Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Back to basics: Incomplete knowledge of Differential Object Marking in Spanish heritage speakers*

The obligatory use of the preposition a with animate, specific direct objects in Spanish (Juan conoce a María “Juan knows Maria”) is a well-known instance of Differential Object Marking (DOM; Torrego, 1998; Leonetti, 2004). Recent studies have documented the loss and/or incomplete acquisition of several grammatical features in Spanish heritage speakers (Silva-Corvalán, 1994; Montrul, 2002), including DOM (Montrul, 2004a). This study assesses the extent of incomplete knowledge of DOM in Spanish heritage speakers raised in the United States by comparing it with knowledge of DOM in fully competent native speakers. Experiment 1 examined whether omission of a affected grammatical competence, as measured by the linguistic behavior of 67 heritage speakers and 22 monolingual speakers in an oral production task and in a written acceptability judgment task. Experiment 2 followed up on the results of the acceptability judgment task with 13 monolingual speakers and 69 heritage speakers, and examined whether problems with DOM generalize to other instances of structural and inherent dative case, including ditransitive verbs and gustar-type psychological verbs. Results of the two experiments confirmed that heritage speakers' recognition and production of DOM is probabilistic, even for speakers with advanced proficiency in Spanish. This suggests that many heritage speakers' grammars may not actually instantiate inherent case. We argue that language loss under reduced input conditions in childhood is, in this case, like “going back to basics”: it leads to simplification of the grammar by letting go of the non-core options, while retaining the core functional structure.
Fiscal Policy Impacts on Growth in the Oecd: Are They Long-run?

The literature testing for long-run impacts of fiscal policy on growth at the macro level has generally ignored short-run dynamics and treated all counties’ fiscal-growth dynamics identically. This paper examines how robust previous ‘long-run’ results for OECD countries are to new empirical methods that model short-run dynamics and allow fiscal-growth responses to be heterogeneous both across countries and over time. Our results suggest that most of the so-called ‘long-run’ growth effects of fiscal policy are typically achieved very quickly. We also find that positive growth effects of fiscal changes have often been approximately counteracted by fiscal changes with negative effects.
Using academic enabler nominations and social behavior ratings to predict students performance level on Australia's national achievement test

Background The purpose of this project was to measure the predictive validity of a screening system for academics and social behaviors, when the criterion variable is student achievement, among a sample of Australian elementary school students. Specific goals of the study included (a) comparing a brief criterion-referenced nomination system with more comprehensive teacher ratings and (b) gathering reliability and validity evidence for these screening instruments. To accomplish these goals, we developed an international partnership to advance the state of the art for early identification of social behavior and academic learning problems predictive of poor long-term achievement in Australia and the United States.
Research to Improve Vocational Rehabilitation: Employment Barriers and Strategies for Clients who are Blind Or Visually Impaired

This study identified factors that lead to or impede competitive job placements for clients of a state blindness rehabilitation agency. The authors conducted focus groups with the agency's service providers and administered surveys to adults who are blind or visually impaired and to employers. The survey data analysis compared persons who were employed with persons who were not employed but were interested in working and with persons who were not working and were not interested in working. Also identified were services that employers felt would assist them in hiring or retaining blind or visually impaired workers. Five themes, stated in terms of needs for the agency to address, are presented to summarize the findings.
Consulting on Tour: A Dual-Phase Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing Intervention and Group Functioning in Elite Youth Cricket

In a one group pretest-posttest design, 15 elite academy cricketers were exposed to two personal-disclosure mutual-sharing (PDMS) sessions during a preseason tour. Within PDMS1, athletes disclosed (via prepared speeches) relationship-oriented information and within PDMS2, mastery oriented information. Social identity, social identity content, and collective efficacy were measured at baseline (1 week before the tour), post-PDMS1, midpoint, and post-PDMS2, while social validation was also obtained after each intervention session. Quantitative data revealed significant increases in social identity and friendships identity content at post-PDMS1, and results identity content and collective efficacy at post-PDMS2. Qualitative social validation data highlighted the thoughts and feelings of the athletes before their speeches and supported the effectiveness of the PDMS sessions. In sum, the data suggest practitioners can develop team outcomes (e.g., a focus on results) through developing specific aspects of teams’.
Nonparametric Transition-Based Tests for Jump Diffusions

We develop a specification test for the transition density of a discretely sampled continuous-time jump-diffusion process, based on a comparison of a nonparametric estimate of the transition density or distribution function with their corresponding parametric counterparts assumed by the null hypothesis. As a special case, our method applies to pure diffusions. We provide a direct comparison of the two densities for an arbitrary specification of the null parametric model using three different discrepancy measures between the null and alternative transition density and distribution functions. We establish the asymptotic null distributions of proposed test statistics and compute their power functions. We investigate the finite-sample properties through simulations and compare them with those of other tests. This article has supplementary material online.
Urban WiFi characterization via mobile crowdsensing

