Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluating the MeBActive-Youth as a Measure of Mental Toughness

The obesity epidemic in youth is increasing at an alarming rate, in part, due to the decreasing levels of physical activity within the youth population. In order to understand this growing epidemic different variables have been examined as potentially having an influence on youth physical activity levels. One variable that has never been examined as a correlate of physical activity is mental toughness. Mental toughness is a psychological trait characterized by determination, resiliency, and the ability to stay in control, remain focused, and perform optimally regardless of the circumstances. In order to evaluate this trait the MeBActive-Youth was developed. The purpose of this study was to first, evaluate the psychometric properties of the newly developed MeBActive-Youth, a measure for mental toughness for physical activity in youth and secondly, to assess the relationship of mental toughness, social support and self-efficacy to physical activity with the use of the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). It was hypothesized that the MeBActive-Youth will be a psychometrically sound measure as assessed with the Rasch Rating Scale Model (RRSM) of mental toughness and will also have good construct validity by being positively correlated with social support, self-efficacy and PA. Participants (N = 106) completed a demographic survey, the MeBActive-Youth, Social Support and Exercise Survey (SSES), Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Scale (PASES), and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents iv (PAQ-A). The RRSM showed that the MeBActive-Youth had appropriate items for the sample and measured mental toughness appropriately. The items had a range of 0.53 –-0.64 logits. All but four of the items had a fit statistic within the acceptable range of 0.5 – 1.5, but only one item had a much higher statistic (infit = 1.68 logits). The items had a separation index of 2.38, therefore only distinguishing high or low mentally tough participants. Although the four response options were all utilized appropriately, it may be beneficial to reduce them to three. There was a significant positive correlation between MeBActive-Youth and physical activity (ρ = .52, p ≤ .01) and PASES (ρ = .30, p ≤ .01). The correlation between social support from friends and family and MeBActive-Youth was not significant (ρ = .12, p ≥ .05; ρ = .17, p ≥ .05). There was a positive significant correlation between, physical activity and familial and friend social support (ρ = .47, p ≤ .01; ρ = .27 p ≤ .05), PASES (ρ = .34, p ≤ .01) and mental …
Purification and Partial Characterization of an Entomopoxvirus (DlEPV) from a Parasitic Wasp of Tephritid Fruit Flies.

Abstract An insect poxvirus [entomopoxvirus (EPV)] occurs in the poison gland apparatus of female Diachasmimorpha longicaudata, a parasitic wasp of the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa and other tephritid fruit flies. The DlEPV virion is 250–300 nm in diameter, has a “bumpy” appearance and a unipartite double stranded DNA genome of 290–300 kb. DlEPV DNA restriction fragment profiles differed from those reported for Amsacta moorei EPV (AmEPV) and Melanoplus sanguinipes EPV (MsEPV), the only two EPVs whose genomes have been sequenced, and from those reported for vaccinia (Vac), a vertebrate poxvirus (chordopoxvirus, ChPV). Blast search and ClustalW alignment of the amino acids deduced from the 2316 nucleotides of a DlEPV DNA fragment cloned from an EcoR1 genomic library revealed 75–78% homology with the putative DNA-directed RNA polymerases of AmEPV, MsEPV, and two ChPV homologs of the Vac J6R gene. Of the deduced 772 amino acids in the DlEPV sequence, 28.4% are conserved/substituted among the four poxviruses aligned, 12.9% occur in at least one EPV, 6.5% in at least one ChPV, 3.1% in at least one EPV and one ChPV, and 49.1% occur only in DlEPV. Although the RI-36-1 fragment represents a portion of the gene, it contains nucleotides that encode the NADFDGDE consensus sequence of known DNA-directed RNA polymerases. Western blots using a mouse polyclonal anti-DlEPV serum recognized six major protein bands in combined fractions of sucrose-purified DlEPV, at least one band in homogenates of male and female wasps, and at least two bands in host hemolymph that contained DlEPV virions. A digoxigenin-labeled DlEPV genomic DNA probe recognized DNA in dot-blots of male and female wasps. These results confirm that DlEPV is a true EPV and probably a member of the Group C EPVs. Unlike other EPVs, DlEPV does not express the spheroidin protein. Since it also replicates in both the wasp and fly, members of two different insect Orders, DlEPV may represent a new EPV Group, or a subgroup of the Group C viruses.
A study on interlaced sampling with unknown offsets

In this paper, interlaced sampling is discussed, for which signals/images are sampled several times by an identical sampling device like a CCD camera with slightly displaced locations. Since offset parameters are unknown, the problem becomes challenging. A typical example of this formulation is super-resolution image reconstruction from multiple low resolution images. A well-defined solution has already been devised for the case where the number of unknown parameters is less than or equal to the number of measurements. However, this condition easily fails in practical situations. Hence, this paper proposes a signal reconstruction method that provides stable solutions even if the condition does not hold. The key factors introduced here are a statistical assumption for target signals and the minimization of a cost function. Simulation results show that the proposed method performs much better than the conventional method.
Learning In RoboCup Keepaway Using Evolutionary Algorithms

