Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of compliance techniques to direct‐mail requests for charitable donations

The possibility that psychological compliance techniques might be applied to increase the effectiveness of direct-mail requests for charitable contributions is raised. Although there are few studies with direct bearing on this possibility, there is an extensive literature on compliance techniques in general and many studies on the effectiveness of such techniques when applied to verbal requests for contributions, most often in door-to-door campaigns. Research on the application of the foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face, low-ball, and legitimization-of-small-donation techniques to verbal requests for charitable contributions is reviewed, and the relevance of these studies to potential direct-mail applications is explored. The few attempts to apply the legitimization of small contributions to the direct-mail mode, which have produced mixed results, are also reviewed and analyzed. It is suggested that successful application of compliance techniques to the direct-mail mode may depend on careful modifications of the techniques to calibrate them optimally to direct mail, and to the particular situations in which campaigns are to be undertaken. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Secondary user capacity maximization in CR under nakagami-m fading channel with receiver diversity

In Cognitive Radio scenario achieving maximum secondary user capacity has always been a challenging task along with high detectability of primary user. Detection of primary user signal in presence of noise and channel fading condition is very conveniently carried out by energy detection scheme due to its less complexity in its structure. Further, for improving system performance under limited bandwidth control-channel we employ double threshold energy detection scheme. In this paper we assume the sensing channel as Nakagami-m fading type to calculate optimum level of threshold in decision region and SNR level of primary user signal for required probability of detection while treating reporting channel to be ideal. We observe the effect of varying optimum level of threshold on normalized capacity of secondary user along with SNR level of primary user for MRC diversity scheme. Numerical results show that increasing the threshold in decision region decreases the probability of detection of primary user and increases the normalized capacity of secondary user.
An Ultra-Low-Power RF Energy-Harvesting Transceiver for Multiple-Node Sensor Application

An ultra-low-power wirelessly powered radiofrequency (RF) transceiver for wireless sensor network is implemented using 180-nm CMOS technology. We propose a 98-μW 457.5-MHz transmitter with output radiation power of -22 dBm. This transmitter utilizes 915-MHz wirelessly powering RF signal by frequency division using a true-single-phase-clock divider to generate the carrier frequency with very low power consumption and small die area. The transmitter can support up to 5-Mb/s data rate. The telemetry system uses an eight-stage Cockcroft-Walton rectifier to convert RF to dc voltage for energy harvesting. The bandgap reference and linear regulators provide stable dc voltage throughout the system. The receiver recovers data from the modulated wireless powering RF signal to perform time-division multiple access (TMDA) for the multiple-node system. Power consumption of the TDMA receiver is less than 15 μW. Our proposed transmitter and receiver each occupies 0.0018 and 0.0135 mm2 of active die area, respectively.
Olfactory systems and neural circuits that modulate predator odor fear

When prey animals detect the odor of a predator a constellation of fear-related autonomic, endocrine, and behavioral responses rapidly occur to facilitate survival. How olfactory sensory systems process predator odor and channel that information to specific brain circuits is a fundamental issue that is not clearly understood. However, research in the last 15 years has begun to identify some of the essential features of the sensory detection systems and brain structures that underlie predator odor fear. For instance, the main (MOS) and accessory olfactory systems (AOS) detect predator odors and different types of predator odors are sensed by specific receptors located in either the MOS or AOS. However, complex predator chemosignals may be processed by both the MOS and AOS, which complicate our understanding of the specific neural circuits connected directly and indirectly from the MOS and AOS to activate the physiological and behavioral components of unconditioned and conditioned fear. Studies indicate that brain structures including the dorsal periaqueductal gray (DPAG), paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus, and the medial amygdala (MeA) appear to be broadly involved in predator odor induced autonomic activity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress hormone secretion. The MeA also plays a key role in predator odor unconditioned fear behavior and retrieval of contextual fear memory associated with prior predator odor experiences. Other neural structures including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and the ventral hippocampus (VHC) appear prominently involved in predator odor fear behavior. The basolateral amygdala (BLA), medial hypothalamic nuclei, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are also activated by some but not all predator odors. Future research that characterizes how distinct predator odors are uniquely processed in olfactory systems and neural circuits will provide significant insights into the differences of how diverse predator odors activate fear.
Uncertainty relations and sparse decompositions of analog signals

We consider uncertainty principles for analog signals that lie in a finitely-generated shift-invariant (SI) space. By adapting the notion of coherence defined for finite dictionaries to infinite SI representations, we develop an uncertainty principle similar in spirit to its finite counterpart. Building upon these results and similar work in the finite setting, we show how to find a sparse decomposition of an analog signal in an overcomplete dictionary by solving a convex optimization problem. The distinguishing feature of our approach is the fact that even though the problem is defined over an infinite domain with infinitely many variables and constraints, under certain conditions on the dictionary spectrum our algorithm can find the sparsest representation by solving a finite dimensional problem.
Initial Phase of Communication through Embodied Interaction with Simple-Shape Robot

