Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute toxicity of cadmium, lead, zinc, and their mixtures to stream‐resident fish and invertebrates

The authors conducted 150 tests of the acute toxicity of resident fish and invertebrates to Cd, Pb, and Zn, separately and in mixtures, in waters from the South Fork Coeur d'Alene River watershed, Idaho, USA. Field‐collected shorthead sculpin (Cottus confusus), westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi), two mayflies (Baetis tricaudatus and Rhithrogena sp.), a stonefly (Sweltsa sp.), a caddisfly (Arctopsyche sp.), a snail (Gyraulus sp.), and hatchery rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), were tested with all three metals. With Pb, the mayflies (Drunella sp., Epeorus sp., and Leptophlebiidae), a Simuliidae black fly, a Chironomidae midge, a Tipula sp. crane fly, a Dytiscidae beetle, and another snail (Physa sp.), were also tested. Adult westslope cutthroat trout were captured to establish a broodstock to provide fry of known ages for testing. With Cd, the range of 96‐h median effect concentrations (EC50s) was 0.4 to >5,329 µg/L, and the relative resistances of taxa were westslope cutthroat trout ≈ rainbow trout ≈ sculpin << other taxa; with Pb, EC50s ranged from 47 to 3,323 µg/L, with westslope cutthroat trout < rainbow trout < other taxa; and with Zn, EC50s ranged from 21 to 3,704 µg/L, with rainbow trout < westslope cutthroat trout ≈ sculpin << other taxa. With swim‐up trout fry, a pattern of decreasing resistance with increasing fish size was observed. In metal mixtures, the toxicities of the three metals were less than additive on a concentration‐addition basis. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012;31:1334–1348. © 2012 SETAC
Oxr1 Is Essential for Protection against Oxidative Stress-Induced Neurodegeneration

Oxidative stress is a common etiological feature of neurological disorders, although the pathways that govern defence against reactive oxygen species (ROS) in neurodegeneration remain unclear. We have identified the role of oxidation resistance 1 (Oxr1) as a vital protein that controls the sensitivity of neuronal cells to oxidative stress; mice lacking Oxr1 display cerebellar neurodegeneration, and neurons are less susceptible to exogenous stress when the gene is over-expressed. A conserved short isoform of Oxr1 is also sufficient to confer this neuroprotective property both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, biochemical assays indicate that Oxr1 itself is susceptible to cysteine-mediated oxidation. Finally we show up-regulation of Oxr1 in both human and pre-symptomatic mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, indicating that Oxr1 is potentially a novel neuroprotective factor in neurodegenerative disease.
Video-Based Measurement of System Latency

Abstract We describe an end-to-end latency measurement method for virtual environments. The method incorporates a video camera to record both a physical controller and the corresponding virtual cursor at the same time. The end-to-end latency can be concluded based on the analysis of th e playback of the videotape. The only hardware necessary is a standard interlaced NTSC video camera and a video recorder that can display individual video fields. We describe an example of analyzing the effect of different hardware and software configurat ions upon the system latency. The example shows that the method is effective and easy to implement. 1. Introduction Bryson and Fisher [Bryson90] drew a virtual cursor This paper describes a simple to implement method for measuring end-to-end system latency in projection based virtual environments suchas CAVEs and ImmersaDesks [Cruz93]. Interactivity is an essential feature of virtual reality systems. System end-to-end latency, or lag, is one of the most important problems limiting the quality of a virtual reality system. Other technological problems, such as tracker inaccuracy and display resolution do not seem to impact user performance as profoundly as latency [Ellis99]. In augmented reality, the system latency has even more impact on the quality of the virtual experience. Latency will make the virtual objects appear to “swim around” and “lag behind" real objects [Azuma95]. A prerequisite to reducing system latency is to have a convenient method of measuring it. The system end-to-end latency is the time difference between a user input to a system and the display of the system’s response to that input. It can be the time delay from when the user moves the controller to when the corresponding cursor responds on the screen, or it can be the difference from when the user moves his or her head to when the resulting scene is displayed on the screen. The end-to end latency iscomposed of tracker delay, communication delay, application host delay, image generation delay and display system delay [Mine93]. In this paper, we describe a video camera and recorder based measurement of the end-to-end latency of virtual reality systems. This latency measurement system uses an ordinary video camera to record movements of the tracked wand along with its virtual representation in a CAVE or an ImmersaDesk. The recording is viewed on a field-by-field basis to determine total delay.
MDR 1 C 3435 T polymorphism in Mexican patients with breast cancer

