Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived Neighborhood Contentedness and its Impact on Physical and Sedentary Activity in Adolescents

Adolescent health is an important part of public health. Activity patterns, such as physical activity and screen time can have direct effects on this. It is important to understand what barriers to healthy activity choices exist and understand why they exist. In the following study a measure of perceived neighborhood contentedness was developed utilizing aspects of perceived neighborhood safety, familiarity and comfort. This measure was then measured in a large, nationally representative population of adolescents and evaluated for its appropriateness. The association between perceived neighborhood contentedness and physical activity as well as sedentary activity was then evaluated. Perceived neighborhood contentedness did have a significant association with an increased level of physical activity in the population. This relationship was consistent across both genders and study waves. It had a smaller but still significant relationship with sedentary activity, as measured by screen time duration. Adolescent health is an important aspect of public health and interventions to increase healthy lifestyle decisions are key in promoting this. Perceived neighborhood contentedness is important to consider when developing public health plans to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary activity in the community. Neighborhood factors should be considered when developing these interventions.
The Psychology of Hope

A mask or face plate, having an orifice or opening formed therethrough of desired size and configuration, is positioned against the discharge face of an extrusion die. The mask restricts the flow of extrudable material through the die so that such material will conform to the size and configuration of the opening or orifice formed through the mask. A recess formed in the face of the mask adjacent the discharge face of the extrusion die, surrounds the orifice formed therethrough, and communicates with said orifice by means of a gap formed in the inlet face of the mask between said recess and said orifice. The method of extrusion set forth with respect to the recessed or scalloped mask has particular utility when utilized with an extrusion die for forming cellular or honeycomb structures, in that the predetermined gap meters a controlled flow of additional batch material from the recess to the outer boundaries of the extruded honeycomb article passing through the orifice in said mask to encapsulate the honeycomb structure with a smooth uniform skin having improved isostatic crushing strength.
Automatic generation of training samples and a learning method based on advanced MILBoost for human detection

Statistical learning methods for human detection require large quantities of training samples and thus suffer from high sample collection costs. Their detection performance is also liable to be lower when the training samples are collected in a different environment than the one in which the detection system must operate. In this paper we propose a generative learning method that uses the automatic generation of training samples from 3D models together with an advanced MILBoost learning algorithm. In this study, we use a three-dimensional human model to automatically generate positive samples for learning specialized to specific scenes. Negative training samples are collected by random automatic extraction from video stream, but some of these samples may be collected with incorrect labeling. When a classifier is trained by statistical learning using incorrectly labeled training samples, detection performance is impaired. Therefore, in this study an improved version of MILBoost is used to perform generative learning which is immune to the adverse effects of incorrectly labeled samples among the training samples. In evaluation, we found that a classifier trained using training samples generated from a 3D human model was capable of better detection performance than a classifier trained using training samples extracted by hand. The proposed method can also mitigate the degradation of detection performance when there are image of people mixed in with the negative samples used for learning.
New Perspectives on Rickettsial Evolution from New Genome Sequences of Rickettsia, particularly R. canadensis, and Orientia tsutsugamushi

Abstract: The complete genome sequences available for eight species of Rickettsia and information for other near relatives in the Rickettsiales including Orientia and species of Anaplasmataceae are a rich resource for comparative analyses of the evolution of these obligate intracellular bacteria. Differences in these organisms have permitted them to colonize varied intracellular compartments, arthropod vectors, and vertebrate reservoirs in both pathogenic and symbiotic relationships. We summarize some comparative aspects of the genomes of these organisms, paying particular attention to the recently completed sequence for R. canadensis McKiel strain and an estimated two‐thirds of the genome sequence for a Thailand patient isolate of Orientia tsutsugamushi. The Rickettsia genomes exhibit a high degree of synteny punctuated by distinctive chromosome inversions and consistent phylogenetic relationships regardless of whether protein coding sequences or RNA genes, concatenated open reading frames or gene regions, or whole genomes are used to construct phylogenetic trees. The aggregate characteristics (number, length, composition, repeat identity) of tandem repeat sequences of Rickettsia, which often exhibit recent and rapid divergence between closely related strains and species of bacteria, are also very conserved in Rickettsia but differed significantly in Orientia. O. tsutsugamushi shared no significant synteny to species of Rickettsia or Anaplasmataceae, supporting its placement in a unique genus. Like Rickettsia felis, Orientia has many transposases and ankyrin and tetratricopeptide repeat domains. Orientia shares the important ATP/ADP translocase and proline‐betaine transporter multigene families with Rickettsia, but has more gene families that may be involved in regulatory and transporter responses to environmental stimuli.
Evaluation of a quantitative real-time PCR for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus in pulmonary diseases

