Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Understanding processing speed—its subcomponents and their relationship to characteristics of people with schizophrenia

Introduction Processing speed has been advanced as one of the core cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. Several methods were developed to assess this domain; however, most tasks, despite indexing several cognitive and motor components, tend to characterise processing speed as a unitary construct. This study explores potential subcomponents of processing speed in schizophrenia and their relationship with demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological characteristics. Methods One hundred and sixty participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were assessed on neuropsychological tasks measuring processing speed, executive function, and memory. Demographics and clinical characteristics were also recorded. Three independent measures were extracted to account for subcomponents of processing speed: behavioural execution, response processing, and accuracy. Results The identified components of processing speed were differently predicted by demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and overall intelligence estimates. Age and symptom severity were important predictors for behavioural execution; intelligence and social withdrawal predicted response processing; and accuracy was predicted by illness duration. Correlations showed executive function and memory to be associated with response processing and accuracy but not with behavioural execution. Conclusions Distinct characteristics of schizophrenia seem to predict processing speed subcomponents. Distinguishing between behavioural, processing, and accuracy may be a useful way forward to refine our understanding of processing speed impairment in schizophrenia.
Sensor scheduling in electronic support using markov chains

In electronic support, receivers must maintain surveillance over the very wide portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in which threat emitters operate. A common approach is to use a receiver with a relatively narrow bandwidth that sweeps its centre frequency over the threat bandwidth to search for emitters. The sequence and timing of changes in the centre frequency constitute a search strategy. The search can be expedited, if there is intelligence about the operational parameters of the emitters that are likely to be found. However, it can happen that the intelligence is deficient, untrustworthy or absent. In this case, what is the best search strategy to use? A random search strategy based on a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) is proposed. When the search is conducted for emitters with a periodic scan, it is shown that there is an optimal configuration for the CTMC. It is optimal in the sense that the expected time to intercept an emitter approaches linearity most quickly with respect to the emitter's scan period. A fast and smooth approach to linearity is important, as other strategies can exhibit considerable and abrupt variations in the intercept time as a function of scan period. In theory and numerical examples, the optimum CTMC strategy is compared with other strategies to demonstrate its superior properties.
Plant signaling in stress

Plant growth and development are coordinalely controlled by several internal factors and environmental signals. To sense these environmental signals, the higher plants have evolved a complex signaling network, which may also cross talk with each other. Plants can respond to the signals as individual cells and as whole organisms. Various receptors including phytochromes, G-proteins coupled receptors (GPCR), kinase and hormone receptors play important role in signal transduction but very few have been characterized in plant system. The heterotrimeric G-proteins mediate the coupling of signal transduction from activated GPCR to appropriate downstream effectors and thereby play an important role in signaling. In this review we have focused on some of the recent work on G-proteins and two of the effectors, PLC and PLD, which have been shown to interact with Gα subunit and also discussed their role in abiotic stress tolerance.
UAV relay network to support WSN connectivity

An important problem in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) is the occurrence of failures that lead to the disconnection of parts of the network, compromising the final results achieved by the WSN operation. A way to overcome such problem is to provide a reliable connection to support the connectivity via other types of nodes that communicate with the sensor nodes. This paper proposes the usage of a network composed by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as a relay network to guarantee the delivery of data produced by WSN nodes on the ground to the users. Results from simulations of the proposed technique are provided and discussed.
Economic Growth and Competitiveness of Small and Middle-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

This paper is a study of the potential of Bulgarian small and middle-sized enterprises (SMEs) for growth and improving their competitive advantages on domestic and international markets. To this end an analysis of the main economic indicators as well as some hidden reserves for improving the latter are presented. The conditions and factors affecting the solutions to the above issues and some requirements to management are identified and assessed. The reasons for SMEs having fallen behind are given as well as some recommendations and guidelines to solve that problem.
Pseudo states estimation for maneuvering target tracking in Doppler radar systems

Maneuvering target tracking with Doppler measurements is investigated. This paper presents a linear filtering method, converted Doppler measurements Kalman filter (CDMKF), to estimate a pseudo state vector, which consists of the converted Doppler and its derivatives. Then the output of CDMKF is combined with the output of converted position measurements Kalman filter (CPMKF) by a nonlinear static estimator outside the filtering recursions. This constructs a new state estimator which is named as parallel converted measurements Kalman filter (PRL-CMKF). Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed CDMKF and PRL-CMKF.
Extracellular matrix molecules that influence neural development.

