Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An historical perspective on the development of the thermodynamic equation of seawater - 2010

Oceanography is concerned with understanding the mechanisms controlling the movement of seawater and its contents. A fundamental tool in this process is the char- acterization of the thermophysical properties of seawater as functions of measured temperature and electrical conductiv- ity, the latter used as a proxy for the concentration of dis- solved matter in seawater. For many years a collection of algorithms denoted the Equation of State 1980 (EOS-80) has been the internationally accepted standard for calculating such properties. However, modern measurement technology now allows routine observations of temperature and electri- cal conductivity to be made to at least one order of magnitude more accurately than the uncertainty in this standard. Recently, a new standard has been developed, the Thermo- dynamical Equation of Seawater 2010 (TEOS-10). This new standard is thermodynamically consistent, valid over a wider range of temperature and salinity, and includes a mechanism to account for composition variations in seawater. Here we review the scientific development of this standard, and de- scribe the literature involved in its development, which in- cludes many of the articles in this special issue.
Video Communications Over Wireless Ad-Hoc Networks Using Source Coding Diversity and Multiple Paths

Providing reliable video communications over wireless ad-hoc networks is becoming increasingly important as these networks become widely employed in military, homeland defense security, and disaster recovery applications. However, wireless ad-hoc networks have a dynamically changing topology that can cause failures of links and nodes, thus resulting in path loss. Additionally, video communications over wireless ad-hoc networks can suffer from noise and fading effects in the channel. Therefore, it is important to provide error resilience for reliable video communications over such an error-prone network. A number of solutions have been proposed for this problem, including source coding diversity and multipath routing. Source coding diversity methods such as multiple description coding (MDC) have proven to be effective for robust video communications, especially when combined with network path diversity (Gogate et al., 2002; Mao et al., 2003; Apostolopoulos & Trott, 2004). We investigate new MDC methods combined with path diversity to enhance the error resilience of video communications over wireless ad hoc networks. The basic idea of MDC is to encode the video sequence into several descriptions for transmission over multiple paths. Each description can be independently decoded and combined with the other descriptions to provide an acceptable video quality. When more descriptions are received for reconstruction, higher video quality can be achieved. As long as all descriptions are not lost simultaneously, somewhat acceptable quality can be maintained. In order to reduce the likelihood of simultaneous loss of descriptions, different descriptions are transmitted through different paths. This is referred as MDC with path diversity, which reduces the possibility of simultaneous loss of different descriptions and enables load balancing in networks. Many MDC algorithms have been proposed (Goyal, 2001) and they can be divided into three categories: subsampling algorithms in the temporal (Apostolopoulos, 2001), spatial (Franchi et al., 2005) or frequency domain (Reibman et al., 2001), multiple description quantization algorithms (Vaishampayan, 1993; Dumitrescu & Wu, 2009), and multiple description transform coding (Wang et al., 2001). Wang, Reibman & Lin (2005) provides a good review for MDC algorithms. Since subsampling methods are easy to implement and compatible with different video standards, they have been the most commonly investigated MDC algorithms. These methods generally work in the spatial, temporal, or frequency domain to generate multiple 3
Modernity and technology - an afterword

Tom Misa indicates in a proposition in his chapter. This implies a further proposition about technology and modernity being interconnected. It is this idea of interconnectedness that led us to deplore the “great divide” between detailed technology studies, with their claim of situated developments and contingency, and abstract or theoretical discussions of modernity. We exaggerated a bit in order to make a point and set up a twin argument for an empirical turn in modernity studies and for recognizing broader structures and long-term dynamics in technology studies. Conjuring up a field of technology and modernity studies in this way was made easier because the authors had already been looking for bridges across this great divide before, and they could build on the work of colleagues and discussions with them at the November 1999 workshop at the University of Twente. In other words, we did not start from zero. Yet the divide between technology studies and modernity studies remains difficult to bridge. There are methodological challenges, often summarized as the contrast between micro (or local) and macro (or global) levels of analysis. There are also substantial issues about the nature of modernity (and of technology, for that matter) and about the different perspectives that can be brought to bear, especially when further diagnosis is required that concerns openings for change and desirable directions. Tom Misa’s introduction outlined a program but also left room for the other authors to analyze the tensions and offer their own approaches and insights. It is fitting to look back, at the end of this volume, and ask how far we have come. In this way we continue the conversation about 13 Modernity and Technology—An Afterword
Rate aware network codes for coordinated multi base-station networks