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is known to cause acute lower respiratory tract infections (ARI) in young children and is involved in exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults. The role of RSV in stable COPD and the viral load in different respiratory diseases has not been investigated to date. The present authors established and evaluated a quantitative TaqMan® real-time polymerase chain reaction assay specific for RSV subgroup A. Absolute quantification for the determination of viral load input was achieved using a control plasmid. The assay allowed for a quantification over a >6-log range and a detection limit of <10 RSV copies per reaction mixture. The assay was 30 times more sensitive than conventional nested polymerase chain reaction assays. Interassay sd was 1.3 and coefficient of variation 4.7% on average. Clinical specimens from infants with ARI (n=62) and elderly adults with COPD (n=125) were compared for viral loads. A total of 47% RSV-positive samples were found in the ARI study group and 28% in the COPD study group. The viral load of both study groups was found to differ significantly. In the ARI study group the viral load was increased almost 2000-fold, suggesting acute infection in this group and former or latent infection in the COPD group. Respiratory syncytial virus-A specific TaqMan® real-time polymerase chain reaction assay is a sensitive and rapid method for the determination of viral load in clinical samples. It enables differential statements concerning the involvement of respiratory syncytial virus in acute lower respiratory tract infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to be achieved.
Mindful exposure: eerste bevindingen & theorie

The present study examines experiences of therapists experienced in mindfulness meditation (n = 6) while subjected to Mindful Exposure. Mindful Exposure is a therapist-led intervention in which clients evoke a painful memory and then direct the attention to bodily sensations. The intervention is used in treatment of traumarelated problems. This study has two main aims. The first aim was to examine the effectiveness of Mindfulness exposure in reducing vividness and emotionality of painful memories. The second aim was to explore patterns in experiences during Mindful exposure. For this aim, semi-structured interviews were conducted. In the present sample, vividness and emotionality of the memory decrease significantly. From the interview data, a preliminary theory emerged on the working mechanism of Mindful exposure. The theory’s main proposition is that in Mindful exposure, reduction in emotionality and change of meaning follows from allowing of experiences. Allowing shows to have three facets: approaching, letting happen whatever happens, and staying with it. In addition, Mindful exposure can bring about change in feelings about the self, insight in own emotional responding and insight in processes of emotion regulation. The present reduction in emotionality is substantial and seems comparable to what is observed in a single session EMDR. Potential benefits of Mindful Exposure above other treatments for traumarelated problems are discussed. The discovered theory is related to recent conceptualisations of experiential avoidance as a maintaining factor in traumarelated problems. The method used to explore patterns in experiences is based on grounded theory. It enabled collecting detailed information about what behaviour leads to what effect, and about factors that influence this behaviour. Therefore, certain elements from this design may be considered for future intervention research.
Relaxing Routing Table to Alleviate Dynamism in P2P Systems

In dynamic P2P networks, nodes join and depart from the system frequently, which partially damages the predefined P2P structure, and impairs the system performance such as basic lookup functionality. Therefore stabilization process has to be done to restore the logical topology. This paper presents an approach to relax the requirement on routing tables to provide provably better stability than fixed structured P2P systems. We propose a relaxed Chord that keeps the O(logN) number of hops for greedy lookup, but it requires less stabilization overhead. It allows a tradeoff between lookup efficiency and structure flexibility without adding any overhead to the system. In the relaxed routing structure, each routing entry(”finger”) of the node is allowed to vary within a set of values. Each node only needs to keep a certain number of fingers that point to nodes in its anchor set. This relaxation reduces the burden of state management of the node. The relaxed routing scheme provides an alternative structure other than randomized P2P and deterministic P2P, by relaxing on finger selection. It provides good flexibility and therefore extends the system functioning time.
Leveraging In-Car Security by Combining Information Flow Monitoring Techniques

—Modern automobiles are increasingly connected to the world and integrate always more electronic components managing simultaneously infotainment and safety functions. Much more than just a simple transportation mean, the car is now customizable and like current smartphones, it will soon allow to load and install third-party applications directly from the Internet, which raises some security issues. Until now, the car manufacturer has full control over the development process of the in-car software and in particular can perform any required security tests before the car production. The integration of un-trusted pieces of code requires from now on new dynamic security mechanisms operating during the life time of the car. In this paper, we present the integration of data ﬂow tracking tools in an automotive middleware allowing dynamic security monitoring of untrusted applications. We describe the implementation and integration of these mechanisms and provide their evaluation.
Vers une meilleure compréhension des relations client-fournisseur d’interdépendance

