Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Further Experiments With an UHF Radio Link to a Railgun Projectile

The transmission of measurement data from the projectile during launch would open up new possibilities for the research with electromagnetic railguns. At the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis, a small-caliber railgun projectile is equipped with a commercial off-the-shelf 433-MHz radio transmitter. This transmitter is connected to a microcontroller and a magnetic field sensor. The so equipped projectile is exposed to realistic railgun launch conditions and the transmitted signal is recorded in the laboratory. Here, we report on the implementation of this concept and the first results of the experiments performed with the complete setup.
Restricted expression of ecotropic virus by thymocytes of leukemia- resistant (AKR X NZB)F1 mice

AKR mice, which produce high titers of ecotropic virus, were crossed with NZB mice, which produce titers of xenotropic virus. Spleen, marrow, and lymph node cells of the F1 hybrid produced high titers of ecotropic and xenotropic viruses. However, expression of ecotropic virus by both thymus cells and peripheral T cells of the F1 was severely restricted. Despite simultaneous expression of ecotorpic and xenotropic viruses in F1 spleens, lymph nodes, and marrows evidence for recombinant viruses was not found. Such viruses were also undetectable in the F1 thymuses. The results indicate that a cellular mechanism, present in AKR thymus but lacking in the F1 influences virus expression and the formation of recombinant viruses. This may account for the low incidence of leukemia in the F1 hybrid.
How to play ANY mental game

We present a polynomial-time algorithm that, given as a input the description of a game with incomplete information and any number of players, produces a protocol for playing the game that leaks no partial information, provided the majority of the players is honest. Our algorithm automatically solves all the multi-party protocol problems addressed in complexity-based cryptography during the last 10 years. It actually is a completeness theorem for the class of distributed protocols with honest majority. Such completeness theorem is optimal in the sense that, if the majority of the players is not honest, some protocol problems have no efficient solution [C].
Eye-witness memory and suggestibility in children with Asperger syndrome.

BACKGROUND Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) present with a particular profile of memory deficits, executive dysfunction and impaired social interaction that may raise concerns about their recall and reliability in forensic and legal contexts. Extant studies of memory shed limited light on this issue as they involved either laboratory-based tasks or protocols that varied between participants. METHOD The current study used a live classroom event to investigate eye-witness recall and suggestibility in children with Asperger syndrome (AS group; N = 24) and typically developing children (TD group; N = 27). All participants were aged between 11 and 14 years and were interviewed using a structured protocol. Two measures of executive functioning were also administered. RESULTS The AS group were found to be no more suggestible and no less accurate than their peers. However, free recall elicited less information, including gist, in the AS group. TD, but not AS, participants tended to focus on the socially salient aspects of the scene in their free recall. Both general and specific questioning elicited similar numbers of new details in both groups. Significant correlations were found between memory recall and executive functioning performance in the AS group only. CONCLUSIONS The present study indicates that children with AS can act as reliable witnesses but they may be more reliant on questioning to facilitate recall. Our findings also provide evidence for poor gist memory. It is speculated that such differences stem from weak central coherence and lead to a reliance on generic cognitive processes, such as executive functions, during recall. Future studies are required to investigate possible differences in compliance, rates of forgetting and false memory.
Intra-observer and interobserver reproducibility of right ventricle volumes, function and mass by cardiac magnetic resonance

