Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parents' Perceptions of Their Child's Weight and Health

OBJECTIVE. This study explored parents' perceptions about their child's appearance and health and evaluated a tool to determine parents' visual perception of their child's weight. METHODS. Parents of children aged 2 to 17 years were surveyed concerning their child's appearance and health and opinions about childhood overweight. They also selected the sketch (from 7 choices) that most closely matched the body image of their child using 1 of 8 gender–and age-range–specific panels of sketches. Children's height and weight were measured. Respondents were grouped by child body mass index (BMI) percentile (<5th, 5–84th, 85–94th [at risk for overweight (AROW)], and ≥95th [overweight]). Those with BMI ≥5th percentile were analyzed. Logistic regression was used to examine factors influencing parental perceptions and levels of worry about their overweight or AROW child. RESULTS. Of the 223 children, 60% were <6 years old, 42% were male, 17% were black, 35% were Hispanic, 42% were white, and 7% were other; 19% were AROW, and 20% were overweight. Few parents (36%) identified their overweight or AROW child as “overweight” or “a little overweight” using words, but more (70%) selected a middle or heavier sketch. Among parents of overweight and AROW children, 18% recalled a doctor’s concern and 26% were worried about their child’s weight. If the overweight or AROW child was age ≥6 years, parents were more likely to identify their child as “overweight” or “a little overweight” using words, select a middle or heavier sketch, and to be worried. Parents of older children were more likely to be worried if they perceived their child as less active/slower than other children or recalled a doctor’s concern. CONCLUSIONS.Few parents of overweight and AROW children recognized their child as overweight or were worried. Recognition of physical activity limitations and physicians’ concerns may heighten the parent's level of concern. Sketches may be a useful tool to identify overweight children when measurements are not available.
The timing of nuclear and prenuclear Icelandic pitch accents

Two experiments were designed to test F0 alignment in Icelandic pitch accents with a view to establishing distinct intonational categories. Four conditions were tested: (i) prenuclear accents; (ii) final nuclear accents in broad focus sentences; (iii) final narrow focus; (iv) non-final narrow focus. The results are such that (i) prenuclear accents are signaled by a late rise (L*H), final nuclear accents by an early rise; (ii) peaks in prefinal nuclear accents are aligned earlier than prenuclear peaks, but later than final nuclear peaks, suggesting a boundary effect; (iii) no differences emerged between accents in sentences with broad and narrow focus.
“Wow! I Have Six Fingers!”: Would You Accept Structural Changes of Your Hand in VR?

With the increasing demand in virtual reality applications and games, the need to understand how users perceive their virtual representation (avatar) is becoming more and more important. In particular, with the potential of virtual reality to alter and control avatars in different ways, the user representation in the virtual world does not always necessarily match the user body structure. In this context, this paper explores how users would accept as their own a six-digit realistic virtual hand. By measuring participants' senses of ownership (i.e., the impression that the virtual hand is actually our own hand) and agency (i.e., the impression to be able to control the actions of the virtual hand), we somehow evaluate the possibility of creating a Six-Finger Illusion in VR. We measured these two dimensions of virtual embodiment in a virtual reality experiment where participants performed two tasks successively: 1) a self-manipulation task inducing visuomotor feedback, where participants mimicked finger movements presented in the virtual scene, and 2) a visuotactile task inspired by Rubber Hand Illusion protocols, where an experimenter stroked the hand of the user with a brush. The real and virtual brushes were synchronously stroking the participants' real and virtual hand, and in the case when the virtual brush was stroking the additional virtual digit the real ring finger was also synchronously stroked to provide consistent tactile stimulation and elicit a sense of embodiment. Results of the experiment show that participants did experience high levels of ownership and agency of the six-digit virtual hand as a whole. We found higher levels of ownership and agency for the additional finger when the hand was fully animated, compared to a control group where the additional digit was not animated. Through the presented experiment, we found that participants responded positively to the possibility of controlling the six-digit hand despite the structural difference, and accepted the six-digit virtual hand and individual digits as their own to some extent. These results bring preliminary insights about how avatar with structural differences can affect the senses of ownership and agency experienced by users in VR.
Erratum: Better age estimation using ultraviolet–optical colours: breaking the age–metallicity degeneracy

We demonstrate that the combination of GALEX ultraviolet (UV) photometry in the far-UV (FUV; ~1530 A) and near-UV (NUV; ~2310 A) passbands with optical photometry in the standard U, B, V, R, I filters can efficiently break the age–metallicity degeneracy. We estimate well-constrained ages, metallicities and their associated errors for 42 globular clusters (GCs) in M31, and show that the full set of FUV, NUV, U, B, V, R, I photometry produces age estimates that are ~90 per cent more constrained and metallicity estimates that are ~60 per cent more constrained than those produced by using optical filters alone. The quality of the age constraints is comparable or marginally better than those achieved using a large number of spectroscopic indices.
CHR as grammar formalism. A first report

