Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cross-language activation of morphological relatives in cognates: the role of orthographic overlap and task-related processing

We considered the role of orthography and task-related processing mechanisms in the activation of morphologically related complex words during bilingual word processing. So far, it has only been shown that such morphologically related words (i.e., morphological family members) are activated through the semantic and morphological overlap they share with the target word. In this study, we investigated family size effects in Dutch-English identical cognates (e.g., tent in both languages), non-identical cognates (e.g., pil and pill, in English and Dutch, respectively), and non-cognates (e.g., chicken in English). Because of their cross-linguistic overlap in orthography, reading a cognate can result in activation of family members both languages. Cognates are therefore well-suited for studying mechanisms underlying bilingual activation of morphologically complex words. We investigated family size effects in an English lexical decision task and a Dutch-English language decision task, both performed by Dutch-English bilinguals. English lexical decision showed a facilitatory effect of English and Dutch family size on the processing of English-Dutch cognates relative to English non-cognates. These family size effects were not dependent on cognate type. In contrast, for language decision, in which a bilingual context is created, Dutch and English family size effects were inhibitory. Here, the combined family size of both languages turned out to better predict reaction time than the separate family size in Dutch or English. Moreover, the combined family size interacted with cognate type: the response to identical cognates was slowed by morphological family members in both languages. We conclude that (1) family size effects are sensitive to the task performed on the lexical items, and (2) depend on both semantic and formal aspects of bilingual word processing. We discuss various mechanisms that can explain the observed family size effects in a spreading activation framework.
A Multiagent Approach to Autonomous Intersection Management

Artificial intelligence research is ushering in a new era of sophisticated, mass-market transportation technology. While computers can already fly a passenger jet better than a trained human pilot, people are still faced with the dangerous yet tedious task of driving automobiles. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is the field that focuses on integrating information technology with vehicles and transportation infrastructure to make transportation safer, cheaper, and more efficient. Recent advances in ITS point to a future in which vehicles themselves handle the vast majority of the driving task. Once autonomous vehicles become popular, autonomous interactions amongst multiple vehicles will be possible. Current methods of vehicle coordination, which are all designed to work with human drivers, will be outdated. The bottleneck for roadway efficiency will no longer be the drivers, but rather the mechanism by which those drivers' actions are coordinated. While open-road driving is a well-studied and more-or-less-solved problem, urban traffic scenarios, especially intersections, are much more challenging. We believe current methods for controlling traffic, specifically at intersections, will not be able to take advantage of the increased sensitivity and precision of autonomous vehicles as compared to human drivers. In this article, we suggest an alternative mechanism for coordinating the movement of autonomous vehicles through intersections. Drivers and intersections in this mechanism are treated as autonomous agents in a multiagent system. In this multiagent system, intersections use a new reservation-based approach built around a detailed communication protocol, which we also present. We demonstrate in simulation that our new mechanism has the potential to significantly outperform current intersection control technology--traffic lights and stop signs. Because our mechanism can emulate a traffic light or stop sign, it subsumes the most popular current methods of intersection control. This article also presents two extensions to the mechanism. The first extension allows the system to control human-driven vehicles in addition to autonomous vehicles. The second gives priority to emergency vehicles without significant cost to civilian vehicles. The mechanism, including both extensions, is implemented and tested in simulation, and we present experimental results that strongly attest to the efficacy of this approach.
Ventures in education: a pipeline to medical education for minority and economically disadvantaged students

BACKGROUND. Ventures in Education is an independent, nonprofit educational organization established by the Josiah H. Macy, Jr. Foundation to improve the academic achievement of minority and economically disadvantaged students, particularly in science and mathematics. One specific objective has been to increase the number of students who enter schools of the health professions, in particular schools of medicine, which was the focus of this study. METHOD. A search was conducted of the Association of American Medical Colleges' (AAMC's) Student and Applicant Information Management System database, to determine whether any of the 981 graduates in the first five Venture classes (1985 to 1989) of the original five New York City high schools in the program had pursued medical education. RESULTS. The search located 160 of the 981 Ventures graduates, and, of those, 136 had taken the Medical College Admission Test (13.9%), 109 (11.1%) has applied to medical school, 75 (7.6%) had been accepted, and 72 (7.3%) had matriculated into medical school. All of these percentages were significantly higher than the corresponding percentages for the general population. CONCLUSION. The findings have important implications for the AAMC's Project 3000 by 2000, showing that a rigorous academic curriculum with resources for individualized attention can facilitate the entry of minority and economically disadvantage students into medical education, with at least 7.3% of the Ventures graduates entering medical school and nearly 70% of those applying subsequently being accepted.
nNOS Gene Deletion Exacerbates Pathological Left Ventricular Remodeling and Functional Deterioration After Myocardial Infarction