Objectives Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) allows quick and non-invasive evaluation both of right ventricle (RV) volume and function, which are important in many heart diseases. We have evaluated CMR intra- and interobserver reproducibility in different conditions of RV dimension and function. Methods We have analysed CMR exams of 45 subjects, randomly selected from our database according to RV end-diastolic volume (EDV; 15-subject groups with EDV < 25th, 25–75th and > 75th percentiles of a normal control population). Selected subjects were of both sexes (male/female 33/12) and of variable age (8–83 years) and body surface (0.9–2.3 m2). RV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes (ESV), ejection fraction (EF) and mass were blindly evaluated by two operators. Bland–Altman bias and coefficient of variability (CoV) were used to assess intra- and interobserver reproducibility. Results A wide range of EDV (range = 46–239 ml), ESV (20–129 ml) and EF (6–64%) was observed. The intra-observer bias was –5 ml for EDV, –2 ml for ESV, –1% for EF and 5 g for mass, with a CoV of 7–12%. The interobserver bias was 5 ml for EDV, 2 ml for ESV, 2% for EF and 6 g for mass, with a CoV of 8–13%. Analysis by tertiles showed EF assessment variability to be higher in the lower tertiles at intra-observer (P < 0.036) and, above all, at interobserver (P < 0.000) analysis. Mass assessment variability was higher in the upper tertile (P < 0.004) at intra-observer analysis. Conclusions Intra- and interobserver reproducibility of RV parameters assessed by CMR are adequate in a wide range of RV dimensions and function. However, caution is required with respect to the significance of small changes of EF and mass in the case of poor function and hypertrophy of the RV, respectively.
Limited Feedback for Temporally-Correlated Channels: Feedback Rate and Delay

Limited feedback systems send quantized channel state information (CSI) from the receiver to the transmitter for improving either the throughput or the link reliability. This paper proposes a framework for analyzing multi-antenna limited feedback systems with temporally-correlated flat-fading channels. Developed on a Markov chain modeling quantized CSI, the proposed framework consists of analytical results concerning the feedback rate, the feedback compression, the capacity with feedback delay, and the decay rate of the capacity gain due to feedback delay. These results constitute a set of useful tools for designing a wide-range of limited feedback system. The application of the proposed framework is illustrated for a multiple-input-single-output (MISO) beamforming system, where the feedback consists of the quantized channel gain and direction. Feedback rates are shown to increase linearly with the Doppler frequency in a Rayleigh fading channel with Clarke's spectrum. Furthermore, capacity gains are found to decrease exponentially with feedback delay. From theses results, useful design guidelines can be derived for choosing system parameters ranging from the reception vehicular speed to the feedback channel rate.
High-Throughput Methods for Culturing Microorganisms in Very-Low-Nutrient Media Yield Diverse New Marine Isolates

ABSTRACT Microbial diversity studies based on the cloning and sequencing of DNA from nature support the conclusion that only a fraction of the microbial diversity is currently represented in culture collections. Out of over 40 known prokaryotic phyla, only half have cultured representatives. In an effort to culture the uncultured phylotypes from oligotrophic marine ecosystems, we developed high-throughput culturing procedures that utilize the concept of extinction culturing to isolate cultures in small volumes of low-nutrient media. In these experiments, marine bacteria were isolated and cultivated at in situ substrate concentrations—typically 3 orders of magnitude less than common laboratory media. Microtiter plates and a newly developed procedure for making cell arrays were employed to raise the throughput rate and lower detection sensitivity, permitting cell enumeration from 200-μl aliquots of cultures with densities as low as 103 cells/ml. Approximately 2,500 extinction cultures from 11 separate samplings of marine bacterioplankton were screened over the course of 3 years. Up to 14% of the cells collected from coastal seawater were cultured by this method, which was 14- to 1,400-fold higher than the numbers obtained by traditional microbiological culturing techniques. Among the microorganisms cultured were four unique cell lineages that belong to previously uncultured or undescribed marine Proteobacteria clades known from environmental gene cloning studies. These cultures are related to the clades SAR11 (α subclass), OM43 (β subclass), SAR92 (γ subclass), and OM60/OM241 (γ subclass). This method proved successful for the cultivation of previously uncultured marine bacterioplankton that have consistently been found in marine clone libraries.
THE IMPACT OF PREDATION ON LIFE HISTORY EVOLUTION IN TRINIDADIAN GUPPIES: GENETIC BASIS OF OBSERVED LIFE HISTORY PATTERNS

