Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prognostic significance of depression in blacks with heart failure: insights from Heart Failure: a Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise Training.

BACKGROUND Although studies have shown that depression is associated with worse outcomes in patients with heart failure, most studies have been in white patients. The impact of depression on outcomes in blacks with heart failure has not been studied. METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed 747 blacks and 1420 whites enrolled in Heart Failure: A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise Training, which randomized 2331 patients with ejection fraction ≤35% to usual care with or without exercise training. We examined the association between depressive symptoms assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) at baseline and after 3 months with all-cause mortality/hospitalization. A race by baseline BDI-II interaction was observed (P=0.003) in which elevated baseline scores were associated with worse outcomes in blacks versus whites. In blacks, the association was nonlinear with a hazard ratio of 1.44 (95% confidence interval, 1.24-1.68) when comparing the 75th and 25th percentile of BDI-II (score of 15 and 5, respectively). No race interaction was observed for mortality (P=0.34). There was no differential association between BDI-II change and outcomes in blacks versus whites. In blacks, an increase in BDI-II score from baseline to 3 months was associated with increased mortality/hospitalization (hazard ratio, 1.33; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-1.57 per 10 point increase), whereas a decrease was not related to outcomes. CONCLUSIONS In blacks with heart failure, baseline symptoms of depression and worsening of symptoms over time are associated with increased all-cause mortality/hospitalization. Routine assessment of depressive symptoms in blacks with heart failure may help guide management. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL: http://www.clinicaltrials. gov. Unique identifier: NCT00047437.
The Role of Reflection in Service Learning

Like Dubinsky, he emphasizes the importance of instructor response in helping students sharpen their reflection. Next, Ava Cross describes a service learning project that encourages students to apply the concepts that define effective corporate communication to documents in the nonprofit sector. Although the goals of the two organizations may differ, the need for effective communication does not. Many of the articles in this column and the previous one describe service learning projects that span the entire term. In her article, Holly Littlefield describes a slightly different approach that focuses on business communication concepts in the first half of the term and their application to service learning projects in the second half. In the final article, authors Linda Mahin and Thomas Kruggel round out this discussion with a return to reflection. Specifically, they describe service learning projects that follow the Stanford model (Bowdon & Scott, 2003) for both graduate and undergraduate courses. But more specifically, they include an excerpt from a student’s final reflection assignment that illustrates not only the student’s positive response to his project but also the learning that occurred in the process.
Emerging Adults' Responses to Active Mediation of Pornography During Adolescence

Concern about the influence of pornography on adolescents and emerging adults is growing due to widespread access to pornography. Past research shows that parent–child conversations about media content can alter the extent and effects of exposure to media content. This study, therefore, explored the predictors of negative active mediation of pornography—parent–child conversations that are critical of pornography—as well as the relationship between negative active mediation delivered during adolescence and emerging adults' pornography use, attitudes about pornography, and self-esteem of those whose sexual partner regularly views pornography. Results revealed that the inverse relationship between negative active mediation and emerging adults' pornography use was mediated by attitudes about pornography and that active mediation protected the self-esteem of those whose sexual partner regularly views pornography. These findings suggest that active mediation of pornography may be one way to reduce negative indirect effects of pornography exposure and prevent future pornography use.
Multi-Channel Assignment in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Game Theoretic Approach

In this paper, we formulate multi-channel assignment in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) as an optimization problem and show it is NP-hard. We then propose a distributed Game Based Channel Assignment algorithm (GBCA) to solve the problem. GBCA takes into account both the network topology information and transmission routing information. We prove that there exists at least one Nash Equilibrium in the channel assignment game. Furthermore, we analyze the sub-optimality of Nash Equilibrium and the convergence of the Best Response in the game. Simulation results are given to demonstrate that GBCA can reduce interference significantly and achieve satisfactory network performance in terms of delivery ratio, throughput, channel access delay and energy consumption.
MobiPortrait: automatic portraits with mobile computing

This paper presents a work related to mobile device technology and advanced network and multi-user services support. Using a generic communication framework, we can connect different mobile devices to servers and provide users with a variety of services. This paper shows a specific application, called MobiPortrait, as an example in which mobile users can request an analysis and processing of images captured with their handheld device. The main goal is to offer users a variety of services on mobile devices that are nominally only available on stationary machines.
Aesthetic experiences of designed organisational space

