Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Suicide Attempt Status and Quality of Life Disparity Among Individuals with Schizophrenia: A Longitudinal Analysis

Objective: Survivors of a suicide attempt are at greater risk for future suicide than those who have no history of such attempts (i.e., non-attempters), particularly in the context of schizophrenia. Although disparity between attempt survivors and non-attempters in quality of life (QoL) can potentially influence suicide risk disparity over time, no known longitudinal work has focused on QoL disparities between these groups. This study examined 2 types of QoL differences between attempt survivors and non-attempters over a 3-year period: (a) differences in levels of QoL (i.e., chronic disparity), and (b) differences in QoL change (i.e., change disparity). Method: In a sample of 166 adults with schizophrenia entering community-based psychosocial rehabilitation, 2-level hierarchical linear models were used to compare attempt survivors and non-attempters on objective and subjective QoL domains over 7 waves. Results: Chronic disparity in subjective QoL between groups was observed in work (b = −0.51; 95% CI [−0.95, −0.06]), relationship (b = −1.53; 95% CI [−2.68, −0.37]) and self-present life (b = −2.04; 95% CI [−3.12, −0.95]) domains, with attempt survivors having lower QoL levels than non-attempters over time. Change disparity in objective QoL between groups was observed in the relationship domain (b = −0.23; 95% CI [−0.40, −0.07]), with attempt survivors having a lower rate of QoL change. Conclusions: Finding chronic and change disparities between attempt survivors and non-attempters suggests that QoL disparity could reflect a distinct clinical profile for attempt survivors over time, that service delivery efforts should account for attempt status to address enduring and emerging QoL gaps, and that suicide attempt status deserves more attention in schizophrenia research.
New Neural Network Design for Approximate Dynamic Programming and Optimal Multiuser Detection by Xiaozhong Pang Advisor :

Title of Thesis: NEW NEURAL NETWORK DESIGN FOR APPROXIMATE DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING AND OPTIMAL MULTIUSER DETECTION Degree candidate: Xiaozhong Pang Degree and year: Master of Science, 1997 Thesis directed by: Professor John S. Baras Department of Electrical Engineering and Institute for Systems Research In this thesis we demonstrate that a new neural network design can be used to solve a class of di cult function approximation problems which are crucial to the eld of approximate dynamic programming(ADP). Although conventional neural networks have been proven to approximate smooth functions very well, the use of ADP for problems of intelligent control or planning requires the approximation of functions which are not so smooth. As an example, this thesis studies the problem of approximating the J function of dynamic programming applied to the task of navigating mazes, in general, without the need to learn each individual maze. Conventional neural networks, like multi-layer perceptrons(MLPs), cannot learn this task. But a new type of neural networks, simultaneous recurrent networks(SRNs), can accomplish the required learning as demonstrated by successful initial tests. In this thesis we investigate also the ability of recurrent neural networks to approximate MLPs and vice versa. Moreover, we present a comparison between using SRNs and MLPs to implement the optimal CDMA multiuser detector (OMD). This example is intended to demonstrate that SRNs can provide fast suboptimal solutions to hard combinatorial optimization problems, and achieve better bit-error-rate (BER) performance than MLPs. NEW NEURAL NETWORK DESIGN FOR APPROXIMATE DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING AND OPTIMAL MULTIUSER DETECTION
Sporting activity in the process of building human consciousness: the physical education teacher in schools as mediator of this process

AbstractAs defined by cultural–historical theory (CHT), activity is a category that (1) generally orients human developmental processes and (2) specifically orients human consciousness. This research, which was carried out with students at an elementary school in Presidente Prudente, SP, involved two different sports (futsal and handball) and sought to create the conditions for the construction and development of the collective consciousness of the participants. This was done while maintaining an awareness of universal values such as solidarity and cooperation in the achievement of group goals. Data collection was carried out using systematic observations during activities oriented by members of the GEIPEEthc (the study group for Intervention and Research in Education and CHT) as part of a sports intervention project developed within a wider school programme. The data collected were analysed and organised from a socio-historical perspective, thus highlighting the transformation of the subjects’ consciousn.
Peace as opportunity for social justice: Establishment of new social change organizations in Israel in the wake of the Oslo Peace Accords