The evolution of life history patterns often has been inferred from correlations between the life histories and either population survivorship curves (e.g., Tinkle, 1972; Tinkle and Ballinger, 1972; Vinegar, 1975) or environmental factors suspected of affecting survivorship (Constantz, 1976, 1979; Maiorana, 1976; Stearns, 1976; Law et al., 1977). One difficulty with basing interpretations on survivorship curves is that one cannot distinguish between interpopulation differences in mortality due to external factors (possible sources of selection) and genetic factors that influence mortality (possible responses to selection). A general difficulty with the second approach is that the relationship between the suspected environmental variable and the pattern of mortality that it causes in the study organism is either unknown or poorly characterized; e.g., is the survivorship of adults only, juveniles only, or all age classes affected? The expected response of the affected populations depends strongly on this pattern of mortality (e.g., Gadgil and Bossert, 1970; Schaffer, 1974a, 1974b; Law, 1979; Michod, 1979; Charlesworth, 1980). In few systems is the pattern of mortality known with confidence. In addition to these difficulties, it is rarely known whether there is a genetic basis to observed interpopulation differences in life histories. Establishing this genetic basis is fundamental to concluding that these differences are an evolved response to demographic selection. Most
Immunogenicity and safety of a pediatric dose of a virosomal hepatitis A vaccine in healthy children in India

As India is transitioning from high to intermediate hepatitis A endemicity, the need for hepatitis A vaccination programs increases. This study investigated the immunogenicity and safety of a virosomal hepatitis A vaccine (HAVpur Junior) compared with an aluminum-adsorbed hepatitis A vaccine (Havrix 720 Junior) in Indian children. Healthy children aged 18–47 months, stratified by age, were randomized to either HAVpur Junior or Havrix 720 Junior. The first dose of vaccine was administered on Day 1 and the second (booster) dose 6 months later. Antibodies against hepatitis A virus (HAV) were measured using a microparticle enzyme immunoassay. The primary objective assessed non-inferiority of HAVpur Junior to Havrix 720 Junior in terms of seroprotection rates (≥ 10 mIU/mL anti-HAV antibodies) at 1 month after the first vaccination. Non-inferiority was demonstrated if the lower limit of the 90% confidence interval of the group difference was greater than –10%. Local and systemic adverse events were recorded. The seroprotection rate at 1 month was 95.9% in the HAVpur Junior group and 96.6% in the Havrix 720 Junior group. As the lower limit of the 90% confidence interval of the group difference was greater than –10% (–4.7), non-inferiority of HAVpur Junior to Havrix 720 Junior was established. The overall incidence of adverse events (solicited and unsolicited) after each vaccination was similar in both groups. In conclusion, the aluminum-free virosomal vaccine HAVpur Junior induced a similar immune response to Havrix 720 Junior in healthy Indian children aged 18 to 47 months. Both vaccines were well tolerated. The study shows that the low-dose virosomal HAV vaccine is consistently efficacious and well tolerated in children of all age groups and is suitable for inclusion into Indian childhood vaccination schedules.
Membrane filter procedure for enumeration of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

A membrane filtration procedure has been developed for the enumeration of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in marine waters. Background microbial growth on the primary medium was decreased through the use of sodium cholate and copper sulfate, high pH, 3% NaCl, and an elevated incubation temperature. A series of in situ tests was employed to obviate the picking of colonies for identification; thereby, the enumeration of V. parahaemolyticus was accomplished within 30 h. Confirmation of typical colonies approached 95%. Relative to immediate plating on brain heart infusion agar spread plates, the recovery of V. parahaemolyticus cells suspended in phosphate-buffered saline or in seawater held for 24 h at 4 to 6 degrees C was about 90%. Assay variability did not exceed that expected by chance. Recoveries of V. parahaemolyticus from coastal and estuarine surface waters exceeded those obtainable by other methods examined.
Effective treatment for postpartum depression is not sufficient to improve the developing mother–child relationship

