Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Congenital amusia: an auditory-motor feedback disorder?

PURPOSE Congenital amusia (tone deafness) is a disorder in which those affected typically complain of or are identified by their inability to sing in tune. A psychophysical and possibly surrogate marker of this condition is the inability to recognize deviations in pitch that are one semitone (100 cents) or less. The aim of our study was to identify candidate brain regions that might be associated with this disorder. METHODS We used Voxel-Based-Morphometry (VBM) to correlate performance on a commonly used assessment tool, the Montreal Battery for the Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA), with local inter-individual variations in gray matter volumes across a large group of individuals (n=51) to identify brain regions potentially involved in the expression of this disorder. RESULTS The analysis across the entire brain space revealed significant covariations between performance on the MBEA and inter-individual gray matter volume variations in the left superior temporal sulcus (BA 22) and the left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 47). The regression analyses identified subregions within the inferior frontal gyrus, and inferior portion of BA47 that correlated with performance on melodic subtests, while gray matter volume variations in a more superior subregion of BA47 correlated with performance on rhythmic subtests. CONCLUSIONS Our analyses demonstrate the existence of a left fronto-temporal network that appears to be involved in the melodic and rhythmic discrimination skills measured by the MBEA battery. These regions could also be part of a network that enable subjects to map motor actions to sounds including a feedback loop that allows for correction of motor actions (i.e., singing) based on perceptual feedback. Thus, it is conceivable that individuals with congenital amusia, or the inability to sing in tune, may actually have an impairment of the auditory-motor feedback loop and/or auditory-motor mapping system.
Transglutaminase 2 Expression Predicts Progression Free Survival in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor

Transglutaminase 2 (TG2), a cross-linking enzyme, is involved in drug resistance and in the constitutive activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). We investigated the association of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment efficacy with TG2 and NF-κB expression in 120 patients: 102 with adenocarcinoma and 18 with other histologic types. All patients underwent surgery; 88 received adjuvant chemotherapy, with 28 receiving platinum-based doublet chemotherapy as first-line treatment and 29 receiving epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. Patients' TG2 and NF-κB expression values were calculated semiquantitatively. The median TG2 value was 50 (range, 0-300) and the median NF-κB value was 20 (range, 0-240). Disease-free survival did not differ between the low- and high-TG2 groups. Among patients who received palliative platinum-based doublet chemotherapy, progression free survival (PFS) was longer in the low-TG2 group than in the high-TG2 group (11.0 vs. 7.0 months; P=0.330). Among those who received EGFR-TKI therapy, PFS was also longer in the low-TG2 group than in the high-TG 2 group (11.0 vs. 2.0 months; P=0.013). Similarly, in EGFR wild-type patients treated with EGFR-TKI, PFS was longer in patients with low TG2 expression (9.0 vs. 2.0 months; P=0.013). TG2 expression levels can predict PFS in patients with NSCLC treated with EGFR-TKI.
Cluster Mergers and Non-Thermal Phenomena: A Statistical Magneto-Turbulent Model

With the aim to investigate the statistical properties and the connection between thermal and non-thermal properties of the ICM in galaxy clusters, we have developed a statistical magneto-turbulent model which describes, at the same time, the evolution of the thermal and non-thermal emission from galaxy clusters. In particular, starting from the cosmological evolution of clusters, we follow cluster. mergers, calculate the spectrum of the magnetosonic waves generated in the ICM during these mergers, the evolution of relativistic electrons and the resulting synchrotron and Inverse Compton spectra. We show that the broad band (radio and hard x-ray) non-thermal spectral properties of galaxy clusters can be well accounted for by our model for viable values of the parameters (here we adopt a EdS cosmology).
Design of a Scholarship Program for Optimal Impact