We investigated whether the MDR1 C3435T polymorphism is associated with fibrocystic changes (FCC), infiltrating ductal breast cancer (IDBC), and/or clinical-pathological features of IDBC in Mexican patients. Samples from women who received surgical treatment in 2007 at the Centro Médico de Occidente (México) were included in the analysis. Genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphisms in 64 paraffin-embedded breast samples with IDBC, 64 samples with FCC, and 183 peripheral blood samples of healthy females designated as the healthy group (HG). The frequency of the T allele was 41, 45, and 52% for the FCC, IDBC, and HG samples, respectively. Significant differences were only found between the FCC
Morphological Knowledge and Decoding Skills of Deaf Readers

Many studies have reported the necessity of phonological awareness to become a skilled reader, citing barriers to phonological information as the cause for reading difficulties experienced by deaf individuals. In contrast, other research suggests that phonological awareness is not necessary for reading acquisition, citing the importance of higher levels of syntactic and semantic knowledge. To determine if deaf students with higher language skills have better word decoding strategies, students responded to a morphological test, where monomorphemic words and multimorphemic words were matched to their definitions. Two studies are reported, one focusing on English placement levels and a second with formal measures of both ASL and English language proficiency. Results in-dicated that performance on the morphological decoding test was related to language proficiency scores, but not to phonological awareness scores.
Defensive zeal and the uncertain self: what makes you so sure?

In Studies 1-3, undergraduates with high self-esteem (HSEs) reacted to personal uncertainty-threats with compensatory conviction about unrelated issues and aspects of the self. In Study 1 HSEs reacted to salience of personal dilemmas with increased implicit conviction about self-definition. In Study 2 they reacted to the same uncertainty-threat with increased explicit conviction about social issues. In Study 3, HSEs (particularly defensive HSEs, i.e., with low implicit self-esteem; C. H. Jordan, S. J. Spencer, & M. P. Zanna, 2003) reacted to uncertainty about a personal relationship with compensatory conviction about social issues. For HSEs in Study 4, expressing convictions about social issues decreased subjective salience of dilemma-related uncertainties that were not related to the social issues. Compensatory conviction is viewed as a mode of repression, akin to reaction formation, that helps keep unwanted thoughts out of awareness.
GLOBAL PROPERTIES OF CONSTANT MEAN CURVATURE SURFACES IN H 2 ◊R

We discuss some aspects of the global behavior of surfaces in H 2 ◊ R with constant mean curvature H (known as H-surfaces). We prove a maximum principle at infinity for complete properly embedded H-surfaces with H > 1/ p 2, and show that the genus of a compact stable H-surface with H > 1/ p 2 is at most three.
Using short-term fourier transform for particle detection and recognition in a CMOS oscillator-based chain

The development of a new methodology based on Short-Term Fourier Transform (STFT) to detect and track particles is presented. The methodology is investigated based on an CMOS oscillator detection chain optimized for identification of low particle fluxes. The evaluation of the circuit sensitivity to radiation is performed by measuring and processing the oscillator response. In the presented approach, the oscillator output signal is processed using the STFT technique. The CMOS detector is based on SOI technology making it tolerant to radiations.
Perioperative Complications After Surgery for Thoracic Ossification of Posterior Longitudinal Ligament: A Nationwide Multicenter Prospective Study

