Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Foreign Accent Syndrome Following a Closed Head Injury: Perfusion Deficit on Single Photon Emission Tomography with Normal Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Foreign accent syndrome is a rare speech disorder characterized by the emergence of an apparent foreign accent after an anterior left-hemispheric lesion. We report a case where the patient experienced foreign accent syndrome without other significant neurological deficits, consequent to a minor head injury. Results of single photon emission tomography (SPECT) studies suggest abnormal function of the left dorsolateral inferior frontal gyrus (sparing Broca's area) and the caudate nucleus as the underlying functional/anatomic basis of the syndrome, and acoustic analysis showed prosodic and vowel anomalies that contributed to the listener's perception of a foreign accent.
Aerobic Exercise Capacity and Pulmonary Function in Athletes With and Without Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To compare the aerobic exercise capacity and pulmonary function between athletes with and without type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Fifty-one adult age-matched individuals were assessed in random order to the maximum volume of O2 consumption (Vo2peak max) (ml/kg/min), anaerobic threshold (ml/kg/min), peak pulmonary ventilation (Ve), heart rate (beats per min), time to exhaustion (min), forced vital capacity (FEV) (%), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) (%), total lung capacity (TLC) (%), and lung diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) (%). Individuals were 27 with type 1 diabetes: 15 athletes (ADM) and 12 nonathletes (NADM); and 24 healthy individuals: 12 ADM and 12 NADM. Duration of diabetes was 14.6 ± 6.2 and 15.2 ± 6.7 years in ADM and NADM, respectively. RESULTS Vo2peak max was higher in ADM than in NADM (P < 0.001). The anaerobic threshold was lower in subjects with type 1 diabetes than in control subjects (P < 0.001). FEV1 was lower in ADM than in other groups (NADM, athletes control, and nonathletes control, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Aerobic capacity in subjects with type 1 diabetes with programmed exercise is similar to the capacity of normal athletes despite lower anaerobic threshold and FEV1.
The Impact of Usability on the Intention of Planned Purchases in E-commerce Service Websites

For e-commerce websites to be successful in a highly competitive environment, the designers and managers should know what usability attributes can affect the probability of customers’ making purchases. This paper proposes a website usability study to measure attributes and the users’ intention of planned purchases. This study provides a designer’s perspective of the online customer which can be a significant step towards understanding customer online decision-making and their intention of planned purchases. The study is validated on two existing e-commerce service websites. Current HCI studies, psychological and Information Systems theories are used to identify key usability attributes that can influence customers’ purchasing intentions. Implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.
A conceptual model for nostalgia in the context of sport tourism: re-classifying the sporting past

The concept of nostalgia is complex and difficult to measure, in part because of its diverse emotional perspectives. Various authors have attempted to classify aspects of nostalgia to further describe this phenomenon and understand its broader application. However, the nostalgia that sports fans experience, particularly in a tourist context, appears to be unique from its other types and forms. This difference is in part because the relationship between sport – and, by extension, sport-related travel – and nostalgia appears to be distinct. To address this issue, this paper provides a classification and a conceptual model to clarify the concept of nostalgia in the context of sport tourism. Specifically, this research suggests a four-way classification of nostalgia in sport tourism: (1) experience, (2) socialization, (3) personal identity, and (4) group identity. In addition, the conceptual model shows the process of the development of nostalgia by emphasizing the importance of the types of experience. The classification and model suggested in this paper are important for future empirical research to accurately measure the concept of nostalgia and to understand it in the context of sport tourism.
LOCAL LYMAN BREAK GALAXY ANALOGS: THE IMPACT OF MASSIVE STAR-FORMING CLUMPS ON THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM AND THE GLOBAL STRUCTURE OF YOUNG, FORMING GALAXIES

