Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel working memory task for preschoolers: sensitivity to age differences from 3-5 years

ABSTRACT Working memory (WM) plays an important role in children’s learning and is linked to later academic and occupational success. Understanding the early development of WM can provide critical clues regarding the underlying structure of executive functions and how they change over the life span. The main objectives of the present study were to (1) investigate age differences in the development of three components of WM (retrieval, substitution, transformation) on a novel preschool WM measure and (2) explore whether findings are consistent with the hierarchical model of WM development by examining perseverative and non-perseverative WM errors. Perseverative errors were hypothesized to be more strongly associated with problems substituting and transforming a representation held in mind, whereas non-perseverative errors were hypothesized to be associated with problems maintaining a representation in mind. Participants were 64 children ranging in age from 3.0 to 5.6 years. The results provide evidence for the sensitivity of the WM task to age differences from 3 to 5 years and support for the hierarchical model of WM development.
The Myenteric Plexus in Infantile Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis

The aetiology of pyloric stenosis in infants is still uncertain. Since the early description of the condition by Blair (1717) various theories of pathogenesis have been formulated. It is now generally accepted that there is a defect in a gene. Carter and Powell (1954), by tracing the offspring of parents, one of whom had pyloric stenosis
A novel mutation in NDUFB11 unveils a new clinical phenotype associated with lactic acidosis and sideroblastic anemia

NDUFB11, a component of mitochondrial complex I, is a relatively small integral membrane protein, belonging to the “supernumerary” group of subunits, but proved to be absolutely essential for the assembly of an active complex I. Mutations in the X‐linked nuclear‐encoded NDUFB11 gene have recently been discovered in association with two distinct phenotypes, i.e. microphthalmia with linear skin defects and histiocytoid cardiomyopathy. We report on a male with complex I deficiency, caused by a de novo mutation in NDUFB11 and displaying early‐onset sideroblastic anemia as the unique feature. This is the third report that describes a mutation in NDUFB11, but all are associated with a different phenotype. Our results further expand the molecular spectrum and associated clinical phenotype of NDUFB11 defects.
Columnar distribution of catecholaminergic neurons in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray and their relationship to efferent pathways

The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is a critical brain region involved in opioid analgesia and provides efferents to descending pathways that modulate nociception. In addition, the PAG contains ascending pathways to regions involved in the regulation of reward, including the substantia nigra (SN) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA). SN and VTA contain dopaminergic neurons that are critical for the maintenance of positive reinforcement. Interestingly, the PAG is also reported to contain a population of dopaminergic neurons. In this study, the distribution of catecholaminergic neurons within the ventrolateral (vl) PAG was examined using immunocytochemical methods. In addition, the catecholaminergic PAG neurons were examined to determine whether these neurons are integrated into ascending (VTA, SN) and descending rostral ventral medulla (RVM) efferent pathways from this region. The immunocytochemical analysis determined that catecholaminergic neurons in the PAG are both dopaminergic and noradrenergic and these neurons have a distinct rostrocaudal distribution within the ventrolateral column of PAG. Dopaminergic neurons were concentrated rostrally and were significantly smaller than noradrenergic neurons. Combined immunocytochemistry and tract tracing methods revealed that catecholaminergic neurons are distinct from, but closely associated with, both ascending and descending efferent projection neurons. Finally, by electron microscopy, catecholaminergic neurons showed close dendritic appositions with other neurons in PAG, suggesting a possible nonsynaptic mechanism for regulation of PAG output by these neurons. In conclusion, our data indicate that there are two populations of catecholaminergic neurons in the vlPAG that form dendritic associations with both ascending and descending efferents suggesting a possible nonsynaptic modulation of vlPAG neurons. Synapse, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Fuzzy Model to Update the Affective State of Virtual Humans: An Approach Based on Personality

In this paper, we present a fuzzy mechanism to update in a more natural way the emotional and mood states of virtual humans. To implement this mechanism, we take into account the ten personality scales defined by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory to endow virtual humans with a real personality. In this manner, we apply different sets of fuzzy rules to change and regulate the affective state of virtual humans according to their personality, emotional and mood history, and the level of intensity of events they perceive from their environment.
Symptoms and findings in adult-onset celiac disease in a historical Danish patient cohort