As developing neurons migrate, extend axons, and form synapses, much of their behavior is specific-that is, stereotypes and predictable. It is now clear that intrinsic neuronal predilections do not fully account for this specificity, but rather that extrinsic cues also influence neuronal choices. About ten years ago, experiments in several systems began to implicate the extracellular matrix (ECM) as an important source of this guidance: Contact with matrix was shown to influence neuronal migration, axonal growth, and synaptogenesis, as well as glial differentiation (reviewed in Sanes 1983). Once these phenomena had been documented, attention turned to a search for the ECM molecules that mediate them. Here, I summarize this recent work. In reviewing very new and often preliminary data, I have tried to indicate some general themes that are emerging, but to refrain from drawing prema­ ture conclusions from a rapidly evolving body of work. It has seemed, too, more valuable to be comprehensive than to be critical at this stage, even though this precludes consideration of three areas that form the back­ ground for molecular analysis of neural ECM. First, I have cited few papers published before 1983, and refer the reader to the earlier review (Sanes 1983) for more detailed consideration of previous work. Second, even though most work on ECM in the nervous system relies on earlier studies of nonneural cells, I have omitted this relevant background. Recent reviews on the general biology and biochemistry of ECM include those of Akiyama & Yamada (1987), Buck & Horwitz ( 1 987), Cunningham (1987), Hassell et al (1986), Hynes ( 1987), Mayne & Burgeson (1987), Martin & Timpl (1987), Ruoslahti ( 1 988), Ruoslahti & Piersbacher (1987), and
Distributed Scheduling Schemes in Energy Harvesting Multiple Access

We consider a time-slotted distributed multiple access channel model with energy harvesting transmitters, where each transmitter is equipped with a battery of finite capacity. At the start of each time slot, a random amount of harvested energy is available from an exogenous energy source. Each transmitter only knows its own arrival process, and is unaware of the energy arrival processes at the other terminals, leading to a distributed access system. For this set up, we design efficient rate and power scheduling policies to maximize the average throughput (sum-rate) under slot-wise coding and decoding requirements. We show that the proposed policies achieve the same gap to optimality as the recently proposed ergodic averaging schemes which require coding and decoding over a large number of slots in our setting.
Paraoxonase and arylesterase activities in coronary artery disease

Background Paraoxonase‐1 is an enzyme with three activities which are inversely related to cardiovascular diseases. Accordingly, the aim of the study was to investigate the paraoxonase, arylesterase activities and oxidative/anti‐oxidative status in coronary artery disease (CAD) and their correlation with the extent of CAD.
Speech reception threshold benefits in cochlear implant users with an adaptive beamformer in real life situations

Abstract Objectives To compare the Naida CI UltraZoom adaptive beamformer and T-Mic settings in a real life environment. Methods Speech reception thresholds (SRTs) were measured in a moderately reverberant room, using the German Oldenburger sentence test. The speech signal was always presented from the front loudspeaker at 0° azimuth and fixed masking noise was presented either simultaneously from all eight loudspeakers around the subject at 0°, ±45°, ±90°, ±135°, and 180° azimuth or from five loudspeakers positioned at ±70°, ±135°, and 180° azimuth. In the third test setup, an additional roving noise was added to the six loudspeaker arrangement. Results There was a significant difference in mean SRTs between the Naida CI T-Mic and UltraZoom in each of the three test setups. The largest improvements were seen in the six speaker roving and fixed noise conditions. Adding ClearVoice to the Naida CI T-Mic setting significantly improved the SRT in both fixed noise conditions, but not in the roving noise condition. In each setup, the lowest SRTs were obtained with the UltraZoom plus ClearVoice setting. Discussion The degree of improvement was consistent with previous beamforming studies. In the most challenging listening situation, with noise from eight speakers and speech and noise presented coincidentally from the front, UltraZoom still provided a significant benefit. When a moving noise source was added, the improvement in SRT provided by UltraZoom was maintained. Conclusion When tested in challenging and realistic noise environments, the Naida CI UltraZoom adaptive beamformer resulted in significantly lower mean SRTs than when the T-Mic alone was used.
Family history of hypertension as an important risk factor for the development of severe preeclampsia

