Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age‐related effect of serotonin transporter genotype on amygdala and prefrontal cortex function in adolescence

The S and LG alleles of the serotonin transporter‐linked polymorphic region (5‐HTTLPR) lower serotonin transporter expression. These low‐expressing alleles are linked to increased risk for depression and brain activation patterns found in depression (increased amygdala activation and decreased amygdala–prefrontal cortex connectivity). Paradoxically, serotonin transporter blockade relieves depression symptoms. Rodent models suggest that decreased serotonin transporter in early life produces depression that emerges in adolescence, whereas decreased serotonin transporter that occurs later in development ameliorates depression. However, no brain imaging research has yet investigated the moderating influence of human development on the link between 5‐HTTLPR and effect‐related brain function. We investigated the age‐related effect of 5‐HTTLPR on amygdala activation and amygdala–prefrontal cortex connectivity using a well‐replicated probe, an emotional face task, in children and adolescents aged 9–19 years. A significant genotype‐by‐age interaction predicted amygdala activation, such that the low‐expressing genotype (S/S and S/LG) group showed a greater increase in amygdala activation with age compared to the higher expressing (LA/LA and S/LA) group. Additionally, compared to the higher expressing group, the low‐expressing genotype group exhibited decreased connectivity between the right amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex with age. Findings indicate that low‐expressing genotypes may not result in the corticolimbic profile associated with depression risk until later adolescence. Hum Brain Mapp 35:646–658, 2014. © 2012 Wiley‐Periodicals, Inc.
Matrix Metalloproteinases -8 and -9 and Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 in Burn Patients. A Prospective Observational Study

Introduction Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) -8 and -9 are released from neutrophils in acute inflammation and may contribute to permeability changes in burn injury. In retrospective studies on sepsis, levels of MMP-8, MMP-9, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) differed from those of healthy controls, and TIMP-1 showed an association with outcome. Our objective was to investigate the relationship between these proteins and disease severity and outcome in burn patients. Methods In this prospective, observational, two-center study, we collected plasma samples from admission to day 21 post-burn, and burn blister fluid samples on admission. We compared MMP-8, -9, and TIMP-1 levels between TBSA<20% (N = 19) and TBSA>20% (N = 30) injured patients and healthy controls, and between 90-day survivors and non-survivors. MMP-8, -9, and TIMP-1 levels at 24-48 hours from injury, their maximal levels, and their time-adjusted means were compared between groups. Correlations with clinical parameters and the extent of burn were analyzed. MMP-8, -9, and TIMP-1 levels in burn blister fluids were also studied. Results Plasma MMP-8 and -9 were higher in patients than in healthy controls (P<0.001 and P = 0.016), but only MMP-8 differed between the TBSA<20% and TBSA>20% groups. MMP-8 and -9 were not associated with clinical severity or outcome measures. TIMP-1 differed significantly between patients and controls (P<0.001) and between TBSA<20% and TBSA>20% groups (P<0.002). TIMP-1 was associated with 90-day mortality and correlated with the extent of injury and clinical measures of disease severity. TIMP-1 may serve as a new biomarker in outcome prognostication of burn patients.
Fuzziness - Representation of Dynamic Changes?

The paper brings a discussion about the source of the inaccuracy in observations of objects and demonstrates that the essential reason of the lack of precision is changeability, and the more changeability, i.e. more dynamics, can be experienced the more inaccurate, more fuzzy judges can be. The space of ordered fuzzy numbers (OFN), the new model of fuzzy numbers that make possible to deal with fuzzy inputs quantitatively, exactly in the same way as with real numbers, is shortly presented. The new model possesses a set of properties which are in accordance with the influence of changeability on the increase of the inaccuracy in observations of the environment. The use of OFN is getting rid of the main problem in a classical fuzzy numbers an unbounded increase in inaccuracies with next calculations. Moreover, new interpretation can be treated as an extend of classic proposals so there is no need to abandon existing ideas to deal with the new model of fuzzy numbers.
ASSOCIATED TO DIFFUSION SEMIGROUPS : CONSTRUCTION AND FAST ALGORITHMS

We introduce a novel multiresolution construction for efficiently computing, compressing and applying large powers of operators that have high powers with low numerical rank. This allows the fast computation of functions of the operator, notably the inverse, in compressed form, and their fast application. Classes of operators satisfying these conditions include important differential operators, in any dimension, on manifolds, and in non-homogeneous media. In this case our construction can be viewed as a far-reaching generalization of Fast Multipole Methods, achieved through a different point of view, and of the non-standard wavelet representation of Calderón-Zygmund and pseudodifferential operators, achieved through a different multiresolution analysis adapted to the operator. We show how the dyadic powers of an operator can be used to induce a multiresolution analysis, as in classical LittlewoodPaley and wavelet theory, and we show how to construct, with fast and stable algorithms, scaling function and wavelet bases associated to this multiresolution analysis, and the corresponding downsampling operators, and use them to compress the corresponding powers of the operator. This allows to extend multiscale signal processing to general spaces (such as manifolds and graphs) in a very natural way, with corresponding fast algorithms.
Clouds over East Asia Observed with Collocated CloudSat and CALIPSO Measurements: Occurrence and Macrophysical Properties