Background— The neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) has been implicated in the regulation of basal and β-adrenergic inotropy in normal and chronically infarcted hearts. Furthermore, myocardial nNOS expression and activity increase in failing hearts, raising the possibility that nNOS may influence left ventricular (LV) remodeling progression and functional deterioration after myocardial infarction (MI) Methods and Results— We compared LV remodeling at 1, 4, and 8 weeks after MI in nNOS-knockout mice (nNOS−/−) and their wild-type (WT) littermates matched for infarct size by using a highly accurate 3-dimensional echocardiographic technique. Basal LV hemodynamics and the inotropic response to dobutamine infusion (4 and 16 ng · g−1 · min−1) were also evaluated 8 weeks after MI. Sham-operated nNOS−/− mice showed enhanced basal LV contractility (P<0.03 versus WT, as evaluated by preload-recruitable stroke work) but an attenuated inotropic response to dobutamine infusion (P<0.01 versus WT). Both basal and β-adrenergic LV relaxations were significantly impaired in nNOS−/− mice. Survival after MI did not differ between groups. However, nNOS−/− mice developed a faster and more severe LV dilation compared with WT mice (P<0.05 for both end-systolic and end-diastolic volume indices). WT mice maintained a positive inotropic response to dobutamine 8 weeks after MI. In contrast, infarcted nNOS−/− mice responded to dobutamine with a dramatic fall in LV contractility (P<0.01 for preload-recruitable stroke work). Conclusions— nNOS plays a crucial role in preventing adverse LV remodeling and maintaining myocardial β-adrenergic reserve after MI. Taken together, our findings suggest that upregulation of myocardial nNOS in infarcted hearts may be an important adaptive mechanism.
Three-dimensional wave packets in a compressible boundary layer

A three-dimensional wave packet generated by a local disturbance in a two-dimensional hypersonic boundary layer flow is studied with the aid of the previously solved initial-value problem. The solution to this problem can be expanded in a biorthogonal eigenfunction system as a sum of modes consisting of continuous and discrete spectra of temporal stability theory. A specific disturbance consisting of an initial temperature spot is considered, and the receptivity to this initial temperature spot is computed for both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional cases. Using previous analysis of the discrete and continuous spectrum, the inverse Fourier transform is computed numerically. The two-dimensional inverse Fourier transform is calculated for two discrete modes: Mode F and Mode S. The Mode S result is compared with an asymptotic approximation of the Fourier integral, which is obtained using the Gaussian model as well as the method of steepest descent. It is shown that the method of steepest descent provi.
Stochastic Individual-Based Modeling of Bacterial Growth and Division Using Flow Cytometry

A realistic description of the variability in bacterial growth and division is critical to produce reliable predictions of safety risks along the food chain. Individual-based modeling of bacteria provides the theoretical framework to deal with this variability, but it requires information about the individual behavior of bacteria inside populations. In this work, we overcome this problem by estimating the individual behavior of bacteria from population statistics obtained with flow cytometry. For this objective, a stochastic individual-based modeling framework is defined based on standard assumptions during division and exponential growth. The unknown single-cell parameters required for running the individual-based modeling simulations, such as cell size growth rate, are estimated from the flow cytometry data. Instead of using directly the individual-based model, we make use of a modified Fokker-Plank equation. This only equation simulates the population statistics in function of the unknown single-cell parameters. We test the validity of the approach by modeling the growth and division of Pediococcus acidilactici within the exponential phase. Estimations reveal the statistics of cell growth and division using only data from flow cytometry at a given time. From the relationship between the mother and daughter volumes, we also predict that P. acidilactici divide into two successive parallel planes.
Glucocorticoid Excess Induces Superoxide Production in Vascular Endothelial Cells and Elicits Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction

Abstract— Glucocorticoid (GC) excess often elicits serious adverse effects on the vascular system, such as hypertension and atherosclerosis, and effective prophylaxis for these complications is limited. We sought to reveal the mechanism underlying GC-induced vascular complications. Responses in forearm blood flow to reactive hyperemia in 20 GC-treated patients were significantly decreased to 43±8.9% (mean±SEM) from the values obtained before GC therapy (130±14%). An administration of vitamin C almost normalized blood flow responses. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), production of hydrogen peroxide was increased up to 166.5±3.3% of control values by 10−7 mol/L dexamethasone (DEX) treatment (P <0.01). Concomitant with DEX-induced hydrogen peroxide production, intracellular amounts of peroxynitrite significantly increased and those of nitric oxide (NO) decreased, respectively (P <0.01). Immunoblotting analysis using anti-nitrotyrosine antibody showed that peroxynitrite formation was increased in DEX-treated HUVECs. Using inhibitors against metabolic pathways for generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), we identified that the major production sources of ROS by DEX treatment were mitochondrial electron transport chain, NAD(P)H oxidase, and xanthine oxidase. These findings suggest that GC excess causes overproduction of ROS and thereby perturbs NO availability in the vascular endothelium, leading to vascular complications in patients with GC excess.
On the auspices of female migration from Mexico to the United States