Objective. To determine the risk of preeclampsia in a population with respect to maternal and sister histories of chronic hypertension, preeclampsia and eclampsia. Design. A case‐control study of severe preeclampsia. Setting. Maternity hospital in Natal, Brazil. Participants. A total of 412 subjects were enrolled, 148 cases and 264 controls. Main outcome measures. Personal and familial histories of hypertensive disorders. Odds ratio estimates of preeclampsia with respect to family history of hypertensive diseases. Results. Women with a history of hypertensive disorders were more frequent in the case group (p = 0.001). Women whose mothers had a history of hypertension (p = 0.003), preeclampsia (p = 0.007) or eclampsia (p = 0.038) were at increased risk of severe preeclampsia. The risk of preeclampsia was greater when the woman had a sister with a history of hypertension (OR 2.60, 95% CI 1.60–4.21, p < 0.001), preeclampsia (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.58–3.45, p < 0.001), or eclampsia (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.28–5.16, p = 0.008). The risk of preeclampsia was also higher for women who had both a mother and sister with a history of hypertension (OR 3.65, 95% CI 1.65–8.09, p = 0.001). Conclusions. A family history of hypertensive disorders increased the risk of eclampsia and hemolysis elevated liver enzymes and low platelet (HELLP) syndrome in a Brazilian population.
Spectrum Management and Regulation: Towards a Full-Fledged Market for Spectrum Bands?

The increase in spectrum demand, which has occurred internationally in the last 10-15 years as a consequence of booming wireless communications, has placed considerable pressure on traditional regulatory arrangements for spectrum access and use. Regulators, especially in industrial countries, have taken a number of steps of remedial policy vis-`a-vis these difficulties, by increasing the share of spectrum made available for commercial use as well as by injecting some flexibility into command-and-control regulation. These are, however, steps of a temporary, palliative nature and do not make for a wider spectrum management reform. Starting from a discussion of the limitations of command-and-control regulation, this paper deals with the two main, alternative approaches which have been proposed: a (Coasian) market regime, and a commons regime. After taking sides in favour of the market regime, consideration is given to some implementation issues, and to a regulatory formula—called administrative incentive pricing—which could help ensure a smooth transition from command-and-control to market arrangements.
Time to bust common osteoarthritis myths

Several common beliefs about osteoarthritis held by people living with the condition and some clinicians are discordant with current evidence and can hinder effective management. Therefore, providing information about the disease and its mechanisms could lead to better management of people with osteoarthritis. This paper addresses the seven most common myths surrounding osteoarthritis relating to its causative factors, pathology, assessment and management. We present the evidence to refute these misconceptions and argue that physiotherapists are in an ideal position to provide education to people with osteoarthritis. Ultimately, physiotherapists can play a central role in the provision of care for people with osteoarthritis. O’Brien, D. W. , Chapple, C. M. , Baldwin, J. N. , & Larmer, P. J. (2019). Time to bust common osteoarthritis myths. New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy, 47(1), 18-24. https://doi.org/10.15619/NZJP/47.1. 03
Evaluation approfondie du plan français d'affectation de quotas de CO2 aux entreprises

Having in view the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol (1997) limiting greenhouse gas emissions, European Authorities have set up a European market of CO2 emission quotas for big emitters of industrial and energy sectors. This market is supposed to be operational since January 2005. Meanwhile, each member state, not the Commission, had to choose the level of the national emissions ceiling for this instrument and the rules for allocating quotas to existing and new facilities. The paper presents an assessment of the French final plan, as accepted in December 2004 by the European Commission after several adjustments of the initial plan. It considers both overall quantities affected and impacts of rules of the game on incentives given to business. As a result, choices made by the French government express a will to protect national industry and energy producers rather than to set appropriate economic incentives for an efficient and strong system in line with Kyoto commitments.
Corporate Sustainability and the Individual: A Literature Review

This paper introduces the literature and theories of corporate sustainability and how these have been applied at the level of the individual. It begins by defining corporate sustainability, reviewing the concept origins, demonstrating that it is an essentially contested concept (overlapping with related terms like corporate social responsibility, business ethics and corporate citizenship) and exploring some of the underlying principles. The paper then gives an overview of academic research that has been conducted on corporate sustainability generally and on the role of the individual in corporate sustainability in particular. In term of the latter, five themes are explored: the importance of values congruence of managers and employees with organisational values; the instrumental association between individual concern, knowledge and commitment and corporate social and environmental responsiveness; narrative accounts by sustainability managers of corporate “greening”; the role of sustainability managers as champions, entrepreneurs or agents of change in their organisations; and the application of psychology to understand individual responses to sustainability issues. Finally, conclusions are drawn. Defining “Corporate Sustainability” A Synthesis Definition In this paper, I point out that corporate sustainability is a contested concept, which to a greater or lesser extent (depending on the author) draws from and overlaps with notions of sustainable development, corporate citizenship, corporate (social) responsibility, environmental management, business ethics and stakeholder management. I have been guided in my own synthesis definition of corporate sustainability by the practitioner perspective that I often encountered (and adopted) in my work as a consultant in the field and which my research participants generally embraced, namely that we should focus on the essence of commonality among these terms, rather than (as viewed by them) the pedantic differences. Perhaps less acknowledged in practice, but clear from the literature and my philosophical position, corporate sustainability is in no way an objective, scientific or neutral concept, but rather a normative construct, which always contains a set of implicit or explicit values. Hence, for the purposes of this paper, I define corporate sustainability as a values-laden umbrella concept, which refers to the way in which the interface between business, society and the environment is managed.
E-business and Economic Self-Reliance