We present a mobile crowdsensing approach for urban WiFi characterization that leverages commodity smartphones and the natural mobility of people. Specifically, we report measurement results obtained for Edinburgh, a representative European city, on detecting the presence of deployedWiFi APs via the mobile crowdsensing approach. They show that few channels in 2.4GHz are heavily used; in contrast, there is hardly any activity in the 5GHz band even though relatively it has a greater number of available channels. Spatial analysis of spectrum usage reveals that mutual interference among nearby APs operating in the same channel can be a serious problem with around 10 APs contending with each other in many locations. We find that the characteristics of WiFi deployments at city-scale are similar to that of WiFi deployments in public spaces of different indoor environments. We validate our approach in comparison with wardriving, and also show that our findings generally match with previous studies based on other measurement approaches. As an application of the mobile crowdsensing based urban WiFi monitoring, we outline a cloud based WiFi router configuration service for better interference management with global awareness in urban areas.
Risk Factors for Depression in Older Adults in Beijing

Objective: Depression is a common mental disorder in older adults. We examined the prevalence and risk factors for depression in older adults in the Beijing area. Method: We used data from a cross-sectional survey conducted in July 2006 in Beijing. As part of the national survey for older Chinese adults, 2002 older adults were interviewed. The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale was used to assess depression. Demographics as well as other personal information were also collected. Results: Among Beijing older adults, 13.01% were categorized as depressed. Prevalence rates of depression in rural and urban older adults were 26.63% and 10.79%, respectively. Poor economic status, high activities of daily living (ADL) score, poor physical health, impious offspring, and feeling old were important predictors of depression in older adults in Beijing. For the urban sample, poor economic status, poor physical health, high ADL score, and impious offspring were risk factors for depression. For the rural sample, depression was significantly associated with poor economic status and poor physical health. Conclusions: Depression is a common mood disorder among older adults in the Beijing area. Filial piety is a unique predictor for depression in older Chinese adults, compared with findings in Western cultures.
Living with Hypertension: A Qualitative Research

ABSTRACT Background: Hypertension affects many aspects of the patients’ life. Factors such as attitudes, beliefs and experiences, and social and cultural conditions of patients have effective roles in hypertension treatment process. The aim of this research was to explore perspectives and experiences of patients with hypertension while living with this disease. Methods: This is a qualitative research using content analysis approach. 27 hypertensive patients who referred to hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences were selected based on purposive sampling, and semi-structured interviews were carried out. Graneheim and Lundman’s approach was used for analysis of data and Lincoln and Guba’s criteria were used to confirm the trustworthiness of the study’s findings Results: Experiences of the participants were divided into three main categories as follows: (1) disease shadow; (2) dual understanding of the effect of drug therapy consisting of two sub-categories known as ‘‘perceived benefits,’’ ‘‘negative consequences’’; and (3) facing the disease that includes the two subcategories of ‘‘Compatibility’’ and ‘‘Negligence and denial’’. Conclusion: Based on the findings, patients with hypertension had experienced many physical, psychological, social, familial and spiritual problems due to the disease and their cultural context. These patients obtained positive experiences following the compatibility with hypertension. Comprehensive planning tailored to the cultural, social context and their beliefs is necessary to solve problems in these patients.
Psychotropic Medication Use in Canada

Background: Psychotropic medication use can be employed as an indicator of appropriate treatment for mental disorders. The Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health and Well-Being (CCHS 1.2) offers the first opportunity to characterize Canadian psychotropic medication use on a national level within diagnostic groups as assessed by a full version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Method: We assessed the prevalence of antidepressant, sedative-hypnotic, mood stabilizer, psychostimulant, and antipsychotic use over 2 days overall and in subgroups defined by CIDI-diagnosed disorders and demographics. We employed sampling weights and bootstrap methods. Results: Overall psychotropic drug utilization was 7.2%. Utilization was higher for women and with increasing age. With any lifetime CIDI-diagnosed disorder assessed in the CCHS 1.2, utilization was 19.3%, whereas without such disorders, it was 4.1%. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most commonly used antidepressants for those with a past-year major depressive episode (17.8%), followed by venlafaxine (7.4%). Among people aged 15 to 19 years, antidepressant use was 1.8% overall and 11.7% among those with past-year depression; SSRIs made up the majority of use. Sedative-hypnotics were used by 3.1% overall, increasing with age to 11.1% over 75 years. Conclusions: International comparison is difficult because of different evaluation methods, but antidepressant use may be higher and antipsychotic use lower in Canada than in recent European and American reports. In light of the relative lack of contemporary evidence for antidepressant efficacy in adolescents, it is likely that antidepressant use among those aged 15 to 19 years will continue to decline. The increased use of sedative-hypnotics with age is of concern, given the associated risk of adverse effects among seniors.
Ruxolitinib as potential targeted therapy for patients with JAK2 rearrangements