In this paper we examine the circumstances and determinants of female migration between Mexico and the United States. Using data from the Mexican Migration Project, we considered the relative timing of males’ and females’ moves northward. We then estimated logit and probit models to study the determinants of male and female out-migration; among women we also estimated a multinomial logit model to uncover differences in the process of migration for work versus not for work. We found that women almost always followed other family members, either the husband or a parent; only a tiny minority initiated migration independently. Although males also are quite likely to be introduced to migration by a parent, nearly half of all male migrants left for the United States before or without a wife or a parent. Estimates of the determinants of migration suggested that males move for employment, whereas wives generally are motivated by family reasons. Daughters, however, display a greater propensity to move for work, and the determinants of their work-related moves closely re semble those of sons and fathers.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence for a Hierarchical Organization of the Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is central to flexible and organized action. Recent theoretical and empirical results suggest that the rostro-caudal axis of the frontal lobes may reflect a hierarchical organization of control. Here, we test whether the rostro-caudal axis of the PFC is organized hierarchically, based on the level of abstraction at which multiple representations compete to guide selection of action. Four functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments parametrically manipulated the set of task-relevant (a) responses, (b) features, (c) dimensions, and (d) overlapping cue-to-dimension mappings. A systematic posterior to anterior gradient was evident within the PFC depending on the manipulated level of representation. Furthermore, across four fMRI experiments, activation in PFC subregions was consistent with the sub- and superordinate relationships that define an abstract representational hierarchy. In addition to providing further support for a representational hierarchy account of the rostro-caudal gradient in the PFC, these data provide important empirical constraints on current theorizing about control hierarchies and the PFC.
The Jam-O-Drum interactive music system: a study in interaction design

This paper will describe the multi-user interactive music system known as the Jam-O-Drum developed at Interval Research Corporation.1 By combining velocity sensitive input devices and computer graphics imagery into an integrated tabletop surface, up to six simultaneous players are able to participate in a collaborative approach to musical improvisation. We demonstrate that this interactive music system embraces both the novice and musically trained participants by taking advantage of their intuitive abilities and social interaction skills. In this paper and accompanying video, we present conclusions from user testing of this device along with examples of interaction design methods and prototypes of interpretive musical and game-like development schemes. Our research was conducted in two phases with two different development teams and will accordingly be addressed herein as Phase One and Phase Two development.
Resource Allocation Schemes for Revenue Maximization in Multicast D2D Networks

Mobile users’ service satisfaction plays a vital role in improving the revenue of telecom companies. When user data demands are uniform, satisfying the user requests is much easier than when demands are diverse. Yet, in a multicast scenario, each user may wish to view the same multicast data at different bit rates based on their own device capacities or resolutions. In this paper, we consider device-to-device (D2D) multicast users who may demand the multicast data at various rates, and in return, they offer different profits (revenue) to the telecom operator. Moreover, users may have different channel qualities from the base station, which will also affect the data rates. We show that satisfying the user requests to maximize the profit becomes NP-hard when the resource blocks are limited, and propose a greedy heuristic and two approximation algorithms to solve this problem. Besides, we consider an alternative objective of maximizing the number of satisfied users and propose a greedy heuristic algorithm for this variant. Our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms offer higher profit, throughput, and satisfy more users than the other candidate algorithms.
Impulse propagation and muscle activation in long maximal voluntary contractions.

With fatigue, force generation may be limited by several factors, including impaired impulse transmission and/or reduced motor drive. In 5-min isometric maximal voluntary contraction, no decline was seen in the peak amplitude of the tibialis anterior compound muscle mass action potential (M wave) either during or immediately after the voluntary effort, provided maximal nerve stimulation was retained. For first dorsal interosseous (FDI) muscle, M wave amplitudes declined by 19.4 +/- 1.6% during the first 2 min but did not change significantly thereafter, despite the continued force reduction (up to 94% in 5 min for both muscles). The duration of the FDI M waves increased (greater than 30%), suggesting that the small decline in amplitude was the result of increased dispersion between the responses of different motor units. Some subjects kept FDI maximally activated throughout, but when they used tibialis anterior, twitch occlusion and tetanic muscle stimulation showed that most subjects were usually only able to do so for the first 60 s and thereafter only during brief "extra efforts. " Thus force loss during isometric voluntary contractions sustained at the highest intensities results mainly from failure of processes within the muscle fibers.
The Effect of Bathing Solution Tonicity on Resting Tension in Frog Muscle Fibers