Cloud occurrences, vertical structures, and along-track horizontal scales over East Asia are studied using four years (2007–2010) of CloudSat 2B-CLDCLASS-LIDAR data. The CloudSat 2B-CLDCLASS-LIDAR data employs combined CloudSat radar and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) measurements to provide by far the most accurate detections of cloud boundaries and their vertical structures. The mean cloud occurrence frequency over East Asia is 66.3%, which is 13.8% and 21.6% higher than that from the Cloud–Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) level 2 5-km cloud layer product and the CloudSat 2B-GEOPROF product, respectively. Cloud-top heights over East Asia show three local peaks at approximately 1.5 km, 10 km, and 15 km above ground level (AGL), indicating different mid-altitude cloud formation mechanisms from those over the tropics. Significant fractions of low-level cloud, mid-level cloud, and high-level cloud have thicknesses smaller than 0.5 km, indicating that models with vertical resolutions lower than 0.5 km have difficulties resolving those clouds. The average cloud along-track horizontal scale over East Asia is 82.0 km. Probability distribution functions (PDFs) of cloud along-track horizontal scales suggest that approximately 81.2% of the clouds over East Asia cannot be resolved by climate models with a grid resolution of 1°. The results from this study can be used to improve cloud parameterizations in climate models and validate model simulations of clouds over East Asia.
Relationships among Taiwanese children's computer game use, academic achievement and parental governing approach

This study examined the relationships among children's computer game use, academic achievement and parental governing approach to propose probable answers for the doubts of Taiwanese parents. 355 children (ages 11–14) were randomly sampled from 20 elementary schools in a typically urbanised county in Taiwan. Questionnaire survey (five questions) and statistical analyses were employed. The findings included the following: (a) parents’ active engagement in computer game supervision had a significant impact on children's computer game use; (b) greater participation in computer games correlated significantly with lower academic achievement, but parents’ desire to prevent their children from playing computer games did not make children get the best academic achievement; and (c) the significant interaction effect of gender and parental governing approach on children's academic achievement suggested the adoption of a ‘flexible parenting’ strategy. Finally, several recommendations were provided with parents for supervising children's computer game use and assisting them in obtaining better academic achievement.
The Performance Vulnerability of Architectural and Non-architectural Arrays to Permanent Faults

This paper presents a first-order analytical model for determining the performance degradation caused by permanently faulty cells in architectural and non-architectural arrays. We refer to this degradation as the performance vulnerability factor (PVF). The study assumes a future where cache blocks with faulty cells are disabled resulting in less cache capacity and extra misses while faulty predictor cells are still used but cause additional mispredictions. For a given program run, random probability of permanent cell failure, and processor configuration, the model can rapidly provide the expected PVF as well as lower and upper PVF probability distribution bounds for an individual array or array combination. The model is used to predict the PVF for the three predictors and the last level cache, used in this study, for a wide range of cell failure rates. The analysis reveals that for cell failure rate of up to 1.5e-6 the expected PVF is very small. For higher failure rates the expected PVF grows noticeably mostly due to the extra misses in the last level cache. The expected PVF of the predictors remains small even at high failure rates but the PVF distribution reveals cases of significant performance degradation with a non-negligible probability. These results suggest that designers of future processors can leverage trade-offs between PVF and reliability to sustain area, performance and energy scaling. The paper demonstrates this approach by exploring the implications of different cell size on yield and PVF.
A comparative study of fMPE and RDLT approaches to LVCSR

This paper presents a comparative study of two discriminatively trained feature transform approaches, namely feature-space minimum phone error (fMPE) and region-dependent linear transform (RDLT), to large vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR). Experiments are performed on an LVCSR task of conversational telephone speech transcription using about 2,000 hours training data. Starting from a maximum likelihood (ML) trained GMM-HMM based baseline system, recognition accuracy and run-time efficiency of different variants of the above two methods are evaluated, and a specific RDLT approach is identified and recommended for deployment in LVCSR applications.
Detecting a Continuum of Compositionality in Phrasal Verbs