We report on the results of Hubble Space Telescope optical and UV imaging, Spitzer mid-IR photometry, and optical spectroscopy of a sample of 30 low-redshift (z ∼ 0.1 to 0.3) galaxies chosen from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Galaxy Evolution Explorer surveys to be accurate local analogs of the high-redshift Lyman break galaxies. The Lyman break analogs (LBAs) are similar in stellar mass, metallicity, dust extinction, star formation rate (SFR), physical size, and gas velocity dispersion, thus enabling a detailed investigation of many processes that are important in star-forming galaxies at high redshift. The main optical emission-line properties of LBAs, including evidence for outflows, are also similar to those typically found at high redshift. This indicates that the conditions in their interstellar medium are comparable. In the UV, LBAs are characterized by complexes of massive clumps of star formation, while in the optical they most often show evidence for (post-)mergers and interactions. In six cases, we find a single extremely massive (up to several ×109 M☉) compact (radius ∼102 pc) dominant central object (DCO). The DCOs are preferentially found in LBAs with the highest mid-IR luminosities (L24 μm = 1010.3–1011.2 L☉) and correspondingly high SFRs (15–100 M☉ yr−1). We show that the massive star-forming clumps (including the DCOs) have masses much larger than the nuclear super star clusters seen in normal late-type galaxies. However, the DCOs do have masses, sizes, and densities similar to the excess light/central cusps seen in typical elliptical galaxies with masses similar to the LBA galaxies. We suggest that the DCOs form in the present-day examples of the dissipative mergers at high redshift that are believed to have produced the central cusps in local ellipticals (consistent with the disturbed optical morphologies of the LBAs). More generally, the properties of the LBAs are consistent with the idea that instabilities in a gas-rich disk lead to very massive star-forming clumps that eventually coalesce to form a spheroid. Finally, we comment on the apparent lack of energetically significant active galactic nuclei in the DCOs. We speculate that the DCOs are too young at present to grow a supermassive black hole because they are still in a supernova-dominated outflow phase (age less than 50 Myr).
Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients with Polyps or Polypoid Mucosa have a Greater Burden of Illness

Background Recent studies suggest chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyposis (CRSsNP) and CRS with nasal polyposis (CRScNP) represent distinct pathological entities. The aim of this study was to determine whether patients with CRSsNP, CRScNP, and polypoid CRS could be distinguished by clinical features, radiologic extent of disease or use of medications. Methods New patients with CRS (n = 126) were enrolled in a prospective outcomes study. Rhinoscopic evaluation was used to classify patients. The relationship between disease phenotype and clinical parameters was examined. Results Facial pain/pressure/headache was more prevalent in CRSsNP than CRScNP (p = 0.01). Nasal obstruction and hyposmia/ anosmia were more prevalent in CRScNP than CRSsNP (p = 0.025 and 0.01, respectively). Intermediate symptom prevalence was found in polypoid CRS. Multivariate analysis confirmed that prior surgery, CT scan score, and male gender were independent predictors of polyp/polypoid phenotype. Allergic status was unrelated to CRS classification. Medication use was higher in CRScNP patients than in CRSsNP patients. Conclusion Compared with CRSsNP, patients with CRScNP have a greater burden of symptoms, more prior surgery, higher CT scan scores, and greater use of medications.
Diagnosis of early coagulation abnormalities in trauma patients by rotation thrombelastography