JAK2 fusion genes are rare but recurrent abnormalities associated with diverse, clinically heterogeneous hematologic malignancies. Here we assess the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib as therapy for patients with JAK2-rearrangement associated myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Ruxolitinib-treated Ba/F3 cells transformed to IL3 independence by ETV6-JAK2 showed reduced proliferation and survival (IC50 = 370 nM) compared with KG1A or Ba/F3 cells transformed by BCR-ABL1, SPBN1-FLT3 and ZMYM2-FGFR1 (IC50 > 10 μM for all). Inhibition was associated with reduced phosphorylation of ETV6-JAK2, ERK, STAT5 and AKT. Primary cell growth from 2 patients with JAK2 rearrangement and one patient with JAK2 amplification was assessed in methylcellulose assays. Reduced colony growth was seen for all patients in ruxolitinib-treated cultures compared with healthy controls (n=7). Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed reduced growth of JAK2-rearrangement positive colonies compared to JAK2-rearrangement negative colonies. Our data, therefore, provide evidence that ruxolitinib is a promising therapy for treatment of patients with JAK2 fusion genes.
Multivariate Granger Causality Analysis of Acupuncture Effects in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients: An fMRI Study

Evidence from clinical reports has indicated that acupuncture has a promising effect on mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, it is still unknown that by what way acupuncture can modulate brain networks involving the MCI. In the current study, multivariate Granger causality analysis (mGCA) was adopted to compare the interregional effective connectivity of brain networks by varying needling depths (deep acupuncture, DA; superficial acupuncture, SA) and at different cognitive states, which were the MCI and healthy control (HC). Results from DA at KI3 in MCI showed that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and hippocampus emerged as central hubs and had significant causal influences with each other, but significant in HC for DA. Moreover, only several brain regions had remarkable causal interactions following SA in MCI and even few brain regions following SA in HC. Our results indicated that acupuncture at KI3 at different cognitive states and with varying needling depths may induce distinct reorganizations of effective connectivities of brain networks, and DA at KI3 in MCI can induce the strongest and more extensive effective connectivities related to the therapeutic effect of acupuncture in MCI. The study demonstrated the relatively functional specificity of acupuncture at KI3 in MCI, and needling depths play an important role in acupuncture treatments.
Struggles and resilience of African American women living with HIV or AIDS: A qualitative study

Summary This qualitative study analyzed the responses of African American women living with an HIV or AIDS diagnosis for 10 years or longer who were participants in an ongoing support group. Ten women with a mean age of 48.2 years were interviewed to describe their personal stories of HIV infection and to explore what led them to ultimately accept their diagnosis. The main focus of the study was to understand their strengths and resilience in enduring the burden of HIV or AIDS status. Findings The findings yielded a preliminary conceptual understanding similar to the Kubler-Ross stages of grief, including shock, anger, devastation, depression, denial, and acceptance. The women did not follow those stages in a linear fashion, but their strength carried them toward accepting their infection status. The participants described their sources of support and hopes for their future lives. Applications Social workers and other practitioners can gain a deeper understanding of the struggles, resilience for survival, and hope demonstrated by the participants in their experience with HIV and AIDS. The women’s suggestions for strategies of maintaining a positive outlook and achieving personal growth should be noted as helpful social work interventions not only for African American women but also women of other racial and ethnic groups living with HIV and AIDS. Additionally, other researchers may explore the preliminary conceptual understanding of stages toward acceptance yielded in this study with other groups of women living with HIV and AIDS.
Analysis of the Chaotic Behavior of the Lower Hybrid Wave Propagation in Magnetised Plasma by Hamiltonian Theory

The Hamiltonian character of the ray tracing equations describing the propagation of the Lower Hybrid Wave (LHW) in a magnetic confined plasma device (tokamak) is investigated in order to study the evolution of the parallel wave number along the propagation path. The chaotic diffusion of the “time-averaged” parallel wave number at higher values (with respect to that launched by the antenna at the plasma edge) has been evaluated, in order to find an explanation of the filling of the spectral gap (Fisch, 1987) by “Hamiltonian chaos” in the Lower Hybrid Current Drive (LHCD) experiments (Fisch, 1978). The present work shows that the increase of the parallel wave number \(n_{\parallel}\) due to toroidal effects, in the case of the typical plasma parameters of the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) experiment, is insufficient to explain the filling of the spectral gap, and the consequent current drive and another mechanism must come into play to justify the wave absorption by Landau damping. Analytical calculations have been supplemented by a numerical algorithm based on the symplectic integration of the ray equations implemented in a ray tracing code, in order to preserve exactly the symplectic character of a Hamiltonian flow.
Sequencing the yeast genome: An international achievement

