Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting sudden death in the population: the Paris Prospective Study I.

BACKGROUND Sudden death was found to share the same set of usual risk factors as coronary events and therefore could not be specifically predicted in the population. It appears, however, that parental history of sudden death has not been investigated yet as a risk factor for sudden death. Therefore, we assessed risk factors, including parental sudden death, associated with the occurrence of sudden death in a long-term cohort study. METHODS AND RESULTS We included 7746 men employed by the city of Paris who were 43 to 52 years of age in 1967 to 1972 in the Paris Prospective Study I. Each subject underwent a physical examination and an ECG, provided blood for laboratory tests, and answered questionnaires administered by trained interviewers who paid particular attention to family medical history. Men with known ischemic cardiac disease were further excluded from analysis. For 95.5% of the men, vital status was obtained from specific inquiries until retirement, then by death certificates. Resting heart rate, systolic or diastolic blood pressure, tobacco consumption, body mass index, diabetes status, serum cholesterol, and parental history of sudden death were independent factors associated with sudden death during follow-up (23 years on average). When adjusted for confounding variables, including parental history of myocardial infarction, relative risk of sudden death associated with parental sudden death was 1.80 (95% CI, 1.11 to 2.88). CONCLUSIONS Parental sudden death is an independent risk factor for sudden death in middle-aged men. The existence of familial risk factors for sudden death may help provide better identification of subjects at high risk of and early prevention of sudden death.
The Role of Videogame Glitch in Adult Learning.

THE ROLE OF VIDEOGAME GLITCH IN ADULT LEARNING Beatriz Dixo Sousa Albuquerque Mendes This research investigates the responses of three individuals engaging with the Super Mario World (SMW) platform videogame glitches, and how they learned to solve the problem without formal help. This investigation was chosen because it explores connections between media literacy, critical thinking, and play in adults in the context of responding to unexpected technological errors. At the core of this study is the question of how encounters with arbitrary glitches can motivate and elicit critical thinking. Following a case study model, data were collected as the three subjects played SMW and encountered glitches. Questions regarding the (glitchy) game play experience were addressed in the first interview immediately following. The subjects were asked to create a visual essay and keep personal journals, which were gathered after 30 days, and a second interview at that time focused on the overall experience. Several results emerged from the data. Each of the subjects identified and solved for glitches in a way that suggested critical thinking processes. In addition, they all reflected in various ways on the challenges that glitches presented, making connections to larger issues and their everyday lives. The data also showed the importance of memory in these processes. The results suggest that while subjects approached and solved a technological glitch in SMW game play, they simultaneously acquired, developed, and—at least for the duration of the study—sustained new literacy skills and expanded their proficiency with critical thinking. This holds some potential implications for the value of incorporating glitch experiences both inside and outside the classroom, suggesting that videogame play—and particularly glitches in play—can be considered valuable opportunities for learners and teachers alike.
Relationships between the neuronal sodium/potassium pump and energy metabolism. Effects of K+, Na+, and adenosine triphosphate in isolated brain synaptosomes

The relationships between Na/K pump activity and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production were determined in isolated rat brain synaptosomes. The activity of the enzyme was modulated by altering [K+]e, [Na+]i, and [ATP]i while synaptosomal oxygen uptake and lactate production were measured simultaneously. KCl increased respiration and glycolysis with an apparent Km of about 1 mM which suggests that, at the [K+]e normally present in brain, 3.3-4 mM, the pump is near saturation with this cation. Depolarization with 6-40 mM KCl had negligible effect on ouabain-sensitive O2 uptake indicating that at the voltages involved the activity of the Na/K ATPase is largely independent of membrane potential. Increases in [Na+]i by addition of veratridine markedly enhanced glycoside-inhibitable respiration and lactate production. Calculations of the rates of ATP synthesis necessary to support the operation of the pump showed that greater than 90% of the energy was derived from oxidative phosphorylation. Consistent with this: (a) the ouabain-sensitive Rb/O2 ratio was close to 12 (i.e., Rb/ATP ratio of 2); (b) inhibition of mitochondrial ATP synthesis by Amytal resulted in a decrease in the glycoside-dependent rate of 86Rb uptake. Analyses of the mechanisms responsible for activation of the energy-producing pathways during enhanced Na and K movements indicate that glycolysis is predominantly stimulated by increase in activity of phosphofructokinase mediated via a rise in the concentrations of adenosine monophosphate [AMP] and inorganic phosphate [Pi] and a fall in the concentration of phosphocreatine [PCr]; the main moving force for the elevation in mitochondrial ATP generation is the decline in [ATP]/[ADP] [Pi] (or equivalent) and consequent readjustments in the ratio of the intramitochondrial pyridine nucleotides [( NAD]m/[NADH]m). Direct stimulation of pyruvate dehydrogenase by calcium appears to be of secondary importance. It is concluded that synaptosomal Na/K pump is fueled primarily by oxidative phosphorylation and that a fall in [ATP]/[ADP][Pi] is the chief factor responsible for increased energy production.
Digital diaspora, reinvigorating Indigenous identity and online activism: social media and the reorientation of Rotuman identity