Bien que négligées par la littérature, les relations client-fournisseur d’interdépendance en contexte d’achat et d’approvisionnement contraint existent et peuvent être prédominantes pour certaines entreprises. C’est notamment le cas des grandes entreprises des secteurs de la défense et de l’aérospatial qui, au-delà des contraintes de rareté des ressources, de coût de requalification technique, etc., se trouvent aussi confrontées à la contrainte de retour géographique. Leur environnement, extrêmement contraint, restreint alors leurs sources d’achat potentielles quand il ne leur impose pas un fournisseur unique. Dans cette situation, comment le client peut-il assurer la continuité de ses achats stratégiques, le respect des engagements de ses fournisseurs et minimiser leurs comportements opportunistes ? Afin de répondre à cette question, notre recherche repose sur l’étude de cas approfondie d’une filiale d’EADS. Son analyse contribue à enrichir la connaissance des relations d’interdépendance entre client et fournisseur à travers trois principaux résultats : un environnement d’achat et d’approvisionnement contraint n’interdit pas nécessairement l’établissement de relations d’interdépendance symétrique ; l’asymétrie de dépendance en défaveur du client, lorsqu’elle existe, n’empêche pas la stabilité et l’intensité de la relation ; les relations d’interdépendance peuvent être principalement pilotées par des mécanismes formels de gouvernance.
Texture-based characterization of urban environments on satellite SAR images

We investigate the use of co-occurrence texture measures to provide information on different building densities inside a town structure. We try to improve the pixel-by-pixel classification of an urban area by considering texture measures as a means for block analysis and classification. We find some interesting hints concerning the optimal dimension of the window to be considered for texture measures, as well as the most useful measures. Moreover, we show that it is possible to use medium-resolution readily available satellite synthetic aperture radar images for a more refined urban analysis than previously shown.
Rediscovering the Call to Teach: A New Vision for Professional and Personal Development

The authors of this article argue that professional development on literacy instruction should go beyond instructional methods to teacher identity. Reading and discussing poetry and literature, as well as writing to examine powerful themes in teachers’ lives, can help educators explore and deepen their identity as language arts teachers. Casbon, Shagoury and Smith describe a two-year personal and professional development model based on the work of Parker Palmer called the Courage to Teach. Interviews and surveys with participants showed that the retreat setting, seasonal themes, and human interaction had a profound effect on teachers’ and administrators’ renewed commitment to literacy education.
Pseudo-Hermiticity versus PT-symmetry III: Equivalence of pseudo-Hermiticity and the presence of antilinear symmetries

We show that a diagonalizable (non-Hermitian) Hamiltonian H is pseudo-Hermitian if and only if it has an antilinear symmetry, i.e., a symmetry generated by an invertible antilinear operator. This implies that the eigenvalues of H are real or come in complex conjugate pairs if and only if H possesses such a symmetry. In particular, the reality of the spectrum of H implies the presence of an antilinear symmetry. We further show that the spectrum of H is real if and only if there is a positive-definite inner-product on the Hilbert space with respect to which H is Hermitian or alternatively there is a pseudo-canonical transformation of the Hilbert space that maps H into a Hermitian operator.
Maximum likelihood estimation-based denoising of magnetic resonance images using restricted local neighborhoods

In this paper, we propose a method to denoise magnitude magnetic resonance (MR) images, which are Rician distributed. Conventionally, maximum likelihood methods incorporate the Rice distribution to estimate the true, underlying signal from a local neighborhood within which the signal is assumed to be constant. However, if this assumption is not met, such filtering will lead to blurred edges and loss of fine structures. As a solution to this problem, we put forward the concept of restricted local neighborhoods where the true intensity for each noisy pixel is estimated from a set of preselected neighboring pixels. To this end, a reference image is created from the noisy image using a recently proposed nonlocal means algorithm. This reference image is used as a prior for further noise reduction. A scheme is developed to locally select an appropriate subset of pixels from which the underlying signal is estimated. Experimental results based on the peak signal to noise ratio, structural similarity index matrix, Bhattacharyya coefficient and mean absolute difference from synthetic and real MR images demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed method over other state-of-the-art methods.
Monitoring Cerebral Oxygenation in Neonates: An Update

Cerebral oxygenation is not always reflected by systemic arterial oxygenation. Therefore, regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rScO2) monitoring with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is of added value in neonatal intensive care. rScO2 represents oxygen supply to the brain, while cerebral fractional tissue oxygen extraction, which is the ratio between rScO2 and systemic arterial oxygen saturation, reflects cerebral oxygen utilization. The balance between oxygen supply and utilization provides insight in neonatal cerebral (patho-)physiology. This review highlights the potential and limitations of cerebral oxygenation monitoring with NIRS in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Psychological issues in prosthetic and orthotic practice: A 25 year review of psychology in Prosthetics and Orthotics International