We investigate the use of an automatically acquired thesaurus for measures designed to indicate the compositionality of candidate multiword verbs, specifically English phrasal verbs identified automatically using a robust parser. We examine various measures using the nearest neighbours of the phrasal verb, and in some cases the neighbours of the simplex counterpart and show that some of these correlate significantly with human rankings of compositionality on the test set. We also show that whilst the compositionality judgements correlate with some statistics commonly used for extracting multiwords, the relationship is not as strong as that using the automatically constructed thesaurus.
Dynamic Debt Runs

Firms commonly spread out their debt expirations across time to reduce the liquidity risk generated by large quantities of debt expiring at the same time. By doing so, they introduce a dynamic coordination problem. In deciding whether to rollover his debt, each maturing creditor is concerned about the rollover decisions of other creditors whose debt matures during his next contract period. We develop a model with a time-varying firm fundamental and a staggered debt structure to analyze this problem. We derive a unique threshold equilibrium with fear of a firm's future rollover risk driving preemptive runs. Our model characterizes fundamental volatility, asset illiquidity, reliability of credit lines, and debt maturity as determinants of such dynamic runs.
†Kenyaichthyidae fam. nov. and †Kenyaichthys gen. nov. – First Record of a Fossil Aplocheiloid Killifish (Teleostei, Cyprinodontiformes)

The extant Cyprinodontiformes (killifishes) with their two suborders Cyprinodontoidei and Aplocheiloidei represent a diverse and well-studied group of fishes. However, their fossil record is comparatively sparse and has so far yielded members of the Cyprinodontoidei only. Here we report on cyprinodontiform fossils from the upper Miocene Lukeino Formation in the Tugen Hills of the Central Rift Valley of Kenya, which represent the first fossil record of an aplocheiloid killifish. A total of 169 specimens - mostly extraordinarily well preserved - and a sample of ten extant cyprinodontiform species were studied on the basis of morphometrics, meristics and osteology. A phylogenetic analysis using PAUP was also conducted for the fossils. Both the osteological data and the phylogenetic analysis provide strong evidence for the assignment of the fossils to the Aplocheiloidei, and justify the definition of the new family †Kenyaichthyidae, the new genus †Kenyaichthys and the new species †K. kipkechi sp. nov. The phylogenetic analysis unexpectedly places †Kenyaichthys gen. nov. in a sister relationship to the Rivulidae (a purely Neotropical group), a probable explanation might be lack of available synapomorphies for the Rivulidae, Nothobranchiidae and Aplocheilidae. The specimens of †K. kipkechi sp. nov. show several polymorphic characters and large overlap in meristic traits, which justifies their interpretation as a species flock in statu nascendi. Patterns of variation in neural and haemal spine dimensions in the caudal vertebrae of †Kenyaichthys gen. nov. and the extant species studied indicate that some previously suggested synapomorphies of the Cyprinodontoidei and Aplocheiloidei need to be revised.
Kendall Syndrome Coding (KSC) for Group-Based Ring-Oscillator Physical Unclonable Functions

Rank permutation has been proposed to maximize the secrecy extraction power of ring oscillator (RO) physical unclonable functions (PUFs) [1]. To encode the frequency rank of a group of ROs, the authors suggested to encode compactly. One problem is that the error weight distribution does not correlate well with the underlying error probability distribution such that many errors occurring frequently are encoded in greater (instead of smaller) Hamming distance than those less likely to happen. Consequently, the previous scheme would suffer greater minentropy loss [2] when worked with a error correcting code (ECC). Instead, we propose a new encoding scheme such that the Hamming distance between two encoded codewords is the same as the Kendall tau distance [3] between the two corresponding rank permutations. We also improve manufacturing feasibility as well as the randomness of the secrecy such that our generated secret demonstrates the statistics of the uniform distribution [4]. Overall, the proposed PUF is about 9% more efficient than its predecessor and 50% or more efficient than an index-based (IBS) approach [5] in most error correcting scenarios we considered under an i.i. d. uniform output assumption.
Role of chronic exercise on pelvic floor support and function.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To summarize recent literature about the potential role of chronic exercise on pelvic floor support and function. RECENT FINDINGS Stress urinary incontinence is common during physical activity. Scant evidence suggests a dose-response association between higher volumes of exercise and urinary incontinence. Athletes do not appear to have greater pelvic floor muscle strength or worse pelvic floor support compared to nonathletes. Pelvic floor muscle electromyographic activity increases substantially as running speeds increase. SUMMARY Based on the current literature, no strong conclusions can be drawn about whether chronic exercise exerts a positive or negative influence on pelvic floor support and function. Adopting longitudinal research methodology that prospectively monitors exercise exposure and subsequent changes in pelvic floor support and function would help to reduce selection bias associated with cross sectional studies on groups of athletes.
Transvascular Intracardiac Applications of a Miniaturized Phased‐Array Ultrasonic Endoscope: Initial Experience With Intracardiac Imaging in Piglets

