Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Self-reports versus parental perceptions of health-related quality of life among deaf children and adolescents.

The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between deaf children's and adolescents' self-ratings of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and their parents' proxy reports. This observational cross-sectional study included 114 deaf 8- to 18-years-old students and proxy family members. HRQoL was measured using the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire, which was adapted to Spanish sign language for children, with a written version for parents. Respondents completed a self-administered paper questionnaire. Parents' and children's mean scores differences were not significant, except for the "Autonomy and Parents" and "Peers and Social Support" dimensions. Children aged 8-11 years scored higher in some domains of QoL compared to those aged 12-18 years. The level of agreement between children/adolescents' and parents/proxies' responses was acceptable, except for the dimension "Autonomy and Parents. " Overall, deaf children/adolescents' self-ratings of HRQoL did not differ from their parents' proxy reports; however, differences were found in the dimensions that explored the quality of the interaction of children/adolescents and parents, the perceived level of autonomy, and social relations and support.
Armenian American leadership in Glendale, California, USA

The study aimed to discover unique characteristics of Armenian American Leadership in relation to cultural acculturation and more specifically how Anglo-cultural influences in leadership may or may not enable a better understanding of diversity within the Armenian American community, along with the role of trend development. This study examines similarities and differences of leadership styles by analyzing the data both from elected officials and non-elected leaders of major Armenian organizations in Glendale (who are not elected by registered voters of City of Glendale, but by members of their organization). Furthermore, the study examines the relationship between leadership style and acculturation among Armenian American elected leaders and non-elected leaders. Specifically, the study aims to determine specific and unique leadership behaviors among respondents reflecting perceived leadership styles and their commitment to a cause. Additionally, this study seeks leader identification of individual acculturation level as means of examining associations between acculturation and leadership styles. Correlational analyses were performed to compare the study’s findings based on samples drawn from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Acculturation Rating Scale for Armenian Americans (ARSAA), which was adapted from the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA-II). Whereas past similar studies have never used literature and data to justify the revision and adaptation of a scale from Mexican to Armenian, this study does. The study aims to increase understanding of Glendale’s Armenian American residents, and community leaders in terms of leadership perception, style, and relationship to the future and growth of the community. Additional exploration of the relationship between acculturation and self-perceived leadership style of Glendale’s Armenian American elected leaders will add to the
RAMPARTS: Supporting Sensemaking with Spatially-Aware Mobile Interactions

Synchronous colocated collaborative sensemaking requires that analysts share their information and insights with each other. The challenge is to know when is the right time to share what information without disrupting the present state of analysis. This is crucial in ad-hoc sensemaking sessions with mobile devices because small screen space limits information display. To address these tensions, we propose and evaluate RAMPARTS - a spatially aware sensemaking system for collaborative crime analysis that aims to support faster information sharing, clue-finding, and analysis. We compare RAMPARTS to an interactive tabletop and a paper-based method in a controlled laboratory study. We found that RAMPARTS significantly decreased task completion time compared to paper, without affecting cognitive load or task completion time adversely compared to an interactive tabletop. We conclude that designing for ad-hoc colocated sensemaking on mobile devices could benefit from spatial awareness. In particular, spatial awareness could be used to identify relevant information, support diverse alignment styles for visual comparison, and enable alternative rhythms of sensemaking.
A common profile for polymer-based controlled releases and its logical interpretation to general release process.

PURPOSE The release of drug from a polymeric matrix is complicated. It often involves drug diffusion, interface movement and various interactions. It also shows a dependence on the length of polymer rod. With Lc as the 'critical length', three different phases can be distinguished from the kinetic process. Prior to reaching Lc, the interface movement plays a key role on determining the release. Otherwise, the drug diffusion can dominate the release process. Near Lc, however, both factors are involved. The rate of interface movement is closely associated with the time and position in the polymer rod. Taking these characters into account, a common model is presented in this article to be tentatively used to interpret the release process. These results provide preliminarily an insight into the understanding of controlled release process.
Punishment Induced Detterence: Evidence from the Video Rental Market

Does the memory of recently being punished deter criminals from committing crimes? Criminologists have long discussed the psychological effect that receiving a punishment can have on future criminal behavior. While it may exist anecdotally, this psychological deterrent effect is difficult to disentangle from classical deterrence in a real-world setting because of changes in information and incentives that typically occur when an individual is punished. In this paper, we test for punishment-induced deterrence in a controlled market where issues of changes in expected benefits and costs can be addressed: the video-rental market. We explore the effect of having to pay a late fee on customer behavior and find evidence of negative state dependence. Specifically, we find that paying a late fee reduces the probability of paying a late fee in the subsequent visit by 19% and that this deterrent effect decays quickly over time. We show that this behavior is not mitigated by experience and discuss the implications of these findings on consumer rationality, optimal crime policy, and marketing.
A Representational Similarity Analysis of the Dynamics of Object Processing Using Single-Trial EEG Classification