Maternal depression is prevalent, and puts children at risk. Little evidence addresses whether treatment for maternal depression is sufficient to improve child outcomes. An experiment was conducted testing whether psychotherapeutic treatment for mothers, suffering from major depression in the postpartum period, would result in improved parenting and child outcomes. Participants included depressed women randomly assigned to interpersonal psychotherapy (n = 60) or to a waitlist (n = 60), and a nondepressed comparison group (n = 56). At 6 months, depressed mothers were less responsive to their infants, experienced more parenting stress, and viewed their infants more negatively than did nondepressed mothers. Treatment affected only parenting stress, which improved significantly but was still higher than that for nondepressed mothers. Eighteen months later, treated depressed mothers still rated their children lower in attachment security, higher in behavior problems, and more negative in temperament than nondepressed mothers. Initial response to treatment did not predict reduced risk for poor child outcomes. Early maternal negative perceptions of the child predicted negative temperament and behavior problems 18 months after treatment. Treatment for depression in the postpartum period should target the mother–infant relationship in addition to the mothers' depressive symptoms.This work was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH 50524 to the second author. Additional support was provided by NIMH Traineeship MH 15755, through the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota and by the Canada Research Chairs program. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Grazyna Kochanska, our numerous undergraduate coders, and our generous and dedicated participants.
Beyond Fat Mass: Exploring the Role of Adipokines in Rheumatic Diseases

The cloning of leptin in 1994 by Zhang et al. introduced a novel concept about white adipose tissue (WAT) as a very dynamic organ that releases a plethora of immune and inflammatory mediators, such as adipokines and cytokines, which are involved in multiple diseases. Actually, adipokines exert potent modulatory actions on target tissues involved in rheumatic diseases including cartilage, synovial, bone and immune cells. The goal of this paper is to elucidate the recent findings concerning the involvement of adipokines in rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA), and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
The origins of adipose fins: an analysis of homoplasy and the serial homology of vertebrate appendages

Adipose fins are appendages found on the dorsal midline between the dorsal and caudal fins in more than 6000 living species of teleost fishes. It has been consistently argued that adipose fins evolved once and have been lost repeatedly across teleosts owing to limited function. Here, we demonstrate that adipose fins originated repeatedly by using phylogenetic and anatomical evidence. This suggests that adipose fins are adaptive, although their function remains undetermined. To test for generalities in the evolution of form in de novo vertebrate fins, we studied the skeletal anatomy of adipose fins across 620 species belonging to 186 genera and 55 families. Adipose fins have repeatedly evolved endoskeletal plates, anterior dermal spines and fin rays. The repeated evolution of fin rays in adipose fins suggests that these fins can evolve new tissue types and increased structural complexity by expressing fin-associated developmental modules in these new territories. Patterns of skeletal elaboration differ between the various occurrences of adipose fins and challenge prevailing hypotheses for vertebrate fin origin. Adipose fins represent a powerful and, thus far, barely studied model for exploring the evolution of vertebrate limbs and the roles of adaptation and generative biases in morphological evolution.
Regulatory mechanisms in cell-mediated immune responses. V. H-2 homology requirements for the production of a minor locus-induced suppressor factor

A mixed leukocyte reaction suppressor factor is produced by spleen cells sensitized in vivo and restimulated in vitro across non-H-2 antigenic barriers. Cells capable of producing this factor appear in the spleens of minor locus-immunized animals later than in animals sensitized to major histocompatibility complex-encoded antigens. However, both H-2 and non H-2-induced factors suppress proliferative responses to any alloantigen. Splenocytes from animals immunized with H- 2-identical, minor locus-disparate cells produce suppressor factor in vitro only when restimulated with cells sharing both H-2 and non-H-2 antigens with the in vivo stimulators.
Risk factors of tobacco use among Thai adolescents: finding from International Tobacco Control Policy Survey Southeast Asia (ICT-SEA).

