Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing cognitive functioning in older adults and its relationship to quality of life : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Cognitive impairment of any magnitude carries an undetermined societal and individual cost. The desire to accurately predict cognitive decline at an early stage is sought-after as robust cognitive health and function in later life is desirable. Knowing who is at risk and what those risks may be is imperative for targeting interventions to those in need. The lack of nationally representative information regarding cognitive functioning means that there is little information about base rates of cognitive functioning. This represents a problem in terms of gauging the incidence of cognitive impairment and difficulties related to planning for social and health expenditure for the ageing population. This thesis explores the validity and reliability of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised and develops New Zealand norms for the measure using data from the New Zealand Longitudinal Study of Ageing. These demographically stratified norms will help to determine those people who may be more vulnerable to a dementing process. The information is applied in the context of examining the impact of cognitive functioning on quality of life; an important concept to consider in research. In article one, a pilot study of the use of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) with older community dwelling adults, the utility of the measure was supported. In article two, the ACE-R was integrated into a nationwide longitudinal study of older adults. Stratified demographic norms were created. This is the first known nationally representative New Zealand study to provide evidence of the impact of age, gender and ethnicity on measures of cognitive functioning. In article three this information was applied in the study of the relationship between cognitive functioning and quality of life. Results suggested that cognitive functioning has a small significant association with quality of life in older age and a much larger association in those who display cognitive functioning difficulties. This research adds to the research base in New Zealand by providing representative norms from which older adults can be compared in a meaningful and specific way.
Les « agencements organisationnels » des situations perturbées : la coordination d’un bloc opératoire à la pointe de la rationalisation industrielle

A la lumiere des concepts d’agencement organisationnel et de situation de gestion proposes par Girin (1995, 1990, 1983), cet article met en exergue l’activite collective de regulation des evenements prise en charge par les personnels dans un contexte marque par la rationalisation economique. Placant la communication au cœur de ces agencements en « situations perturbees », nous identifions un certain nombre de ressources organisationnelles qui soutiennent ce travail de regulation, dans les cours d’action. Toutefois, nous situant dans une perspective dynamique, nous montrons que l’instrumentation en place, du fait de la philosophie gestionnaire sur laquelle elle s’appuie, entrave dans le temps ces processus communicationnels a travers les imperatifs de vitesse et de debit qu’elle vehicule. Des lors, inscrivant notre propos dans une perspective de resilience (Wildavsky, 1988), nous suggerons des pistes de reflexion pour ameliorer les reponses organisationnelles apportees par les etablissements de sante dans la gestion de l’alea.
A Novel Approach of Web Search Based on Community Wisdom

In this paper, we propose a novel approach for Web search based on the statistical information of local setting data of web browsers in a community. The members of the community share their local setting data of browsers and this enables them to take advantage of the peer community members's opinions in their Web search. Then we develop a new scheme that combines PageRank's link-based ranking scores with our proposed community based popularity scores for web sites. This hybrid scheme provides a rank- ordering method for search query results that integrates the content consumers' opinions with the content producers' opinions in a balanced manner. The users' opinions of web sites provide a solid starting point of trust for combatting web spam and improving the quality of Web search.
Transient tectogeniculate projections in neonatal kittens: An autoradiographic study

By using anterograde transport autoradiography, the present experiments demonstrated that the pattern of tectogeniculate projections in young (birth–14 postnatal days) kittens is strikingly different from that present in adult cats. Rather than being confined to the ventral C laminae, the neonatal projection extended across all layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus. This projection, like that in the adult cat, originates from cells in superficial laminae and is visuotopically organized. Thus, labeling only a portion of the superior colliculus with tritiated leucine produced a topographically appropriate strip of labeling in the ipsilateral lateral geniculate nucleus that encompassed all laminae and was especially dense in all interlaminar zones. Transported label also invaded the medial interlaminar nucleus (MIN).
Company Town/Labour Town: Local Government in the Cape Breton Coal Towns, 1917-1926*

Cette etude attire l’attention sur une etape jusqu’ici negligee dans l’histoire de la ville a industrie unique au Canada, soit le remplacement de la « domination patronale » par la « domination ouvriere ». Vers la fin de la Premiere guerre mondiale, des elus ouvriers prirent le controle des administrations municipales dans les villes charbonnieres du Cap Breton. Les conseils municipaux y defierent les compagnies minieres sur maintes questions d’interet general et appuyerent les ouvriers mineurs dans leurs revendications. La montee de ce pouvoir des travailleurs eroda celui des compagnies minieres et contribua a l’etablissement d’une concertation durable entre politique ouvriere et action communautaire dans les centres charbonniers du Cap Breton.
Response time as a discriminator between true- and false-positive responses in suprathreshold perimetry.