Dr. Harris is director of the Alabama Power Academic Excellence Program, an academic support program to assist in the recruitment and retention of underrepresented engineering students at Auburn University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business and Management from Alverno College, a Master of Business Administration from Cardinal Stritch University, and a PhD in Educational Psychology from Auburn University. Her research focused on comparing the variables that predict the retention of Black pre-engineering students and White pre-engineering students engineering students at a majority university. Dr. Harris directs all program activities in the Academic Excellence Program including recruitment, retention, fundraising, funding through grants and proposals, budget preparation, and student counseling. She oversees the Minority Engineering Program’s Living Learning Community, a 3-week summer residential engineering camp, collaborative learning groups, interactive learning labs, Sunday Evening Tutorial sessions and the Academic Excellence Professional Development Workshops. She also instructs a Special Topics in Engineering Success Strategy Course for freshman engineering students.
The Birth of High Gods: How the Cultural Evolution of Supernatural Policing Inuenced the Emergence of Complex, Cooperative Human Societies, Paving the Way for Civilization

Building on research showing how the evolutionary challenges confronting the emergence of large-scale cooperation can be addressed by culturally transmitted and stabilized mental representations, we explore how the development of beliefs surrounding supernatural policing agents helped surmount the constraints on social group size, monitoring and free-riding. Weighing evidence against arguments that suggest that such religious beliefs are a genetically evolved adaptation for cooperation, we posit that beliefs in “moralizing high gods” that punish non-cooperation within in-groups are the joint product of innate psychological processes that emerged to service non-religious (nonsupernatural) functions and cultural evolutionary process that favored cooperationenhancing mental representation supported by these innate psychological processes. Specifically, we argue that several features of the moralizing high god are best understood as historical products of longer-term cultural evolutionary processes driven by competition among cultural groups.
Identifying mRNA, MicroRNA and Protein Profiles of Melanoma Exosomes

Background Exosomes are small membranous vesicles secreted into body fluids by multiple cell types, including tumor cells, and in various disease conditions. Tumor exosomes contain intact and functional mRNAs, small RNAs (including miRNAs), and proteins that can alter the cellular environment to favor tumor growth. Molecular profiling may increase our understanding of the role of exosomes in melanoma progression and may lead to discovery of useful biomarkers. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study, we used mRNA array profiling to identify thousands of exosomal mRNAs associated with melanoma progression and metastasis. Similarly, miRNA array profiling identified specific miRNAs, such as hsa-miR-31, -185, and -34b, involved in melanoma invasion. We also used proteomic analysis and discovered differentially expressed melanoma exosomal proteins, including HAPLN1, GRP78, syntenin-1, annexin A1, and annexin A2. Importantly, normal melanocytes acquired invasion ability through molecules transported in melanoma cell-derived exosomes. Conclusions/Significance Our results indicate that melanoma-derived exosomes have unique gene expression signatures, miRNA and proteomics profiles compared to exosomes from normal melanocytes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first in-depth screening of the whole transcriptome/miRNome/proteome expression in melanoma exosomes. These results provide a starting point for future more in-depth studies of tumor-derived melanoma exosomes, which will aid our understanding of melanoma biogenesis and new drug-targets that may be translated into clinical applications, or as non-invasive biomarkers for melanoma.
On the Performance of Cooperative Routing in Wireless Networks

This paper studies energy and throughput performance of cooperative routing in wireless networks that support cooperative beamforming at the physical layer. Cooperative beamforming is a form of cooperative communication in which multiple nodes each equipped with a single omnidirectional antenna coordinate their transmissions in such a way that the individual signals constructively combine at the intended receiver, resulting in significant power gains compared to independent signal transmissions. It has been recently shown that significant energy savings can be achieved by jointly optimizing the network-layer routing and physical-layer cooperation, i.e., cooperative routing. While energy efficiency of cooperative routing has been extensively studied in literature, its impact on network throughput is surprisingly overlooked. In this paper, we show that while cooperative routing can achieve considerable energy savings, it results in a sharp reduction in network throughput compared to non-cooperative routing. We then identify some potential causes of this problem and propose two solutions by exploring recent developments in multi-beam cooperative beamforming to increase parallelism in the network in order to improve throughput.
Acyclic improper colourings of graphs with bounded degree