Study Design. Prospective, multicenter, nationwide study. Objective. To investigate perioperative complications and risk factors in surgery for thoracic ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (T-OPLL) using data from the registry of the Japanese Multicenter Research Organization for Ossification of the Spinal Ligament. Summary of Background Data. There is no prospective multicenter study of surgical complications and risk factors for T-OPLL, and previous multicenter retrospective studies have lacked details. Methods. Surgical methods, preoperative radiographic findings, pre- and postoperative thoracic myelopathy (Japanese Orthopaedic Association [JOA] score), prone and supine position test (PST), intraoperative ultrasonography, and intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) were investigated prospectively in 115 cases (males: 55, females: 60, average age 53.1 y). Factors related to perioperative complications and risk factors for postoperative motor palsy were identified. Results. Posterior decompression and fusion with instrumentation with or without dekyphosis was performed in 85 cases (74%). The JOA recovery rate at 1 year after surgery in all cases was 55%. Motor palsy occurred postoperatively in 37 cases (32.2%), with a mean recovery period of 2.7 months. A long recovery period for postoperative motor palsy was significantly associated with a high number of T-OPLL levels (P < 0.0001), lower preoperative JOA score (P < 0.05), and greater estimated blood loss (P < 0.05). Perioperative complications or postoperative motor palsy were significantly related to a higher number of T-OPLL levels, comorbid ossification of ligamentum flavum rate, lower preoperative JOA score, higher preoperative positive PST rate, more surgical invasiveness, a lower rate of intraoperative spinal cord floating in ultrasonography, and higher rate of deterioration of IONM. Conclusion. This study firstly demonstrated the perioperative complications with high postoperative motor palsy rate in a nationwide multicenter prospective study. Surgical outcomes for T-OPLL should be improved by identifying and preventing perioperative complications with significant risk factors. Level of Evidence: 3
Social preferences, financial literacy and intertemporal choice

We evaluate the relationship between social preferences, financial literacy and intertemporal choice in questionnaires distributed to university students. Most respondents perform well on a financial literacy test, and the majority show prosocial value orientation. Older students tend to be more prosocial, but we cannot confirm in our sample that females are more prosocial than males. We cannot confirm, either, that the prosocial are more financially literate than individualists and the competitive. Most respondents do not show hyperbolic discounting, and its incidence abates as both stakes and payoff delays increase. Prosocial participants also reveal to be more patient across the questionnaires.
Antiadipogenic effects of subthermal electric stimulation at 448 kHz on differentiating human mesenchymal stem cells

The 448 kHz capacitive-resistive electric transfer (CRET) is an electrothermal therapy currently applied in anticellulite and antiobesity treatments. The aim of the present study was to determine whether exposure to the CRET electric signal at subthermal doses affected early adipogenic processes in adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) from human donors. ADSC were incubated for 2 or 9 days in the presence of adipogenic medium, and exposed or sham-exposed to 5 min pulses of 448 kHz electric signal at 50 µA/mm2 during the last 48 h of the incubation. Colorimetric, immunofluorescence, western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays were performed to assess adipogenic differentiation of the ADSC. Electric stimulation significantly decreased cytoplasmic lipid content, after both 2 and 9 days of differentiation. The antiadipogenic response in the 9 day samples was accompanied by activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1/2, decreased expression and partial inactivation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ, which was translocated from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, together with a significant decrease in the expression levels of the PPARG1 gene, perilipin, angiopoietin-like protein 4 and fatty acid synthase. These results demonstrated that subthermal stimulation with CRET interferes with the early adipogenic differentiation in ADSC, indicating that the electric stimulus itself can modulate processes controlling the synthesis and mobilization of fat, even in the absence of the concomitant thermal and mechanical components of the thermoelectric therapy CRET.
Social attribution in anorexia nervosa