In this paper, we address the problem of reducing the completion time of a radio access network to deliver a frame of messages using Rate Aware Instantly Decodable Network Coding (RA-IDNC). While previous works only considered a single base-station setting, this paper extends the results to a more modern paradigm of networks with multiple coordinated base-stations. The different rates of the base-stations to the various users will be thus incorporated in the network coding decisions, so as to schedule the coded messages and transmission rates jointly in order to reduce the overall completion time. Given the notorious intractability of the completion time reduction problem, the paper uses an online relaxation using an anticipated version of the completion time. This problem is then solved by showing that it is equivalent to a maximum weight independent set problem on a newly designed graph. An efficient multi-layer heuristic is further developed to address this problem in polynomial time. Simulation results suggest that the proposed solution outperforms the uncoded schemes.
Assessing the size of gene or RNAi effects in multifactor high-throughput experiments.

AIMS To expand the recently proposed contrast variable and associated concepts to assess the size of gene effects or siRNA effects in multifactor high-throughput experiments, as well as to serve the need to consider both mean and standardized mean of contrast (SMC). METHODS & RESULTS The recently proposed concepts of contrast variable and SMC are expanded in the context of multifactor analysis of variance. Based on this expansion, SMC is explored as a tool for analyzing multifactor high-throughput data, a novel plot termed a dual-flashlight plot is proposed, and the incompatibility of false-discovery rates across experiments is demonstrated. The applications show that the results reached using expanded SMC and the dual-flashlight plot are more reasonable than those reached using p-value-based or false-discovery rate-based volcano plot for assessing differential expression, genetic dominance and linear/quadratic time-course changes. CONCLUSION Compared with traditional contrast analysis, the expanded contrast variable and SMC may serve as an alternative that can address the real need of assessing the size of gene or siRNA effects in multifactor high-throughput experiments.
Catalytic Function of an α/β Hydrolase Is Required for Energy Stress Activation of the ςB Transcription Factor inBacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT The general stress response of Bacillus subtilis is controlled by the ςB transcription factor, which is activated in response to diverse energy and environmental stresses. These two classes of stress are transmitted by separate signaling pathways which converge on the direct regulators of ςB, the RsbV anti-anti-ς factor and the RsbW anti-ς factor. The energy signaling branch involves the RsbP phosphatase, which dephosphorylates RsbV in order to trigger the general stress response. ThersbP structural gene lies downstream fromrsbQ in a two-gene operon. Here we identify the RsbQ protein as a required positive regulator inferred to act in concert with the RsbP phosphatase. RsbQ bound RsbP in the yeast two-hybrid system, and a large in-frame deletion in rsbQ had the same phenotype as a null allele of rsbP—an inability to activate ςB in response to energy stress. Genetic complementation studies indicated that this phenotype was not due to a polar effect of the rsbQ alteration onrsbP. The predicted rsbQ product is a hydrolase or acyltransferase of the α/β fold superfamily, members of which catalyze a wide variety of reactions. Notably, substitutions in the presumed catalytic triad of RsbQ also abolished the energy stress response but had no detectable effect on RsbQ structure, synthesis, or stability. We conclude that the catalytic activity of RsbQ is an essential constituent of the energy stress signaling pathway.
An Empirical Comparison between the NEO-FFI and the WPI and the Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Workplace Personality

An Empirical Comparison between the NEO-FFI and the WPI and the Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Workplace Personality. (December 2010) Lauren Michel Orozco, B.A.; M.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Daniel Brossart While much research has been devoted to the study of personality, the separate construct of “workplace personality” is beginning to gain empirical attention. The current study takes a closer look at the factor structure of the Workplace Personality Inventory, a measure used to describe workplace personality using sixteen different scales measuring traits associated with positive job performance. This study also uses correlation analyses to determine the relation between workplace personality, personality traits, and self-efficacy. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) emphasizes the unique and important contribution of self-efficacy to career development and exploration. The present study determines the relationship between personality as measured by the NEOFFI and workplace personality as it is measured by the WPI. The present study also uses self-efficacy scores and indicators of the Big Five personality factors (as measured by the NEO-FFI) to predict workplace personality. Results show that despite some logical correlations between scales on the NEO-FFI and the WPI, the measures are not redundant, showing the WPI to assess aspects of personality that the NEO-FFI does not.
Word Processing in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials.