In this paper, we continue the study of acyclic improper colourings of graphs introduced in a previous work. An improper colouring of a graph G is a mapping c from the set of vertices of G to a set of colours such that for every colour i, the subgraph induced by the vertices with colour i satisses some property depending on i. Such an improper colouring is acyclic if for every two distinct colours i and j, the subgraph induced by all the edges linking an i-coloured vertex and a j-coloured vertex is acyclic. We consider in this paper the case of graphs with bounded degree. We prove some positive and negative results for graphs with maximum degree three and generalize some of the negative results to graphs with maximum degree k.
What Are Our Personal Memories for? Effects of Gender and Country in Perceived Functions of Everyday Memories in Danish and Spanish College Students

Theorists in autobiographical memory (AM) studies generally agree that AMs serve three kinds of broad functions: self-related, social, and directive functions. Although these kinds of functions are probably universal, gender and country variations are expected. The study investigates perceived use of AMs in everyday life. Male and female Danish and Spanish college students were asked to carry a diary and report a sample of naturally occurring instances of AMs. Participants were asked to assess their memories in terms of perceived functions. Results showed some country differences that were consistent with the characterization of Danish and Spanish samples in terms of individualism–collectivism. Some gender differences were also found. These differences, in contrast to our expectations, were limited to the Danes. To interpret it, two main lines of reasoning were proposed. The first was concerned with changes in gender ideology in Spain in the last decades. According to the second, these analyses may lead us to expand the number of broad categories as well as the variety of specific uses of AMs in everyday activities.
Dust emissivity in the submm/mm SCUBA and SIMBA observations of Barnard 68

We have observed the dark cloud Barnard 68 with SCUBA at 850 μ m and with SIMBA at 1.2 mm. The submillimetre and millimetre dust emission correlate well with the extinction map of Alves et al. (2001). The A V /850 μ m correlation is clearly not linear and suggests lower temperatures for the dust in the inner core of the cloud. Assuming a model for the temperature gradient, we derive the cloud-averaged dust emissivities (normalised to the V -band extinction efficiency) at 850 μ m and 1.2 mm. We find $\kappa_{850~\mu{\rm m}}/\kappa_{\rm V}=4.0\pm 1.0\times 10^{-5}$ and $\kappa_{1.2~{\rm mm}}/\kappa_{\rm V}=9.0\pm 3.0\times 10^{-6}$. These values are compared with other determinations in this wavelength regime and with expectations for models of diffuse dust and grain growth in dense clouds.
An Update on Borderline Personality Disorder: Life in the Fast Lane

An update on borderline personality disorder: life the fast lane Several studies have been conducted for a long time to identify the borderline personality and to elucidate its distinctive characteristics from other psychopathologies. However, the different findings obtained in these studies carried out provided findings that this disorder is not yet understood sufficiently. Therefore, studies about the prevalence, the comorbidity, causative factors and treatment approaches of borderline personality disorder are of vital importance. Moreover, studies about suicidality among BPD patients also have a separate importance because repetitive suicidal behaviors complicate the medical care significantly. In this review, we aimed to reevaluate the recent studies conducted on the diagnosis, the prevalence, the comorbidity, causative factors, and treatment of borderline personality disorder.
PERBANDINGAN TEKANAN DARAH PADA MAHASISWA DENGAN DAN TANPA RIWAYAT HIPERTENSI DI KELUARGA SETELAH MELALUI PEMBEBANAN COLD PRESSOR TEST