The social work profession is committed to the promotion of peace and social justice. It is often assumed that peacetime enables diverting resources and attention to the promotion of disadvantaged groups. However, little is known about the mechanisms. This study of the Israeli experience following the Oslo Peace Accords suggests that one potential mechanism is the development of social change organizations (SCOs) in the wake of peace. Findings indicate growth in SCO establishment in the periphery and small towns, in vulnerable groups, and in the Israeli Palestinian (Arab) citizen minority group. Implications for social work are suggested.
Research of Capacity System Based on the Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge transfer as an important branch of knowledge management has got more and more concern. This paper takes the absorption, the transformation and the release of the knowledgement as a starting point, to describe the dynamic evolution of the Capacities in the course of knowledge transfer. Using genetic algorithms to describe the iterative process of the capacity formation.
Parameterized embedded in-circuit emulator and its retargetable debugging software for microprocessor/microcontroller/DSP processor

The in-circuit emulator (ICE) is commonly adopted as a microprocessor debugging technique. In this paper, a parameterized embedded in-circuit emulator and its retargetable debugging software are proposed. The parameterized embedded in-circuit emulator can be integrated into different style processors such as microcontroller, microprocessor, and DSP processor. The GUI interface debugging software can help user to debug easily. As a result of it, the duration of microprocessor debugging design procedure time is reduced.
Emergence of disinhibition‐induced synchrony in the CA3 region of the guinea pig hippocampus in vitro

Suppressing inhibition mediated by GABAA receptors induces rhythmic bursts of synchronous firing in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. Extracellular and intracellular records were made from guinea pig hippocampal slices to examine the emergence of this synchrony. We found that application of GABAA receptor antagonists initiated a sequence of changes in the activity of the CA3 neuronal population. First, the frequency of firing detected in multiunit records increased. Then, firing began to oscillate with increases followed by decreases in firing that occurred at intervals of 0.5–2 s. The coherence of the rhythmic activity at a single site increased with time, and discharges at distant sites in the CA3 region became correlated. Fluctuations in firing were associated with extracellular field potentials. Finally, epileptiform events associated with large field potentials began to recur at intervals of 5–10 s. The onset of fully synchronous events was sudden and correlated with a large increase in the amplitude of the field potential. Thus the CA3 population can express states of partial population synchrony preceding the onset of epileptiform discharges. A similar activity was induced and maintained by applying low doses of GABAA receptor antagonists. Intracellular records suggest that inhibitory signalling mediated by GABAB receptors contributes to the emergence of this activity. States of partial synchrony in the CA3 region exposed to GABAA receptor antagonists therefore depend on alternating periods of firing, presumably dependent on excitatory synaptic mechanisms, and silence, mediated in part by the activation of GABAB receptors.
Declines in HIV prevalence can be associated with changing sexual behaviour in Uganda, urban Kenya, Zimbabwe, and urban Haiti

Objective: To determine whether observed changes in HIV prevalence in countries with generalised HIV epidemics are associated with changes in sexual risk behaviour. Methods: A mathematical model was developed to explore the relation between prevalence recorded at antenatal clinics (ANCs) and the pattern of incidence of infection throughout the population. To create a null model a range of assumptions about sexual behaviour, natural history of infection, and sampling biases in ANC populations were explored to determine which factors maximised declines in prevalence in the absence of behaviour change. Modelled prevalence, where possible based on locally collected behavioural data, was compared with the observed prevalence data in urban Haiti, urban Kenya, urban Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, and urban Ethiopia. Results: Recent downturns in prevalence observed in urban Kenya, Zimbabwe, and urban Haiti, like Uganda before them, could only be replicated in the model through reductions in risk associated with changes in behaviour. In contrast, prevalence trends in urban Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, urban Ethiopia, and Rwanda show no signs of changed sexual behaviour. Conclusions: Changes in patterns of HIV prevalence in urban Kenya, Zimbabwe, and urban Haiti are quite recent and caution is required because of doubts over the accuracy and representativeness of these estimates. Nonetheless, the observed changes are consistent with behaviour change and not the natural course of the HIV epidemic.
Bio-inspired categorization using event-driven feature extraction and spike-based learning

This paper presents a fully event-driven feedforward architecture that accounts for rapid categorization. The proposed algorithm processes the address event data generated either from an image or from Address-Event-Representation (AER) temporal contrast vision sensor. Bio-inspired, cortex-like, spike-based features are obtained through event-driven convolution and neural competition. The extracted spike feature patterns are then classified by a network of leaky integrate-and-fire (LIE) spiking neurons, in which the weights are trained using tempotron learning rule. One appealing characteristic of our system is the fully event-driven processing. The input, the features, and the classification are all based on address events (spikes). Experimental results on three datasets have proved the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.
Robust Monitoring of Link Delays and Faults in IP Networks

