed a photoprotective mechanism that decreases the energy arriving at the photosynthetic reaction centers under high-light conditions. The photoactive orange carotenoid protein (OCP) is essential in this mechanism as a light sensor and energy quencher. When OCP is photoactivated by strong blue-green light, it is able to dissipate excess energy as heat by interacting with phycobilisomes. As a consequence, charge separation and recombination leading to the formation of singlet oxygen diminishes. Here, we demonstrate that OCP has another essential role. We observed that OCP also protects Synechocystis cells from strong orange-red light, a condition in which OCP is not photoactivated. We first showed that this photoprotection is related to a decrease of singlet oxygen concentration due to OCP action. Then, we demonstrated that, in vitro, OCP is a very good singlet oxygen quencher. By contrast, another carotenoid protein having a high similarity with the N-terminal domain of OCP is not more efficient as a singlet oxygen quencher than a protein without carotenoid. Although OCP is a soluble protein, it is able to quench the singlet oxygen generated in the thylakoid membranes. Thus, OCP has dual and complementary photoprotective functions as an energy quencher and a singlet oxygen quencher.
Interviewing suspects: examining the association between skills, questioning, evidence disclosure, and interview outcomes

The interviewing of suspects is an important element in the investigation of crime. However, studies concerning actual performance of investigators when undertaking such interviews remain sparse. Nevertheless, in England and Wales, since the introduction of a prescribed framework over 20 years ago, field studies have generally shown an improvement in interviewing performance, notwithstanding ongoing concerns largely relating to the more demanding aspects (such as building/maintaining rapport, intermittent summarising and the logical development of topics). Using a sample of 70 real-life interviews, the present study examined questioning and various evidence disclosure strategies (which have also been found demanding), examining their relationships between interview skills and interview outcomes. It was found that when evidence was disclosed gradually (but revealed later), interviews were generally both more skilled and involved the gaining of comprehensive accounts, whereas when evidence was disclosed either early or very late, interviews were found to be both less skilled and less likely to involve this outcome. These findings contribute towards an increased research base for the prescribed framework.
Detection of PhIP in Grilled Chicken Entrées at Popular Chain Restaurants Throughout California

Heterocyclic amines (HCAs), compounds formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures particularly through pan frying, grilling, or barbequing, pose a potential carcinogenic risk to the public. It is unclear whether there is any level at which consumption of HCAs can be considered safe. Efforts to measure these compounds mainly include cooking studies under laboratory conditions and some measurement of home-cooked foods, but analysis of commercially cooked foods has been minimal. Attempts to estimate exposure of the public to these compounds must take into consideration dining outside the home, which could result in significant exposure for some individuals. We surveyed at least 9 locations each of 7 popular chain restaurants (McDonald's, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Chili's, TGI Friday's, Outback Steakhouse, and Applebee's) in California, collecting one or two entrées from each location. Entrées were analyzed for 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) using high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. All 100 samples contained PhIP. Concentrations were variable within and between entrées and ranged from 0.08 to 43.2 ng/g. When factoring in the weight of the entrées, absolute levels of PhIP reached over 1,000 ng for some entrées. Potential strategies for reducing exposure include the avoidance of meats cooked using methods that are known to form PhIP.
A Distance-Based Classifier Using Dissimilarity Based on Class Conditional Probability and Within-Class Variation

According to the rapid increase of data, the needs of intelligent data analysis and classification are also increasing. Though there have been developed various methods of classifying given data set into several pre-defined patterns, the distance-based classifier such as nearest neighbor classifier is still one of the most popular methods due to its simplicity and adaptability. However, in order to obtain good performances in practical applications, it is important to choose an appropriate distance measure considering the purpose of task and the distributional properties of data set. In this paper, we propose a new measure of similarity based on two probability densities: the classconditional probability and the probability of within-class variation. Through statistical estimation of the probability densities using training set, it is possible to obtain an optimized measure for the given data. The efficiency of the proposed measure is confirmed by computational experiments on a few pattern recognition problems using benchmark data sets. [Lee K, Park H. A Distance-Based Classifier Using Dissimilarity Based on Class Conditional Probability and Within-Class Variation. Life Sci J 2014;11(7):666-671] (ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite. com. 95
Taxes, Cigarette Consumption and Smoking Intensity

This paper analyses the compensatory behavior of smokers. Exploiting data on cotinine concentration--a metabolite of nicotine--measured in a large population of smokers over time, we show that smokers compensate for tax hikes by extracting more nicotine per cigarette. Our study makes two important contributions. First, as smoking a given cigarette more intensively is detrimental to health, our results question the usefulness of tax increases. Second, we develop a model of rational addiction where agents can also adjust their intensity of smoking, and we show that the previous empirical results suffer from estimation biases.
Experiencing Leisure on a Cognitive Support Unit

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of residents on a cognitive support unit in relation to leisure opportunities provided by recreation therapy practitioners who practice patient-focused care, as expressed in Parse’s theory of human becoming. The research aimed to gain knowledge of the leisure experiences of the residents as they were living it. Multiple qualitative methods were employed, including participant observation, conversational interviews, field notes and the recording of a reflective journal by the principal researcher. The findings suggest that relationships which developed during leisure experiences between practitioners and residents enriched the lives of the residents. The evidence further suggests that participation in leisure opportunities resulted in enlivening relationships for the residents. These relationships were manifest in the practitioners being with the residents, moving with their rhythms and becoming part of the residents’ world. Implications point to the centrality of enduring relationships in residents’ well-being.
Increasing the thermostability of staphylococcal nuclease: implications for the origin of protein thermostability.

Seven hyper-stable multiple mutants have been constructed in staphylococcal nuclease by various combinations of eight different stabilizing single mutants. The stabilities of these multiple mutants determined by guanidine hydrochloride denaturation were 3.4 to 5.6 kcal/mol higher than that of the wild-type. Their thermal denaturation midpoint temperatures were 12.6 to 22.9 deg. C higher than that of the wild-type. These are among the greatest increases in protein stability and thermal denaturation midpoint temperature relative to the wild-type yet attained. There has been great interest in understanding how proteins found in thermophilic organisms are stabilized. One frequently cited theory is that the packing of hydrophobic side-chains is improved in the cores of proteins isolated from thermophiles when compared to proteins from mesophiles. The crystal structures of four single and five multiple stabilizing mutants of staphylococcal nuclease were solved to high resolution. No large overall structural change was found, with most changes localized around the sites of mutation. Rearrangements were observed in the packing of side-chains in the major hydrophobic core, although none of the mutations was in the core. It is surprising that detailed structural analysis showed that packing had improved, with the volume of the mutant protein's hydrophobic cores decreasing as protein stability increased. Further, the number of van der Waals interactions in the entire protein showed an experimentally significant increase correlated with increasing stability. These results indicate that optimization of packing follows as a natural consequence of increased protein thermostability and that good packing is not necessarily the proximate cause of high stability. Another popular theory is that thermostable proteins have more electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions and these are responsible for the high stabilities. The mutants here show that increased numbers of electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions are not obligatory for large increases in protein stability.