Hipertensi merupakan penyakit yang sering dijumpai di masyarakat Indonesia, 90-95% diantaranya menderita hipertensi essensial yang cenderung meningkat secara tiba-tiba. Cold Pressor Test adalah salah satu pemeriksaan yang dapat digunakan untuk uji saring adanya kecenderungan hipertensi (Sharon, 2009). Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui perbedaan tekanan darah pada mahasiswa dengan dan tanpa riwayat hipertensi dengan pembebanan CPT. Desain penelitian menggunakan jenis peneltian quasi eksperimental. Populasi berasal dari mahasiswa UINAM. sampel diambil dengan teknik purposive sampling. Jumlah sampel adalah 60 responden dan terbagi menjadi 2 kelompok masing-masing kelompok terdiri dari 30 responden dengan riwayat dan tanpa riwayat hiperetensi. Data hasil penelitian dianalisis dengan menggunakan uji nonparametrik karena uji normalitas menunjukkan p value <0,05 (tidak normal), sehingga uji yang digunakan adalah uji wilcoxon dan uji mann whitney. Uji wilcoxon (α<0,05), uji mann whitney (α<0,05), sehingga dapat disimpulkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan tekanan darah sebelum dan setalah pembebanan cold pressor test, baik pada kelompok riwayat hipertensi maupun tanpa riwayat hipertensi. Responden pada kelompok riwayat Hipertensi mayoritas mengalami Hipereaktor terutama pada tekanan darah sistolik yaitu sebanyak 22 orang (73,3%), sedangkan tekanan darah diastolik cenderung mengalami hiporeaktor dan hampir sebanding dengan jumlah responden yang mengalami normoreaktor. Adapun responden yang tanpa riwayat Hipertensi mayoritas mengalami normoreaktor pada tekanan darah sistolik (53,3%) sedangkan tekanan darah diastolik cenderung hiporeaktor (60%). Disarankan kepada perawat dan petugas kesehatan yang berwenang dapat melakukan deteksi dini risiko Hipertensi dengan menggunakan CPT.
War experiences and war-related distress in Bosnia and Herzegovina eight years after war.

AIM To examine the relationship between war experiences and war-related distress in Bosnia and Herzegovina. METHODS The survey was performed in the late 2003 on a representative sample of 3313 respondents. The face-to-face interviews included 15 items on war-related distress and 24 items on war experiences. From these items we developed the War-related Distress Scale, the Direct War Experiences Scale, and the Indirect War Experiences Scale. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between war-related distress symptoms and war experiences variables, controlling for a range of other variables. RESULTS Almost half of the respondents did not report any war-related distress symptoms, while about 13% reported 7 or more symptoms. Direct war experiences had a significant effect on war-related distress even eight years after the war, while indirect war experiences showed no significant effect on war-related distress. We found that marital status weakly decreased war-related distress, while household size increased it. CONCLUSION Direct war experiences seem to have a long-lasting traumatic effect on a substantial number of residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Frailty in Old Age Is Associated with Decreased Interleukin-12/23 Production in Response to Toll-Like Receptor Ligation