PURPOSE To report on differences between the latency distributions of responses to stimuli and to false-positive catch trials in suprathreshold perimetry. To describe an algorithm for defining response time windows and to report on its performance in discriminating between true- and false-positive responses on the basis of response time (RT). METHODS A sample of 435 largely inexperienced patients underwent suprathreshold visual field examination on a perimeter that was modified to record RTs. Data were analyzed from 60,500 responses to suprathreshold stimuli and from 523 false-positive responses to catch trials. RESULTS False-positive responses had much more variable latencies than responses to suprathreshold stimuli. An algorithm defining RT windows on the basis of z-transformed individual latency samples correctly identified more than 70% of false-positive responses to catch trials, whereas fewer than 3% of responses to suprathreshold stimuli were classified as false-positive responses. CONCLUSIONS Latency analysis can be used to detect a substantial proportion of false-positive responses in suprathreshold perimetry. Rejection of such responses may increase the reliability of visual field screening by reducing variability and bias in a small but clinically important proportion of patients.
Genetic polymorphisms in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase and methionine synthase, folate levels in red blood cells, and risk of neural tube defects.

Folic acid administration to women in the periconceptional period reduces the occurrence of neural tube defects (NTDs) in their offspring. A polymorphism in the gene encoding methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), 677C-->T, is the first genetic risk factor for NTDs in man identified at the molecular level. The gene encoding another folate-dependent enzyme, methionine synthase (MTR), has recently been cloned and a common variant, 2756A-->G, has been identified. We assessed genotypes and folate status in 56 patients with spina bifida, 62 mothers of patients, 97 children without NTDs (controls), and 90 mothers of controls, to determine the impact of these factors on NTD risk. Twenty percent of cases and 18% of case mothers were homozygous for the MTHFR polymorphism, compared to 11% of controls and 11% of control mothers, indicating that the mutant genotype conferred an increased risk for NTDs. The risk was further increased if both mother and child had this genotype. The MTR polymorphism was associated with a decreased O.R. (O.R.); none of the cases and only 10% of controls were homozygous for this variant. Red blood cell (RBC) folate was lower in cases and in case mothers, compared to their respective controls. Having a RBC folate in the lowest quartile of the control distribution was associated with an O.R. of 2.56 (95% CI 1.28-5.13) for being a case and of 3.05 (95% CI 1.54-6.03) for being a case mother. The combination of homozygous mutant MTHFR genotype and RBC folate in the lowest quartile conferred an O.R. for being a NTD case of 13.43 (CI 2.49-72.33) and an O.R. for having a child with NTD of 3.28 (CI 0.84-12.85). We propose that the genetic-nutrient interaction--MTHFR polymorphism and low folate status--is associated with a greater risk for NTDs than either variable alone.
Electron transport through complex ultra-thin wired networks

We have made the first attempt at investigating electron transmission through a network involving complex loops. When two Aharonov-Bohm rings are brought together to form a complex network, the anti-bonding picture allows the electron to circulate only on the small loop and the bonding picture allows the electron to circulate on the large combined loop. When an electron spreads a part of the wave in the bonding picture and a part of the wave in the anti-bonding picture, the splitting of the wave causes the electron to behave like a "fractional" charge. Similar to the fractional Hall effect, this fractional charge is manifested in the flux periodicity from the two applied fluxes in the loops and is thus experimentally observable. The transmission behavior through reducible and irreducible double Aharonov-Bohm loops is presented. The applications of this new electron-wave computing method by a quantum resister network is a possible new direction for future computing technology
The lived experience of men with advanced cancer in relation to their perceptions of masculinity: a qualitative phenomenological study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this exploratory research was to understand how men experience their advanced cancer in relation to their perceptions of masculinity. BACKGROUND There are differences in the way men and women experience illness and health care. There are inequalities in incidence and morbidities of many diseases as well as differences in rates of help-seeking behaviours. Theories on masculinity offer some explanation towards this. Men's experiences of advanced cancer in relation to masculinity are under reported, published literature suggests that there are certain issues or men dealing with advanced disease that justify investigation. DESIGN A Qualitative approach using a Husserlian Phenomenological design was conducted. SAMPLE Eight men (aged 26-68) all with advanced cancer, defined as advanced or metastatic disease for which the patient had exhausted all standard therapeutic options. METHODS In-depth interviews were conducted to capture narratives of the experiences of men. Data were analysed using Colaizzi's seven stage framework. RESULTS Themes included thwarted ambition, changing expectations, protection and provision, stoicism and coping, images of illness versus images of masculinity, importance of being a fighter and loss. CONCLUSION Findings showed that the experiences of these men were complex and should be handled sensitively. Ideas for gender-specific interventions and further research were developed from the findings in relation to current literature. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE A better understanding and awareness of this in this context will help nurses to consider more subtle challenges that these patients may be dealing with that in turn could affect how they cope with the burden of cancer.
Real-time modelling used for outbreak management during a cholera epidemic, Haiti, 2010–2011