The recognition of object categories is effortlessly accomplished in everyday life, yet its neural underpinnings remain not fully understood. In this electroencephalography (EEG) study, we used single-trial classification to perform a Representational Similarity Analysis (RSA) of categorical representation of objects in human visual cortex. Brain responses were recorded while participants viewed a set of 72 photographs of objects with a planned category structure. The Representational Dissimilarity Matrix (RDM) used for RSA was derived from confusions of a linear classifier operating on single EEG trials. In contrast to past studies, which used pairwise correlation or classification to derive the RDM, we used confusion matrices from multi-class classifications, which provided novel self-similarity measures that were used to derive the overall size of the representational space. We additionally performed classifications on subsets of the brain response in order to identify spatial and temporal EEG components that best discriminated object categories and exemplars. Results from category-level classifications revealed that brain responses to images of human faces formed the most distinct category, while responses to images from the two inanimate categories formed a single category cluster. Exemplar-level classifications produced a broadly similar category structure, as well as sub-clusters corresponding to natural language categories. Spatiotemporal components of the brain response that differentiated exemplars within a category were found to differ from those implicated in differentiating between categories. Our results show that a classification approach can be successfully applied to single-trial scalp-recorded EEG to recover fine-grained object category structure, as well as to identify interpretable spatiotemporal components underlying object processing. Finally, object category can be decoded from purely temporal information recorded at single electrodes.
Beyond Columnar Organization: Cell Type- and Target Layer-Specific Principles of Horizontal Axon Projection Patterns in Rat Vibrissal Cortex

Vertical thalamocortical afferents give rise to the elementary functional units of sensory cortex, cortical columns. Principles that underlie communication between columns remain however unknown. Here we unravel these by reconstructing in vivo-labeled neurons from all excitatory cell types in the vibrissal part of rat primary somatosensory cortex (vS1). Integrating the morphologies into an exact 3D model of vS1 revealed that the majority of intracortical (IC) axons project far beyond the borders of the principal column. We defined the corresponding innervation volume as the IC-unit. Deconstructing this structural cortical unit into its cell type-specific components, we found asymmetric projections that innervate columns of either the same whisker row or arc, and which subdivide vS1 into 2 orthogonal [supra-]granular and infragranular strata. We show that such organization could be most effective for encoding multi whisker inputs. Communication between columns is thus organized by multiple highly specific horizontal projection patterns, rendering IC-units as the primary structural entities for processing complex sensory stimuli.
A randomized algorithm for rank revealing QR factorizations and applications

AbstractThe basic steps of a RRQR Factorization are: (i) select columnsfrom the input matrix A, (ii) permute them to leading positions to anew matrix A p , (iii) compute a QR Factorization A p = QR, (iv) revealrank(A) from R. Since their introduction [1, 2], algorithmic trendshave involved procedures for deterministically selecting columns fromA [3, 4, 5]. Motivated by recent results in theoretical computer science[6, 7, 8] we present a novel algorithm for randomized column selection.Following work in [9] we illustrate our algorithm for approximation ofstock market related matrices. References [1] Leslie V. Foster, Rank and null space calculations using matrix de-compositions without column interchanges, Linear Algebra Appl.74 (1986), 47–71. [2] Tony F. Chan, Rank revealing QR factorizations, Linear AlgebraAppl. 88/89 (1987), 67–82. [3] Y.P. Hong and C.T. Pan, Rank-revealing QR factorizations andthe singular value decomposition, Math. Comp. 58 (1992), no. 197,213–232. [4] S. Chandrasekaran Ilse Ipsen, On rank-revealing factorisations,SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl. 15 (1994), no. 2, 592–622.
Tumor prevention facilitates delayed transplant of stem cell‐derived motoneurons

Nerve injuries resulting in prolonged periods of denervation result in poor recovery of motor function. We have previously shown that embryonic stem cell‐derived motoneurons transplanted at the time of transection into a peripheral nerve can functionally reinnervate muscle. For clinical relevance, we now focused on delaying transplantation to assess reinnervation after prolonged denervation.
Workflow Management: Models, Methods, and Systems

