Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning reactive robot behaviors with Neural-Q_leaning

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to propose a Neural-Q_learning approach designed for online learning of simple and reactive robot behaviors. In this approach, the Q_function is generalized by a multi-layer neural network allowing the use of continuous states and actions. The algorithm uses a database of the ost recent learning samples to accelerate and guarantee them convergence. Each Neural-Q_learning function represents an independent, reactive and adaptive behavior which maps sensorial states to robot control actions. A group of these behaviors constitutes a reactive control scheme designed to fulfill simple missions. The paper centers on the description of the Neural-Q_learning based behaviors showing their performance with an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in a target following mission. Simulated experiments demonstrate the convergence and stability of the learning system, pointing out its suitability for online robot learning. Advantages and limitations are discussed
Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans Potently Inhibit Invasion and Serve as a Central Organizer of the Brain Tumor Microenvironment

Glioblastoma (GBM) remains the most pervasive and lethal of all brain malignancies. One factor that contributes to this poor prognosis is the highly invasive character of the tumor. GBM is characterized by microscopic infiltration of tumor cells throughout the brain, whereas non-neural metastases, as well as select lower grade gliomas, develop as self-contained and clearly delineated lesions. Illustrated by rodent xenograft tumor models as well as pathological human patient specimens, we present evidence that one fundamental switch between these two distinct pathologies–invasion and noninvasion–is mediated through the tumor extracellular matrix. Specifically, noninvasive lesions are associated with a rich matrix containing substantial amounts of glycosylated chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), whereas glycosylated CSPGs are essentially absent from diffusely infiltrating tumors. CSPGs, acting as central organizers of the tumor microenvironment, dramatically influence resident reactive astrocytes, inducing their exodus from the tumor mass and the resultant encapsulation of noninvasive lesions. Additionally, CSPGs induce activation of tumor-associated microglia. We demonstrate that the astrogliotic capsule can directly inhibit tumor invasion, and its absence from GBM presents an environment favorable to diffuse infiltration. We also identify the leukocyte common antigen-related phosphatase receptor (PTPRF) as a putative intermediary between extracellular glycosylated CSPGs and noninvasive tumor cells. In all, we present CSPGs as critical regulators of brain tumor histopathology and help to clarify the role of the tumor microenvironment in brain tumor invasion.
Guaijaverin – a plant flavonoid as potential antiplaque agent against Streptococcus mutans

Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate the anti‐Streptococcus mutans activity and the in vitro effects of subminimal inhibitory concentrations of guaijaverin isolated from Psidium guajava Linn. on cariogenic properties of Strep. mutans.
EFFECT OF MOVEMENT VELOCITY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAINING LOAD AND THE NUMBER OF REPETITIONS OF BENCH PRESS

This study investigated the effect of movement velocity on the relationship between loading intensity and the number of repetitions of bench press. Thirteen healthy men (age = 21.7 ± 1.0 years; weight = 76.8 ± 2.5 kg; 1 repetition maximum [1RM] = 99.5 ± 6.0 kg), who were involved in regular weight training, voluntarily participated in the experiment. Subjects performed bench presses on a Smith machine at 5 different intensities (40–80% 1RM), repeated for 4 velocity conditions (slow: 0.15 ± 0.03 m·s−1; medium: 0.32 ± 0.07 m·s−1; fast: 0.52 ± 0.12 m·s−1; ballistic: maximum velocity), which were randomly assigned over 5 experimental sessions after a 1RM test. Velocity significantly changed the relationship between intensity (%1RM) and the number of reps performed (p < 0.001), with faster velocities producing a higher number of reps. A significant interaction between intensity and velocity meant that velocity had a much greater effect on repetitions at lower intensities. These results suggest that the benefits of using a stretch-shortening cycle during faster movements outweigh the associated disadvantages from the force–velocity relationship. The practical applications of this study are that, when trainees are assigned a resistance training with specific RM values, the lifted intensity (%1RM) or weights will not be consistent unless velocity is controlled during training.
America's Liberalization in Attitudes toward Homosexuality, 1973 TO 1998

Using General Social Survey data from 1973 to 1998, changing American attitudes toward homosexuality are examined. Two hypotheses are tested: (1) Can changes in attitudes be accounted for by the changing demographics of the population? (2) Are changing attitudes toward homosexuality embedded within larger cultural ideological shifts? The data indicate that Americans distinguish between the morality of homosexuality and the civil liberties of homosexuals. Americans became increasingly negative regarding the morality of homosexuality through 1990, but since then their attitudes have become increasingly liberal. The same 25–year period witnessed a steady decline in Americans’ willingness to restrict the civil liberties of homosexuals. Changes in American demographics—particularly increasing educational levels—and changing cultural ideological beliefs can account for only about one-half of the change over time in attitudes toward homosexuality. Several theories are put forth to explain these patterns of change and the distinction made between morality and civil liberties.
Homelessness Among AFDC Families in a Rural State: It Is Bound to Get Worse

Drawing on a sample of 929 recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) in the rural state of Maine, the study reported here examined the differences between families who had and had not experienced homelessness. The findings revealed few differ ences between the ever-homeless and the never-homeless groups, which indicates the importance of AFDC in preventing homelessness.
Clinical whole-exome sequencing for the diagnosis of mendelian disorders.