It is difficult to communicate with an unknown robot because we don't know whether it can form a relationship with us or how it will behave without a context or premise for the interaction. We hypothesize that developing a relationship with an unknown robot first requires a notification phase with a robot that has the ability of coordinating behavior and relationships. To model this initial phase of communication, we created an experimental environment to observe the spontaneous interaction between a human and a simple-shaped robot whose movement (moving on the floor) reflected the movement of another human. For comparison our experiment also included an intentional real-time interaction and a non-interactive recorded-motion condition. The results suggest that the interaction pattern differences indicate two types of phase changes for verifying the robots' behavior through interaction or observation. We need to verify the effects of interaction patterns spontaneously performed by humans and investigate what actions and reactions are regarded as signals that enhance interpersonal interaction.
The Intergenerational Transmission of Loneliness: A Study of College Females and Their Parents

The purpose of this study was to examine the intergenerational transmission of loneliness. Data were collected via questionnaires from 130 parent-daughter triads. Consistent with a lineage transmission perspective, mothers' and daughters' loneliness scores were significantly correlated, r(128) = . 26, p < . 01. Child-rearing practices, especially a lack of positive involvement of parents with their children, were associated with the loneliness of offspring. These child-rearing practices increase the predictability of daughters' loneliness scores even when the strongest known correlates of loneliness (e.g., depression andfriendship bonds) are also used as predictors. The results are interpreted in terms of Bowlby's view of attachment.
Nonlinear dendrites enable robust stimulus selectivity

Hubel and Wiesel discovered that some neurons in the visual cortex (1) respond selectively to elongated visual stimuli of a particular orientation, proposing an elegant feedforward model to account for this selectivity. Since then, there has been much experimental support for this model, however several unexpected results, from in vivo two photon imaging of the dendrites of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in visual (2) and somatosensory (3) cortex cast doubt on the basic form of the model. Firstly, the dendrites may have different stimulus tuning to that of the soma. Secondly, hyperpolarizing a cell can result in it losing its stimulus selectivity, while the dendritic tuning remains unaffected. These results demonstrate the importance of dendrites in generating stimulus selectivity (4). Here, we implement stimulus selectivity in a biophysical model based on the realistic morphology of a layer 2/3 neuron, that can account for both of these experimental observations, within the feedforward framework motivated by Hubel and Wiesel. We show that this new model of stimulus selectivity is robust to the loss of synapses or dendrites, with stimulus selectivity maintained up to losses of 1/2 of the synapses, or 2/7 of the dendrites, demonstrating that in addition to increasing the computational capacity of neurons (5–8), dendrites also increase the robustness of neuronal computation. As well as explaining experimental results not predicted by Hubel and Wiesel, our study shows that dendrites enhance the resilience of cortical information processing, and prompts the development of new neuromorphic chips incorporating dendritic processing into their architecture.
Long‐term changes in prevalence of overweight and obesity in Czech 7‐year‐old children: evaluation of different cut‐off criteria of childhood obesity

The objective of this paper was an evaluation of change in prevalence of overweight and obesity in Czech children, and a comparison of cut‐off points for body mass index references from the Czech Republic (CzR), International Obesity Task Force and WHO. The authors conducted a survey in 7‐year‐old children, and compared data from 1951, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2008 (WHO cut‐offs). 2008 data were evaluated according to different cut‐offs. Results showed that since 1951 in boys, overweight prevalence increased from 13.0% in 1951 to 26.8% in 2001, in girls from 10.9% to 22.9%. Obesity increased in boys from 1.7% to 8.3%, in girls from 1.7% to 6.9%. From 2001 to 2008 obesity in boys increased; obesity in girls and overweight in both genders decreased. In 2008 cohort the following values were found: overweight and obesity: CzR criteria, percentage was lowest (14.8% boys and 11.1% girls); WHO criteria, highest prevalence (23.5% boys and 19.5% girls); obesity: lowest ratio International Obesity Task Force criteria (4.4% boys, 3.3% girls), highest ratio boys WHO criteria (10.0%), girls CzR criteria (5.0%). Overweight and obesity prevalence increased in 7‐year‐old Czech children since 1951; since 2001 prevalence is plateauing with exception of boys. Using different body mass index references resulted in marked differences in overweight and obesity prevalence.
OPTIMAL GRADE TRANSITION FOR POLYETHYLENE REACTORS VIA NCO TRACKING