In the inaugural edition of Prosthetics and Orthotics International, Fishman identified the psychological sciences as one of six indispensable areas of skill and knowledge in professional prosthetic-orthotic practice. Given the journal's significant role in reporting and developing pertinent research and practice, this review assesses the profile of psychology in prosthetic and orthotic research, as evidenced by the content of Prosthetics and Orthotics International since its inception. A MEDLINE search of the journal's abstracts over a twenty-five year period was conducted using the search terms: ‘psychology’, ‘psychosocial’, ‘quality of life’, ‘developmental’ and ‘coping’. Results of this search are summarised under the following headings: (a) body image; (b) coping and adjustment; (c) developmental issues; (d) psychosocial well-being; (e) quality of life; and (f) psychological factors leading to amputation. On the basis of this review, the authors conclude by highlighting a number of key areas where the psychological aspects of prosthetics and orthotics warrant further investigation and dissemination.
Myc Down-Regulation Sensitizes Melanoma Cells to Radiotherapy by Inhibiting MLH1 and MSH2 Mismatch Repair Proteins

Purpose: Melanoma patients have a very poor prognosis with a response rate of <1% due to advanced diagnosis. This type of tumor is particularly resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and the surgery remains the principal treatment for patients with localized melanoma. For this reason, there is particular interest in the melanoma biological therapy. Experimental Design: Using two p53 mutant melanoma models stably expressing an inducible c-myc antisense RNA, we have investigated whether Myc protein down-regulation could render melanoma cells more susceptible to radiotherapy, reestablishing apoptotic p53-independent pathway. In addition to address the role of p53 in the activation of apoptosis, we studied the effect of Myc down-regulation on radiotherapy sensitivity also in a p53 wild-type melanoma cell line. Results: Myc down-regulation is able per se to induce apoptosis in a fraction of the cell population (∼40% at 72 hours) and in combination with γ radiation efficiently enhances the death process. In fact, ∼80% of apoptotic cells are evident in Myc down-regulated cells exposed to γ radiation for 72 hours compared with ∼13% observed after only γ radiation treatment. Consistent with the enhanced apoptosis is the inhibition of the MLH1 and MSH2 mismatch repair proteins, which, preventing the correction of ionizing radiation mismatches occurring during DNA replication, renders the cells more prone to radiation-induced apoptosis. Conclusions: Data herein reported show that Myc down-regulation lowers the apoptotic threshold in melanoma cells by inhibiting MLH1 and MSH2 proteins, thus increasing cell sensitivity to γ radiation in a p53-independent fashion. Our results indicate the basis for developing new antitumoral therapeutic strategy, improving the management of melanoma patients.
Blue Light Inhibits the Growth of B16 Melanoma Cells

Although a number of studies have been carried out to examine the biological effects of radiation and ultraviolet radiation (UV), little is known concerning the effects of visible light. In the present study, exposure of B16 melanoma cells to blue light (wavelength 470 nm, irradiance 5.7 mW/cm2) from a light‐emitting diode (LED) inhibited cell growth in proportion to the period of exposure, with no increase observed in the number of dead cells. The number of B16 melanoma colonies that formed after exposure to blue light for 20 min was only slightly less than that in non‐exposed controls, but the colony size as assessed by the area covered by colonies and cell counts per colony were markedly decreased. The percentages of G0/G1 and G2/M phase cells were markedly increased, with a reduction in S phase cells as determined by flow cytometry after exposure to blue light. Furthermore, analysis of the incorporation of 5–bromo–2′–deoxyuridine (BrdU) into DNA also showed a reduction in the percentage of S phase cells after exposure. These results indicate that blue light exerts cytostatic effects, but not a cytocidal action, on B16 melanoma cells.
In Vitro Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus −1 and −2 Infection with Immunospecific GD3+-CL6-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Herpes simplex virus infections are prevalent viral infections in humans. HSVs are also the most common cause of sporadic viral encephalitis (HSE). Magnetic resonance is the imaging method of choice for HSE because it provides the most sensitive method for detecting early lesions. The objective of this study is to set-up and in vitro test an experimental contrast agent specific for antigens present on HSV-infected cells, bound with a paramagnetic agent detectable by MR imaging. A selected anti-HSV HrFab was labelled with Alexa Fluor 488, 125I and Gd3+Cl6. In order to assess anti-HSV affinity and specificity, ELISA assays were performed. Vero cells infected with HSV strains were visualized by MRI using anti-HSV HrFab/Gd3+Cl6complex. Results of the ELISA tests demonstrated that the anti-HSV HrFab labelled with Gd3+Cl6 showed similar affinity for the antigens while the 125I immunoconjugate showed reduced affinity. MRI confirmed high affinity and specificity of antibody for the detection of HSV infections.