Grammars written as Constraint Handling Rules (CHR) can be executed as efficient and robust bottom-up parsers that provide a straightforward, non-backtracking treatment of ambiguity. Abduction with integrity constraints as well as other dynamic hypothesis generation techniques fit naturally into such grammars and are exemplified for anaphora resolution, coordination and text interpretation.
Evidence that both fast and slow water ADC components arise from intracellular space

Evaluation of water diffusion in the brain has revealed both fast‐ and slow‐diffusing water populations. It has been suggested that these populations represent extra‐ and intracellular water, respectively. We have identified and characterized both populations in the intracellular space of the Xenopus oocyte. We have also determined their T1 and T2 relaxation properties. The fast and slow intracellular populations have diffusion coefficients of 1.06 ± 0.05 μm2/ms and 0.16 ± 0.02 μm2/ms, respectively, with the fast fraction representing 89% ± 1% of the total water signal. These values are quite similar to those for total water in brain and are observed in the absence of signal from the perfusate (extracellular) water population. Volumetric swelling (16% ± 4%) of the oocyte in hypoosmotic media increased the diffusion coefficients of both intracellular populations (fast = 1.27 ± 0.03 μm2/ms, slow = 0.22 ± 0.02 μm2/ms), but did not change their relative signal fractions. This phenomenon runs counter to the effects observed in brain injury, following which the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) decreases 30–50%. The results presented herein suggest that this ADC decrease in brain occurs despite cell swelling, which by itself would be expected to induce an increase in intracellular diffusion coefficients. Magn Reson Med 48:765–770, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Feasibility of Transesophageal Echocardiograph-Guided Right and Left Ventricular Oximetry in Hemodynamically Stable Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

There are no techniques available for continuous noninvasive measurement of the oxygen saturation of blood flowing through the heart. We assessed the feasibility and accuracy of transesophageal echocardiograph (TEE)-guided left ventricular (Spo2 LV) and right ventricular (Spo2 RV) oximetry. Twenty hemodynamically stable, well-oxygenated anesthetized patients (ASA physical status III, aged 51–75 yr) undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting were studied. A TEE probe was modified by attaching a single-use pediatric reflectance pulse oximeter just proximal to the ultrasound transducer. The TEE probe was directed toward the LV by using the transgastric mid-short axis view or toward the RV by using the transgastric RV inflow view, in random order. Readings were taken every 30 s for 10 min during a hemodynamically stable period of anesthesia. Simultaneous blood samples were taken from the radial artery and pulmonary artery to determine arterial oxygen saturation (Sao2) and mixed venous oxygen saturation (Svo2), respectively. During Spo2 LV readings, simultaneous finger pulse oximetry (Spo2 finger) was also recorded. Spo2 LV was feasible in 20 of 20 patients, and Spo2 RV was feasible in 19 of 20 patients. The mean ± sd (range) oxygen saturation for each method was the following: Spo2 LV, 98.7% ± 0.6% (97%–100%); Sao2, 98.7% ± 0.6% (96.6%–99.4%); Spo2 finger, 98.1% ± 1.2% (97%–100%); Spo2 RV, 73.9% ± 4.7% (64%–85%); and Svo2, 74.5% ± 4.4% (66.8%–82.6%). Spo2 LV agreed closely with Sao2 (mean difference, 0.072%). Spo2 RV agreed closely with Svo2 (mean difference, 0.65%). Spo2 LV agreed more closely with Sao2 than finger oximetry (mean difference, −0.072 vs −0.692). TEE-guided Spo2 LV and Spo2 RV are feasible in hemodynamically stable anesthetized patients and provide similar readings to arterial and mixed venous blood samples. The technique merits further investigation.
Direct effects of metabolic products and sonicated extracts of Porphyromonas gingivalis 2561 on osteogenesis in vitro

It is well documented that oral microorganisms play a significant role in the initiation and progression of periodontal disease. By using various in vitro models, it has been shown that some bacteria considered periodontal pathogens or their products can stimulate bone resorption and some other parameters of osteoblast-like cell activity. However, the effects of these organisms and their products on osteogenesis itself are not known. This study was undertaken to determine the direct effects of metabolic products and sonicated extracts of Porphyromonas gingivalis on bone formation in the chick periosteal osteogenesis model. Cultures of P. gingivalis 2561 were grown under standard anaerobic culture conditions. The spent medium was collected, and following centrifugation, sonicated bacterial extracts were prepared from the bacterial pellet. These were added in various proportions to the chick periosteal osteogenesis cultures. Sonicated extracts were further fractionated into five molecular-size ranges and similarly tested. Parameters of osteogenesis, including alkaline phosphatase activity, calcium and Pi accumulation, and collagen synthesis, were measured on 6-day-old cultures. Compared with controls devoid of bacterial products, osteogenesis was inhibited significantly in cultures treated with either conditioned medium or extracts obtained from P. gingivalis. Various amounts of inhibitory activity were observed in the different ultrafiltration molecular-size fractions, with very profound inhibitory effects observed in the < 5-kDa range. Histological observations indicated the presence of cells, some bone, and/or new fibrous connective tissue at all concentrations, indicating that toxicity was not a factor. These results suggest that periodontal pathogens such as P. gingivalis might contribute to the bone loss in periodontal diseases not only by stimulating resorption but, possibly, by inhibiting bone formation directly.
Sequence Matters, But How Do I Discover How? Towards a Workflow for Evaluating Activity Sequences from Data