The island of Rotuma in Fiji poses a paradox. Indigenous Fijians make up more than 60% of Fiji’s population. However, as a unique ethnic group, Rotumans are a demographic minority, with their language listed on the UNESCO list of endangered languages. This is caused by extensive outmigration, with more than 80% of Rotumans residing outside of Rotuma. Recently, Rotuman migrants have heavily relied on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and new media, as tools for reinvigorating culture, rekindling familial ties and being a platform for political discourse on Rotuman issues. Facebook has been increasingly employed by Rotumans to inform and educate themselves and their networks on the implications of two bills introduced in Fiji’s Parliament in 2015, which impact Rotuma in terms of its land and customs. This article examines how Rotumans have innovatively used social media to reinvigorate culture and how this has evolved to take on an increasingly political dimension.
Family discipline practices with infants at six months of age

ABSTRACT Objectives: To determine the frequency of 14 discipline strategies used by mothers (n = 564) and fathers (n = 335) in caring for their six-month old infant. Methods: Data on discipline practices were obtained from families participating in an obesity prevention trial (Prevention of Overweight in Infancy). Each parent was asked to indicate the frequency of using 14 different discipline strategies during the previous week with their infant. Associations between the use of these strategies and parity, deprivation, parental ethnicity, depression symptoms and infant sex were investigated. Results: Parents reported using both positive (mean: 8.8 for mothers and 7.9 for partners) and negative (0.7 for mothers and 0.7 for partners) strategies over the past week. At six months, positive strategies such as smiling, praising and distraction were most commonly reported (≥87% for both mothers and partners), negative strategies such as smacking, time out and shouting being reported infrequently (≤8% for all). Discipline requiring a level of cognitive understanding not developed at six months was reasonably common, including reasoning (17.7% for mothers, 23.4% for partners), negotiation (6.2%, 11.7%) and ignoring (26%, 19%). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that mothers with more than one child had a lower positive discipline index than those with only one child (difference, 95% C.I.: 1.05 (0.57, 1.54). An increase of one point on the 10-point hostile parenting scale was associated with an increase of 0.18 (0.04, 0.31) for the mothers and 0.47 (0.23, 0.70) for partners on the negative strategy index. Conclusions: Discipline strategies emerge early in infancy and are associated with family size and parental hostility.
Crosslinguistic interplay between semantics and phonology in late bilinguals: neurophysiological evidence

We investigated effects of crosslinguistic phonological and semantic similarity on the bilingual lexicon of late unbalanced bilinguals. Our masked priming paradigm used L1 (Russian) words as masked primes and L2 (English) words as targets. The primes and the targets either overlapped – phonologically, semantically, both phonologically and semantically – or did not overlap. Participants maintained the targets in memory and matched them against occasionally presented catch stimuli. N170 and N400 components of the word-elicited high-density ERPs were identified and analysed in signal and source space. Crosslinguistic semantic similarity shortened the reaction times. The semantics-related N400 amplitude difference correlated with individual L2 proficiency, while phonological similarity suppressed the N400 amplitude in the semantically unrelated condition. ERP source analysis suggests that these ERP dynamics are underpinned by cortical generators in the left IFG and the temporal pole. We conclude that the semantic and phonological interplay between L1 and L2 suggest an integrated bilingual lexicon.
MARKOV EQUIVALENCE FOR ANCESTRAL GRAPHS

Ancestral graphs can encode conditional independence relations that arise in directed acyclic graph (DAG) models with latent and selection variables. However, for any ancestral graph, there may be several other graphs to which it is Markov equivalent. We state and prove conditions under which two maximal ancestral graphs are Markov equivalent to each other, thereby extending analogous results for DAGs given by other authors. These conditions lead to an algorithm for determining Markov equivalence that runs in time that is polynomial in the number of vertices in the graph.
A multivariate approach for integrating genome-wide expression data and biological knowledge

MOTIVATION Several statistical methods that combine analysis of differential gene expression with biological knowledge databases have been proposed for a more rapid interpretation of expression data. However, most such methods are based on a series of univariate statistical tests and do not properly account for the complex structure of gene interactions. RESULTS We present a simple yet effective multivariate statistical procedure for assessing the correlation between a subspace defined by a group of genes and a binary phenotype. A subspace is deemed significant if the samples corresponding to different phenotypes are well separated in that subspace. The separation is measured using Hotelling's T(2) statistic, which captures the covariance structure of the subspace. When the dimension of the subspace is larger than that of the sample space, we project the original data to a smaller orthonormal subspace. We use this method to search through functional pathway subspaces defined by Reactome, KEGG, BioCarta and Gene Ontology. To demonstrate its performance, we apply this method to the data from two published studies, and visualize the results in the principal component space.
Wild Chimpanzees on the Edge: Nocturnal Activities in Croplands