BACKGROUND Whole-exome sequencing is a diagnostic approach for the identification of molecular defects in patients with suspected genetic disorders. METHODS We developed technical, bioinformatic, interpretive, and validation pipelines for whole-exome sequencing in a certified clinical laboratory to identify sequence variants underlying disease phenotypes in patients. RESULTS We present data on the first 250 probands for whom referring physicians ordered whole-exome sequencing. Patients presented with a range of phenotypes suggesting potential genetic causes. Approximately 80% were children with neurologic phenotypes. Insurance coverage was similar to that for established genetic tests. We identified 86 mutated alleles that were highly likely to be causative in 62 of the 250 patients, achieving a 25% molecular diagnostic rate (95% confidence interval, 20 to 31). Among the 62 patients, 33 had autosomal dominant disease, 16 had autosomal recessive disease, and 9 had X-linked disease. A total of 4 probands received two nonoverlapping molecular diagnoses, which potentially challenged the clinical diagnosis that had been made on the basis of history and physical examination. A total of 83% of the autosomal dominant mutant alleles and 40% of the X-linked mutant alleles occurred de novo. Recurrent clinical phenotypes occurred in patients with mutations that were highly likely to be causative in the same genes and in different genes responsible for genetically heterogeneous disorders. CONCLUSIONS Whole-exome sequencing identified the underlying genetic defect in 25% of consecutive patients referred for evaluation of a possible genetic condition. (Funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute.).
Gonococcal infection and human fertility in sub-Saharan Africa

An analysis is presented of the influence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae on hum an population growth in regions of sub-Saharan Africa where gonococcal infections are prevalent in sexually active adults. Combining epidemiological and demographic data within the framework of a mathematical model, we show that gonorrhoea has a major impact on fertility and, concomitantly, on net population growth in areas with a high prevalence of untreated infections. Specifically, a 20% prevalence in sexually active adults is predicted to induce a 50% reduction in net population growth. Model predictions are in good agreement with observed data from Uganda, and the sensitivity of the prediction to various complications, such as heterogeneity in sexual behaviour, is assessed. The analysis suggests that the predicted increase in fertility arising from expanded sexually transmitted disease (std) control programmes in Africa to help combat the spread of hum an immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2) will help to offset the predicted demographic impact of aids in the worst afflicted areas. In other areas the rise in fertility associated with effective std control will need to be countered by the linkage of std control programmes with family planning initiatives.
Resting Heart Rate and Outcomes in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: Where Do We Currently Stand?

Background Data from large epidemiological studies suggest that elevated heart rate is independently associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in patients with hypertension and in those with established cardiovascular disease. Clinical trial findings also suggest that the favorable effects of beta-blockers and other heart rate–lowering agents in patients with acute myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure may be, at least in part, due to their heart rate–lowering effects. Contemporary clinical outcome prediction models such as the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score include admission heart rate as an independent risk factor. Aims This article critically reviews the key epidemiology concerning heart rate and cardiovascular risk, potential mechanisms through which an elevated resting heart rate may be disadvantageous and evaluates clinical trial outcomes associated with pharmacological reduction in resting heart rate. Conclusions Prospective randomised data from patients with significant coronary heart disease or heart failure suggest that intervention to reduce heart rate in those with a resting heart rate >70 bpm may reduce cardiovascular risk. Given the established observational data and randomised trial evidence, it now appears appropriate to include reduction of elevated resting heart rate by lifestyle +/− pharmacological therapy as part of a secondary prevention strategy in patients with cardiovascular disease.
Efficient priority optimization in complex distributed embedded systems through search space adaptation

In this paper we present a framework for dynamic search space adaptation during evolutionary design space exploration. Compared to previous approaches our framework is capable of adapting the search space dynamically during exploration leading to better search space exploitation in the same exploration time. The application of our framework to priority optimization in complex distributed embedded systems shows that dynamic search space adaptation can significantly increase exploration efficiency, both in terms of exploration time and quality of achieved results.
Propriedades psicométricas do conjunto de testes da habilidade visuo espacial

