Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peer-to-Peer Communication in Neuronal Nano-Network

Serving as peers in the central nervous system, neurons make use of two communication paradigms, electrochemical, and molecular. Owing to their effective coordination of all the voluntary and involuntary actions of the body, an intriguing neuronal communication nominates as a potential paradigm for nano-networking. In this paper, we propose an alternative representation of the neuron-to-neuron communication process, which should offer a complementary insight into the electrochemical signals propagation. To this end, we apply communication-engineering tools and abstractions, represent information about chemical and ionic behavior with signals, and observe biological systems as input-output systems characterized by a frequency response. In particular, we inspect the neuron-to-neuron communication through the concepts of electrochemical communication, which we refer to as the intra-neuronal communication due to the pulse transmission within the cell, and molecular synaptic transmission, which we refer to as the inter-neuronal communication due to particle transmission between the cells. The inter-neuronal communication is explored by means of the transmitter, the channel, and the receiver, aiming to characterize the spiking propagation between neurons. Reported numerical results illustrate the contribution of each stage along the neuronal communication pathway, and should be useful for the design of a new communication technique for nano-networks and intrabody communications.
A ventilation strategy during general anaesthesia to reduce postoperative atelectasis

Abstract Background. Atelectasis is common during and after general anaesthesia. We hypothesized that a ventilation strategy, without recruitment manoeuvres, using a combination of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and a reduced end-expiratory oxygen fraction (FETO2) before ending mask ventilation with CPAP after extubation would reduce the area of postoperative atelectasis. Methods. Thirty patients were randomized into three groups. During induction and emergence, inspiratory oxygen fractions (FIO2) were 1.0 in the control group and 1.0 or 0.8 in the intervention groups. No CPAP/PEEP was used in the control group, whereas CPAP/PEEP of 6 cmH2O was used in the intervention groups. After extubation, FIO2 was set to 0.30 in the intervention groups and CPAP was applied, aiming at FETO2 < 0.30. Atelectasis was studied by computed tomography 25 min postoperatively. Results. The median area of atelectasis was 5.2 cm2 (range 1.6–12.2 cm2) and 8.5 cm2 (3–23.1 cm2) in the groups given FIO2 1.0 with or without CPAP/PEEP, respectively. After correction for body mass index the difference between medians (2.9 cm2) was statistically significant (confidence interval 0.2–7.6 cm2, p = 0.04). In the group given FIO2 0.8, in which seven patients were ex- or current smokers, the median area of atelectasis was 8.2 cm2 (1.8–14.7 cm2). Conclusion. Compared with conventional ventilation, after correction for obesity, this ventilation strategy reduced the area of postoperative atelectasis in one of the intervention groups but not in the other group, which included a higher proportion of smokers.
Psychological Testing With Transsexuals: A 30-Year Study

This paper critically reviews over 30 years of psychological testing of transsexualism, during which time 41 studies have been published. A review of the psychological tests and methodology employed, the search for an adequate control group, and an analysis of the findings are presented. It is argued that we have reached a critical point in transsexual research Researchers must reconsider the "hit or miss" approach to psychological testing with transsexuals and relate psychological testing to the actual clinical phenomenon of transsexualism: addressing the newer conceptualizations of transsexualism as a variant of borderline pathology.
Family study of chronic depression in a community sample of young adults.

OBJECTIVE The validity of the distinctions between dysthymic disorder, chronic major depressive disorder, and episodic major depressive disorder was examined in a family study of a large community sample of young adults. METHOD First-degree relatives (N=2,615) of 30 probands with dysthymic disorder, 65 probands with chronic major depressive disorder, 313 probands with episodic major depressive disorder, and 392 probands with no history of mood disorder were assessed by using direct interviews and informant reports. RESULTS The rates of major depressive disorder were significantly greater among the relatives of probands with dysthymic disorder and chronic major depressive disorder than among the relatives of probands with episodic major depressive disorder, who in turn exhibited a higher rate of major depressive disorder than the relatives of probands with no history of mood disorder. The relatives of probands with dysthymic disorder had a significantly higher rate of dysthymic disorder than the relatives of probands with no history of mood disorder, and the relatives of probands with chronic major depressive disorder had a significantly higher rate of chronic major depressive disorder than the relatives of probands with no history of mood disorder. However, the relatives of the three groups of probands with depression did not differ on rates of dysthymic disorder and chronic major depressive disorder. CONCLUSIONS Chronic depression is distinguished from episodic depression by a more severe familial liability. This familial liability may contribute to the more pernicious course of chronic depression.
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Three-dimensional, Time-resolved Motion of the Coronary Arteries