In a rapidly changing landscape highly impacted by anthropogenic activities, the great apes are facing new challenges to coexist with humans. For chimpanzee communities inhabiting encroached territories, not bordered by rival conspecifics but by human agricultural fields, such boundaries are risky areas. To investigate the hypothesis that they use specific strategies for incursions out of the forest into maize fields to prevent the risk of detection by humans guarding their field, we carried out video recordings of chimpanzees at the edge of the forest bordered by a maize plantation in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Contrary to our expectations, large parties are engaged in crop-raids, including vulnerable individuals such as females with clinging infants. More surprisingly chimpanzees were crop-raiding during the night. They also stayed longer in the maize field and presented few signs of vigilance and anxiety during these nocturnal crop-raids. While nocturnal activities of chimpanzees have been reported during full moon periods, this is the first record of frequent and repeated nocturnal activities after twilight, in darkness. Habitat destruction may have promoted behavioural adjustments such as nocturnal exploitation of open croplands.
Towards a Synergistic Understanding of Synaesthesia Combining Current Experimental Findings With Synaesthetes' Subjective Descriptions

In synaesthesia, ordinary stimuli elicit extraordinary conscious experiences. For example, standard black digits may elicit highly specific colour experiences and specific tastes may elicit unusual tactile sensations. The growing interest in synaesthesia has led to numerous experimental studies of this phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to review these recent studies and to discuss the relationship between the results of these experimental investigations of synaesthesia and the subjective descriptions reported by synaesthetes. It is argued that when the experimental investigations of synaesthesia are interpreted in the context of synaesthetes' subjective reports, the experimental investigations synergistically advance our understanding of synaesthesia. Ultimately we suggest that a more complete understanding of this fascinating phenomenon will require a clearly articulated combination of well-designed experimental studies and the subjective reports of synaesthetes.
Problematizing Literature Circles as Forums for Discussion of Multicultural and Political Texts

In a six-week literature circle unit in a tentth-grade classroom, one group of students discussed Dorothy Allison's novel Bastard out of Carolina. By criteria frequently used to judge the quality of discussion, this literature circle was successful. However, several key moments are highlighted that point to the limits of literature circles as they are typically implemented for engaging students in the full critical depth of multicultural and political texts. Finally, suggestions are offered for rethinking literature circle pedagogy with the goal of offering students a more nuanced and robust experience with such texts.
Gene Carriers and Transfection Systems Used in the Recombination of Dendritic Cells for Effective Cancer Immunotherapy

Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells. They play a vital role in the initiation of immune response by presenting antigens to T cells and followed by induction of T-cell response. Reported research in animal studies indicated that vaccine immunity could be a promising alternative therapy for cancer patients. However, broad clinical utility has not been achieved yet, owing to the low transfection efficiency of DCs. Therefore, it is essential to improve the transfection efficiency of DC-based vaccination in immunotherapy. In several studies, DCs were genetically engineered by tumor-associated antigens or by immune molecules such as costimulatory molecules, cytokines, and chemokines. Encouraging results have been achieved in cancer treatment using various animal models. This paper describes the recent progress in gene delivery systems including viral vectors and nonviral carriers for DC-based genetically engineered vaccines. The reverse and three-dimensional transfection systems developed in DCs are also discussed.
SI113, a SGK1 inhibitor, potentiates the effects of radiotherapy, modulates the response to oxidative stress and induces cytotoxic autophagy in human glioblastoma multiforme cells

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive CNS tumor and is characterized by a very high frequency of clinical relapse after therapy and thus by a dismal prognosis, which strongly compromises patients survival. We have recently identified the small molecule SI113, as a potent and selective inhibitor of SGK1, a serine/threonine protein kinase, that modulates several oncogenic signaling cascades. The SI113-dependent SGK1 inhibition induces cell death, blocks proliferation and perturbs cell cycle progression by modulating SGK1-related substrates. SI113 is also able to strongly and consistently block, in vitro and in vivo, growth and survival of human hepatocellular-carcinomas, either used as a single agent or in combination with ionizing radiations. In the present paper we aim to study the effect of SI113 on human GBM cell lines with variable p53 expression. Cell viability, cell death, caspase activation and cell cycle progression were then analyzed by FACS and WB-based assays, after exposure to SI113, with or without oxidative stress and ionizing radiations. Moreover, autophagy and related reticulum stress response were evaluated. We show here, that i) SGK1 is over-expressed in highly malignant gliomas and that the treatment with SI113 leads to ii) significant increase in caspase-mediated apoptotic cell death in GBM cell lines but not in normal fibroblasts; iii)enhancement of the effects of ionizing radiations; iv) modulation of the response to oxidative reticulum stress; v) induction of cytotoxic autophagy. Evidence reported here underlines the therapeutic potential of SI113 in GBM, suggesting a new therapeutic strategy either alone or in combination with radiotherapy.
New web-based interactive e-learning in power electronics and electrical machines