Summary. Background: Reagent‐supported thromboelastometry with the rotation thrombelastography (e.g. ROTEM®) is a whole blood assay that evaluates the visco‐elastic properties during blood clot formation and clot lysis. A hemostatic monitor capable of rapid and accurate detection of clinical coagulopathy within the resuscitation room could improve management of bleeding after trauma. Objectives: The goals of this study were to establish whether ROTEM correlated with standard coagulation parameters to rapidly detect bleeding disorders and whether it can help to guide transfusion. Methods: Ninety trauma patients were included in the study. At admission, standard coagulation assays were performed and ROTEM parameters such as clot formation time (CFT) and clot amplitude (CA) were obtained at 15 min (CA15) with two activated tests (INTEM, EXTEM) and at 10 min (CA10) with a test analyzing specifically the fibrin component of coagulation (FIBTEM). Results: Trauma induced significant modifications of coagulation as assessed by standard assays and ROTEM. A significant correlation was found between prothrombin time (PT) and CA15‐EXTEM (r = 0.66, P < 0.0001), between activated partial thromboplastin time and CFT‐INTEM (r = 0.91, P < 0.0001), between fibrinogen level and CA10‐FIBTEM (r = 0.85, P < 0.0001), and between platelet count and CA15‐INTEM (r = 0.57, P < 0.0001). A cutoff value of CA15‐EXTEM at 32 mm and CA10‐FIBTEM at 5 mm presented a good sensitivity (87% and 91%) and specificity (100% and 85%) to detect a PT > 1.5 of control value and a fibrinogen less than 1 g L−1, respectively. Conclusions: ROTEM is a point‐of‐care device that rapidly detects systemic changes of in vivo coagulation in trauma patients, and it might be a helpful device in guiding transfusion.
A spectroscopic and photometric study of short-timescale variability in NGC 5548 ?;??

Results of a ground-based optical monitoring campaign on NGC 5548 in June 1998 are presented. The broad-band fluxes (U, B, V ), and the spectrophotometric optical continuum flux F (5100 A) monotonically decreased in flux while the broad-band R and I fluxes and the integrated emission-line fluxes of H and H remained constant to within 5%. On June 22, a short continuum flare was detected in the broad band fluxes. It had an amplitude of about18% and it lasted only90 min. The broad band fluxes and the optical continuum F (5100 A) appear to vary simultaneously with the EUV variations. No reliable delay was detected for the broad optical emission lines in response to the EUVE variations. Narrow H emission features predicted as a signature of an accretion disk were not detected during this campaign. However, there is marginal evidence for a faint feature at ' 4962 Aw ithFWHM' 6 Ar edshifted byv' 1100 km s 1 with respect to Hnarrow.
Perceived Time as a Measure of Mental Workload: Effects of Time Constraints and Task Success

The mental workload imposed by systems is important to their operation and usability. Consequently, researchers and practitioners need reliable, valid, and easy-to-administer methods for measuring mental workload. The ratio of perceived time to clock time appears to be such a method, yet mental workload has multiple dimensions of which the perceived time ratio has mainly been linked to the task-related dimension. This study investigates how the perceived time ratio is affected by time constraints, which make time an explicit concern in the execution of tasks, and task success, which is a performance-related rather than task-related dimension of mental workload. A higher perceived time ratio is found for timed than untimed tasks. According to subjective workload ratings and pupil-diameter measurements, the timed tasks impose higher mental workload. This finding contradicts the prospective paradigm, which asserts that perceived time decreases with increasing mental workload. A higher perceived time ratio was also found for solved than unsolved tasks, whereas subjective workload ratings indicate lower mental workload for the solved tasks. This finding shows that the relationship between the perceived time ratio and mental workload is reversed for task success compared to time constraints. Implications for the use of perceived time as a measure of mental workload are discussed.
The Cooperative Classroom: Scaffolding EFL Elementary Learners' English Literacies Through the Picture Word Inductive Model -- The Journey of Three Teachers in Taiwan