In this paper, we develop failure-resilient techniques for monitoring link delays and faults in a Service Provider or Enterprise IP network. Our two-phased approach attempts to minimize both the monitoring infrastructure costs as well as the additional traffic due to probe messages. In the first phase, we compute the locations of a minimal set of monitoring stations such that all network links are covered, even in the presence of several link failures. Subsequently, in the second phase, we compute a minimal set of probe messages that are transmitted by the stations to measure link delays and isolate network faults. We show that both the station selection problem as well as the probe assignment problem are NP-hard. We then propose greedy approximation algorithms that achieve a logarithmic approximation factor for the station selection problem and a constant factor for the probe assignment problem. These approximation ratios are provably very close to the best possible bounds for any algorithm
Attitudes towards suicide among undergraduates and its' influencing factors

Objective To understand the attitudes towards suicide among the undergraduates and its' influencing factors.Methods The survey was carried out among the undergraduates in Ji'nan university by convenience sampling.The contents of survey included demography character and attitude towards suicide.Results Sex,speciality,the education degree of mother,Buddhism faith,the area of subjects,and grade were introduced into the different attitude scale towards suicide separately by multiple stepwise regression analysis.The girls were more definite,rational,and objective than the boys.The students of non medical speciality had more discrimination than those of medical speciality,while the undergraduates of medical speciality had more indentification of the preventability of suicidal behaviors(Beta=0.237) and self-control(Beta=0.124),and suicide not only influencing the stabilization of society but also producing enormous economic losses to the country(Beta=-0.123). The higher the education degree of the mother,the attitude of undergraduates were more passive.The undergraduates with Buddhism faith had a relatively tolerance and sympathetic attitude.Conclusion The attitudes towards suicide were relative definite among the undergraduates investigated.
Detection of geometric shape for traffic lane and mark

Traffic lane and mark are geometric shapes of road. Detection of geometric shapes is an essential component of autonomous urban driving system. In this paper, we introduce a method to detect geometric shape for traffic lane and mark. This method contains four steps. First, we apply HSV color space, histogram equalization and Otsu algorithm for image preprocessing. Then we use Canny algorithm and Progressive Probabilistic Hough Transform algorithm finding an optimal position of lane in image. Then by using Kalman filter model, we update and track lane marking lines. Finally we use template matching method to detect shape of traffic mark. We introduce normalized cross-correlation to recognize the traffic signs. Experiment results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can detect geometric shape for traffic lane and mark effectively.
Incorporating Existing Network Information into Gene Network Inference

One methodology that has met success to infer gene networks from gene expression data is based upon ordinary differential equations (ODE). However new types of data continue to be produced, so it is worthwhile to investigate how to integrate these new data types into the inference procedure. One such data is physical interactions between transcription factors and the genes they regulate as measured by ChIP-chip or ChIP-seq experiments. These interactions can be incorporated into the gene network inference procedure as a priori network information. In this article, we extend the ODE methodology into a general optimization framework that incorporates existing network information in combination with regularization parameters that encourage network sparsity. We provide theoretical results proving convergence of the estimator for our method and show the corresponding probabilistic interpretation also converges. We demonstrate our method on simulated network data and show that existing network information improves performance, overcomes the lack of observations, and performs well even when some of the existing network information is incorrect. We further apply our method to the core regulatory network of embryonic stem cells utilizing predicted interactions from two studies as existing network information. We show that including the prior network information constructs a more closely representative regulatory network versus when no information is provided.
The window period of NEUROGENIN3 during human gestation

The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, NEUROG3, is critical in causing endocrine commitment from a progenitor cell population in the developing pancreas. In human, NEUROG3 has been detected from 8 weeks post-conception (wpc). However, the profile of its production and when it ceases to be detected is unknown. In this study we have defined the profile of NEUROG3 detection in the developing pancreas to give insight into when NEUROG3-dependent endocrine commitment is possible in the human fetus. Immunohistochemistry allowed counting of cells with positively stained nuclei from 7 wpc through to term. mRNA was also isolated from sections of human fetal pancreas and NEUROG3 transcription analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction. NEUROG3 was detected as expected at 8 wpc. The number of NEUROG3-positive cells increased to peak levels between 10 wpc and 14 wpc. It declined at and after 18 wpc such that it was not detected in human fetal pancreas at 35–41 wpc. Analysis of NEUROG3 transcription corroborated this profile by demonstrating very low levels of transcript at 35–41 wpc, more than 10-fold lower than levels at 12–16 wpc. These data define the appearance, peak and subsequent disappearance of the critical transcription factor, NEUROG3, in human fetal pancreas for the first time. By inference, the window for pancreatic endocrine differentiation via NEUROG3 action opens at 8 wpc and closes between 21 and 35 wpc.
Applying clustering to analyze opinion diversity