Background. Coronary artery motion can decrease image quality during coronary magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography coronary angiography. Purpose. To characterize the three-dimensional motion of the coronary arteries along the entire vessel length and to identify the temporal location and duration of periods of relatively low cardiac motion in patients with coronary artery disease. Methods. Archived digital, biplane x-ray angiography films acquired at 30 frames per second with simultaneous electrocardiogram recording were reviewed for 15 patients with coronary artery disease. The right coronary (RCA), left anterior descending (LAD), and left circumflex (LCX) arteries were divided into proximal, mid, and distal segments. The displacement and velocity of a point in each segment were calculated throughout the heart cycle. Time-dependent, three-dimensional motion of each segment on each vessel was determined. Periods of the heart cycle during which maximal displacement was less than 1 mm or 0.5 mm per frame for each artery were determined. Results. A period lasting an average of 187 msec was seen during mid-diastole (72±5% of the cardiac cycle) in which all three coronary arteries studied had relatively little motion. This period of quiescence was consistent along the length of the arteries. Although the amount of motion did vary along the length of the arteries, there was no difference in the timing of rest periods in the proximal, mid, and distal segments using a < 1 mm per frame threshold. The periods of low motion were
Scale Up Nonlinear Component Analysis with Doubly Stochastic Gradients

Nonlinear component analysis such as kernel Principle Component Analysis (KPCA) and kernel Canonical Correlation Analysis (KCCA) are widely used in machine learning, statistics and data analysis, but they cannot scale up to big datasets. Recent attempts have employed random feature approximations to convert the problem to the primal form for linear computational complexity. However, to obtain high quality solutions, the number of random features should be the same order of magnitude as the number of data points, making such approach not directly applicable to the regime with millions of data points. We propose a simple, computationally efficient, and memory friendly algorithm based on the "doubly stochastic gradients" to scale up a range of kernel nonlinear component analysis, such as kernel PCA, CCA and SVD. Despite the non-convex nature of these problems, our method enjoys theoretical guarantees that it converges at the rate O(1/t) to the global optimum, even for the top k eigen subspace. Unlike many alternatives, our algorithm does not require explicit orthogonalization, which is infeasible on big datasets. We demonstrate the effectiveness and scalability of our algorithm on large scale synthetic and real world datasets.
Page segmentation of historical document images with convolutional autoencoders

In this paper, we present an unsupervised feature learning method for page segmentation of historical handwritten documents available as color images. We consider page segmentation as a pixel labeling problem, i.e., each pixel is classified as either periphery, background, text block, or decoration. Traditional methods in this area rely on carefully hand-crafted features or large amounts of prior knowledge. In contrast, we apply convolutional autoencoders to learn features directly from pixel intensity values. Then, using these features to train an SVM, we achieve high quality segmentation without any assumption of specific topologies and shapes. Experiments on three public datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach.
Glasses frame detection with 3D Hough transform

This paper describes a method to detect glasses frames for robust facial image processing. This method makes use of the 3D features obtained by a trinocular stereo vision system. The glasses frame detection is based on the fact that the rims of a pair of glasses lie on the same plane in 3D space. We use a 3D Hough transform to obtain a plane in which 3D features are concentrated. Then, based on the obtained 3D plane and with some geometry constraints, we can detect a group of 3D features belonging to the frame of the glasses. Using this approach, we can separate the 3D features of the glasses frame from those of facial features. This approach does not require any prior knowledge about face pose, eye positions, or the shape of the glasses.
Mothers' and Fathers' Work Hours, Child Gender, and Behavior in Middle Childhood

fewer hours per week, children whose fathers worked 55 hours or more per week had significantly higher levels of externalizing behavior. This association was not explained by father – child time during the week, poorer family functioning, or overreactive parenting practice. Further, when stratifying the analysis by child gender, this association appeared to exist only in boys. Mothers’ work hours were unrelated to children’s behavioral problems. The role of parent and child gender in the relationships between parental work hours and children’s behavioral problems, together with mediating factors, warrants further investigation.
Nitric oxide metabolites in cystic fibrosis lung disease