How should a wide variety of educational activities be sequenced in order to maximize student learning? We recently proposed the Sequencing Constraint Violation Analysis (SCOVA) method to help address this question. In this paper, we propose how SCOVA could be transformed into a workflow in LearnSphere so that other researchers and practitioners can find answers to the aforementioned question in their own datasets. We hope that such a workflow will lead to more and better research into this important question, as well as interesting new findings for both the educational data mining and learning sciences communities.
Standardized shrinking LORETA-FOCUSS (SSLOFO): a new algorithm for spatio-temporal EEG source reconstruction

This paper presents a new algorithm called Standardized Shrinking LORETA-FOCUSS (SSLOFO) for solving the electroencephalogram (EEG) inverse problem. Multiple techniques are combined in a single procedure to robustly reconstruct the underlying source distribution with high spatial resolution. This algorithm uses a recursive process which takes the smooth estimate of sLORETA as initialization and then employs the re-weighted minimum norm introduced by FOCUSS. An important technique called standardization is involved in the recursive process to enhance the localization ability. The algorithm is further improved by automatically adjusting the source space according to the estimate of the previous step, and by the inclusion of temporal information. Simulation studies are carried out on both spherical and realistic head models. The algorithm achieves very good localization ability on noise-free data. It is capable of recovering complex source configurations with arbitrary shapes and can produce high quality images of extended source distributions. We also characterized the performance with noisy data in a realistic head model. An important feature of this algorithm is that the temporal waveforms are clearly reconstructed, even for closely spaced sources. This provides a convenient way to estimate neural dynamics directly from the cortical sources.
Investigating the Moderating Role of Platform Strategies- Evidence from China's Online Film Platforms

This paper studies the interaction between vertical integration and platform ecosystem, two co-existing intra-organizational forms. Specifically, the work investigates the moderating role of platform strategies on the relationship between vertical integration and performance. The study analyzes data from 1922 cinemas of China’s film industry that is undergoing business transformation as a result of the emergence of online film platforms. The results suggest that self-established platforms can enhance the impact of vertical integration on cinema performance. The findings also reveal that vertical integration and third-party platforms may be substitutable for a cinema. Finally, directions for future research is discussed.
The Experiences of School Nurses Caring for Students Receiving Continuous Subcutaneous Insulin Infusion Therapy

Diabetes mellitus is the most common metabolic disorder in childhood. Today, children with diabetes are receiving new technologically advanced treatment options, such as continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) therapy. School nurses are the primary health caregivers of children with diabetes during school hours. Therefore, it is important to determine their perceptions, resources, and resource needs when caring for students with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion or insulin pump therapy. This study uses a phenomenological approach to examine the experiences of school nurses caring for students receiving insulin pump therapy. Eleven school nurses were interviewed using semistructured taped interviews. The nurses’ responses indicated that they were “scared” when first caring for students with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy. However, they were able to work through their fear by using their resources and gaining more knowledge and hands-on experience with insulin pumps. The data also revealed that school nurses who were able to learn the language of continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion therapy and successfully deal with pump problems developed trusting and knowing relationships with students, teachers, and parents.
A Logical Characterization of Constraint-Based Causal Discovery

Proof. As the edges in GC represent causal relations, a path of length 0 (no edge) is not considered a causal relation, and existence of a directed path from a variable back to itself would contravene the causal DAG assumption, hence: irreflexive and acyclic (or, more accurate, asymmetric). Transitivity follows immediately, by concatenation, from the sequence 〈X, . , Y, . , Z〉, in which each node is parent of its successor, hence a directed path from X to Z in GC .
Advanced Echocardiography in Adult Zebrafish Reveals Delayed Recovery of Heart Function after Myocardial Cryoinjury