The paper explores employees' aesthetic experiences of designed organisational space. These experiences are important because designs are incomplete until they are realised in action. However, one of the main issues in this is the difficulty to grasp employees' perceptions and judgements of spatial aesthetics (Warren, 2008). To explore these employees' aesthetic experiences the paper studies two organisational buildings of Dutch telecom operator KPN were the author was both telecom engineer and organisational anthropologist. In an auto-ethnographic style two corporate buildings that triggered opposed aesthetic experiences are described. The paper reflects upon these experiences and the methodological consequences for studying spatial settings in organisations.
The efficacy and neurotoxicity of dexmedetomidine administered via the epidural route

Background &agr;2‐Adrenoceptor agonists administered into the intrathecal and epidural space have been found to be effective in the treatment of chronic pain. Moreover, it was shown that they increase the analgesic effects of local anaesthetics and provide sedation, anxiolysis and haemodynamic stability. Dexmedetomidine, a potent and highly selective &agr;2‐adrenoceptor agonist, is in current clinical use, particularly in the intensive care unit. Our aim was to investigate whether dexmedetomidine produced motor and sensory blockade and neurotoxic effects when administrated via the epidural catheter in rabbits. Methods Twenty‐one New Zealand white rabbits were included in the study. Animals were randomized into three groups. In Group L: lidocaine (2%), in Group LD: lidocaine (2%) + dexmedetomidine (5 &mgr;g) and in Group D: dexmedetomidine (10 &mgr;g) were administered by epidural catheter. Motor and sensory blockade were evaluated. After the evaluation of block, the animals were euthanized and their spinal cords removed for neuropathological evaluations. Results Motor and sensory blockade were lower in Group D than in Group L and Group LD (P < 0.01). Although there were no differences between the groups for ischaemia of the medulla spinalis, evidence of demyelinization of the oligodendrocytes in the white matter in Group D was significantly higher than in Group L (P = 0.035). Conclusions We observed that dexmedetomidine does not have motor and sensory effects, but it may have a harmful effect on the myelin sheath when administered via the epidural route.
Embodied Mind, Situated Cognition, and Expressive Microtiming in African-American Music

The dual theories of embodied mind and situated cognition, in which physical/temporal embodiment and physical/social/cultural environment contribute crucially to the structure of mind, are brought to bear on issues in music perception. It is argued that cognitive universals grounded in human bodily experience are tempered by the cultural specificity that constructs the role of the body in musical performance. Special focus is given to microrhythmic techniques in specific forms of African-American music, using audio examples created by the author or sampled from well-known jazz recordings.
Scalable and Effective Test Generation for Role-Based Access Control Systems

Conformance testing procedures for generating tests from the finite state model representation of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policies are proposed and evaluated. A test suite generated using one of these procedures has excellent fault detection ability but is astronomically large. Two approaches to reduce the size of the generated test suite were investigated. One is based on a set of six heuristics and the other directly generates a test suite from the finite state model using random selection of paths in the policy model. Empirical studies revealed that the second approach to test suite generation, combined with one or more heuristics, is most effective in the detection of both first-order mutation and malicious faults and generates a significantly smaller test suite than the one generated directly from the finite state models.
An Algorithm for the Shortest Superstring Problem: A Dynamic Programming Approach

The Shortest Superstring Problem, also known as SSP, is a computational problem to construct the shortest string that contains every string in the given set. SSP is an important optimization problems as it has many applications in various fields including computing science, information technology and bioinformatics. SSP is proven to be NP-complete, thus, it cannot be solved by any efficient algorithms unless P=NP. Recently, machine learning and greedy procedures are major paradigms used for handling the problem. In this paper, the authors propose a dynamic programming algorithm which is accurate and computationally simple. Also, the algorithm can be adjusted or extended to handle the problem in specific domains.
Scalable resource allocation for H.264 video encoder: Frame-level controller

Tradeoff between different resources (bitrate, computational time, etc.) and compression quality, often referred to as rate-distortion optimization (RDO), is a key problem in video coding. With a little exaggeration, it can be claimed that what distinguishes between a good and a bad codec is how optimally it finds such a tradeoff. This is the second part of our paper presenting an algorithm for resource allocation in a scalable H.264 video codec. Here, we discuss a framelevel resource allocation and control scheme, capable of shaping the PSNR in the encoded frame. Coupled with a visual perception model, it allows to achieve perceptually-optimal quality within given resource constraints. The proposed region-wise resource allocation allows for scalable complexity.
Performance of CMOS current mode full adders

We present the performance of three different multivalued current mode 1-bit adders. These circuits have been simulated with the electrical parameters of a standard 1.2 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. The performance of a binary voltage mode 1-bit adder is also presented. The binary version uses twice more transistors comparing with multivalued ones, but it is two or three times faster. Multivalued versions are more complicated to design and optimize. These results confirm the chip density advantage of multivalued circuits and the speed advantage of binary versions when using CMOS technologies. <<ETX>>
The Affinities of Lenin and Gramsci: Implications for Radical Adult Education Theory and Practice.