In fluidized-bed gas-phase polymerization reactors, several grades of polyethylene are produced in the same equipment by changing the operating conditions. Transitions between the different grades are rather slow and result in the production of a considerable amount of off-specification polymer. Grade transition improvement is viewed here as a dynamic optimization problem, for which numerous approaches exist. Numerical optimization based on a nominal process model is typically insufficient due to the presence of uncertainty in the form of model mismatch and process disturbances. This paper proposes to implement optimal grade transition using a measurement-based approach instead. It is based on tracking the necessary conditions of optimality (NCO tracking) using a decentralized control scheme. For this, the nominal input profiles are dissected into arcs and switching times that are assigned to the various parts of the NCO. These input elements are then adapted using appropriate measurements. NCO tracking is used to determine optimal grade transition in polyethylene reactors. The problem of minimizing the transition time from a steady state of low melt index to that of high melt index is studied, with the feeds of hydrogen and inert and the output flow rate considered as manipulated variables. In the optimal solution, all arcs are determined by path constraints, and all switching times are determined by path and terminal constraints, which significantly eases the adaptation. The on-line and run-to-run adaptation of these parameters is illustrated in simulation.
The Gendered Spillover Effect of Young Children&Apos;S Health on Human Capital: Evidence from Turkey

Recent policy debates on closing the education gender gap in developing countries have focused on cash transfers, but standard models of intrahousehold allocation imply that reducing the opportunity cost of girls' schooling might also be effective. I test this prediction using quasi-experimental variation from a national vaccination campaign targeting under-five children in Turkey. I find gains in health and human capital among age-eligible children of both sexes. However, educational spillover effects accrue exclusively to their adolescent, ineligible sisters. These spillover effects are increasing if the mother works outside the home and in the number of young children in the household, and are absent if an elder sister is present. My results suggest reducing morbidity among preschool children may have the added benefit of improving educational outcomes for their adolescent sisters in the developing world
Cheap silicon: a myth or reality? picking the right data plane hardware for software defined networking

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) promises the vision of more flexible and manageable networks, but requires certain level of programmability in the data plane. Current industry insight holds that programmable network processors are of lower performance than their hard-coded counterparts, such as Ethernet chips. This represents a roadblock to SDN adoption. In this paper we argue that contrast to the common view, the overhead of programmability is relatively low. We also argue that the apparent difference between programmable and hard-coded chips today is not primarily due to programmability itself, but because the internal balance of programmable network processors is tuned to more complex use cases. These arguments are backed with calculations and real-life measurements.
Contribution of Polycomb group proteins to olfactory basal stem cell self-renewal in a novel c-KIT+ culture model and in vivo

Olfactory epithelium (OE) has a lifelong capacity for neurogenesis due to the presence of basal stem cells. Despite the ability to generate short-term cultures, the successful in vitro expansion of purified stem cells from adult OE has not been reported. We sought to establish expansion-competent OE stem cell cultures to facilitate further study of the mechanisms and cell populations important in OE renewal. Successful cultures were prepared using adult mouse basal cells selected for expression of c-KIT. We show that c-KIT signaling regulates self-renewal capacity and prevents neurodifferentiation in culture. Inhibition of TGFβ family signaling, a known negative regulator of embryonic basal cells, is also necessary for maintenance of the proliferative, undifferentiated state in vitro. Characterizing successful cultures, we identified expression of BMI1 and other Polycomb proteins not previously identified in olfactory basal cells but known to be essential for self-renewal in other stem cell populations. Inducible fate mapping demonstrates that BMI1 is expressed in vivo by multipotent OE progenitors, validating our culture model. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the renewal and potency of olfactory stem cells. Summary: Adult c-KIT+ olfactory basal stem cells may be propagated as expansion-competent BMI1+ progenitors in culture and provide insight into olfactory homeostasis.
Demographic and organizational influences on leader–member exchange and related work attitudes.

Abstract Demographic and organizational characteristics were examined for their ability to constrain or facilitate leader–member exchange [LMX] processes. Independent effects of these variables and LMX on work attitudes also were examined within a latent variable model. Data were collected from 208 employees in 31 public libraries. Demographic differences and organizational characteristics were found to be independently related to the quality of exchange. Organizational influences were more pervasive than demographic influences. Both context and LMX variables predicted work attitudes, with LMX providing an independent influence on those attitudes. Findings were consistent with the notions that LMX is a value-add process and that the leadership context can create boundaries for LMX development. The organizational findings also were consistent with the argument that context can affect leader discretion and thus LMX. Results are discussed in terms of boundary conditions on LMX and future research on understanding their role in leadership.
The internet and the construction of a transnational Christian metal music scene

Christian metal music emerged in the late 1970s as a means of evangelism among secular metal music fans. In recent years it has grown significantly and developed into a transnational Christian music-based youth culture. In addition to the music, Christian metal has adopted the metal style, rhetoric and attitude. At the same time, Christian metal is as much about religion as it is about music or style. This paper examines some of the most important ways in which Christian metal artists and fans in a number of countries all over the world have come together with the formation of a largely Internet-based transnational Christian metal music scene. Particular focus is put on the ways in which this Internet-based transnational scene supports the spreading of central discourses about the function and meaning of Christian metal as an alternative form of religious expression and Christian identity.
Vascular Effects of Early versus Late Postmenopausal Treatment with Estradiol.