Translucent zebrafish larvae represent an established model to analyze genetics of cardiac development and human cardiac disease. More recently adult zebrafish are utilized to evaluate mechanisms of cardiac regeneration and by benefiting from recent genome editing technologies, including TALEN and CRISPR, adult zebrafish are emerging as a valuable in vivo model to evaluate novel disease genes and specifically validate disease causing mutations and their underlying pathomechanisms. However, methods to sensitively and non-invasively assess cardiac morphology and performance in adult zebrafish are still limited. We here present a standardized examination protocol to broadly assess cardiac performance in adult zebrafish by advancing conventional echocardiography with modern speckle-tracking analyses. This allows accurate detection of changes in cardiac performance and further enables highly sensitive assessment of regional myocardial motion and deformation in high spatio-temporal resolution. Combining conventional echocardiography measurements with radial and longitudinal velocity, displacement, strain, strain rate and myocardial wall delay rates after myocardial cryoinjury permitted to non-invasively determine injury dimensions and to longitudinally follow functional recovery during cardiac regeneration. We show that functional recovery of cryoinjured hearts occurs in three distinct phases. Importantly, the regeneration process after cryoinjury extends far beyond the proposed 45 days described for ventricular resection with reconstitution of myocardial performance up to 180 days post-injury (dpi). The imaging modalities evaluated here allow sensitive cardiac phenotyping and contribute to further establish adult zebrafish as valuable cardiac disease model beyond the larval developmental stage.
The lipids that matter from infant nutrition to insulin resistance.

Breast-fed infants showed decreased incidence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and coronary heart disease in later life and higher cognitive function. Breast milk is rich in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) and brain preferentially accumulates LCPUFAs during the last trimester of pregnancy and the first few months of life. Breast-fed infants showed significantly lower plasma glucose levels and higher percentage of docosahexaenoic acid and total percentages of LCPUFAs in their skeletal muscle biopsies compared with formula fed. LCPUFAs suppress the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, regulate the function of several neurotransmitters, enhance the number of insulin receptors in the brain and other tissues, and decrease insulin resistance. LCPUFAs may enhance the production of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), which participate in neurogenesis. It is proposed that the beneficial effects of breast feeding in later life can be attributed to its rich LCPUFA content. It is likely that inadequate breast feeding results in marginal deficiency of LCPUFAs during the critical stages of development, which can lead to insulin resistance. Hence, promoting prolonged breast feeding and/or supplementing LCPUFAs during the critical stages of development may be beneficial in preventing insulin resistance.
The OPFOS Microscopy Family: High-Resolution Optical Sectioning of Biomedical Specimens

We report on the recently emerging (laser) light-sheet-based fluorescence microscopy field (LSFM). The techniques used in this field allow to study and visualize biomedical objects nondestructively in high resolution through virtual optical sectioning with sheets of laser light. Fluorescence originating in the cross-section of the sheet and sample is recorded orthogonally with a camera. In this paper, the first implementation of LSFM to image biomedical tissue in three dimensions—orthogonal-plane fluorescence optical sectioning microscopy (OPFOS)—is discussed. Since then many similar and derived methods have surfaced, (SPIM, ultramicroscopy, HR-OPFOS, mSPIM, DSLM, TSLIM, etc.) which we all briefly discuss. All these optical sectioning methods create images showing histological detail. We illustrate the applicability of LSFM on several specimen types with application in biomedical and life sciences.
Myocardial Injury Following Aortic Valve Replacement for Severe Aortic Stenosis: Risk Factor of Postoperative Myocardial Injury and Its Impact on Long-Term Outcomes

Background As hypertrophied myocardium predisposes the patient to decreased tolerance to ischemia and increased reperfusion injury, myocardial protection is of utmost importance in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR) for severe aortic valve stenosis (AS). Methods Consecutive 314 patients (mean age, 62.5±10.8 years; 143 females) with severe AS undergoing isolated AVR were included. Postoperative myocardial injury (PMI) was defined as 1) maximum postoperative creatinine kinase isoenzyme MB or troponin-I levels ≥10 times of reference, 2) postoperative low cardiac output syndrome or episodes of ventricular arrhythmia, or 3) left ventricular ejection fraction of less than 55% and decrease in left ventricle (LV) ejection fraction of more than 20% of the baseline value. Results There were 90 patients (28.7%) who developed PMI. There were five cases of early death (1.6%), all of whom had PMI. On multivariable analysis, the use of histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate (HTK) solution instead of blood cardioplegia (odds ratio [OR], 3.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.63 to 5.77; p=0.001), greater LV mass (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.07; p=0.007), and increased cardiac ischemic time (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.22; p<0.001) were independent predictors for PMI. Patients who had PMI showed significantly inferior long-term survival than those without PMI (p=0.049). Conclusion PMI occurred in a considerable proportion of patients undergoing AVR for severe AS and was associated with poor long-term survival. HTK cardioplegia, higher LV mass, and longer cardiac ischemic duration were suggested as predictors of myocardial injury.