Although the activity of nitric oxide (NO) synthases are increased in lung tissue of patients with cystic fibrosis, the concentrations of nasal and exhaled NO have recently been found to be decreased in cystic fibrosis. This could either be due to reduced NO formation or metabolism of NO within airway fluids. In this study, the stable NO metabolites, nitrate and nitrite, were determined in the saliva and sputum of 18 stable cystic fibrosis patients, 21 cystic fibrosis patients during a pulmonary exacerbation, and in saliva and endotracheal secretions of normal controls. Median saliva concentrations of NO metabolites (nitrate plus nitrite) were 704 μmol/l (95% confidence interval (CI) 419 to 1477) in stable cystic fibrosis patients, 629 μmol/l (95% CI 382 to 1392) in cystic fibrosis patients presenting with pulmonary exacerbation, and 313 μmol/l (95% CI 312 to 454) in controls. Median sputum NO metabolite concentration in stable cystic fibrosis was 346 μmol/l (95% CI 311 to 504). This was not significantly different from cystic fibrosis patients presenting with pulmonary exacerbation (median 184 μmol/l, 95% CI 249 to 572), but significantly higher than in endotracheal secretions of controls (median 144 μmol/l, 95% CI 96 to 260). Sputum NO metabolite concentration in cystic fibrosis pulmonary exacerbation significantly increased during antibiotic treatment. A positive correlation was observed between sputum NO metabolites and lung function in stable cystic fibrosis, suggesting less airway NO formation in cystic fibrosis patients with more severe lung disease. These data indicate that decreased exhaled NO concentrations in cystic fibrosis patients may be due to retention and metabolism of NO within the airway secretions. However, sputum NO metabolites are not a useful marker of airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis lung disease.
Mean first-passage times in confined media: from Markovian to non-Markovian processes

We review recent theoretical works that enable the accurate evaluation of the mean first passage time (MFPT) of a random walker to a target in confinement for Markovian (memory-less) and non-Markovian walkers. For the Markovian problem, we present a general theory which allows one to accurately evaluate the MFPT and its extensions to related first-passage observables such as splitting probabilities and occupation times. We show that this analytical approach provides a universal scaling dependence of the MFPT on both the volume of the confining domain and the source–target distance in the case of general scale-invariant processes. This analysis is applicable to a broad range of stochastic processes characterized by length scale-invariant properties, and reveals the key role that can be played by the starting position of the random walker. We then present an extension to non-Markovian walks by taking the specific example of a tagged monomer of a polymer chain looking for a target in confinement. We show that the MFPT can be calculated accurately by computing the distribution of the positions of all the monomers in the chain at the instant of reaction. Such a theory can be used to derive asymptotic relations that generalize the scaling dependence with the volume and the initial distance to the target derived for Markovian walks. Finally, we present an application of this theory to the problem of the first contact time between the two ends of a polymer chain, and review the various theoretical approaches of this non- Markovian problem.
Cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in Japan

This study examines determinants of expatriate cross-cultural adjustment related to non-work- (interaction and general living adjustment) and work- (work adjustment and job satisfaction) aspects in Japan. It was hypothesized that cultural distance and expatriate gender, language proficiency, type (organizational or self-initiated expatriates), and stable personality traits (social initiative, emotional stability, cultural empathy, flexibility, and open-mindedness) have an influence on both non-work- and work-related adjustment. Hierarchical regression analyses, performed on data from 110 expatriates, indicate that expatriate language proficiency, type, and the personality traits of emotional stability and cultural empathy have a positive influence on both types of adjustment. Implications of these findings for practice are discussed.
RACE AND AFFIRMING OPPORTUNITY IN THE BARACK OBAMA ERA

Abstract I first discuss the Obama administration's efforts to promote racial diversity on college campuses in the face of recent court challenges to affirmative action. I then analyze opposition in this country to “racial preferences” as a way to overcome inequality. I follow that with a discussion of why class-based affirmative action, as a response to cries from conservatives to abolish “racial preferences,” would not be an adequate substitute for race-based affirmative action. Instead of class-based affirmative action, I present an argument for opportunity enhancing affirmative action programs that rely on flexible, merit-based criteria of evaluation as opposed to numerical guidelines or quotas. Using the term “affirmative opportunity” to describe such programs, I illustrate their application with three cases: the University of California, Irvine's revised affirmative action admissions procedure; the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action program, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2003; and the hiring and promotion of faculty of color at colleges and universities as seen in how I myself benefited from a type of affirmative action based on flexible merit-based criteria at the University of Chicago in the early 1970s. I conclude by relating affirmative opportunity programs for people of color to the important principle of “equality of life chances. ”
Transformation Methods for Evaluating Approximations to the Optimal Exercise Boundary for Linear and Nonlinear Black-Scholes Equations