Children in Taiwan start their English classes in grade three. As they progress through the grades, they generally do not demonstrate high English proficiency. In addition, they also gradually lose their interest in learning English (“Education Minister,” 2009). To respond to the problem of achievement and motivation related to learning English, the Picture Word Inductive Model and Cooperative Learning were integrated as an alternative approach to the current instructional method in order to more effectively improve the Taiwanese elementary learners’ English literacy and highly motivate their interest in acquiring a foreign language. The focus of this study was to discover the participating teachers’ and students’ perspectives toward this new teaching approach and to understand the difficulties they encounter during the process of initiating and implementing an educational change. This eleven-month qualitative study involved three elementary English teachers and their 71 students from grades 4, 5 and 6 as participants. The data were collected through field notes from onsite classroom observations, teachers’ weekly reflective journals, in-class video recordings, and transcripts of teachers’ monthly meetings and personal interviews with the participants. Although one teacher and her students had to withdraw from the study because of intense pressure from school authorities and parents, the results of this study indicate that the remaining teachers and students highly recommended implementing this alternative approach in English classes and believed that this new way of teaching not only helped students become more autonomous and responsible for their own learning, but also provided them with more opportunities to interact with their peers. Although having doubts about this new approach at the beginning of the study and encountering difficulties during the process of implementation, the two teachers reported that their students’ English vocabulary had increased and they were able to compose meaningful English paragraphs as a result of this non-traditional strategy. The students also revealed that their motivation toward learning English had improved. Furthermore, the results show that support from school authorities and parents is essential to the initiation and maintenance of a change in education settings.
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology Open Access Evidence That 17alpha-estradiol Is Biologically Active in the Uterine Tissue: Antiuterotonic and Antiuterotrophic Action

Background: 17alpha-Estradiol has been considered as the hormonally inactive isomer of 17beta-estradiol. Recently, nongenomic (smooth muscle relaxation) and genomic (light estrogenic activity) effects of 17alpha-estradiol have been reported, but no reports have yet determined its possible antiestrogenic activity. Therefore, this study investigated: the nongenomic action of 17alpha-estradiol on uterine contractile activity and its potential agonist-antagonist activity on uterine growth.
A virtual metrology scheme for predicting CVD thickness in semiconductor manufacturing

For maintaining high stability and production yield of production equipment in a semiconductor fab, on-line quality monitoring of wafers is required. In current practice, physical metrology is performed only on monitoring wafers that are periodically added in production equipment for processing with production wafers. Hence, equipment performance drift happening in-between the scheduled monitoring cannot be detected promptly. This may cause defects of production wafers and the production cost. In this paper, a novel virtual metrology scheme (VMS) that is based on a radial basis function neural network (RBFN) is proposed for overcoming this problem. The VMS is capable of predicting quality of production wafers using real-time sensor data from production equipment. Consequently, equipment performance abnormality or drift can be detected timely. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed VMS is validated by tests on chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes in practical semiconductor manufacturing. It is therefore proved that RBFN can be effectively used to construct prediction models for CVD processes
Oligomerization of Hantavirus Nucleocapsid Protein: Analysis of the N-Terminal Coiled-Coil Domain

ABSTRACT Hantaviruses constitute a genus in the family Bunyaviridae. They are enveloped negative-strand RNA viruses with a tripartite genome encoding the nucleocapsid (N) protein, the two surface glycoproteins Gn and Gc, and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The N protein is the most abundant component of the virion; it encapsidates genomic RNA segments forming ribonucleoproteins and participates in genome transcription and replication as well as virus assembly. In the course of RNA encapsidation, N protein forms intermediate trimers via head-to-head and tail-to-tail interactions. We analyzed the amino-terminal trimerization domain (amino acid residues 1 to 77) of Tula hantavirus using computer modeling, mammalian two-hybrid assay, and immunofluorescence assay. The results obtained were consistent with the existence of an antiparallel coiled-coil stabilized by interactions between hydrophobic residues. Residues L44, V51, and L58 were important for the N-N interaction; other residues, e.g., L25 and V32, also made a contribution, albeit a modest one. Our alignments of the N-terminal domain of the hantaviral N proteins suggest the coiled-coil structure, and hence the mode of N-protein oligomerization, is conserved among hantaviruses.
Response congruency effects in masked primed lexical decision