I am often asked to speak on the subject of e-business"its ramifications for modern organizations and its impact on our students who will soon be entering the workforce. E-business is the use of information technology and electronic communication networks to exchange business information and conduct transactions in electronic, paperless form. From online retail operations to Web-enabled self-service technical support, organizations around the world are transforming in significant and far-reaching ways.
The problem of Culture-culture fit (C-C fit)

Structural element characterized by its rigidity and very light weight per unit but simpler and readily formed at every scale, which is constructed using a first piece or preform which comprises a plurality of projections and a second piece which can be a second preform, a sheet or a mesh, wherein both pieces are fixed by means of the plurality of tips of the plurality of projections fixing them by any fixing means appropriate to the materials used and to the application of the structural element.
Banking Across State Lines: Public and Private Consequences

Preface The Old and The New: American Banking in Consolidation Background to Interstate Banking: Early Federal and State Interstate Banking Laws The 1994 Interstate Banking Law and Its Implications for the Structure of U.S. Banking The Potential Benefits and Costs of Interstate Banking The Research Evidence: What Do We Know About Interstate Banking's Effects? How Bankers Evaluate Target Interstate Markets and Institutions Across State Lines The Consequences of Interstate Banking for the Public, the Regulatory Community, and for Banks Themselves Bibliography Index
Minimal time interval in auditory temporal resolution.

Human auditory temporal resolution was measured. Normal-hearing adults in 3 age groups (I: mn age: 24 yrs, N:55; II: mn age: 44.5 yrs, N: 25; III: mn age: 66.4 yrs, N:18) were required to indicate in which of 2 successive noise bursts of relatively low frequency (concentrated from .1-.5 kc/s) a brief temporal gap was inserted. The noise was created by passing a 100-c/s square wave through an electronic switch with virtually instantaneous rise-fall time and through a clinical audiometer to the associated earphone. The level was set at about the loudness of each S's HTL at . 25 kc/s. The minimum detectable time interval (delta t) varied lawfully and significantly (p less than .001) with burst duration and with age. For all ages delta t was approximately equal to 3 msec when the burst duration was longest (85 msec), but at the shortest duration (10 msec) it rose to 17.6, 22.2, and 29.9 msec for Grps I-III, respectively. The interaction between age and duration was also significant (p less than .001). It was suggested that establishment of delta t by this or a similar procedure could offer an important parameter for evaluation of auditory function.
Pitfalls in experiments testing predictions from sperm competition theory

As females of many species mate with more than one male, ejaculates often face competition from the sperm of other males. In recent years, numerous papers have been published on theoretical predictions of evolutionary, behavioural and physiological responses to variation in the strength of sperm competition (SC). These theoretical predictions have also been extensively tested. However, although predictions from SC theory are relatively straightforward, extra caution has to be paid in the design of experiments testing them. One difficulty is for example to disentangle immediate and mean SC risk and intensity. Without carefully designed experiments, it is also very easy to simultaneously increase SC risk and the probability of intense SC – a situation for which we currently have no clear predictions, as the theoretical models to date only assume variation in either SC risk or intensity. In this paper, we discuss these and some other pitfalls related to manipulations of SC risk and intensity and suggest how to avoid them.
ASSIGN, QRISK, and validation

We challenge the recent QRISK validation and editorial concluding that QRISK is the cardiovascular risk score for the United Kingdom.1 2 ASSIGN, QRISK’s precursor, was launched in Scotland before QRISK appeared.3 Predicting that scores omitting social deprivation (socioeconomic status) as a risk factor could exacerbate social gradients in disease, we developed ASSIGN to include it. ASSIGN was adopted without external validation …