SUMMARY The emergence of epidemic cholera in post-earthquake Haiti portended a public health disaster of uncertain magnitude. In order to coordinate relief efforts in an environment with limited healthcare infrastructure and stretched resources, timely and realistic projections of the extent of the cholera outbreak were crucial. Projections were shared with Government and partner organizations beginning 5 days after the first reported case and were updated using progressively more advanced methods as more surveillance data became available. The first projection estimated that 105 000 cholera cases would occur in the first year. Subsequent projections using different methods estimated up to 652 000 cases and 163 000–247 000 hospitalizations during the first year. Current surveillance data show these projections to have provided reasonable approximations of the observed epidemic. Providing the real-time projections allowed Haitian ministries and external aid organizations to better plan and implement response measures during the evolving epidemic.
RL-based routing in biomedical mobile wireless sensor networks using trust and reputation

The main function of biomedical sensor network is to guarantee that the data packets from patients can be delivered reliably to the destination node or medical center. Attached to patients, these nodes can be mobile, thus forming a mobile wireless sensor network (mWSN). Moreover, non-cooperative nodes may also be present in the network. This paper therefore proposes a routing method for non-cooperative mWSNs based on Reinforcement Learning (RL). In particular, a reputation and trust scheme to avoid misbehaving nodes was integrated with an existing RL-based routing protocol called RL-QRP. We evaluated its performance in non-cooperative mWSNs under various conditions of non-cooperation and mobility. We found that the proposed method can achieve a success ratio of up to 11% over the RL-QRP, and 25% over a non-learning brute force search threshold method.
Monoclonal Antibody Routinely Used To Identify Avirulent Strains of Newcastle Disease Virus Binds to an Epitope at the Carboxy Terminus of the Hemagglutinin-Neuraminidase Protein and Recognizes Individual Mesogenic and Velogenic Strains

ABSTRACT Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains are classified as having high (velogenic), intermediate (mesogenic), or low (lentogenic) pathogenesis and virulence in chickens. Recent studies have established that the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) protein plays an important role in viral tropism and virulence. A monoclonal antibody (AVS-I) has previously been shown to be specific for lentogenic strains of NDV (Srinivasappa et al., Avian Dis. 30:562-567, 1986) and is routinely used to identify these strains. We have used competition antibody binding assays with a previously characterized panel of monoclonal antibodies, binding to chimeric HN proteins, and the characterization of an escape mutant to localize the binding site of AVS-I to the extreme carboxy terminus of the protein. In addition, we have shown that AVS-I does recognize at least one mesogenic strain and one velogenic strain of the virus, calling into question the potential of this antibody as a diagnostic reagent for avirulent NDV strains.
Spatial coordination strategies in future ultra-dense wireless networks

Ultra network densification is considered a major trend in the evolution of cellular networks, due to its ability to bring the network closer to the user side and reuse resources to the maximum extent. In this paper we explore spatial resources coordination as a key empowering technology for next generation (5G) ultra-dense networks. We propose an optimization framework for flexibly associating system users with access nodes in a densely deployed network, opting for the exploitation of densification and the control of overhead signaling. Combined with spatial precoding strategies, network resources management approaches are designed, reflecting various features, namely local vs. global channel state information knowledge exploitation, centralized vs. distributed implementation, and non-cooperative vs. joint multi-node data processing. We apply these strategies to future dense network setups, and explore the impact of critical network parameters, that is, the densification levels of access nodes, the density of users requesting service, and the power budget constraints. We demonstrate that spatial resources coordination is a key factor for capitalizing on the gains of ultra dense network deployments.
An Evolutionary Algorithm to Learn SPARQL Queries: Finding Patterns for Human Associations in DBpedia

While the Linked Data community provides many big and interlinked datasets, efficient usage of the knowledge is often limited by the need for domain experts to formulate the right SPARQL queries to answer questions. For each new question they have to decide which datasets are suitable and in which terminology and modelling style to phrase the SPARQL query. In this work we present an evolutionary algorithm to help with this challenging task. Our algorithm can learn SPARQL BGP queries common to a list of source-target-pairs from a given SPARQL endpoint. Amongst others, we apply our algorithm to a dataset of several hundred human associations (such as “circle square”) to find patterns for them in DBpedia. We show the scalability of the algorithm by running it against a SPARQL endpoint loaded with > 7.9 billion triples. Further, we use the resulting SPARQL queries to mimic human associations with a Recall@10 > 63.9%.
Teaching Children Musical Perception with MUSIC-AR