Abstract Objective: The presentation of celiac disease (CD) has changed over the past decades. We aimed to describe the incidence of CD and its complications at diagnosis in a historical cohort in a well-defined population in Denmark. Methods: We included all patients aged 15+ years, who lived in Aarhus County, Denmark, and who were diagnosed with CD between January 2008 and August 2013. Data regarding gastrointestinal symptoms, anthropometrics, biochemistry, and bone mineral density were retrieved from patient records. Results: A total of 93 patients with a valid CD diagnosis were identified, corresponding to an incidence rate of 6.4 per 100,000 person-years. At diagnosis, diarrhea and weight loss occurred in 54% and 47% patients, respectively. In total, 30% had anemia; 40%, iron deficiency; 20%, folate deficiency; and 17%, vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency was present in 34%. In 28%, bone mineral density was determined during the first year after diagnosis. Of these, 54% had osteopenia and 12% osteoporosis. After introduction of a gluten-free diet, 28% had normalized transglutaminase antibody levels after 6 months, and 56% did after 12 months. Diabetes mellitus type 1 was present in 7%; dermatitis herpetiformis, in 3%; and thyroid dysfunction, in 5%. Conclusions: Only half of newly diagnosed CD patients presented with classic gastrointestinal symptoms. Anemia and vitamin deficiencies were common. Bone mineral density was determined in less than a third of the patients, and osteoporosis occurred in 12% of these. Serologic markers of CD normalized in approximately half of patients during the first year after the diagnosis.
Structural network efficiency is associated with cognitive impairment in small-vessel disease

Objective: To characterize brain network connectivity impairment in cerebral small-vessel disease (SVD) and its relationship with MRI disease markers and cognitive impairment. Methods: A cross-sectional design applied graph-based efficiency analysis to deterministic diffusion tensor tractography data from 115 patients with lacunar infarction and leukoaraiosis and 50 healthy individuals. Structural connectivity was estimated between 90 cortical and subcortical brain regions and efficiency measures of resulting graphs were analyzed. Networks were compared between SVD and control groups, and associations between efficiency measures, conventional MRI disease markers, and cognitive function were tested. Results: Brain diffusion tensor tractography network connectivity was significantly reduced in SVD: networks were less dense, connection weights were lower, and measures of network efficiency were significantly disrupted. The degree of brain network disruption was associated with MRI measures of disease severity and cognitive function. In multiple regression models controlling for confounding variables, associations with cognition were stronger for network measures than other MRI measures including conventional diffusion tensor imaging measures. A total mediation effect was observed for the association between fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity measures and executive function and processing speed. Conclusions: Brain network connectivity in SVD is disturbed, this disturbance is related to disease severity, and within a mediation framework fully or partly explains previously observed associations between MRI measures and SVD-related cognitive dysfunction. These cross-sectional results highlight the importance of network disruption in SVD and provide support for network measures as a disease marker in treatment studies.
Snake game AI: Movement rating functions and evolutionary algorithm-based optimization

Snake game is a computer action game, whose goal is to control a snake to move and collect food in a map. In this paper we develop a controller based on movement rating functions considering smoothness, space, and food. Scores given by these functions are aggregated by linear weighted sum, and the snake takes the action that leads to the highest score. To find a set of good weight values, we apply an evolutionary algorithm. We examine several algorithm variants of different crossover and environmental selection operators. Experimental results show that our design method is able to generate smart controllers.
Relationship between preoperative hypometabolism and surgical outcome in neocortical epilepsy surgery

Purpose: Fluorine‐18‐fluorodeoxyglucose–positron emission tomography (FDG‐PET) hypometabolism has been used to localize the epileptogenic zone. However, glucose hypometabolism remote to the ictal focus is common and its relationship to surgical outcome has not been considered in many studies. We investigated the relationship between surgical outcome and FDG‐PET hypometabolism topography in a large cohort of patients with neocortical epilepsy.
Juvenile osteoporosis in a 5-year-old girl

Idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis (IJO) is a term used to describe a primary osteoporosis of unknown etiology in prepubertal children. It is rarely described in the literature and treatment modalities vary with spontaneous remission also being reported at the time of puberty. We report a 5-year-old girl with IJO who had spinal deformities and was successfully treated with oral alendronate.
Association between eczema and stature in 9 US population-based studies.

IMPORTANCE Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that is associated with other chronic diseases (eg, asthma), major quality-of-life impairment, sleep disturbance, and the use of potent topical and sometimes systemic corticosteroids, all of which might affect growth in childhood and adolescence. However, previous smaller-scale studies found conflicting results. OBJECTIVE To determine whether eczema is associated with short stature. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS We used data from 9 US population-based studies, including the National Survey of Children's Health (2003-2004 and 2007-2008), National Health Interview Survey (children's health, 2008-2012; adult health, 2010 and 2012), and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2003-2004 and 2005-2006). Participants included 264 326 children and adolescents and 83 511 adults. EXPOSURE History of eczema. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Percentiles of height for age and sex in children and height in adults. We constructed multivariate survey linear or logistic regression models for individual studies with Box-Cox transformed or dichotomized height, respectively. Pooled analyses used generalized linear mixed models. RESULTS Overall, eczema was not associated with significant differences of height (continuous or <5th or <25th percentiles) in any of the studies or in the pooled analyses. We found a significant interaction by age, such that eczema was associated with shorter stature at 12 to 13 but not 14 to 15 or 16 to 17 years of age or in adulthood. Moderate to severe eczema was associated with shorter stature (continuous and <25th percentile). In particular, short stature (<5th percentile) was associated with eczema only when accompanied by an indicator of insufficient sleep (ie, 0 to 3 nights of sufficient sleep per week) (1.3% of children with eczema) but was not associated with asthma, hay fever, or use of prescription medication. The interaction between eczema and insufficient sleep remained significant at 10 to 11 years of age (P = .003) but not at other ages (P > .08 for all). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Eczema is not associated with short stature overall. However, a small subset of children and adolescents with severe eczema accompanied by prominent insufficient sleep may have potentially reversible vertical growth impairment.
Experience with the “Good” Limb Induces Aberrant Synaptic Plasticity in the Perilesion Cortex after Stroke