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to workflow management, the management of business processes with information technology. By defining, analyzing, and redesigning an organization's resources and operations, workflow management systems ensure that the right information reaches the right person or computer application at the right time. The book provides a basic overview of workflow terminology and organization, as well as detailed coverage of workflow modeling with Petri nets. Because Petri nets make definitions easier to understand for nonexperts, they facilitate communication between designers and users. The book includes a chapter of case studies, review exercises, and a glossary. A special Web site developed by the authors, www.workflowcourse. com, features animation, interactive examples, lecture materials, exercises and solutions, relevant links, and other valuable resources for the classroom.
Reverse Genetics of SARS-Related Coronavirus Using Vaccinia Virus-Based Recombination

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a zoonotic disease caused by SARS-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that emerged in 2002 to become a global health concern. Although the original outbreak was controlled by classical public health measures, there is a real risk that another SARS-CoV could re-emerge from its natural reservoir, either in its original form or as a more virulent or pathogenic strain; in which case, the virus would be difficult to control in the absence of any effective antiviral drugs or vaccines. Using the well-studied SARS-CoV isolate HKU-39849, we developed a vaccinia virus-based SARS-CoV reverse genetic system that is both robust and biosafe. The SARS-CoV genome was cloned in separate vaccinia virus vectors, (vSARS-CoV-5prime and vSARS-CoV-3prime) as two cDNAs that were subsequently ligated to create a genome-length SARS-CoV cDNA template for in vitro transcription of SARS-CoV infectious RNA transcripts. Transfection of the RNA transcripts into permissive cells led to the recovery of infectious virus (recSARS-CoV). Characterization of the plaques produced by recSARS-CoV showed that they were similar in size to the parental SARS-CoV isolate HKU-39849 but smaller than the SARS-CoV isolate Frankfurt-1. Comparative analysis of replication kinetics showed that the kinetics of recSARS-CoV replication are similar to those of SARS-CoV Frankfurt-1, although the titers of virus released into the culture supernatant are approximately 10-fold less. The reverse genetic system was finally used to generate a recSARS-CoV reporter virus expressing Renilla luciferase in order to facilitate the analysis of SARS-CoV gene expression in human dendritic cells (hDCs). In parallel, a Renilla luciferase gene was also inserted into the genome of human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E). Using this approach, we demonstrate that, in contrast to HCoV-229E, SARS-CoV is not able to mediate efficient heterologous gene expression in hDCs.
Immune response to human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiac progenitors and adipose-derived stromal cells

Transplantation of allogeneic human embryonic stem cell‐derived cardiac progenitors triggers an immune response. We assessed whether this response could be modulated by the concomitant use of adipose‐derived stromal cells (ADSC). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from 40 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and nine healthy controls. Cardiac progenitors (CD15+ Mesp1+) were generated as already reported from the I6 cell line treated with bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)‐2. Adipose‐derived stromal cells were obtained from abdominal dermolipectomies. We assessed the proliferative response of peripheral lymphocytes from patients and controls to cardiac progenitors cultured on a monolayer of ADSC, to allogeneic lymphocytes in mixed lymphocyte culture and to the T cell mitogen phytohemaglutin A in presence or absence of ADSC. Cardiac progenitors cultured on a monolayer of ADSC triggered a proliferation of lymphocytes from both patients and controls albeit lower than that induced by allogeneic lymphocytes. When cultured alone, ADSC did not induce any proliferation of allogeneic lymphocytes. When added to cultures of lymphocytes, ADSC significantly inhibited the alloantigen or mitogen‐induced proliferative response. Compared to healthy controls, lymphocytes from patients presenting CAD expressed a decreased proliferative capacity, in particular to mitogen‐induced stimulation. Adipose‐derived stromal cells express an immunomodulatory effect that limits both alloantigen and mitogen‐induced lymphocyte responses. Furthermore, lymphocytes from patients with CAD are low responders to conventional stimuli, possibly because of their age and disease‐associated treatment regimens. We propose that, in combination, these factors may limit the in vivo immunogenicity of cardiac progenitors co‐implanted with ADSC in patients with CAD.
Generalized Privacy Ampliication

This paper provides a general treatment of privacy ampliication by public discussion , a concept introduced by Bennett, Brassard and Robert for a special scenario. Privacy ampliication is a protocol that allows two parties to distill a secret key from a common random variable that is only partially secret, i.e. about which an eavesdropper has some partial information , where the two parties generally know nothing about the eavesdropper's information except that it satisses a certain constraint. The results have applications to unconditionally-secure secret-key agreement protocols, quantum cryptography and to a generalized treatment of wire-tap and broadcast channels for a considerably strengthened deenition of secrecy capacity.
Intertrial priming stemming from ambiguity: A new account of priming in visual search