This article analyses the psychometrical properties of a test kit developed to measure visual-spatial ability in terms of its factorial structure, unidimensionality, convergent validity and divergent validity. A sample of 558 students that were either attending High School or had just concluded it participated of this research. The Visualization Test (Vz), Flexibility of Closure Test (CF), Visual Memory Test (MV), Figural Fluency Test (FF), Ideational Fluency Test 1 (FI1) and Ideational Fluency Test 2 (FI2) were used. The data analysis used the exploratory factorial analysis, the confirmatory factorial analysis and the fit to the Rasch model procedures. The model fit indexes are in accordance with the cutoff values suggested by the literature. The tests showed a two-level factorial structure, although it can be taken as an unidimensional structure. The tests converge to measure the visual-spatial ability and diverge to measure the fluency ability which was used in this study as contrast ability.
The Nature and Social Bases of Progressive Social Movement Ideology: Examining Public Opinion toward Social Movements

Social movement scholars argue that movements within the same social movement family represent an ideologically coherent social force driven by an overarching master frame. Yet this claim has thus far been poorly documented. Analyzing public opinion data from a nationally representative April 2000 Gallup Poll, we find substantial evidence of a progressive social movement ideology centered around the extension of rights within the American public, as support for individual movements within this family is highly interrelated. Adherents to this progressive social movement ideology are drawn from self-identified political Liberals and Democrats, the more highly educated, women, younger, and less religious adults. We argue that public opinion research should be seen as a valuable complement to existing case-based social movement scholarship.
An Approach to Location Models Involving Sets as Existing Facilities

In this paper, we deal with single facility location problems in a general normed space in which the existing facilities are represented by convex sets of points. The criterion to be satisfied by the service facility is the minimization of an increasing, convex function of the distances from the service facility to the closest point of each demand set. We obtain a geometrical characterization of the set of optimal solutions for this problem. Two remarkable cases--the classical Weber problem and the minimax problem with demand sets--are studied as particular instances of our problem. Finally, for the planar polyhedral case, we give an algorithm to find the solution set of the considered problems.
Androgen receptor antagonism drives cytochrome P450 17A1 inhibitor efficacy in prostate cancer

The clinical utility of inhibiting cytochrome P450 17A1 (CYP17), a cytochrome p450 enzyme that is required for the production of androgens, has been exemplified by the approval of abiraterone for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Recently, however, it has been reported that CYP17 inhibitors can interact directly with the androgen receptor (AR). A phase I study recently reported that seviteronel, a CYP17 lyase–selective inhibitor, ædemonstrated a sustained reduction in prostate-specific antigen in a patient with CRPC, and another study showed seviteronel’s direct effects on AR function. This suggested that seviteronel may have therapeutically relevant activities in addition to its ability to inhibit androgen production. Here, we have demonstrated that CYP17 inhibitors, with the exception of orteronel, can function as competitive AR antagonists. Conformational profiling revealed that the CYP17 inhibitor–bound AR adopted a conformation that resembled the unliganded AR (apo-AR), precluding nuclear localization and DNA binding. Further, we observed that seviteronel and abiraterone inhibited the growth of tumor xenografts expressing the clinically relevant mutation AR-F876L and that this activity could be attributed entirely to competitive AR antagonism. The results of this study suggest that the ability of CYP17 inhibitors to directly antagonize the AR may contribute to their clinical efficacy in CRPC.
Gaps in Mind: Problems in environmental knowledge-behaviour modelling research

For decades, researchers in the social sciences and in education have sought to understand and map the factors that lead people to move (or to fail to move) from environmental knowledge to 'pro-environmental behaviour'. In this article, we explore some conceptual, epistemological, methodological and practical 'gaps' that seem to reproduce themselves in successive instantiations of this quest. The purpose of this article is to help build the critical perspective that comes with problematizing the very project of knowledge-behaviour modelling, identifying the positivistic residues still present in the enterprise, and suggesting that modelling may be more useful in domains of greater scale. Focusing on the 'Mind Gap' model developed by Kollmus and Agyeman (2002), we discuss the 'gap' between contemporary educational research and knowledge-behaviour modelling research that is the cumulative effect of (1) the critical thinking - 'behaviour change' gap; (2) the 'reflective practitioner - 'researcher as authority' gap; (3) the two literatures gap; (4) the conscious - non-conscious gap (tied to reason and habit in moral agency); (5) the direct action - indirect action gap (tied to privatizing environmental morality); (6) the gender gap; and (7) the internal - external gap (tied to ignoring the complexity of moral agency and cultural identity).
Intrafamilial transmission of hepatitis C virus

