University of North Texas

About: University of North Texas is a education organization based out in Denton, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 11866 authors who have published 26984 publications receiving 705376 citations. The organization is also known as: Fight, North Texas & UNT.

Carbon nanotube coating improves neuronal recordings.

Abstract: Implanting electrical devices in the nervous system to treat neural diseases is becoming very common. The success of these brain-machine interfaces depends on the electrodes that come into contact with the neural tissue. Here we show that conventional tungsten and stainless steel wire electrodes can be coated with carbon nanotubes using electrochemical techniques under ambient conditions. The carbon nanotube coating enhanced both recording and electrical stimulation of neurons in culture, rats and monkeys by decreasing the electrode impedance and increasing charge transfer. Carbon nanotube-coated electrodes are expected to improve current electrophysiological techniques and to facilitate the development of long-lasting brain-machine interface devices.

Book Review: Introduction to Parallel Algorithms and Architectures : Arrays, Trees, Hypercubes by F. T. Leighton (Morgan Kauffman Pub, 1992)

Abstract: In the ever-expanding field of parallel computing, we have seen a number of textbooks , some emphasizing the design aspects of parallel algorithms based on abstract models of paralle l machines (such as PRAMs) and some others focusing on the topological properties of paralle l architectures . What is needed in this area is a book which provides a linkage between th e topological properties of a parallel network and its computational capabilities or limitations , as well as comparative analyses of parallel architectures, not only among the proposed ones but also in view of a desirable general-purpose parallel machine which is yet to be built . The book under review comes closest to this goal . The author, a well-known researcher in paralle l computing, once again has proved his expertise and authority on the materials covered . This book will certainly have an impact to the psychology of students and researchers alike, on ho w to correlate parallel architectures and algorithms . Physically, this book is organized around three categories of parallel architectures : Arrays and Trees, Meshes of Trees, and Hypercubic networks . Each category covers not only th e basic type of architectures but also other variants or related models . For example, Chapter 1 on Arrays and Trees encompasses linear arrays, two-dimensional arrays, trees, ring, torus, X tree, pyramid, multigrid networks, systolic and semisystolic networks, and higher-dimensional arrays as well . Similarly, Chapter 2 on Meshes of Trees shows different ways of looking at two-dimensional meshes of trees at the beginning and further extends to higher-dimensiona l meshes of trees, and shuffle-tree graphs at the end . The third chapter, Hypercubes and Related Networks, covers butterfly, cube-connected-cycles, Benes network, shuffle-exchange, de Bruij n network, butterfly-like networks (Omega network, flip network, baseline and reverse baselin e networks, Banyan and delta networks, and k-ary butterfy), and de Bruijn-type networks (k-ar y de Bruijn network, and generalized shuffle-exchange network) . Whereas the above parallel networks constitute the architectural domain of the hook as th e basis, the application domain — parallel computation problems and algorithms — threads th e chapters together and helps a reader to view the similarities and differences of each network , from algorithm design standpoint . In addition to the definitions and characterizations of th e topological properties of the parallel architectures, each chapter examines a carefully-chose n subset of fundamental computational problems such as integer arithmetic, prefix computation , list ranking, sorting and counting, matrix arithmetic, graph problems, Fast Fourier Transfor m and Discrete Fourier Transform, computational geometry, and image analysis etc . The solution s to these problems are explored from simple algorithms to more complicated ones until it achieve s optimality. This approach seems to be adequate to reveal the capability and limitations of eac h network . The problems and algorithms are not treated in an isolated context but provokes a reader to capture what is achievable in terms of speedup and efficiency, and what is the limi t in terms of lower hounds, in a particular parallel network under focus . The author pays special attention to the routing problem . Considering that routing is a common vehicle for solving most of the regular and irregular parallel computation problem s in a fixed-connection network, the general capability of each network against an abstract parallel machine model is properly exposed via routing problem . Also discussed are the containment/embedding of one network in another, i .e . mapping between networks and the simulatio n

Repression of the Human Right to Personal Integrity Revisited: A Global Cross-National Study Covering the Years 1976–1993

Abstract: Here we seek to build on our earlier research (Poe and Tate, 1994) by re-testing similar models on a data set covering a much longer time span; the period from 1976 to 1993. Several of our findings differ from those of our earlier work. Here we find statistical evidence that military regimes lead to somewhat greater human rights abuse, defined in terms of violations of personal integrity, once democracy and a host of other factors are controlled. Further, we find that countries that have experienced British colonial influence tend to have relatively fewer abuses of personal integrity rights than others. Finally, our results suggest that leftist countries are actually less repressive of these basic human rights than non-leftist countries. Consistent with the Poe and Tate (1994) study, however, we find that past levels of repression, democracy, population size, economic development, and international and civil wars exercise statistically significant and substantively important impacts on personal integrity abuse.

Cultural humility: measuring openness to culturally diverse clients.

Abstract: Building on recent theory stressing multicultural orientation, as well as the development of virtues and dispositions associated with multicultural values, we introduce the construct of cultural humility, defined as having an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented rather than self-focused, characterized by respect and lack of superiority toward an individual's cultural background and experience. In 4 studies, we provide evidence for the estimated reliability and construct validity of a client-rated measure of a therapist's cultural humility, and we demonstrate that client perceptions of their therapist's cultural humility are positively associated with developing a strong working alliance. Furthermore, client perceptions of their therapist's cultural humility were positively associated with improvement in therapy, and this relationship was mediated by a strong working alliance. We consider implications for research, practice, and training.

Learning to identify emotions in text

Abstract: This paper describes experiments concerned with the automatic analysis of emotions in text. We describe the construction of a large data set annotated for six basic emotions: ANGER, DISGUST, FEAR, JOY, SADNESS and SURPRISE, and we propose and evaluate several knowledge-based and corpusbased methods for the automatic identification of these emotions in text.