Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non Invasive Tools for Early Detection of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) describe a set of neurodevelopmental disorders. ASD represents a significant public health problem. Currently, ASDs are not diagnosed before the 2nd year of life but an early identification of ASDs would be crucial as interventions are much more effective than specific therapies starting in later childhood. To this aim, cheap an contact-less automatic approaches recently aroused great clinical interest. Among them, the cry and the movements of the newborn, both involving the central nervous system, are proposed as possible indicators of neurological disorders. This PhD work is a first step towards solving this challenging problem. An integrated system is presented enabling the recording of audio (crying) and video (movements) data of the newborn, their automatic analysis with innovative techniques for the extraction of clinically relevant parameters and their classification with data mining techniques. New robust algorithms were developed for the selection of the voiced parts of the cry signal, the estimation of acoustic parameters based on the wavelet transform and the analysis of the infant’s general movements (GMs) through a new body model for segmentation and 2D reconstruction. In addition to a thorough literature review this thesis presents the state of the art on these topics that shows that no studies exist concerning normative ranges for newborn infant cry in the first 6 months of life nor the correlation between cry and movements. Through the new automatic methods a population of control infants (“low-risk”, LR) was compared to a group of “high-risk” (HR) infants, i.e. siblings of children already diagnosed with ASD. A subset of LR infants clinically diagnosed as newborns with Typical Development (TD) and one affected by ASD were compared. The results show that the selected acoustic parameters allow good differentiation between the two groups. This result provides new perspectives both diagnostic and therapeutic.
Unmanned Aerial Survey of Fallen Trees in a Deciduous Broadleaved Forest in Eastern Japan

Since fallen trees are a key factor in biodiversity and biogeochemical cycling, information about their spatial distribution is of use in determining species distribution and nutrient and carbon cycling in forest ecosystems. Ground-based surveys are both time consuming and labour intensive. Remote-sensing technology can reduce these costs. Here, we used high-spatial-resolution aerial photographs (0.5–1.0 cm per pixel) taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to survey fallen trees in a deciduous broadleaved forest in eastern Japan. In nine sub-plots we found a total of 44 fallen trees by ground survey. From the aerial photographs, we identified 80% to 90% of fallen trees that were >30 cm in diameter or >10 m in length, but missed many that were narrower or shorter. This failure may be due to the similarity of fallen trees to trunks and branches of standing trees or masking by standing trees. Views of the same point from different angles may improve the detection rate because they would provide more opportunity to detect fallen trees hidden by standing trees. Our results suggest that UAV surveys will make it possible to monitor the spatial and temporal variations in forest structure and function at lower cost.
Republicanism and the political economy of democracy

Europe is experiencing rapidly accelerating poverty and social exclusion, following half a decade of financial crisis and austerity politics. The key problem behind Europe's malaise, in our view, is the economic disenfranchisement of large parts of its population in the winner-takes-all-society. This article proposes that we examine the contribution of republican political theory as a distinctive approach that provides us with the conceptual and normative resources to reclaim what we call the political economy of democracy, the constellation of political and economic institutions aimed at promoting broad economic sovereignty and individuals’ capacities to govern their own lives. This article identifies three key ideas that together constitute a distinctively republican approach to political economy: (1) establish an economic floor; (2) impose an economic ceiling to counter excess economic inequality; and (3) democratize the governance and regulation of the main economic institutions.
Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor-mediated signaling in mouse mesentery vascular endothelium.

Vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) is a multifunctional cytokine and growth factor that has important roles in both pathological and physiological angiogenesis. VPF/VEGF induces vascular hyperpermeability, cell division, and other activities by interacting with two specific receptor tyrosine kinases, KDR/Flk-1 and Flt-1, that are selectively expressed on vascular endothelium. The signaling cascade that follows VPF/VEGF interaction with cultured endothelium is only partially understood but is known to result in increased intracellular calcium, activation of protein kinase C, and tyrosine phosphorylations of both receptors, phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) and phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase. For many reasons, signaling events elicited in cultured endothelium may not mimic mediator effects on intact normal or tumor-induced microvessels in vivo. Therefore, we developed a system that would allow measurement of VPF/VEGF-induced signaling on intact microvessels. We used mouse mesentery, a tissue whose numerous microvessels are highly responsive to VPF/VEGF and that we found to express Flk-1 and Flt-1 selectively. At intervals after injecting VPF/VEGF i.p., mesenteries were harvested, extracted, and immunoprecipitated. Immunoblots confirmed that VPF/VEGF induced tyrosine phosphorylation of several proteins in mesenteric microvessels as in cultured endothelium: Flk-1; PLC-gamma; and mitogen-activated protein kinase. Similar phosphorylations were observed when mesentery was exposed to VPF/VEGF in vitro, or when mesenteries were harvested from mice bearing the mouse ovarian tumor ascites tumor, which itself secretes abundant VPF/VEGF. Other experiments further elucidated the VPF/VEGF signaling pathway, demonstrating phosphorylation of both PYK2 and focal adhesion kinase, activation of c-jun-NH2-kinase with phosphorylation of c-Jun, and an association between Flk-1 and PLC-gamma. In addition, we demonstrated translocation of mitogen-activated protein kinase to the cell nucleus in cultured endothelium. Taken together, these experiments describe a new model system with the potential for investigating signaling events in response to diverse mediators on intact microvessels in vivo and have further elucidated the VPF/VEGF signaling cascade.
Role of Clinical Pharmacist to Reduce Risk in Patients Involving Antiretroviral Drugs at Abidjan Cohort

Introduction: The rapid increase in access to antiretroviral therapy in developing countries has brought with it new challenges. The management of risk by the clinical pharmacist may improve HIV patient’s health in poor resources setting. We assessed risk criteria for drug-drugs interactions to inform clinicians. Methods: This transversal work included patients at the beginning of ART treatment. From January to August 2015, HIV seropositive attending for care at Infectious and Tropical diseases Unit of Treichville teaching Hospital at Abidjan. The guidelines for entry into the antiretroviral program has been used. All the coprescribed drugs were screened for potential for Drugs-Drugs significate interactions using the Liverpool HIV Pharmacology Group website (www.hiv-druginteractions.org). Also many others books and website have been used to analyse drugs interactions. Finally, the French Clinical pharmacy guideline allowed to stratify the pharmaceutical interventions. Results: Of 562 patients screened, 228 patients were included in the final analysis, comprising 91(39.91%) male and 137(60.9%) females; aged between 35-48 years (median 41 years), unmarried 160(63.18%), 218(95.61%) HIV1, 117(51.75%) with TB, renal failure 21(9.27%), First line of antiretroviral therapy 198 (86.84%) and 27(11.6%) patients were on second line treatment, Stage C (62.39%), mean Body mass index at baseline of 17.5. 1 kg/m2 (range 35-48 kg). Baseline CD4 counts were 200 (IQR 25-75%) (Range 131.5-278) cells/mm3.The use of 1st line regimens were as follows: TDF/3TC/EFV in 141 patients (61.34%). Antiretroviral were prescribed at standard doses, regardless of whether a CR was present or not. Physiopathology stage was identified in 83 patients (36.41%) and potential drugs-drugs interactions with antiretroviral were identified in in 145 patients (63.59%) involving anti infectives for systemic use and anti-parasitic products 131(79.88%), 18(10.98%) traditional plants. The potentials interactions 120(52.63%), contraindicated 25(10.96%) and Biological monitoring 130(57.02%) followed by Substitution/Exchange 47(20.61%) were found. Conclusion: The role of pharmacist to manage patient’s health is very important to decrease the mortality or morbidity linked to HIV.
Inhibition of Allograft Inflammatory Factor-1 in Dendritic Cells Restrains CD4+ T Cell Effector Responses and Induces CD25+Foxp3+ T Regulatory Subsets

Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF1) is a cytoplasmic scaffold protein shown to influence immune responses in macrophages and microglial cells. The protein contains Ca2+ binding EF-hand and PDZ interaction domains important for mediating intracellular signaling complexes. This study now reports that AIF1 is expressed in CD11c+ dendritic cells (DC) and silencing of expression restrains induction of antigen-specific CD4+ T cell effector responses. AIF1 knockdown in murine DC resulted in impaired T cell proliferation and skewed polarization away from T helper type 1 and 17 fates. In turn, there was a parallel expansion of IL-10-producing and CD25+Foxp3+ T regulatory subsets. These studies are the first to demonstrate that AIF1 expression in DC serves as a potent governor of cognate T cell responses and presents a novel target for engineering tolerogenic DC-based immunotherapies.
Dietary fat and carbohydrates are independently associated with circulating insulin-like growth factor 1 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 concentrations in healthy adults.

PURPOSE To evaluate and quantify the association between consumption of specific food groups/macronutrients and concentrations of serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3). SUBJECTS AND METHODS Data from a comprehensive food-frequency questionnaire administered to 115 healthy subjects were used to study cross-sectionally the relationship between nutritional factors and circulating IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentrations. Adjustment for the effect of total energy intake and a series of epidemiologic parameters (age, sex, height, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, and coffee drinking) was implemented through multivariate linear regression. RESULTS We observed that serum levels of IGF-1 are positively associated with consumption of red meats, fats, and oils. In addition, serum levels of IGF-1 are independently and positively associated with energy intake from lipids and negatively associated with energy intake from carbohydrates. Finally, serum levels of IGFBP-3 are independently and negatively associated with energy intake from saturated fat. CONCLUSION Serum IGF-1 and/or IGFBP-3 concentrations are associated with red meat, carbohydrate intake, and fat intake and, thus, may mediate the effect of these dietary factors on the pathogenesis of several disease states. Additional studies are needed to further quantify these associations and elucidate the underlying mechanisms.
A further examination of managerial burnout: Toward an integrated model

A model of managerial burnout was examined among 148 human service supervisors and managers. The findings suggest that emotional exhaustion plays a central mediating role in the burnout process. Social support and direct control were associated with exhaustion through role stress. Job and life satisfaction, and time spent with clients and subordinates were also related to exhaustion. In turn, exhaustion was related to depersonalization, professional commitment, and turnover intentions. An expected reciprocal relation between exhaustion and helplessness was not found, as the former had only a weak impact on the latter. Implications for stress coping are discussed.
A Generalized Norton-Bass Model for Multigeneration Diffusion