Manually coordinating the efforts of many autonomous agents can be a formidable challenge, so the idea of using machine learning techniques (such as evolutionary algorithms) to produce such coordination is attractive. We present a study using evolutionary algorithms to train autonomous agents to play the game of keepaway — a sub-problem of the RoboCup robotic soccer league. Our results exceed those previously produced using other methods.
Learning Chemistry through Collaboration: A Wizard-of-Oz Studt of Adaptive Collaboration Support

Chemistry students often learn to solve problems by applying well-practiced procedures, but such a mechanical approach is likely to hinder conceptual understanding. We have developed a system aimed at promoting conceptual learning in chemistry by having dyads collaborate on problems in a virtual laboratory (VLab), assisted by a collaboration script. We conducted a small study to compare an adaptive and a non-adaptive version of the system, with the adaptive version controlled by a human wizard. Analyses showed a tendency for the dyads in the adaptive condition to collaborate better and to have better conceptual understanding. We present our research framework, our collaborative software environment, and results from the wizard-of-oz study.
Wayfinding Technology: A Road Map to the Future

From a broad visionary perspective, this article examines three promising areas in which technology has the potential to revolutionize wayfinding for travelers who are blind: smart environments, smart consumers, and smart helpers. Its perspective is personal, based on the author's experience as the director of the Institute for Innovative Blind Navigation, and it is strongly influenced by the research and writings of popular futurists.
Moment Convergence Rate in Stochastic Optimization

where X is the decision set and Q0, the distribution of ξ, is a probability distribution supported on [0, 1]. This kind of problem can be solved numerically or (in special cases) in closed form if we know the exact distribution of Q0. Unfortunately, in practice one rarely knows the exact distribution Q0. Instead, one often has only partial information about Q0, which may include limited distributional information such as a few moments or quantiles. In a seminal paper, Scarf proposed and solved a “robust version” of Problem (1.1). More precisely, suppose that instead of knowing Q0 exactly, one only knew the first two moments of Q0, and wanted to optimize against an adversary who could pick a “worst-case” distribution subject to those moment constraints. Then one is faced with the min-max optimization problem
Improving Sparsity Problem in Group Recommendation

Group recommendation systems can be very challenging when the datasets are sparse and there are not many available ratings for items. In this paper, by enhancing basic memorybased techniques we resolve the data sparsity problem for users in the group. The results have shown that by conducting our techniques for the users in the group we have a higher group satisfaction and lower group dissatisfaction.
Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy of Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients for Whom Transcatheter Arterial Chemoembolization Was Ineffective or Unsuitable

Objectives:To evaluate 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients for whom transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) was ineffective or unsuitable, and to determine whether tumor response and portal vein thrombosis (PVT) response to treatment were prognostic factors for overall survival. Methods:From July 2001 to June 2005, 70 unresectable HCC patients were treated with 3D-CRT; PVT was present in 41 patients. A daily radiation dose ranging from 2 to 3 Gy was administered using 6 or 15 MV x-rays to deliver a total dose between 44 and 54 Gy. Results:Of 70 patients, follow-up computed tomography showed that primary tumor responses were complete response (CR) in 4 (5.7%) patients, partial response (PR) in 34 (48.6%), no response (NR) in 28 (37.1%), and progressive disease (PD) in 4 (8.6%). Of 41 patients with PVT, PVT responses were CR in 4 (9.7%) patients, PR in 12 (29.3%), NR in 20 (48.8%), and PD in 5 (12.2%). The median survival times were 18.0 and 20.1 month in the primary tumor and the PVT responders (CR + PR), respectively, which were longer than the 6.8 and 7.2 months in the primary tumor and the PVT nonresponders (NR + PD), respectively. Conclusions:3D-CRT was associated with a 54.3% objective response rate for primary tumors and a 39.0% objective response rate for PVT. Both primary tumor and PVT responses were found to be prognostic factors for overall survival. The present results suggest 3D-CRT is a practical treatment option in HCC patients for whom TACE is ineffective or unsuitable.
Nonlinear Fitness Landscape of a Molecular Pathway