Unfortunately in Brazil there is a non compulsory musical education in schools that leads to loss of sound/musical perception of Brazilian children. This fact, associated with the lack of software for the teaching of musical perception, inspired the creation of Music-AR, a set of software that uses Augmented Reality technology for the teaching of sound properties, such as timbre, pitch and sound intensity. There were four small applications for that: the first one allows the child to manipulate virtual objects linked to sounds, this way, the child can loosen and stretch virtual objects relating them to the (bass and treble) sound pitch; the second focus on the concept of sound intensity, associating it to virtual animals been far or near to the children; the third is related to duration of the sound (short or long), and the last is about timbre – the personality of the sound. Tests were applied and the results are presented in this work.
Evolutionary synthesis of hybrid controllers

Automatic synthesis of control systems for hybrid systems is the main goal of the current approach. Such applications are found in the cyber-physical systems. These systems usually include some hardware components endowed with sensors and actuators that integrate software components. Each of the software components provides verified control competences. The research had the goal to conceive a method capable to automatically synthesize the software that implements specified competences and join them to compose the necessary hybrid control system. Enhanced Time Petri Nets (ETPNs) are used to model the different control components that react accordingly to expected competences. The ETPNs can model concurrent structures as well as their implementation behaviors. These models can be described by an ETPN based language (ETPNL). The capability descriptions are transformed into Lisp expressions that allow the use of Genetic Programming (GP) to guide the software evolution according to some performance criteria. The evolutionary system is used to perform the controller adaptations to their specific environments. For the general purpose, the control system is composed of Discrete Event Controller (DEC) and/or Discrete Time Controller (DTC), each of them providing different kinds of competences. The control system synthesis of an electric hydro power plant composed of a lake and two generators is used to show the application of this approach.
Perturbed Length-Dependent Activation in Human Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy With Missense Sarcomeric Gene Mutations

Rationale: High-myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity has been proposed as a trigger of disease pathogenesis in familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) on the basis of in vitro and transgenic mice studies. However, myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity depends on protein phosphorylation and muscle length, and at present, data in humans are scarce. Objective: To investigate whether high myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity and perturbed length-dependent activation are characteristics for human HCM with mutations in thick and thin filament proteins. Methods and Results: Cardiac samples from patients with HCM harboring mutations in genes encoding thick (MYH7, MYBPC3) and thin (TNNT2, TNNI3, TPM1) filament proteins were compared with sarcomere mutation-negative HCM and nonfailing donors. Cardiomyocyte force measurements showed higher myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity in all HCM samples and low phosphorylation of protein kinase A (PKA) targets compared with donors. After exogenous PKA treatment, myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity was similar (MYBPC3mut, TPM1mut, sarcomere mutation-negative HCM), higher (MYH7mut, TNNT2mut), or even significantly lower (TNNI3mut) compared with donors. Length-dependent activation was significantly smaller in all HCM than in donor samples. PKA treatment increased phosphorylation of PKA-targets in HCM myocardium and normalized length-dependent activation to donor values in sarcomere mutation-negative HCM and HCM with truncating MYBPC3 mutations but not in HCM with missense mutations. Replacement of mutant by wild-type troponin in TNNT2mut and TNNI3mut corrected length-dependent activation to donor values. Conclusions: High-myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity is a common characteristic of human HCM and partly reflects hypophosphorylation of PKA targets compared with donors. Length-dependent sarcomere activation is perturbed by missense mutations, possibly via posttranslational modifications other than PKA hypophosphorylation or altered protein–protein interactions, and represents a common pathomechanism in HCM.
Embedding Learning of Figurative Phrases for Emotion Classification in Micro-Blog Texts

Figurative phrases such as idioms are a type of Multi-Word Expressions (MWE) that possess a specialized meaning, which is independent and different from the literal meaning of the constituent words. Figurative language is widely used to express emotions and are very predominant in micro-blog data.Therefore, an efficient model of emotion categorization for micro-blogs should be able to correctly represent the instances of figurative phrases in the data. However, due to their non-compositional nature, the phrasal representation of figurative language cannot be directly obtained from the constituent words and hence this requires novel approaches for addressing the problem of modeling figurative phrases in micro-blogs. Most of the existing methods of modeling figurative idiomatic phrases in traditional text data use the broader textual context available for better results. However, in case of micro-blog data, such large context is not available due to very short length of text, which poses an additional challenge. Given the need to model figurative language for emotion classification, this paper develops the novel idea of Emotion Sensitive Figurative Phrase Embedding (ESFPE) to model idiomatic phrases in micro-blog data and show upto 14% improvement in emotion classification performance over baseline. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work towards figurative phrase modeling for emotion classification in micro-blog text.