The Norton-Bass (NB) model is often credited as the pioneering multigeneration diffusion model in marketing. However, as acknowledged by the authors, when counting the number of adopters who substitute an old product generation with a new generation, the NB model does not differentiate those who have already adopted the old generation from those who have not. In this study, we develop a Generalized Norton-Bass (GNB) model that separates the two different types of substitutions. The GNB model provides closed-form expressions for both the number of units-in-use and the adoption rate, and offers greater flexibility in parameter estimation, forecasting, and revenue projection. An appealing aspect of the GNB model is that it uses exactly the same set of parameters as the NB model and is mathematically consistent with the later. Empirical results show that the GNB model delivers better overall performance than previous models both in terms of model fit and forecasting performance. The analyses also show that differentiating leapfrogging and switching adoptions based on the GNB model can help gain additional insights into the process of multigeneration diffusion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the GNB model can incorporate the effect of marketing mix variables on the speed of diffusion for all product generations.
Brain diffusion abnormalities in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have a variety of cognitive, behavioral, and neurological impairments, including structural brain damage. Despite the importance of white matter connections for proper brain function, little is known about how these connections, and the deep gray matter structures that act as relay stations, are affected in children with FASD. The purpose of this study was to use diffusion tensor imaging, an advanced magnetic resonance imaging technique, to examine microstructural differences of white and deep gray matter in children with FASD. METHODS Subjects were 24 children aged 5-13 years previously diagnosed with FASD and 95 healthy children over the same age range. Diffusion tractography was used to delineate 10 major white matter tracts in each individual, and region-of-interest analysis was used to assess 4 deep gray matter structures. Fractional anisotropy, an indicator of white matter integrity, and mean diffusivity, a measure of the average water diffusion, were assessed in all 14 brain structures. RESULTS Diffusion tensor imaging revealed significant differences of diffusion parameters in several areas of the brain, including the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum, cingulum, corticospinal tracts, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi, globus pallidus, putamen, and thalamus. Reduced white and gray matter volumes, as well as total brain volume, were observed in the FASD group. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate diffusion abnormalities in FASD beyond the corpus callosum and suggest that several specific white matter regions, particularly commissural and temporal connections, and deep gray matter areas of the brain are sensitive to prenatal alcohol exposure.
Comparison of computational methodologies for ignition of diffusion layers

The prediction of the autoignition delay time of fresh fuel in hot air is studied. This problem, encountered in many combustion systems, is in practice often calculated using a simple method, hereafter called homogeneous mixing ignition (HMI). This method, however, neglects transport effects and calculates local instead of global ignition properties. A second method is therefore studied called linear mixing ignition (LMI) and consists of the direct simulation of a one-dimensional mixing layer. This method is tested in a hydrogen and methane fuel configuration using detailed and reduced chemistry mechanisms. The results indicate that molecular transport increases the ignition delay for the methane fuel by about a factor three, but this effect is compensated in the hydrogen case by the small Lewis number of the fuel. Such detailed information is not provided by the HMI method and the LMI approach appears, therefore, as a minimum requirement for the correct estimation of the ignition delay time.
Occurrence of epileptiform activity in the routine EEG of epileptic patients

In a retrospective study, the occurrence of epileptiform activity (EA) in routine EEG records of epileptic patients was investigated. Data were obtained from 1078 EEGs of 373 patients (199 men and 174 women; aged 17‐87 (mean 34.2 +/‐14.7)). The percentage of 38% of patients with EA in a single EEG could be increased to 77% by repeated records. After the 5th record however, the gain in new information decreased remarkably. No differences between seizure types could be detected. There was a relationship between EA and nonspecific EEG abnormalities. High EA rates were found for short time intervals since last seizure, young patients, long durations of the seizure disorder and for high seizure frequencies.
Contrasting effects of afferent and efferent vagal nerve stimulation on insulin secretion and blood glucose regulation