Genes are regulated because their expression involves a fitness cost to the organism. The production of proteins by transcription and translation is a well-known cost factor, but the enzymatic activity of the proteins produced can also reduce fitness, depending on the internal state and the environment of the cell. Here, we map the fitness costs of a key metabolic network, the lactose utilization pathway in Escherichia coli. We measure the growth of several regulatory lac operon mutants in different environments inducing expression of the lac genes. We find a strikingly nonlinear fitness landscape, which depends on the production rate and on the activity rate of the lac proteins. A simple fitness model of the lac pathway, based on elementary biophysical processes, predicts the growth rate of all observed strains. The nonlinearity of fitness is explained by a feedback loop: production and activity of the lac proteins reduce growth, but growth also affects the density of these molecules. This nonlinearity has important consequences for molecular function and evolution. It generates a cliff in the fitness landscape, beyond which populations cannot maintain growth. In viable populations, there is an expression barrier of the lac genes, which cannot be exceeded in any stationary growth process. Furthermore, the nonlinearity determines how the fitness of operon mutants depends on the inducer environment. We argue that fitness nonlinearities, expression barriers, and gene–environment interactions are generic features of fitness landscapes for metabolic pathways, and we discuss their implications for the evolution of regulation.
Efficient Testing of High Performance Transaction Processing Systems

Testing the reliability of high performance tlansaetion processing systams poses many difficult challenges that are not adequately answered by conventional testing techniques. We discuss a new test paradigm, which is dynamic and exploratory in nature, and discuss its ability to meet these challenges. We describe an implementation of thii paradigm in products that aid in efficiently testing reliable, high performance transaction processing systems at T~adem Computers Inc.
Achieving Pareto-Optimality: Invisible Hands, Social Contracts, and Rational Deliberation

I begin with two simple, similar interactions. In one, maximizing agents will reach a Pareto-optimal equilibrium, in the other, they won’t. The first shows the working of the Invisible Hand; the second, its limitations. Using other simple interactions in which equilibrium and P-optimality are incompatible, I argue that the rational outcome of interaction answers to optimality rather than maximization, and requires agents to cooperate in realizing an agreed outcome, rather than to seek their best reply to their fellows. The terms of cooperation are set by a social contract, which coordinates choices to achieve a Pareto-optimum when the Invisible Hand is absent.
ILP and TLP in shared memory applications: A limit study

With the breakdown of Dennard scaling, future processor designs will be at the mercy of power limits as Chip MultiProcessor (CMP) designs scale out to many-cores. It is critical, therefore, that future CMPs be optimally designed in terms of performance efficiency with respect to power. A characterization analysis of future workloads is imperative to ensure maximum returns of performance per Watt consumed. Hence, a detailed analysis of emerging workloads is necessary to understand their characteristics with respect to hardware in terms of power and performance tradeoffs. In this paper, we conduct a limit study simultaneously analyzing the two dominant forms of parallelism exploited by modern computer architectures: Instruction Level Parallelism (ILP) and Thread Level Parallelism (TLP). This study gives insights into the upper bounds of performance that future architectures can achieve. Furthermore it identifies the bottlenecks of emerging workloads. To the best of our knowledge, our work is the first study that combines the two forms of parallelism into one study with modern applications. We evaluate the PARSEC multithreaded benchmark suite using a specialized trace-driven simulator. We make several contributions describing the high-level behavior of next-generation applications. For example, we show these applications contain up to a factor of 929× more ILP than what is currently being extracted from real machines. We then show the effects of breaking the application into increasing numbers of threads (exploiting TLP), instruction window size, realistic branch prediction, realistic memory latency, and thread dependencies on exploitable ILP. Our examination shows that theses benchmarks differed vastly from one another. As a result, we expect no single, homogeneous, micro-architecture will work optimally for all, arguing for reconfigurable, heterogeneous designs.
Pitting a New Hybrid Approach for Maintaining Simulation Stability after Mesh Cutting Against Standard Remeshing Strategies

In previous work we have developed a new hybrid approach for handling ill-shaped elements pos- sibly appearing after cutting simulation meshes. In this work we compare the approach with existing standard techniques commonly employed to treat topological changes in deformation meshes. Our results indicate that the hy- brid approach might be better suited for real-time sim- ulations than using standard mesh improvement meth- ods, since the latter require an order of magnitude larger processing times.
COMPARISON OF PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYS IS AND INDEPENDEDENT COMPONENT ANALYSIS FOR BLIND SOURCE SEPARATION

Our contribution briefly outlines the basics of the well-established technique in data mining, namely the principal component analysis (PCA), and a rapidly emerging novel method, that i s, the independent component analysis (ICA). The performance of PCA singular value decomposition-based and stationary linear ICA in blind separation of artificially generated data out of linear mixtures was critically evaluated and compared. All our results outlined the superiority of I CA relative to PCA in faithfully retrieval of the original independent source components.
Detection of X-Ray Emission from the Arches Cluster near the Galactic Center