Purpose This investigation was conducted to determine whether young children with autism spectrum disorders exhibited a canonical neural response to word stimuli and whether putative event-related potential (ERP) measures of word processing were correlated with a concurrent measure of receptive language. Additional exploratory analyses were used to examine whether the magnitude of the association between ERP measures of word processing and receptive language varied as a function of the number of word stimuli the participants reportedly understood. Method Auditory ERPs were recorded in response to spoken words and nonwords presented with equal probability in 34 children aged 2-5 years with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder who were in the early stages of language acquisition. Average amplitudes and amplitude differences between word and nonword stimuli within 200-500 ms were examined at left temporal (T3) and parietal (P3) electrode clusters. Receptive vocabulary size and the number of experimental stimuli understood were concurrently measured using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Results Across the entire participant group, word-nonword amplitude differences were diminished. The average word-nonword amplitude difference at T3 was related to receptive vocabulary only if 5 or more word stimuli were understood. Conclusions If ERPs are to ever have clinical utility, their construct validity must be established by investigations that confirm their associations with predictably related constructs. These results contribute to accruing evidence, suggesting that a valid measure of auditory word processing can be derived from the left temporal response to words and nonwords. In addition, this measure can be useful even for participants who do not reportedly understand all of the words presented as experimental stimuli, though it will be important for researchers to track familiarity with word stimuli in future investigations. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5614840.
A pilot-study of a worksite based participatory intervention program: Its acceptability and short-term effects on work climate and attitudes in human service employees.

BACKGROUND Psychosocial factors, including job demands and poor resources, have been linked to stress, health problems, and negative job attitudes. However, worksite based interventions and programs targeting psychosocial factors may change employees' perceptions of their work climate and work attitudes. OBJECTIVE This pilot study describes a newly developed worksite based participatory organizational intervention program that was tested in the social service sector. It is evaluated using participants' perceptions of the intervention to investigate its acceptability as a feature of feasibility and its short-term effects on work climate factors (job demands and resources) and work-related attitudes. METHODS Forty employees of a Swedish social service unit provided self-reports before, during, and after the intervention. RESULTS As for effects, quantitative role overload and social support decreased while turnover intention increased. Responses to an open-ended question showed that participants considered the intervention program valuable for addressing issues relating to the psychosocial work climate. CONCLUSIONS Although the findings are preliminary, it was possible to carry out this worksite based participatory organizational program in this particular setting. Also, the preliminary findings underscore the challenges associated with designing and implementing this type of intervention program, thus adding to the methodological discussion on implementation and evaluation.
The Complete Electrode Model For Imaging and Electrode Contact Compensation in Electrical Impedance Tomography

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an imaging modality which currently shows promise for the detection and characterization of breast cancer. A very significant problem in EIT imaging is the proper modeling of the interface between the body and the electrodes. We have found empirically that it is very difficult, in a clinical setting, to assure that all electrodes make satisfactory contact with the body. In addition, we have observed a capacitive effect at skin/electrode boundary that is spatially heterogeneous. To compensate for these problems, we have developed a hybrid nonlinear-linear reconstruction algorithm in which we first estimate electrode surface impedances, using a Newton-type iterative optimization procedure with an analytically computed Jacobian matrix. We subsequently make use of a linearized algorithm to perform a three-dimensional reconstruction of perturbations in both contact impedances and in the spatial distributions of conductivity and permittivity. Results show that, using this procedure, artifacts due to electrodes making poor contact can be greatly reduced.
Effectiveness of a new immuno-assay for the diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and improved specificity when detecting IgG antibodies

Summary The diagnosis of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is based on clinical criteria and biological assays. Most immunoassays detect antibodies (either IgG alone or additionally IgA and IgM) against PF4 immobilised in wells of microtiter plates with stoichiometric concentrations of polyanion (heparin or polyvinylsulfonate). We studied whether diagnostic sensitivity and/or specificity for HIT could be improved using a novel assay in which unfractionated heparin is immobilised alone to the microwells, with PF4 (and, potentially, other heparin-dependent antigen proteins) provided by adding platelet lysate during the procedure. Samples from 101 patients with suspected HIT and from 101 controls (including 50 with antiphospholipid antibodies) were tested. The global assay (Zymutest HIA IgG/A/M®, Hyphen BioMed) was positive for 39 of 40 patients with definite HIT (positive PF4-specific ELISA and positive serotonin release assay). It was positive in only two of the 101 control patients studied and also in 14 of the 61 patients with suspected HIT for whom the disease was excluded (specificity (sp): 77%). On the other hand, Zymutest HIA IgG®, an IgG-specific assay, was positive in only six patients without HIT (Sp: 90%). Heparin-dependent IgG antibodies were present at higher levels in patients with definite HIT than in those for whom the diagnosis of HIT was ruled out. A single ELISA that detects IgG antibodies is more effective for the diagnosis of HIT in clinical practice. These results also support the hypothesis that heparin-dependent antibodies of IgG class have a major role in the pathogenesis of HIT.
Revised microcalcification hypothesis for fibrous cap rupture in human coronary arteries