The yeast genome is currently being sequenced by a Consortium of European laboratories, in collaboration with a wider international network of researchers. It is expected that within the next two years Saccharomyces cerevisiae will become the first eukaryotic organism to have been completely genetically mapped and sequenced. This article traces the sequencing enterprise from its beginnings, outlining the intentions, the organisation, and the achievements so far. The tasks which remain are discussed, emphasising the follow‐on research into the evolution of primitive karyotypes, and, more particularly, into the nature of novel genes revealed during sequencing. The functional analysis of novel genes is attracting an ever wider community of yeast scientists, so that research which began with a decision to sequence a simple genome promises to remain a focus for international cooperation.
Combination of General Antithetic Transformations and Control Variables

Several methods for reducing the variance in the context of Monte Carlo simulation are based on correlation induction. This includes antithetic variates, Latin hypercube sampling, and randomized version of quasi-Monte Carlo methods such as lattice rules and digital nets, where the resulting estimators are usually weighted averages of several dependent random variables that can be seen as function evaluations at a finite set of random points in the unit hypercube. In this paper, we consider a setting where these methods can be combined with the use of control variates and we provide conditions under which we can formally prove that the variance is minimized by choosing equal weights and equal control variate coefficients across the different points of evaluation, regardless of the function (integrand) that is evaluated.
Alteplase Reduces Downstream Microvascular Thrombosis and Improves the Benefit of Large Artery Recanalization in Stroke

Background and Purpose— Downstream microvascular thrombosis (DMT) is known to be a contributing factor to incomplete reperfusion in acute ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to determine the timing of DMT with intravital imaging and to test the hypothesis that intravenous alteplase infusion could reduce DMT in a transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rat stroke model. Methods— Rats were subjected to 60-minute transient MCAO. Alteplase (10 mg/kg) was administered 30 minutes after the beginning of MCAO. Real-time intravital fluorescence microscopy through a dura-sparing craniotomy was used to visualize circulating blood cells and fibrinogen. Cerebral microvessel patency was quantitatively evaluated by fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran perfusion. Results— Immediately after MCAO, platelet and leukocyte accumulation were observed mostly in the venous compartment. Within 30 minutes after MCAO, microthrombi and parietal fibrin deposits were detected in postcapillary microvessels. Alteplase treatment significantly (P=0.006) reduced infarct volume and increased the percentage of perfused vessels during MCAO (P=0.02) compared with saline. Plasma levels of fibrinogen from alteplase-treated rats showed a rapid and profound hypofibrinogenemia. In vitro platelet aggregation demonstrated that alteplase reduced platelet aggregation (P=0.0001) and facilitated platelet disaggregation (P=0.001). These effects were reversible in the presence of exogenous fibrinogen. Conclusions— Our data demonstrate that DMT is an early phenomenon initiated before recanalization. We further show that alteplase-dependent maintenance of downstream perfusion during MCAO improves acute ischemic stroke outcome through a fibrinogen-dependent platelet aggregation reduction. Our results indicate that early targeting of DMT represents a therapeutic strategy to improve the benefit of large artery recanalization in acute ischemic stroke.
Effect of ultrasound on thrombolysis of middle cerebral artery occlusion

We studied the effect of transcranial 2MHz Doppler ultrasound (US) on the recanalization and outcome of stroke patients suffering from acute middle cerebral artery occlusion. All patients underwent intravenous recombinant tissue‐type plasminogen activator thrombolysis. Eleven patients were randomly selected for continuous US monitoring (C‐US) over 1 hour; 14 patients were selected for the control group. The C‐US group showed a higher grade of recanalization after 1 hour but also a higher number of intraparenchymal bleedings. Overall, a favorable functional outcome occurred more frequently in the C‐US group (Barthel index, p = 0.037) after 3 months. Ann Neurol 2003;53:797–800
Odin: Team VictorTango's entry in the DARPA Urban Challenge

The DARPA Urban Challenge required robotic vehicles to travel more than 90 km through an urban environment without human intervention and included situations such as stop intersections, traffic merges, parking, and roadblocks. Team VictorTango separated the problem into three parts: base vehicle, perception, and planning. A Ford Escape outfitted with a custom drive‐by‐wire system and computers formed the basis for Odin. Perception used laser scanners, global positioning system, and a priori knowledge to identify obstacles, cars, and roads. Planning relied on a hybrid deliberative/reactive architecture to analyze the situation, select the appropriate behavior, and plan a safe path. All vehicle modules communicated using the JAUS (Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) standard. The performance of these components in the Urban Challenge is discussed and successes noted. The result of VictorTango's work was successful completion of the Urban Challenge and a third‐place finish. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.