People with anorexia nervosa (AN) report socioemotional difficulties; however, measurement has been criticised for lacking ecological validity and the state or trait nature of difficulties remains unclear. Participants (n = 122) were recruited across 3 groups: people who are currently ill with AN (n = 40); people who recovered (RecAN, n = 18); healthy-control participants (n = 64). Participants completed clinical questionnaires and the Social Attribution Task. The Social Attribution Task involves describing an animation of moving shapes, scored for number of propositions offered, accuracy, and social relevance. Groups were compared cross-sectionally. Those with current AN were assessed prepsychological and postpsychological treatments. People with AN provided fewer propositions than other groups and fewer salient social attributions than healthy-control participants. Those who recovered scored intermediately and not significantly different from either group. Following treatment, people with AN demonstrated (nonsignificant) improvements, and no significance between group differences were observed. Findings suggest difficulties for people with AN in providing spontaneous social narrative and in identifying social salience.
A versatile and efficient pattern generator for generalized legged locomotion

This paper presents a generic and efficient approach to generate dynamically consistent motions for under-actuated systems like humanoid or quadruped robots. The main contribution is a walking pattern generator, able to compute a stable trajectory of the center of mass of the robot along with the angular momentum, for any given configuration of contacts (e.g. on uneven, sloppy or slippery terrain, or with closed-gripper). Unlike existing methods, our solver is fast enough to be applied as a model-predictive controller. We then integrate this pattern generator in a complete framework: an acyclic contact planner is first used to automatically compute the contact sequence from a 3D model of the environment and a desired final posture; a stable walking pattern is then computed by the proposed solver; a dynamically-stable whole-body trajectory is finally obtained using a second-order hierarchical inverse kinematics. The implementation of the whole pipeline is fast enough to plan a step while the previous one is executed. The interest of the method is demonstrated by real experiments on the HRP-2 robot, by performing long-step walking and climbing a staircase with handrail support.
The Variation in Student Achievement and Behavior Within a Portfolio Management Model

A growing number of states experimented with alternative governance structures in response to pressure to raise student achievement. Post-Katrina experimentation in New Orleans was widely regarded as a model example of new governance reforms and provided a unique opportunity to learn about the variation in student achievement and behavior within and between school sectors and school types. Our results indicated many of the sector and school type combinations that produced higher math and English Language Arts achievement also positively impacted students’ behavior, suggesting that the achievement results were not merely driven by teaching to the test. Finally, our results suggested in a low-performing district, schools may benefit from the collaborative opportunities of belonging to a local school district or network of schools.
Dietary patterns of school-age children in Scotland: association with socio-economic indicators, physical activity and obesity

The Survey of Sugar Intake among Children in Scotland was carried out in May to September 2006. The present study aimed to identify dietary patterns in school-aged children from the survey and investigate associations with socio-economic factors, obesity and physical activity. Habitual diet was assessed using the Scottish Collaborative Group FFQ. Height and weight were measured by trained fieldworkers. A total of 1233 FFQ were available for analysis. Dietary patterns were identified by age (5–11 and 12–17 years) and sex using principal components analysis. Associations between factor scores and socio-economic status, education level of the main food provider, physical activity levels and BMI category (based on UK 1990 charts) were examined. Three dietary patterns were identified in each age and sex group. ‘Healthier’ patterns loading highly for fruit and vegetables were significantly associated with higher socio-economic status and higher education levels of the main food provider whereas more ‘unhealthy’ patterns (‘snacks’ and ‘puddings’) were associated with lower socio-economic status and lower education levels of the main food provider. There was no consistent association between dietary patterns and BMI group or time spent in physical activity. However, inactivity (screen time) was inversely associated with ‘healthier’ patterns in all age and sex groups and positively associated with ‘puddings’ and ‘snacks’ in girls aged 5–11 years. Clear dietary patterns can be identified in school-age children in Scotland, which are consistently related to socio-economic factors and inactivity. This has implications for targeting health promotion at subgroups in terms of lifestyle changes required.
clinical features of late-onset circulatory dysfunction in premature infants