Family members of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected hemodialysis patients had a high rate (8.1%) of HCV infection and were often infected by the same genotype of HCV as the renal patients. Renal patients who had a longer history of hemodialysis or more frequent arteriovenous shunt replacement posed a higher risk to their household contacts, especially to their primary-care providers at home.
Optical numeral recognition algorithm for seven segment display

The paper discusses an algorithm for the recognition of seven segment numbers on a display, so that the algorithm can be utilized for applications such as automated reading of LCD-based meters. The algorithm outlines a 7-step process consisting of four types of operations-Object Detection, Noise Removal, Image Segmentation and Numeral Recognition based on pixel density feature extraction. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated, by simulation and field tests, for robustness to variations of digit positions, brightness, contrast, tilt and noise. The recognition rate of the algorithm is 79% when tested over a wide range of variation in illumination and angular tilt conditions.
Study of Robustness of Synchronized Bursting Behaviors for Spike Neural Network Motifs

The understanding of the physiological basis of basic functions of brains requires detailed information about the functional structures of neuronal networks. Feedback loops are crucial dynamic motifs playing a pivotal role in the regulation and control of many important physiological and biochemical processes such as gene transcription, signal transduction, and metabolism (intracellular processes), and neuronal coding and decoding (intercellular processes). In the study, we focus on investigating a prerequisite for generating the synchronizations in spike neural networks and also a crucial structure for inducing the most robust synchronized network behaviors. Based on simulations for synthetic spiking neuronal network models, it is shown that only the networks with positive feedback loop (PFL) motifs can arrive at synchronizations under a variety of initial states. Importantly, coupled direct and indirect PFL motifs induce most robust synchronized bursting behaviors, which are one of the most remarkable characteristics of biological neuronal networks. This result may infer a crucial structural module for designing both in vitro and in vivo neuronal networks.
Some Factors Affecting Teacher Survival in School Districts1

Influenced by the work of British labor statisticians, J. Whitener (1965) a few years ago developed an actuarial procedure for investigating staff turnover in school systems, an approach that circumvented the interpretation difficulties of the commonly used crude turnover rate (Lane and Andrew, 1955; Silcock, 1954). In an exploratory study, he obtained lists of all teachers entering employment in ten Missouri school districts during the calendar years of 1951, 1952, and 1953-a total of 937 teachers-and recorded their lengths of service at the time they terminated employment in the district, if they did, through a ten-year period. These data were converted into a survival curve, showing the proportions of the cohort still in employment at yearly intervals. Districts involved in the study were located, with one exception, in the St. Louis suburban area and were mostly in the student enrollment range of 1,000-6,000. Most of Whitener's statistical analyses of the factors affecting teacher survival were carried out in a sub-group of 431 teachers between the ages of 22 and 26 at the time of entering employment.
Acquired equivalence in U.S. veterans with symptoms of posttraumatic stress: reexperiencing symptoms are associated with greater generalization.

The severity and number of reexperiencing symptoms (e.g., flashbacks) show considerable variability across individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One interpretation of reexperiencing symptoms invokes generalization: Specifically, the traumatic memory may be stored in such a way that neutral stimuli that only vaguely resemble some feature of the traumatic event are sufficient to trigger the memory. If this is the case, then individuals with higher levels of reexperiencing symptoms might show greater generalization, even in contexts unrelated to trauma. In the current study, an acquired equivalence test was used to assess associative learning and generalization in 114 U.S. veterans who were also given a test of declarative memory. PTSD symptoms were rated by the veteran. After adjusting for demographic variables, psychoactive medication use, and initial learning, regression analyses showed that the number of PTSD reexperiencing symptoms significantly improved the model for generalization (β = -.23, R(2) = . 34) but not associative learning or declarative memory. The results support the idea that generalization is linked to reexperiencing symptoms, is not limited to learning about traumatic events, and can emerge even in a relatively innocuous computer-based learning task.
Handbook of Alcoholism Treatment Approaches: Effective Alternatives

This is an absolutely indispensable resource for anyone working in the area of alcoholism treatment and research. Its focus is to match the client with the treatment program most suited to that specific client. Eleven of the most widely studied treatment approaches are covered in separate chapters, each written by an expert author or team in the modality. This is the most comprehensive review of alcohol treatment outcomes available anywhere. It discusses advances in evaluation, motivation, treatment outcomes, and protocols in treatment as well as practical suggestions and recommendations for assessment and treatment. Clinical Psychologists and Alcohol Treatment Specialists. A Longwood Professional Book.