In masked priming experiments that require categorisation responses, typically responses are faster when the prime and the target are members of the same category, e.g. in number magnitude estimation (Dehaene et al., 1998). However, previous research has not shown response congruence priming in lexical decision (Norris & Kinoshita, 2008; Perea, Fernandez, & Rosa, 1998). This finding is somewhat surprising as lexical activity due to the prime might be expected to bias lexical decisions. Nevertheless, the predictions by the Bayesian Reader model (Norris & Kinoshita, 2008) are confirmed. In recent work (Loth & Davis, 2010), we have conducted a series of experiments that demonstrate clear response congruency effects in masked primed lexical decision. The data show that the size of the response congruency effect is influenced by the difficulty of the word-nonword discrimination. This sensitivity can explain the failure to find response congruency effects in previous studies. Simulations of the experiments using the Bayesian Reader model indicate that the model cannot predict these effects. The spatial coding model (Davis, 2010) predicts response congruency effects for nonword targets, but not for word targets. The simplifying assumption of homogeneous inhibition which was adopted from the original interactive activation model can be replaced by the assumption of nonhomogeneous lateral inhibition. In this account lateral inhibition is restricted to orthographically similar words (e.g., cat inhibits cot, but not boy; (Davis, 1999)). Modifying the spatial coding model to implement nonhomogeneous lateral inhibition enabled it to provide a better fit to the data.
Enrollment Responses to Labour Market Conditions: A Study of the Canadian Market for Scientists and Engineers

As Canada increasingly structures itself towards a "knowledge based economy", the supply of high-skilled professionals such as engineers and other science graduates acquires more importance. Following the theoretical framework developed by Ryoo and Rosen(2004), we develop and estimate a dynamic supply and demand model for engineers and scientists in Canada. We find that the estimated stock-flow dynamics are supportive of the theoretical model. The relative employment of engineers is quite sensitive to research and development (R&D) expenditures as a fraction of GDP, particularly after 1997. We then use the estimates to develop a dynamic impulse response function. Looking at the impact of a permanent increase in allocation towards R&D, we find that the adjustment process is relatively smooth and the market adjusts in about 2 to 8 years (plus the four years of natural lag in production) to within 80% of the final steady state. For a one-time improvement in R&D allocation, we find that under rational expectations, there is an initial increase in the number of science graduates, but then it falls to below the steady state value and remains there for a long period as the initial increase works its way through the market.
Listeria monocytogenes Mutants That Fail To Compartmentalize Listerolysin O Activity Are Cytotoxic, Avirulent, and Unable To Evade Host Extracellular Defenses

ABSTRACT Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that escapes from a phagosome and grows in the host cell cytosol. Escape of the bacterium from the phagosome to the cytosol is mediated by the bacterial pore-forming protein listeriolysin O (LLO). LLO has multiple mechanisms that optimize activity in the phagosome and minimize activity in the host cytosol. Mutants that fail to compartmentalize LLO activity are cytotoxic and have reduced virulence. We sought to determine why cytotoxic bacteria have attenuated virulence in the mouse model of listeriosis. In this study, we constructed a series of strains with mutations in LLO and with various degrees of cytotoxicity. We found that the more cytotoxic the strain in cell culture, the less virulent it was in mice. Induction of neutropenia increased the relative virulence of the cytotoxic strains 100-fold in the spleen and 10-fold in the liver. The virulence defect was partially restored in neutropenic mice by adding gentamicin, an antibiotic that kills extracellular bacteria. Additionally, L. monocytogenes grew more slowly in extracellular fluid (mouse serum) than within tissue culture cells. We concluded that L. monocytogenes controls the cytolytic activity of LLO to maintain its nutritionally rich intracellular niche and avoid extracellular defenses of the host.
Finding exact solutions for multi-objective optimisation problems using a symbolic algorithm

A new symbolic algorithm for multi-objective optimisation problems is proposed. It finds Pareto optimal solutions as equations of the dual Lagrange multipliers for continuous, differentiable, pseudoconvex, and convex functions. The algorithm is able to find the relationship between the decision variables that form the exact curve of the Pareto front.