The Russian communists are a first-class ruling elite. As all those who have dealt with him have attested, Lenin has revealed himself as the greatest statesman of contemporary Europe. He is a man who radiates prestige, a man who can enflame and discipline whole populaces; a man whose vast brain can dominate all those social energies, throughout the world, which can be turned to the benefit of the revolution; a man who can check and even checkmate, the most wily and refined statesman of the bourgeois political routine. (Antonio Gramsci 1994 [1919]: 92) One of the most striking characteristics of Leninism is its formidable coherence and consistency. Leninism is a unified system of thought and practical action, in which everything hangs together and everything confirms everything else, from the general conception of the world right down to the most minute problems of organization. The fundamental nucleus of Leninism, where practical action is concerned, is the dictatorship of the proletariat and all the tact.
Effect of Dietary L-ascorbic Acid (L-AA) on Production Performance, Egg Quality Traits and Fertility in Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) at Low Ambient Temperature

Environmental stress boosts the levels of stress hormones and accelerates energy expenditure which subsequently imbalance the body’s homeostasis. L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) has been recognized to mitigate the negative impact of environmental stress on production performances in birds. The present investigation was carried out to elucidate the effect of different dietary levels of L-AA on production performance, egg quality traits and fertility in Japanese quail at low ambient temperature. Sixty matured females (15 wks) were equally divided into three groups (20/group) based on the different dietary levels of L-AA (0, 250 and 500 ppm) and coupled with an equal number of males (1:1) obtained from the same hatch. They were managed in uniform husbandry conditions without restriction of feed and water at 14 h photo-schedule. Except for feed efficiency, body weight change, feed consumption and hen-day egg production were recorded highest in 500 ppm L-AA supplemented groups. Among the all egg quality traits studied, only specific gravity, shell weight and thickness differed significantly (p<0.05) in the present study. Fertility was improved significantly (p<0.01) to a dose dependent manner of L-AA. The findings of the present study concluded that dietary L-AA can be a caring management practice at least in part to alleviate the adverse effect of cold induced stress on production performance in Japanese quail.
Leadership Theory: a Historical Look at Its Evolution

research away from trait theory towards situational analysis.2 Dan Wren, the great management historian, in his 1994 The Evolution of Management Thought agrees with Stogdill’s assessment, &dquo;Despite the mountains of literature on leadership, we still know very little. Despite the efforts of behavioral scientists to explain leadership, much remains unexplained, suggesting that leadership is still much of an art&dquo; [1994]3
Ga-67 scintigraphy in the differential diagnosis between acute interstitial nephritis and acute tubular necrosis: an experimental study.

BACKGROUND The differentiation between acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) and acute tubular necrosis (ATN) is crucial in patients with acute kidney injury. Gallium-67 citrate (Ga-67) has been used clinically in the differential diagnosis between these entities, but its efficacy is disputed. The aim of this study was to evaluate Ga-67 scintigraphy efficacy in the differentiation between experimental models of drug-induced AIN and ATN. METHODS Animals were divided into three groups: AIN (n = 8), ATN (n = 8) and control (NL, n = 10). The AIN group received intraperitoneal puromycin aminonucleoside (single dose, 150 mg/kg). The ATN group received a single intraperitoneal injection of cisplatin (6 mg/kg). The NL group did not receive active drugs. All of the animals were submitted to Ga-67 scintigraphy, serum creatinine (Cr) and urinary osmolality assessment, and blinded renal histology evaluation. RESULTS Renal Ga-67 uptake was strikingly more intense in the AIN group when compared to the ATN (P < 0.0001) and NL (P < 0.001) groups. The ATN group had increased Cr when compared to the NL group (P < 0.001) and lower urinary osmolality vs the NL (P < 0.001) and AIN (P < 0.01) groups. Renal histology showed severe acute tubular injury in the ATN group and intense interstitial inflammation in the AIN group, and was normal in control animals. CONCLUSION Ga-67 scintigraphy was extremely effective in the differentiation between experimental drug-induced ATN and AIN.
The dorsal neural tube: A dynamic setting for cell fate decisions