BACKGROUND Data suggest that estrogen-containing hormone therapy is associated with beneficial effects with regard to cardiovascular disease when the therapy is initiated temporally close to menopause but not when it is initiated later. However, the hypothesis that the cardiovascular effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy vary with the timing of therapy initiation (the hormone-timing hypothesis) has not been tested. METHODS A total of 643 healthy postmenopausal women were stratified according to time since menopause (<6 years [early postmenopause] or ≥10 years [late postmenopause]) and were randomly assigned to receive either oral 17β-estradiol (1 mg per day, plus progesterone [45 mg] vaginal gel administered sequentially [i.e., once daily for 10 days of each 30-day cycle] for women with a uterus) or placebo (plus sequential placebo vaginal gel for women with a uterus). The primary outcome was the rate of change in carotid-artery intima-media thickness (CIMT), which was measured every 6 months. Secondary outcomes included an assessment of coronary atherosclerosis by cardiac computed tomography (CT), which was performed when participants completed the randomly assigned regimen. RESULTS After a median of 5 years, the effect of estradiol, with or without progesterone, on CIMT progression differed between the early and late postmenopause strata (P=0.007 for the interaction). Among women who were less than 6 years past menopause at the time of randomization, the mean CIMT increased by 0.0078 mm per year in the placebo group versus 0.0044 mm per year in the estradiol group (P=0.008). Among women who were 10 or more years past menopause at the time of randomization, the rates of CIMT progression in the placebo and estradiol groups were similar (0.0088 and 0.0100 mm per year, respectively; P=0.29). CT measures of coronary-artery calcium, total stenosis, and plaque did not differ significantly between the placebo group and the estradiol group in either postmenopause stratum. CONCLUSIONS Oral estradiol therapy was associated with less progression of subclinical atherosclerosis (measured as CIMT) than was placebo when therapy was initiated within 6 years after menopause but not when it was initiated 10 or more years after menopause. Estradiol had no significant effect on cardiac CT measures of atherosclerosis in either postmenopause stratum. (Funded by the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health; ELITE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00114517.).
Sialyltransferase ST3Gal-IV operates as a dominant modifier of hemostasis by concealing asialoglycoprotein receptor ligands

A number of poorly characterized genetic modifiers contribute to the extensive variability of von Willebrand disease, the most prevalent bleeding disorder in humans. We find that a genetic lesion inactivating the murine ST3Gal-IV sialyltransferase causes a bleeding disorder associated with an autosomal dominant reduction in plasma von Willebrand factor (VWF) and an autosomal recessive thrombocytopenia. Although both ST3Gal-IV and ST6Gal-I sialyltransferases mask galactose linkages implicated as asialoglycoprotein receptor ligands, only ST3Gal-IV deficiency promotes asialoglycoprotein clearance mechanisms with a reduction in plasma levels of VWF and platelets. Exposed galactose on VWF was also found in a subpopulation of humans with abnormally low VWF levels. Oligosaccharide branch-specific sialylation by the ST3Gal-IV sialyltransferase is required to sustain the physiologic half-life of murine hemostatic components and may be an important modifier of plasma VWF level in humans.
A dynamic watermarking model for embedding reducible permutation graphs into software

Software watermarking involves embedding a unique identifier or, equivalently, a watermark value, within a software to discourage software theft; towards the embedding process, several graph theoretic watermarking algorithmic techniques encode the watermark values as graph structures and embed them in application programs. Recently, we presented an efficient codec system for encoding a watermark number w as a reducible permutation graph F[π<sup>∗</sup>] through the use of self-inverting permutations π<sup>∗</sup>. In this paper, we propose a dynamic watermarking model for embedding the watermark graph F[π<sup>∗</sup>] into an application program P. The main idea behind the proposed watermarking model is a systematic use of appropriate calls of specific functions of the program P. More precisely, our model uses the dynamic call-graph G(P, I<inf>key</inf>) of the program P, taken by the specific input I<inf>key</inf>, and the graph F[π<sup>∗</sup>], and produces the watermarked program P<sup>∗</sup> having the following key property: its dynamic call-graph G(P<sup>∗</sup>, I<inf>key</inf>) and the reducible permutation graph F[π<sup>∗</sup>] are isomorphic graphs. Within this idea the program P<sup>∗</sup> is produced by only altering appropriate real-calls of specific functions of the input program P. Moreover, the proposed watermarking model incorporates such properties which cause it resilient to attacks.