Following unilateral stroke, the contralateral (paretic) body side is often severely impaired, and individuals naturally learn to rely more on the nonparetic body side, which involves learning new skills with it. Such compensatory hyper-reliance on the “good” body side, however, can limit functional improvements of the paretic side. In rats, motor skill training with the nonparetic forelimb (NPT) following a unilateral infarct lessens the efficacy of rehabilitative training, and reduces neuronal activation in perilesion motor cortex. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated how forelimb movement representations and synaptic restructuring in perilesion motor cortex respond to NPT and their relationship with behavioral outcomes. Forelimb representations were diminished as a result of NPT, as revealed with intracortical microstimulation mapping. Using transmission electron microscopy and stereological analyses, we found that densities of axodendritic synapses, especially axo-spinous synapses, as well as multiple synaptic boutons were increased in the perilesion cortex by NPT. The synaptic density was negatively correlated with the functional outcome of the paretic limb, as revealed in reaching performance. Furthermore, in animals with NPT, there was dissociation between astrocytic morphological features and axo-spinous synaptic density in perilesion motor cortex, compared with controls. These findings demonstrate that skill learning with the nonparetic limb following unilateral brain damage results in aberrant synaptogenesis, potentially of transcallosal projections, and this seems to hamper the functionality of the perilesion motor cortex and the paretic forelimb.
Challenges in Enterprise Search

Concerted research effort since the nineteen fifties has lead to effective methods for retrieval of relevant documents from homogeneous collections of text, such as newspaper archives, scientific abstracts and CD-ROM encyclopaedias. However, the triumph of the Web in the nineteen nineties forced a significant paradigm shift in the Information Retrieval field because of the need to address the issues of enormous scale, fluid collection definition, great heterogeneity, unfettered interlinking, democratic publishing, the presence of adversaries and most of all the diversity of purposes for which Web search may be used. Now, the IR field is confronted with a challenge of similarly daunting dimensions -- how to bring highly effective search to the complex information spaces within enterprises. Overcoming the challenge would bring massive economic benefit, but victory is far from assured. The present work characterises enterprise search, hints at its economic magnitude, states some of the unsolved research questions in the domain of enterprise search need, proposes an enterprise search test collection and presents results for a small but interesting sub-problem.
The emission-line spectrum of the UV deficient quasar Ton 34 : evidence of shock excitation?

Context. Emission lines in quasars are believed to originate from a photoionized plasma. There are, however, some emission features that appear to be collisionally excited, such as the Fe ii multiplet bands. Shortward of Lyα, there are also a few permitted lines of species from low to intermediate ionization. Aims. Ton 34 (zq = 1.928) exhibits the steepest far-UV continuum decline known (Fν ∝ ν −5.3 ) shortward of 1050 A. This object also emits unusually strong low to intermediate-excitation permitted lines shortward of the Lyman limit. Methods. Using archive spectra of Ton 34 from HST, IUE, and Palomar, we measured the fluxes of all the lines present in the spectra and compared their relative intensities with those observed in composite quasar spectra. Results. Our analysis reveals unusual strengths with respect to Lyα of the following low to intermediate-excitation permitted lines: O ii+O iii (835 A), N iii+O iii (686–703 A), and N iii+N iv (765 A). We compared the observed line spectrum with both photoionization and shock models. Conclusions. Photoionization cannot reproduce the strengths of these far-UV lines. Shocks with Vs � 100 km s −1 turn out to be extremely efficient emitters of these lines and are favored as an excitation mechanism.
Firm Size Wage Differentials in Switzerland: Evidence from Job Changers