The purpose of this survey chapter is to present a transformation technique that can be used in analysis and numerical computation of the early exercise boundary for an American style of vanilla options that can be modelled by class of generalized Black-Scholes equations. We analyze qualitatively and quantitatively the early exercise boundary for a linear as well as a class of nonlinear Black-Scholes equations with a volatility coefficient which can be a nonlinear function of the second derivative of the option price itself. A motivation for studying the nonlinear Black-Scholes equation with a nonlinear volatility arises from option pricing models taking into account e.g. nontrivial transaction costs, investor's preferences, feedback and illiquid markets effects and risk from a volatile (unprotected) portfolio. We present a method how to transform the free boundary problem for the early exercise boundary position into a solution of a time depending nonlinear nonlocal parabolic equation defined on a fixed domain. We furthermore propose an iterative numerical scheme that can be used in order to find an approximation of the free boundary. In the case of a linear Black-Scholes equation we are able to derive a nonlinear integral equation for the position of the free boundary. We present results of numerical approximation of the early exercise boundary for various types of linear and nonlinear Black-Scholes equations and we discuss dependence of the free boundary on model parameters. Finally, we discuss an application of the transformation method for the pricing equation for American type of Asian options.
In Vivo Oxidative Damage in Rats Is Associated with Barbiturate Response but Not Other Cytochrome P450 Inducers

Previously published studies have shown that cytochrome P450 (P450) enzyme systems can produce reactive oxygen species and suggest roles of P450s in oxidative stress. However, most of the studies have been done in vitro, and the potential link between P450 induction and in vivo oxidative damage has not been rigorously explored with validated biomarkers. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with typical P450 inducers (β-naphthoflavone, phenobarbital (PB), Aroclor 1254, isoniazid, pregnenolone 16α-carbonitrile, and clofibrate) or the general P450 inhibitor 1-aminobenztriazole; induction of P4501A, -2B, -2E, -3A, and -4A subfamily enzymes was confirmed by immunoblotting and the suppression of P450 by 1-aminobenztriazole using spectral analysis. PB and Aroclor 1254 significantly enhanced malondialdehyde and H2O2 generation and NADPH oxidation in vitro and significantly enhanced formation in vivo, in both liver and plasma. Some of the other treatments changed in vitro parameters but none did in vivo. The PB-mediated increases in liver and plasma F2-isoprostanes could be ablated by 1-aminobenztriazole, implicating the PB-induced P450(s) in the F2-isoprostane elevation. The markers of in vivo oxidative stress were influenced mainly by PB and Aroclor 1254, indicative of an oxidative damage response only to barbiturate-type induction and probably related to 2B subfamily enzymes. These studies define the contribution of P450s to oxidative stress in vivo, in that the phenomenon is relatively restricted and most P450s do not contribute substantially.
Coping Responses and Emotional Distress in Fathers of Children with Special Needs and “Redreaming” as a Creative Intervention

Abstract Parents dream that their children will have every benefit possible to survive and thrive in the world. When their children have special needs, these dreams are challenged. Parents must adjust to the needs of their child and to the loss of this aspect of their dream. Common challenges and considerations when working with fathers of children with special needs are presented. “Redreaming,” an intervention to facilitate positive reappraisal, and creative approaches are also presented.
Criteria for Evaluating the Success of Nontraditional Postsecondary Education Programs

Many institutions of higher education are experimenting with ways of reaching new clientele, or with ways of providing more effective educational experiences to learners. A variety of kinds of nontraditional programs have thus arisen, some as part of, and others apart from, existing institutions. This article suggests criteria whereby nontraditional programs might be evaluated. It is argued that attention to effectiveness criteria must be paid early in the development of such programs, to assist in planning and to anticipate questions about worth and value. The criteria outlined in the article may also be applicable to traditionalpostsecondarv institutions and programs.
Computational eigenstructure assignment in linear multivariable systems

Computational eigenstructure assignment is presented for linear multivariable systems. A complete computational solution - successive mapping and correction - is developed to solve the matrix equations, that arise in eigenstructure assignment. It is shown that the computation algorithm finds a solution for any admissible closed-loop Jordan form. The algorithm can also be used for Jordan pair assignment as well as the reduced- and full-order design.
Toward a Cultural Advancement of Tinto's Theory

Despite the broad appeal of Tinto's (1993) theory, it is not well supported by empirical research, especially when applied to minority students. While prior critiques of the theory indicate the need to modify Tinto's concept of "breaking away" when applying the theory to diverse students, research suggests a need for additional refinements. In addition to recognizing the need for students to maintain cultural and familial connections to succeed at college, the author contends that the theory can be advanced by integrating research from social and cross-cultural psychology that has investigated relationships among cultural norms, motivational orientation, and academic achievement and persistence.