Using 2.1-µm high-resolution microcomputed tomography, we have examined the spatial distribution, clustering, and shape of nearly 35,000 microcalcifications (µCalcs) ≥ 5 µm in the fibrous caps of 22 nonruptured human atherosclerotic plaques. The vast majority of these µCalcs were <15 µm and invisible at the previously used 6.7-µm resolution. A greatly simplified 3D finite element analysis has made it possible to quickly analyze which of these thousands of minute inclusions are potentially dangerous. We show that the enhancement of the local tissue stress caused by particle clustering increases rapidly for gap between particle pairs (h)/particle diameter (D) < 0.4 if particles are oriented along the tensile axis of the cap. Of the thousands of µCalcs observed, there were 193 particle pairs with h/D ≤ 2 (tissue stress factor > 2), but only 3 of these pairs had h/D ≤ 0.4, where the local tissue stress could increase a factor > 5. Using nondecalcified histology, we also show that nearly all caps have µCalcs between 0.5 and 5 µm and that the µCalcs ≥ 5 µm observed in high-resolution microcomputed tomography are agglomerations of smaller calcified matrix vesicles. µCalcs < 5 µm are predicted to be not harmful, because the tiny voids associated with these very small particles will not explosively grow under tensile forces because of their large surface energy. These observations strongly support the hypothesis that nearly all fibrous caps have µCalcs, but only a small subset has the potential for rupture.
TinMan: eliminating confidential mobile data exposure with security oriented offloading

The wide adoption of smart devices has stimulated a fast shift of security-critical data from desktop to mobile devices. However, recurrent device theft and loss expose mobile devices to various security threats and even physical attacks. This paper presents TinMan, a system that protects confidential data such as web site password and credit card number (we use the term cor to represent these data, which is short for Confidential Record) from being leaked or abused even under device theft. TinMan separates accesses of cor from the rest of the functionalities of an app, by introducing a trusted node to store cor and offloading any code from a mobile device to the trusted node to access cor. This completely eliminates the exposure of cor on the mobile devices. The key challenges to TinMan include deciding when and how to efficiently and transparently offload execution; TinMan addresses these challenges with security-oriented offloading with a low-overhead tainting scheme called asymmetric tainting to track accesses to cor to trigger offloading, as well as transparent SSL session injection and TCP pay-load replacement to offload accesses to cor. We have implemented a prototype of TinMan based on Android and demonstrated how TinMan protects the information of user's bank account and credit card number without modifying the apps. Evaluation results also show that TinMan incurs only a small amount of performance and power overhead.
Effect of cytochalasin B on the biphasic release of insulin in perifused rat islets.

The effect of cytochalasin B on the biphasic pattern of insulin secretion was studied. Islets were isolated from the normal rat pancreas by the collagenase technique and maintained in vitro by perifusion. Cytochalasin B produced a significant increase in the rate of insulin secretion in the first and second phase of glucose-induced insulin release and enhanced significantly the monophasic pattern of release induced by tolbutamide. The drug had no effect on insulin release in the presence of non—stimulatory levels of glucose. The enhancing effect on glucose—induced insulin secretion required the continued presence of cytochalasin B. Removal of the drug during the second phase of glucose—induced insulin secretion resulted in a rapid decline in the rate of insulin release. Islets were perifused with glucose, glucagon and theophylline in order to obtain maximal stimulation of insulin release. Under these conditions of marked stimulation, cytochalasin B did not produce a further significant enhancement of insu.
Obtaining online approximation algorithms for facility dispersion from offline algorithms

Facility dispersion problems arise in the context of placing obnoxious facilities and retail outlets. In the offline version of such a problem, the input consists of a complete graph on n nodes, a nonnegative weight (distance) for each edge, and the number k ⩽ n of facilities to be placed. The goal is to choose a facility placement consisting of k nodes so as to maximize a given measure of the distances among the facilities. Here, we consider an online version of the problem where the value of k is not known apriori; instead, requests for facilities arrive one at a time. It is also required that previously placed facilities cannot be moved or eliminated. Our main result is that for any objective that satisfies two properties, namely monotonicity and graceful degradation, any offline approximation algorithm with a performance guarantee ρ can be used to develop an algorithm with competitive ratio cρ for the online version, where c is a constant independent of the problem instance. Objectives for which our result applies include the average edge weight and average weight of a star subgraph. The result holds even when the edge weights do not satisfy the triangle inequality. We also identify dispersion objectives for which the offline and online versions have different behaviors when only one of the above two properties is satisfied. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 47(4), 206–217 2006