We analyze firm size wage differentials by not only studying wage changes of workers who move between firms of different size classes but also by explicitly analyzing the underlying mobility decisions. Our analysis is based on a new data-set for Switzerland. We consider the OLS size premium as a distinct determinant of individual wages and ask how this wage-component affects the dynamics of individual wages over time and the mobility and search behavior of workers. We find no evidence for the hypothesis that larger employers provide worse working conditions, but about half of the OLS size differential is accounted for by worker heterogeneity.
Carotid and brachial arterial enlargement in postmenopausal women with hypertension

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to test whether systemic hypertension influences brachial and carotid artery remodeling in postmenopausal women. A secondary aim was to evaluate the possible role of pulse pressure. MethodsWe enrolled 100 postmenopausal women affected by hypertension (cases) and 100 women with blood pressure within the reference range (controls) matched for age and body mass index because the influence of these variables on artery diameter is well known. Clinical and biochemical parameters were also assessed. All women underwent B-mode ultrasonography to measure the carotid and brachial artery diameter. ResultsThe case group had significantly larger brachial and common carotid artery diameters than control groups (P < 0.001). This result did not change after correction for confounding variables. Indeed, the women with hypertension had higher glucose and insulin levels and greater carotid atherosclerosis prevalence than did the control population. A multivariate linear regression analysis showed a correlation between artery diameters and hypertension status in the whole population. To evaluate the influence of pulse pressure, each group (cases and controls) was divided into two subgroups, according to the group-specific pulse pressure median. The women with a pulse pressure rate higher than the median value had larger artery diameters compared with those with lower pulse pressure rates in both groups with and without hypertension. ConclusionsHypertension can promote generalized artery enlargement, and pulse pressure also plays a role in artery remodeling. Interestingly, pulse pressure seems to influence arterial diameter in individuals with blood pressure within the reference range. The role of hypertension in artery remodeling behind age and the body mass index requires further investigations on the mechanisms underlying remodeling.
Temporal Trends and Factors Associated with Home Hemodialysis Technique Survival in Canada.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The last 15 years has seen growth in home hemodialysis (HD) utilization in Canada owing to reports of improved outcomes relative to patients on conventional in-center HD. What effect growth has had on home HD technique and patient survival during this period is not known. DESIGN, SETTINGS, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS We compared the risk of home HD technique failure, mortality, and the composite outcome among three incident cohorts of patients on home HD in Canada: 1996-2002, 2003-2007, and 2008-2012. A multivariable piece-wise exponential model was used to evaluate all outcomes using inverse probability of treatment and censoring weights. RESULTS A total of 1869 incident patients on home HD were identified from the Canadian Organ Replacement Register. Relative to those treated between 2003 and 2007 (n=568), the risk of home HD technique failure was similar between patients treated between 1996 and 2002 (n=233; adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.78 to 2.46) but higher among incident patients on home HD treated between 2008 and 2012 (n=1068; AHR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.06 to 2.15). Relative to patients treated between 2003 and 2007, adjusted mortality was similar among those treated between 2008 and 2012 (AHR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.58 to 1.19) and those treated between 1996 and 2002 (AHR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.38 to 1.21). The risk of the composite outcome of death and technique failure was similar across cohorts, as was the risk of receiving a kidney transplant. Increasing age, diabetes as a comorbidity, and smoking status were associated with an increased risk of death as well as the composite outcome. Medium-sized facilities had a lower risk of death, technique failure, and the composite outcome compared with larger facilities. CONCLUSIONS A higher risk of technique failure was seen in the most contemporary era. Further characterization of the risk factors for, and causes of technique failure is needed to develop strategies to improve patient retention on home HD.
Cat Mammary Tumors: Genetic Models for the Human Counterpart

The records are not clear, but Man has been sheltering the cat inside his home for over 12,000 years. The close proximity of this companion animal, however, goes beyond sharing the same roof; it extends to the great similarity found at the cellular and molecular levels. Researchers have found a striking resemblance between subtypes of feline mammary tumors and their human counterparts that goes from the genes to the pathways involved in cancer initiation and progression. Spontaneous cat mammary pre-invasive intraepithelial lesions (hyperplasias and neoplasias) and malignant lesions seem to share a wide repertoire of molecular features with their human counterparts. In the present review, we tried to compile all the genetics aspects published (i.e., chromosomal alterations, critical cancer genes and their expression) regarding cat mammary tumors, which support the cat as a valuable alternative in vitro cell and animal model (i.e., cat mammary cell lines and the spontaneous tumors, respectively), but also to present a critical point of view of some of the issues that really need to be investigated in future research.
Experimental and phenomenological aspects of circular birefringence and related properties in transparent crystals

Here, we review the history, theory, measurement technique and experimental results on gyrotropic phenomena including optical rotation (optical activity), electrogyration, the Faraday effect and magneto-electrogyration in transparent crystals, including examples of structural phase transitions. Relations to the absolute structure are discussed and model calculations are performed on the basis of electronic polarizability and crystal structure.