The Arches cluster is an extraordinarily compact massive star cluster with a core radius of about 10'' (~0.4 pc) and consisting of more than 150 O star candidates with initial stellar masses greater than 20 M☉ near G0.12-0.02. X-ray observations of the radio Arc near the Galactic center at l ~ 0. °2, which contains the Arches cluster, have been carried out with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on board Chandra X-Ray Observatory. We report the detection of two X-ray sources from the Arches cluster embedded within a bath of diffuse X-ray emission extending beyond the edge of the cluster to at least 90′′ × 60′′ (3.6 pc × 2.4 pc). The brightest component of the X-ray emission coincides with the core of the cluster and can be fitted with a two-temperature thermal spectrum with a soft and hard component of 0.8 and 6.4 keV, respectively. The core of the cluster coincides with several ionized stellar wind sources that have previously been detected at radio wavelengths, suggesting that the X-ray emission from the core arises from stellar wind sources. The diffuse emission beyond the boundary of the cluster is discussed in the context of combined shocked stellar winds escaping from the cluster. We argue that the expelled gas from young clusters such as the Arches cluster may be responsible for the hot and extended X-ray--emitting gas detected throughout the inner degree of the Galactic center.
Demo: Spectrum-Agile mm-Wave Packet Radio Implementation on USRPs

We present a spectrum-agile mm-wave packet radio communication system and demonstrate it by using multimedia streaming. The developed platform is based on USRP software defined radios (SDRs) executing open-source GNU Radio code and cost-efficient commercial off-the-shelf components. Our system is able to operate in both the V- and E-bands, covering in practice the 60~GHz, 70~GHz and 80~GHz frequency bands. One of the main design goals has been to provide an SDR design that academic groups, particularly protocol designers, could use easily for future mm-wave system development and experimental verification.
Three Essays on Tax Salience: Market Salience and Political Salience

This Article analyzes the behavioral economics literatures on how individuals understand taxation (i.e., tax salience). We evaluate how taxpayers respond to different presentations of tax prices both in their roles as market participants and as voters. We aim to combat several naive notions about tax salience that currently exert a pernicious influence on tax lawmaking. In particular, we argue that it is normatively desirable for governments to reduce tax salience with respect to market decision making, and that there is nothing normatively objectionable about governments also reducing tax salience with respect to political decision making.
Audio‐visual multisensory training enhances visual processing of motion stimuli in healthy participants: an electrophysiological study

Evidence from electrophysiological and imaging studies suggests that audio‐visual (AV) stimuli presented in spatial coincidence enhance activity in the subcortical colliculo‐dorsal extrastriate pathway. To test whether repetitive AV stimulation might specifically activate this neural circuit underlying multisensory integrative processes, electroencephalographic data were recorded before and after 2 h of AV training, during the execution of two lateralized visual tasks: a motion discrimination task, relying on activity in the colliculo‐dorsal MT pathway, and an orientation discrimination task, relying on activity in the striate and early ventral extrastriate cortices. During training, participants were asked to detect and perform a saccade towards AV stimuli that were disproportionally allocated to one hemifield (the trained hemifield). Half of the participants underwent a training in which AV stimuli were presented in spatial coincidence, while the remaining half underwent a training in which AV stimuli were presented in spatial disparity (32°). Participants who received AV training with stimuli in spatial coincidence had a post‐training enhancement of the anterior N1 component in the motion discrimination task, but only in response to stimuli presented in the trained hemifield. However, no effect was found in the orientation discrimination task. In contrast, participants who received AV training with stimuli in spatial disparity showed no effects on either task. The observed N1 enhancement might reflect enhanced discrimination for motion stimuli, probably due to increased activity in the colliculo‐dorsal MT pathway induced by multisensory training.
Decreased plasma levels of nitric oxide derivatives in obstructive sleep apnoea: response to CPAP therapy

BACKGROUND Reduced endothelium dependent vasodilation has been reported in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) but direct measurements of the most potent naturally occurring vasodilator, nitric oxide (NO) or its derivatives (nitrate and nitrite, NOx), have not yet been performed in these patients. METHODS In 21 patients with OSA of mean (SE) age 54 (2) years, body mass index (BMI) 30.9 (1.1) kg/m2, and apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) 37 (4)/h, NOx levels were measured in peripheral venous blood samples by chemiluminescence. Blood samples were obtained before and after two nights of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and after 5.5 (1.5) months of follow up. Thirteen age matched, healthy volunteers and 18 patients without OSA but with a similar spectrum of comorbidity served as controls (control groups 1 and 2). RESULTS Before CPAP NOx levels were 21.7 (1.5) μM in patients with OSA compared with 42.6 (2.2) μM and 36.7 (1.7) μM in control groups 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.01 for each comparison). NOxconcentrations increased to 32.1 (2.7) μM after two nights of CPAP and remained constant at 32.9 (2.3) μM at follow up (p<0.01 compared with levels before CPAP). CONCLUSIONS Plasma NOx levels are reduced in OSA and can be increased by short and long term CPAP therapy. Although the precise mechanism underlying this observation remains to be clarified, it may have important implications for the development of cardiovascular disease in patients with OSA and for the life saving effect of CPAP.