Resting tension and short-range elastic properties of isolated twitch muscle fibers of the frog have been studied while bathed by solutions of different tonicities. Resting tension in isotonic solution at 2.3-µm sarcomere spacing averaged 0.46 mN·mm-2 and was proportional to the fiber cross-section area. Hypertonic solutions, containing 0.1–0.5 mM tetracaine to block contracture tension, caused a small sustained tension increase, which was proportional to the fiber cross-section area and which reached 0.9 mN·mm-2 at two times normal tonicity (2T). Further increases in tonicity caused little increase in tension. Hypotonic solutions decreased tension. Thus, tension at 2.3 µm is a continuous, direct function of tonicity. The dependence of tension on tonicity lessened at greater sarcomere lengths. At 3.2 µm either a very small rise or, in some fibers, a fall in tension resulted from an increase in tonicity. Hypertonic solutions also decreased the tension of extended sarcolemma preparations. In constant-speed stretch experiments the elastic modulus, calculated from the initial part of the stretch response, rose steeply with tonicity over the whole range investigated (1–2.5T). The results show that tension and stiffness of the short-range elastic component do not increase in parallel in hypertonic solutions.
A fresh perspective of the substorm current system and its dynamo

The common view for the substorm current system is a current wedge involving principally an azimuthal current system. We first evaluate briefly previous studies that provide strong evidence for the dominance of a meridional current system (MCS) in substorms. Based on these clues, we propose the dynamo for the MCS to be a kinetic current disruption process such that dipolarization is achieved by magnetic field line slippage, thus producing the dynamo action of a tailward directed current with an earthward directed electric field. The total current strength is estimated to be ∼10 MA for an average substorm size, consistent with that obtained from the KRM algorithm.
Left atrial volume provides independent and incremental information compared with exercise tolerance parameters in patients with heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Objective: Left atrial volume (LAV) is a powerful predictor of outcome in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) independently of symptomatic status, age and left ventricular (LV) function. It is unknown whether LAV provides independent and incremental information compared with exercise tolerance parameters. Methods: 273 patients with CHF (mean (SD) 62 (9) years; 13% female) prospectively underwent echocardiography and exercise testing with maximal oxygen consumption (Vo2). The primary end point was composite and included cardiac death, hospitalisation for worsening heart failure or cardiac transplantation. Results: At Cox proportional hazard analysis, LAV normalised for body surface area (LAV/BSA) was strongly associated with mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.027 (95% CI 1.018 to 1.04), p<0.001). The predictive value of LAV/BSA was independent of Vo2 and LV ejection fraction (EF) (HR = 1.014 (1.002 to 1.025), p = 0.02; HR = 0.95 (0.91 to 0.99), p = 0.02; HR = 0.89 (0.82 to 0.98), p = 0.02 for LAV/BSA, EF and Vo2, respectively). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis identified the best cut-off values for prediction of the end point. LAV/BSA >63 ml, EF <30% and Vo2 <16 ml/kg/min were considered to be risk factors. Patients with three risk factors had an HR of 38 (95% CI 11 to 129) compared with patients with no risk factors. Conclusion: LAV provides powerful prognostic information incrementally and independently of Vo2. LAV, EF and Vo2 can be used to build a risk prediction model, which can be used clinically.
First- and second-trimester fetal size and asthma outcomes at age 10 years.

RATIONALE Greater early fetal size is associated with reduced asthma risk and improved lung function in early childhood. OBJECTIVES To test the hypothesis that associations between early fetal size, asthma symptoms, and lung function persist into later childhood. METHODS In a longitudinal study, first- and second-trimester fetal measurements were recorded. At 10 years of age a respiratory questionnaire was completed. Spirometry, bronchial challenge, and skin-prick testing were undertaken in a subset. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Fetal measurements were available in the first trimester for 853 individuals and the second trimester for 1,453. Questionnaires were returned for 927 children and 449 underwent detailed phenotyping. For each millimeter increase in first trimester size, asthma risk reduced by 6% (95% confidence interval[CI], 1–11) and FEV1 was higher by an average of 6 ml (95% CI, 1–11). First-trimester size was reduced in those with asthma at both 5 and 10 years compared with early or late onset wheeze (P , 0.02). Compared with persistent high growth in first and second trimesters,persistent low growth was associated with increased asthma risk(odds ratio, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.2–6.9) and a mean reduction in FEV1 of 103 ml (95% CI, 13–194), whereas increasing fetal size was associated with increased eczema risk (odds ratio, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.2–5.3). CONCLUSIONS Reduced fetal size from the first trimester is associated with increased risk for asthma and obstructed lung function in childhood. Relative change in size after the first trimester is associated with eczema.