Background: Sudden unpredictable hypotension during the post-transitional period, termed late-onset circulatory dysfunction (LCD) of premature infants, has been reported in low birthweight infants who overcame major problems during the early neonatal period. We investigated the clinical features of LCD and factors associated with the occurrence of LCD. Methods: A multicenter retrospective case-control study. The clinical records of 1,004 children born at less than 32 weeks of gestation were reviewed. Patients with LCD were compared with age-matched non-LCD controls. Results: Of the 1,004 infants, 73 (7.3%) were diagnosed with LCD, with the incidence differing significantly among institutions ( P,0.0001). The median age of diagnosis was 16 days of age (range: 4–50 days) and 29 weeks of postmenstrual age (range: 25–35 weeks). The incidence of LCD was inversely correlated with gestational age at birth, except at 22 and 23 weeks. Compared with the control infants, the LCD infants had significantly higher incidences of birth by cesar ean section (61/73 versus 48/73, P,0.05); hyponatremia (sodium ,130 mEq/L) at the time of diagnosis (24/66 versus 3/39, P,0.01); deterioration of respiratory status within 24 hours before diagnosis (36/73 versus 6/73, P,0.0001); and periventricular leukomalacia (14/73 versus 4/73, P,0.05). Corticosteroids were effective in 52 infants who were unresponsive to volume expansion or inotropic agents. None of these infants died of LCD. Conclusion: LCD is common but worthy of attention due to its association with periventricular leukomalacia. A review of institutional differences in treatment policies may contribute to the prevention of LCD.
Evaluation of Elite Pomegranate Genotypes of Balochistan Based on Morphological , Biochemical and Molecular Traits

Characterization of Pomegranate germplasm is necessary for patency, expansion of supply window and variety improvement programs. Morphological, chemical and molecular variation and relatedness among 11 pomegranate genotypes of Balochistan were determined. The highest fruit weight (372 g) was recorded in MG-I; however, MK-IV had lowest WPI with high juiciness, while MG-III & MG-IV had highest WPI with less juice percentage. Significant variation was recorded for TA, Vit. C, total sugar, TPCs, IC50, SODs and PODs, whereas no difference was observed for TSS, protein and CAT contents among selected pomegranate genotypes. Narrow genetic base was noted in selected pomegranate genotypes as shown in average PIC value (0.282), however, SSR marker (POM_AGC11) produced the highest values for PIC, HZ and GD (0.373, 0.909 and 0.496), respectively; however, average allele frequency was 0.739 in amplified DNA fragments of 11 pomegranates with the highest value (0.954) recorded in SSR marker tagged as PGCT075b. Molecular variance was 11% among two populations (Quetta and Mustang) with 16% among individuals of these populations and remaining 73% variation recorded within the genotypes. Fruit size and juiciness could be improved through utilizing genetic variations in pomegranate genotypes. The genotype “MG-I” had the highest fruit size; however, MK-IV proved the best for white sweet arils, containing least WPI. Moreover, commercial genotypes (Q-I, Q-II and MK-III) were red in fruit and aril color, sweet to sour in taste with less juiciness. Genetic base of selected genotypes was narrow with massive flow of gene pool within the region. © 2018 Friends Science Publishers
Preventive Effects of Folic Acid Supplementation on Adverse Maternal and Fetal Outcomes

Although there is accumulating evidence regarding the additional protective effect of folic acid against adverse pregnancy outcomes other than neural tube defects, these effects have not been elucidated in detail. We evaluated whether folic acid supplementation is associated with favorable maternal and fetal outcomes. This was a secondary analysis of 215 pregnant women who were enrolled in our prior study. With additional data from telephone interviews regarding prenatal folic acid supplementation, existing demographic, maternal and fetal data were statistically analyzed. The concentration of folic acid in maternal blood was significantly higher following folic acid supplementation (24.6 ng/mL vs.11.8 ng/mL). In contrast, homocysteine level in maternal blood decreased with folic acid supplementation (5.5 µmol/mL vs. 6.8 µmol/mL). The rates of both preeclampsia (odds ratio [OR], 0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09–0.76) and small for gestational age (SGA; 9.2% vs. 20.0%; OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.18–0.99) were lower in the folic acid supplementation group than those in the control group. Other pregnancy outcomes had no association with folic acid supplementation. The findings indicate that folic acid supplementation may help to prevent preeclampsia and SGA. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the favorable effects of folic acid supplementation on pregnancy outcomes.