In empirical software engineering research there is an increased use of questionnaires and surveys to collect information from practitioners. Typically, such data is then analyzed based on overall, descriptive statistics. Even though this can capture the general trends there is a risk that the opinions of different (minority) sub-groups are lost. Here we propose the use of clustering to segment the respondents so that a more detailed analysis can be achieved. Our findings suggest that it can give a better insight about the survey population and the participants' opinions. This partitioning approach can show more precisely the extent of opinion differences between different groups. This approach also gives an opportunity for the minorities to be heard. Through the process significant new findings may also be obtained. In our example study regarding the state of testing and requirement activities in industry, we found several significant groups that showed significant opinion differences from the overall conclusion.
Finding IRC-like Meshes Sans Layer 7 Payloads

We present an algorithm for detecting IRC-like chat networks that does not rely on Layer 7 payload information. The goal is to extract only those meshes from conventional flows where long-term periodic data is being exchanged between an external server and multiple internal clients. Flow data is passed through a series of filters that reduce the memory requirements needed for final candidate mesh sorting. Final outputs consist of two sorted lists including the fanout list, sorted by the number of client hosts in the mesh, and a secondary list called the evil sort. The latter consists of meshes with any host with a high TCP work weight 1 [3] indicating significant counts of scanning hosts. We are currently able to discover SSL-encoded IRC meshes as well as other chatlike meshes including MSN chat. Therefore we believe that the new algorithm will prove useful in detecting botnet meshes encrypted at Layer 7.
SYMPLECTIC-MIXED FINITE ELEMENT APPROXIMATION OF LINEAR WAVE EQUATIONS

We apply mixed finite element approximations to the first-order form of the acoustic wave equation. Our semidiscrete method exactly conserves the system energy, and we we show that with a symplectic Euler time discretization, our method exactly conserves a pertubed energy quantity that is positive-definite and equivalent to the actual energy under a CFL condition. In addition to proving optimal-order L8pL2q estimates for our methods, we also develop a bootstrap technique that allows us to derive stability and error bounds for the time derivatives and divergence of the vector variable beyond the standard under some additional regularity assumptions.
Morphological and electrical control of fullerene dimerization determines organic photovoltaic stability

Fullerene dimerization has been linked to short circuit current (Jsc) losses in organic solar cells comprised of certain polymer–fullerene systems. We investigate several polymer–fullerene systems, which present Jsc loss to varying degrees, in order to determine under which conditions dimerization occurs. By reintroducing dimers into fresh devices, we confirm that the photo-induced dimers are indeed the origin of the Jsc loss. We find that both film morphology and electrical bias affect the photodimerization process and thus the associated loss of Jsc. In plain fullerene films, a higher degree of crystallinity can inhibit the dimerization reaction, as observed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) measurements. In blend films, the amount of dimerization depends on the degree of mixing between polymer and fullerene. For highly mixed systems with very amorphous polymers, no dimerization is observed. In solar cells with pure polymer and fullerene domains, we tune the fullerene morphology from amorphous to crystalline by thermal annealing. Similar to neat fullerene films, we observe improved light stability for devices with crystalline fullerene domains. Changing the operating conditions of the investigated solar cells from Voc to Jsc also significantly reduces the amount of dimerization-related Jsc loss; HPLC analysis of the active layer shows that more dimers are formed if the cell is held at Voc instead of Jsc. The effect of bias on dimerization, as well as a clear correlation between PL quenching and reduced dimerization upon addition of small amounts of an amorphous polymer into PC60BM films, suggests a reaction mechanism via excitons.
Malaria in school-age children in Africa: an increasingly important challenge

School‐age children have attracted relatively little attention as a group in need of special measures to protect them against malaria. However, increasing success in lowering the level of malaria transmission in many previously highly endemic areas will result in children acquiring immunity to malaria later in life than has been the case in the past. Thus, it can be anticipated that in the coming years there will be an increase in the incidence of both uncomplicated and severe malaria in school‐age children in many previously highly endemic areas. In this review, which focuses primarily on Africa, recent data on the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia and on the incidence of clinical malaria in African school‐age children are presented and evidence that malaria adversely effects school performance is reviewed. Long‐lasting insecticide treated bednets (LLIN) are an effective method of malaria control but several studies have shown that school‐age children use LLINs less frequently than other population groups. Antimalarial drugs are being used in different ways to control malaria in school‐age children including screening and treatment and intermittent preventive treatment. Some studies of chemoprevention in school‐age children have shown reductions in anaemia and improved school performance but this has not been the case in all trials and more research is needed to identify the situations in which chemoprevention is likely to be most effective and, in these situations, which type of intervention should be used. In the longer term, malaria vaccines may have an important role in protecting this important section of the community from malaria. Regardless of the control approach selected, it is important this is incorporated into the overall programme of measures being undertaken to enhance the health of African school‐age children.