Aging is associated with progressive alterations of immune functions, leading to higher susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections and reduced vaccine responses. Data concerning cytokine production in response to Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands are highly variable in old people, reflecting the heterogeneity of the geriatric population. The aim of our study was to define the relative contribution of age and clinical status on TLR-induced interleukin (IL)-12p70 and IL-23 production as these cytokines play an important role in the protection against intracellular and extracellular pathogens, respectively. For this purpose, we recruited 100 subjects (aged 23–96 years) in the general population or hospitalized for chronic diseases. We collected information on clinical status (medical history, ongoing comorbidities, treatments and geriatric scales), biological parameters (biochemical and hematological tests, telomere length determination, cytomegalovirus serology). Whole blood samples were stimulated with a combination of TLR4 and TLR7/8 ligands. We performed univariate and stepwise backward multivariate analyses regression to define which set of clinical variables could be predictive for IL-12p70 and IL-23 production in these conditions. Our results indicated that age was not correlated with TLR-mediated IL-12p70 and IL-23 production. In contrast, poor nutritional status and frailty in subjects >75 years were associated with decreased IL-12p70 and IL-23 production. By intracytoplasmic staining, we confirmed that production of IL-12/23p40 by conventional dendritic cells (DCs) upon TLR ligation was decreased in frail patients. However, proportion of DCs and monocytes subsets, phenotypic maturation and proximal signaling events were found to be comparable in frail and healthy old subjects. These results suggest the importance of age-associated clinical parameters and not age by itself in the alteration of innate immune responses in old individuals and emphasis the importance of innate immune responses in the susceptibility of frail geriatric patients to infections.
Interventions to Reduce and Prevent Obesity in Pre-Conceptual and Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background The increasing prevalence of obesity in pregnant women is associated with adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, and increased costs to healthcare, the economy and broader society. Objectives To assess the efficacy of behavioural interventions for managing gestational weight gain (GWG) in the pre-conceptual and pregnancy period in overweight, obese and morbidly obese women. Search Methods A search was performed for published studies in the English language, from date? 2000–31 December 2012 in five electronic databases; PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Selection criteria Studies were included if they compared the efficacy or effectiveness of a particular behavioural intervention in pregnant or pre-conceptual women with standard maternity care. Studies that included women with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes mellitus and polycystic ovarian syndrome were excluded to help isolate the effect of the intervention. Results Fifteen studies involving 3,426 participants were included. One study (n = 692) focused on the pre-conceptual period and the remaining 14 (n = 2,734) in the pregnancy period. Pooled mean difference for GWG indicated a lower GWG in the intervention groups when compared to standard maternity care groups (n = 1771, mean difference (MD) −1.66 kg, 95% CI −3.12 to −0.21 kg). With respect to the types of participants, considerable heterogeneity between studies was shown in the obese subgroup [Tau2 = 15.61; Chi2 = 40.80, df = 3 (P<0.00001); I2 = 93%]. Conclusions Behavioural interventions in pregnancy may be effective in reducing GWG in obese women without comorbid conditions, but not overweight or morbidly obese women. Behavioural interventions had no effect on postpartum weight loss or retention, gestation week of delivery and infant birth weight in overweight, obese and morbidly obese women.
Tensions in Distributed Leadership

Purpose: This article proposes the utility of using activity theory as an analytical lens to examine the theoretical construct of distributed leadership, specifically to illuminate tensions encountered by leaders and how they resolved these tensions. Research Method: The study adopted the naturalistic inquiry approach of a case study of an elementary school in Singapore in the process of implementing a project using information and communications technology for instruction. The leaders identified included the principal, vice principals, and middle managers, including a senior teacher. Activity theory was used as the lens for data analysis. Findings: The article makes three contributions to distributed leadership. First, boundary-spanning aspects of work give rise to tensions in the distribution of leadership. Second, tensions provide a context for the exercise of influence by leaders—demonstrated through innovative solutions to counter the tensions. Third, the distribution of leadership is dynamic with the centrality of leadership shifting between multiple levels of leaders as they interact in intersecting activity systems. The case study also confirms the importance of studying the relation between structure and human agency in examining the distribution of leadership.
Analysis of object oriented spatial access methods

This paper provides an analysis of R-trees and a variation (R<supscrpt>+</supscrpt>-trees) that avoids overlapping rectangles in intermediate nodes of the tree. The main contributions of the paper are the following. We provide the first known analysis of R-trees. Although formulas are given for objects in one dimension (line segments), they can be generalized for objects in higher dimensions as well. We show how the transformation of objects to higher dimensions [HINR83] can be effectively used as a tool for the analysis of R- and R<supscrpt>+</supscrpt>- trees. Finally, we derive formulas for R<supscrpt>+</supscrpt>-trees and compare the two methods analytically. The results we obtained show that R<supscrpt>+</supscrpt>-trees require less than half the disk accesses required by a corresponding R-tree when searching files of real life sizes R<supscrpt>+</supscrpt>-trees are clearly superior in cases where there are few long segments and a lot of small ones.