Parasympathetic activation reduces hepatic glucose release and increases pancreatic insulin secretion in hyperglycemic conditions. Thus, vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) may potentially be effective in treating type II diabetes. To investigate this possibility, we hypothesized that VNS reduces blood glucose concentration [Glu] via insulin secretion. [Glu] together with insulin and glucagon serum concentrations were determined in anesthetized rats during baseline conditions and 120 min of cervical VNS with the nerve left intact for combined afferent and efferent VNS (n = 9) or the nerve sectioned proximal or distal from the stimulation electrode for selective efferent (n = 8) or afferent (n = 7) VNS, respectively. Afferent VNS caused a strong and sustained increase in [Glu] (+108.9 ± 20.9% or +77.6 ± 15.4%, after 120 min of combined afferent and efferent VNS or selective afferent VNS) that was not accompanied by an increase in serum insulin concentration. However, serum insulin levels increased significantly with selective efferent VNS (+71.2 ± 27.0% after 120 min of VNS) that increased [Glu] only temporarily (+28.8 ± 11.7% at 30 min of VNS). Efferent VNS initially increased serum glucagon concentration which remained elevated for 120 min when efferent VNS was combined with afferent VNS, but returned to baseline with selective efferent VNS. These findings demonstrate that afferent VNS causes a marked and sustained increase in [Glu] that is partly mediated by suppression of pancreatic insulin secretion. In contrast, efferent VNS stimulates pancreatic glucagon secretion that appears to be antagonized by insulin secretion in the case of selective efferent VNS. Selective efferent VNS may potentially be effective in treating type II diabetes.
Red blood cell membrane lipid peroxidation and resistance to erythropoietin therapy in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Chronic hemolysis, inadequate production of erythropoietin (EPO) or an impaired response of erythroid stem cells to EPO are the main factors of anemia in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Oxidative damage of red blood cell (RBC) membrane is a well-established cause of chronic hemolysis in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Administration of high-dose recombinant human EPO (rHuEPO) fails to correct anemia in 5 to 10% HD patients although all established factors of resistance to rHuEPO therapy have been previously ruled out or corrected. PATIENTS AND METHODS We investigated the degree of RBC membrane oxidative damage in 9 HD patients who failed to respond to maximal rHuEPO administration (more than 200 UI/Kg weekly for 4 months consecutively, group A), compared to 10 patients who showed a good response to standard rHuEPO therapy (group B) and to 10 patients who needed no treatment (group C). RBC malondialdehyde (MDA) was assumed as the index of oxidative stress in erythrocyte membrane. RESULTS No significant difference in erythrocyte MCV and MCHC, iron status, parathyroid function, aluminum and dialysis-related blood loss was observed between patients of group A, B and C. RBC MDA, reticulocyte count, plasma-free hemoglobin (fhb) and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly higher while plasma haptoglobin was significantly lower in patients of group A compared to patients of groups B and C. Moreover, a significant inverse relationship was observed between RBC MDA and either plasma hemoglobin, RBC count and hematocrit when all patients were evaluated together. CONCLUSION In conclusion, increased oxidative damage of RBC membrane is often detectable in HD patients who fail to respond to rHuEPO administration even in the absence of all established factors of resistance to EPO. Peripheral response to rHuEPO may be normal in these patients and persistent anemia may be related to enhanced hemolysis due to oxidative stress. Oxidative damage itself may therefore be considered a factor of resistance to EPO.
Photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy of p-GaAs surfaces and AlGaAs/GaAs interfaces supported by numerical modeling

Photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy (PLE) can be a very useful in-line metrology tool for photovoltaic manufacturing of III-V and chalcogenide-based, direct gap solar cells. We report on the experiment and numerical modeling of PLE measurements on GaAs-based test structures. Strong suppression of the band edge photoluminescence (PL) intensity is observed in bare, unpassivated GaAs samples, compared to an AlGaAs/GaAs double heterostructures (DH). Similarly, an observed reduction of PL intensity of the unpassivated samples with increasing excitation energy is associated with surface defects. A numerical drift-diffusion model is developed and two frameworks to describe the surface quality are studied, one involving the surface recombination velocity and one including a single trap level. For lightly-doped samples, where the effect of interface trap charging becomes important, the two simulation approaches lead to different spectroscopic response. For the examined samples, an estimated trap density of NT~1013/cm2 is deduced.
Der Kinderwunsch in Österreich: Umfang, Struktur und wesentliche Determinanten ; eine Analyse anhand des Generations and Gender Programme (GGP)

Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Neuwirth, N. , Baierl, A. , Kaindl, M. , Rille-Pfeiffer, C. , & Wernhart, G. (2011). Der Kinderwunsch in Österreich: Umfang, Struktur und wesentliche Determinanten ; eine Analyse anhand des Generations and Gender Programme (GGP). (Forschungsbericht / Österreichisches Institut für Familienforschung an der Universität Wien, 5). Wien: Österreichisches Institut für Familienforschung an der Universität Wien. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168ssoar-350179