This paper introduces a new software tool for teaching power electronics and electrical machines. The tool consists of HTML text where small programs in form of Java-applets are inserted which are used for interactive animation, simulation and design of power electronic circuits and/or electrical machines. The whole tool does need just a standard Web-browser, is fully independent of the underlying operating system, also no installation is necessary, and all interactive Java-programs are written with the focus on very easy usage. Therefore, the tool can be accessed via the World Wide Web and/or by a CD-ROM in stand-alone PCs by students and professionals. Since the Java-programs are simple to handle, a student can immediately start working with the programs and can fully concentrate on the theory of the problem instead of studying help-manuals. Because of the underlying software technology, the tool can be used for online learning and can be easily integrated into an e-learning platform for distance learning. It can be also used in the traditional classroom with laptop and beamer, via Internet or CD-ROM. Therefore, it can be integrated in a course making use of other modern technologies like video, slide-shows or sound-clips. It can be used by professionals or students for self-study. The focus of this paper is on the introduction of the usage and the technology of this new e-learning software tool which is optimized for education in power electronics and electrical machines. It is not about certain teaching techniques.
Repeated Moral Hazard with BoundedlyRational Agents

In this paper we consider a situation where a number of identical myopic agents enter a long term contract with a principal. The actions of the agents cannot be observed, and the principal ooers the agents a payment scheme where payments from the principal to the agents are based on the observable outcome in the corresponding period. Whereas the principal knows the distribution of outcomes, given the level of eeort agents invest, agents do not have perfect knowledge of this distribution. They have initial beliefs about the induced distributions and adapt these beliefs dynamically using a simple updating rule. The principal tries to optimize his discounted expected payoo by taking into account the agents expected learning behavior. It is shown that an intertemporally optimal incentive scheme exists in this setup and optimal schemes for all possible constellations of agents' initial beliefs are characterized. Further, it is shown how the optimal scheme changes if the principal is uncertain about the agents initial beliefs.
The WebTP Architecture and Algorithms

Motivated by the increasing popularity of the Web-based applications, we have designed a new transport protocol, called WebTP, that is suitable for today’s complex network environment. Leveraged on the research work in the past decade on TCP and UDP, our transport protocol integrates and implements various recommendations for protocol improvement. It is a general-purpose protocol that promises to improve the performance of a diverse class of applications, including short-interactive transactions, bulk file transfer, real-time and nonreal-time media streams. It supports fine-grained and application-specific control, which includes: application-level framing (ALF), reliability control at the level of application data unit (ADU) and user-centric bandwidth management. In WebTP, the network condition is constantly monitored and is visible to the application through a set of application programming interface (API). The applications can adapt to the time-varying network condition. The connection-oriented protocol has a fast option that bypasses connection setup in a controlled fashion and can improve the response time for interactive connections. WebTP uses an abstraction, called pipe, which is the communication channel between a pair of IP end-hosts. Because many connections between the IP pair can be multiplexed into the pipe, the resulting traffic becomes smoother and can be more readily controlled. Moreover, due to the concentration of the available bandwidth, quality-of-service (QOS) provision becomes possible through differentiated treatment toward the connections within each pipe. Specifically, the pipe bandwidth is allocated to the connections through a scheduler that provides bandwidth-guaranteed service, delay-guaranteed service and best-effort service jointly. In the paper, we contrast our end-to-end, layer-4 approach to QOS provision with those layer-3 approaches. In the area of congestion control, our goal is to speed up the start-up phase of a pipe while reducing protocol-induced packet losses, as compared with TCP. We achieve this by enhancing the window-based congestion control with the help of the observed rate information.
Software quality analysis with the use of computational intelligence

Effectiveness and clarity of software objects, their adherence to coding standards and programming habits of programmers are important features of overall quality of software systems. This paper proposes an approach towards a quantitative software quality assessment with respect to extensibility, reusability, clarity and efficiency. It exploits techniques of Computational Intelligence (CI) that are treated as a consortium of granular computing, neural networks and evolutionary techniques. In particular, we take advantage of self-organizing maps to gain a better insight into the data, and study genetic decision trees-a novel algorithmic framework to carry out classification of software objects with respect to their quality. Genetic classifiers serve as a "quality filter" for software objects. Using these classifiers, a system manager can predict quality of software objects and identify low quality objects for review and possible revision. The approach is applied to an object-oriented visualization-based software system for biomedical data analysis.