OBJECTIVE To determine the risk factors of tobacco use among Thai adolescents. MATERIAL AND METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted among 706 adolescents sampled from 5 regions of Thailand using stratified multistage sampling. Participants were asked to complete self-administered questionnaires about tobacco use and psychosocial factors. A logistic regression model of risk factors for tobacco use was estimated using backward stepping. RESULTS The prevalence of smoking in Thai adolescent was 15 percent (27.8% in males, 2.3% in females). Older age (OR = 1.25, 95% CI = 1.02-1.51), number of close friend smoking (OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.35-1.93), number of older sibling smoking (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.01-2.04), heavy alcoholic consumption (OR = 3.99, 95% CI = 1.87-8.49), low self-worth (OR = 3.16, 95% CI = 1.71-5.84) were risk factors of smoking in Thai adolescents. Females (OR = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.04-0.24), currently studying in school (OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.18-0.59) and religious beliefs guide actions (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.22-0.77) were protective factors against smoking. CONCLUSION Male adolescents are target group for tobacco control in Thailand. The strong correlation between smoking and alcoholic consumption indicate that anti-smoking campaign should be done in parallel with anti-alcohol campaign.
Cisgenderism in Gender Attributions: The Ways in Which Social, Cognitive, and Individual Factors Predict Misgendering

CISGENDERISM IN GENDER ATTRIBTUIONS: THE WAYS IN WHICH SOCIAL, COGNITIVE, AND INDIVIDUAL FACTORS PREDICT MISGENDERING by Erica Jayne Friedman Advisor: Dr. Sarit A. Golub The current program of research investigated the ways in which social representations of gender, cognitive processes, and individual factors can be integrated to predict "misgendering," an example of cisgenderism in which people are categorized as a gender with which they do not identify. I proposed an (In)consistency Processing Model of Gender Attribution in which perceivers make a gender attribution by interpreting the stereotype-(in)consistencies of a target's gender characteristics through either a biologyor identity-based schema. Five studies were conducted to test different aspects of this model, the first of which was a secondary data analysis on a sample of students from Hunter College who participated in the lab. Participants from the remaining studies participated online and were recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk. Participants were more likely to reject a target's gender identity when the target's genitals and chromosomes were stereotype-inconsistent with the target's gender identity. Gender judgments were made quickly overall, but slower when target characteristics were stereotypeinconsistent. In other words, people processed gender consciously, rather than automatically, when characteristics were unexpected. Participants who knew transgender people were less likely to misgender and faster at making gender judgments, but only when targets had stereotype-inconsistent chromosomes suggesting limitations to the knowledge they gained from their contact with transgender people. Allies to transgender people and people with less gender essentialist beliefs were less likely to misgender people and did so with similar response times to
Phenotypic characteristics of colo-rectal cancer in I1307K APC germline mutation carriers compared with sporadic cases

The I1307K APC germline mutation is associated with an increased risk to colo-rectal cancer (CRC). Whether and to what extent the phenotype of CRC in mutation carriers differs from sporadic cases, remains unknown. To gain insight into this issue, we analysed 307 unselected Israeli patients with CRC, who were treated in a single medical centre, for harbouring the I1307K mutation. Twenty-eight mutation carriers (9.1%) were detected. Two of 28 mutation carriers (7.1%) and 93/277 (33.6%) of non-carriers, were of non-Ashkenazi origin (P< 0.01). In 74/278 (26.6%) of the sporadic cases, and only 1/28 (3.6%) of mutation carriers (3.6%) the tumour was located in the right colon (P< 0.01). Mutation carriers had a more advanced disease stage (14/28 – 50% Dukes C), as compared with 60 (19.5%) of non-carriers (P= 0.02). The mean age at diagnosis was similar: 65 (+/– 9.7) years and 66.3 (+/– 11.6) years, for mutation carriers and non-carriers, respectively. No statistical differences were noted between the two groups in sex distribution, tumour grade, and family history of cancer. We conclude that early age at diagnosis and family history of cancer cannot be used to predict who is likely to harbour the I1307K APC germline mutation carriers. However, the tumours in patients with this mutation appear different than those without, are less likely to be proximal and more likely to be advanced than tumours in non-carriers. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer. com