Sequential effects are ubiquitous in experimental psychology. Within visual search, performance is often speeded when participants search for the same target twice in a row, as opposed to two different targets. Here, we investigate such intertrial priming. Two experiments show that factors influencing search processes affect the presence and size of intertrial priming: It is larger when there are fewer elements in the visual display, and larger when there is a salient distractor present than when the target is the only salient element in the display. A control experiment showed that these increased priming effects were not due to longer baseline RTs. These findings, it is argued, are inconsistent with theories that explain intertrial priming as resulting from either only faster visual selection, or from episodic retrieval of responses. Instead, we propose that ambiguity in the stimulus or task underlies the occurrence of intertrial priming.
IL-17 in the Rheumatologist's Line of Sight

Over the past decades, the identification of several new cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-23, and of new T helper cell subsets, including Th17 cells, has changed the vision of immunological processes. The IL-17/Th17 pathway plays a critical role during the development of inflammation and autoimmunity, and targeting this pathway has become an attractive strategy for a number of diseases. This review aims to describe the effects of IL-17 in the joint and its roles in the development of autoimmune and inflammatory arthritis. Furthermore, biotherapies targeting directly or indirectly IL-17 in inflammatory rheumatisms will be developed.
Endothelium Dependent Vasomotion and In Vitro Markers of Endothelial Repair in Patients with Severe Sepsis: An Observational Study

Background Outcome in sepsis is mainly defined by the degree of organ failure, for which endothelial dysfunction at the macro- and microvascular level is an important determinant. In this study we evaluated endothelial function in patients with severe sepsis using cellular endothelial markers and in vivo assessment of reactive hyperaemia. Materials and Methods Patients with severe sepsis (n = 30) and 15 age- and gender- matched healthy volunteers were included in this study. Using flow cytometry, CD34+/KDR+ endothelial progenitor cells (EPC), CD31+ T-cells, and CD31+/CD42b- endothelial microparticles (EMP) were enumerated. Migratory capacity of cultured circulating angiogenic cells (CAC) was assessed in vitro. Endothelial function was determined using peripheral arterial tonometry at the fingertip. Results In patients with severe sepsis, a lower number of EPC, CD31+ T-cells and a decreased migratory capacity of CAC coincided with a blunted reactive hyperaemia response compared to healthy subjects. The number of EMP, on the other hand, did not differ. The presence of organ failure at admission (SOFA score) was inversely related with the number of CD31+ T-cells. Furthermore, the number of EPC at admission was decreased in patients with progressive organ failure within the first week. Conclusion In patients with severe sepsis, in vivo measured endothelial dysfunction coincides with lower numbers and reduced function of circulating cells implicated in endothelial repair. Our results suggest that cellular markers of endothelial repair might be valuable in the assessment and evolution of organ dysfunction.
Suppression of host photosynthesis by the parasitic plant Rhinanthus minor.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Parasitism is well understood to have wide-ranging deleterious effects on host performance in species thus far characterized. Photosynthetic performance reductions have been noted in the Striga-Zea mays association; however, no such information exists for facultative hemiparasitic plants and their hosts, nor are the effects of host species understood. METHODS Chlorophyll fluorimetry was used to study the effects of parasitism by the hemiparasite Rhinanthus minor on the grass Phleum bertolinii and the forb Plantago lanceolata, and the effects of host species on the photosynthetic apparatus of R. minor. KEY RESULTS Parasitism by Rhinanthus led to a significant decrease in the host, and total (host + parasite) biomass in Phleum; however, in Plantago, no significant repression of growth was noted. Maximum quantum yield (F(v)/F(m)) was reduced in parasitized Plantago, relative to control plants, but not in Phleum. F(v)/F(m) was significantly lower in R. minor parasitizing Phleum than Plantago, suggesting Phleum to be a superior host to Plantago for R. minor. Steady-state quantum yield (Phi(PSII)) was significantly depressed in parasitized Phleum, but only at low irradiances in Plantago. Phi(PSII) was very low for R. minor grown on Plantago, but not Phleum. CONCLUSIONS Shown here is the first evidence of the suppression of host photosynthesis by a facultative hemiparasitic plant, which has significant effects on total biomass production. Host identity is a significant factor in parasite success, with the forb Plantago lanceolata exhibiting apparent chemical as well as previously identified physical defences to parasitism. It is proposed that the electron transport rate (as denoted by Phi(PSII)) represents the limiting factor for biomass accumulation in this system, and that Plantago is able to suppress the growth of Rhinanthus by suppressing the electron transport rate.