The dorsal neural tube first generates neural crest cells that exit the neural primordium following an epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal conversion to become sympathetic ganglia, Schwann cells, dorsal root sensory ganglia, and melanocytes of the skin. Following the end of crest emigration, the dorsal midline of the neural tube becomes the roof plate, a signaling center for the organization of dorsal neuronal cell types. Recent lineage analysis performed before the onset of crest delamination revealed that the dorsal tube is a highly dynamic region sequentially traversed by fate‐restricted crest progenitors. Furthermore, prospective roof plate cells were shown to originate ventral to presumptive crest and to progressively relocate dorsalward to occupy their definitive midline position following crest delamination. These data raise important questions regarding the mechanisms of cell emigration in relation to fate acquisition, and suggest the possibility that spatial and/or temporal information in the dorsal neural tube determines initial segregation of neural crest cells into their derivatives. In addition, they emphasize the need to address what controls the end of neural crest production and consequent roof plate formation, a fundamental issue for understanding the separation between central and peripheral lineages during development of the nervous system. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 70: 796–812, 2010.
In-house vs. off-the-shelf graphic software tools

In this article, we discuss the software tools that Rhythm &amp; Hues uses to create such award-winning effects as those featured in Babe, the Coca-Cola Polar Bears commercials and ride films such as Seafari. The primary topic for discussion is the question of internal "in-house" proprietary software versus external "off-the-shelf" commercial software, as relates to our company.To help explain what we are doing today, we will look at the environment when Rhythm &amp; Hues was founded, how the industry has changed and the challenges we face today. Since this is a complex subject, there are varying opinions about the analysis of the situation within the company, so the description below should not be viewed as fact, but as a presentation of the authors' views.
The Effects of Weighted Vests on Appropriate In-Seat Behaviors of Elementary-Age Students With Autism and Severe to Profound Intellectual Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of weighted vests on the amount of time 3 elementary-age students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and sensory processing abnormalities engaged in appropriate in-seat behavior. An alternating treatments design was used to examine the duration of appropriate in-seat behavior under three conditions: baseline or no vests (A), vests with no weights (B), and weighted vests (BC). Because weighted vests did not have an effect on appropriate in-seat behavior for any participant, a second experiment was conducted. Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) was assessed within the context of a withdrawal design. NCR had an optimal effect on the participants' in-seat behavior.
IMMOBILIZATION OF MULE DEER WITH THIAFENTANIL (A-3080) OR THIAFENTANIL PLUS XYLAZINE

We evaluated thiafentanil oxalate (A-3080) for the immobilization of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) under laboratory and field conditions. In a crossover experiment comparing recommended (0.1 mg/kg) and 2× recommended thiafentanil doses in captive deer, both produced rapid induction and immobilization. Mean induction was shorter (P =0.013) for the 2× group (1.9 vs. 3 min); mean reversals for both groups were rapid (recommended=0.9 min after naltrexone injection; 2× =1 min) and did not differ (P=0.29). Six free-ranging mule deer were immobilized with 7 mg thiafentanil and four with 10 mg; mean induction was 2.3 min for both groups (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7 mg, 1.2–3.4; 10 mg, 1.9–2.8), and mean reversal was <1 min for both groups. Of 165 free-ranging deer darted with various combinations of thiafentanil and xylazine, we successfully immobilized 148 (90%). Mean induction ranged from 2.1 to 4.9 min for different drug combinations. Reversals were not compared because naltrexone and yohimbine doses varied, but overall mean reversal was 1.9 min (95% CI, 1.7–2.1 min) after injection of naltrexone and yohimbine intravenously (IV); naltrexone:thiafentanil ratios ranging from 10:1 to 43:1 provided mean recoveries ranging from 1.5 to 2.3 min. All 25 deer fitted with radio collars were alive at 30 days postcapture. On the basis of overall reliability and effectiveness, drug volumes, and ease of handling drugged animals, we recommend using a combination of 10–12 mg thiafentanil (0.15–0.2 mg/kg) and 100 mg xylazine to immobilize mule deer; immobilization can be effectively reversed with 100 mg naltrexone or more and 15 mg yohimbine or more IV. Where feasible, we also recommend the use of transmitter darts when immobilizing mule deer with opioids in order to maximize recovery of darted deer and to ensure that missed darts are found.
An evolutionary solver for linear integer programming

In this paper we introduce an evolutionary algorithm for the solution of linear integer programs. The strategy is based on the separation of the variables into the integer subset and the continuous subset; the integer variables are fixed by the evolutionary system, and the continuous ones are determined in function of them, by a linear program solver. We report results obtained for some standard benchmark problems, and compare them with those obtained by branch-and-bound. The performance of the evolutionary algorithm is promising. Good feasible solutions were generally obtained, and in some of the difficult benchmark tests it outperformed branch-and-bound.