BackgroundRecent advances in miniaturization of phased-array and mechanical ultrasound devices have resulted in exploration of alternative approaches to cardiac and vascular imaging in the form of transesophageal or intravascular imaging. Preliminary efforts in adapting phased-array endoscopes designed for transesophageal use to a transvascular approach have used full-sized phased-array devices introduced directly into the right atrium in open-chested animals. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of using a custom-made, very small phased-array endoscope for intracardiac imaging introduced intravascularly through jugular venous approach in young piglets. Methods and ResultsExperimental atrial septal defects created in four piglets (3-4 weeks old) had been closed with a buttoned atrial septal defect closure device consisting of an occluder the left atrium and a counteroccluder in the right atrium. Five to 15 days after atrial septal defect closure, the piglets were returned to the experimental laboratory, where a 6.3-17-element, 5-MHz phased-array probe mounted on a 4-mm endoscope was introduced through cutdown incision of the external jugular vein and advanced to the right atrium. From the right atrium all four cardiac chambers, their inflows and outflows, and all four valves were well imaged with minimal superior and inferior rotation. High-resolution imaging of the atrial septum defined with anatomical accuracy, later verified by autopsy, the exact placement of both the occluder and counteroccluder in the left and right sides of the atrial septal defects and absence of any shunting across the atrial septum in any of the four animals. ConclusionsOur efforts indicate that transvascular passage of small phased-array probes can be easily accomplished and is a promising technique for detailed visualization of cardiac structures. This approach may provide an alternative to transesophageal echocardiography, particularly for guiding interventional procedures such as placement of transcatheter closure devices in pediatric patients. (Circulation 1991;83:1023–1027)
Can we identify the relative price between consumption and investment

This paper considers various AK models to investigate inference about the relative price between consumption and investment using NIPA data. We find, that depending on the model used, we can legitimately generate different time series for this price. If we successfully construct a falling price of investment, the model implies an inadmissibly low share of consumption in output. If we use an admissible share of consumption we generate investment prices which increase over time, contrary to the intuition generated by the price of equipment goods.
The Impact of Written Emotional Disclosure on Cancer Caregivers’ Perceptions of Burden, Stress, and Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT Spousal cancer caregivers’ emotional and relational health can become compromised over time due to ongoing challenges related to the cancer experience. This warrants a call for the assessment of interventions aimed at improving aspects of caregiver well-being. The current study employed a randomized controlled trial to determine whether emotional disclosure via the use of expressive writing improved spousal cancer caregivers’ perceived caregiver burden, stress, and depression. Participants (N = 64) were assigned to one of the two disclosure conditions: expressive disclosure or benefit finding—or to a time-management control condition. Participants completed three at-home writing sessions at one-week intervals. Results indicated that written forms of emotional disclosure might improve burden, stress, and depression contingent on writing condition. Specifically, both forms of emotional disclosure outperformed the control condition in reducing caregivers’ depression. The control condition outperformed treatments in reducing caregiver stress. Finally, posttest caregiver burden was significantly lower than pretest burden across all writing conditions. This trial was registered with clinicaltrials.gov, ID: NCT02339870
Nicotianamine and histidine/proline are, respectively, the most important copper chelators in xylem sap of Brassica carinata under conditions of copper deficiency and excess

The effect of two different copper conditions (deficiency and excess) on the amino acid composition in B. carinata xylem sap was analysed. When the Cu in the nutrient solution was increased from 0.12 to 2.5 or 5 mM, the concentrations of histidine, threonine, glutamine, proline, methionine, and glycine were much increased in the xylem sap. When Cu was made deficient in the nutrient solution by decreasing its concentration from 0.12 mM to 0 mM, nicotianamine, glutamine, and threonine were significantly increased in the xylem sap. Aqueous solutions containing different Cu–amino acid complexes (simulated saps) responded in a specific way to the changes in pH, providing a signature that was used to evaluate, by comparison with the real xylem sap, the importance of each amino acid in the xylem transport of Cu. For a single amino acid, the free solution Cu concentration versus pH titration curves for histidine and proline were the most similar to that for xylem under Cu excess. Under Cu deficiency, this Cu concentration versus pH titration curve appeared to be very similar to that for nicotianamine. It is concluded that increased Cu concentrations induced the selective synthesis of certain amino acids in the sap, of which histidine and proline are the most important. Under Cu deficiency, the concentration of nicotianamine was induced the most. The fact that nicotianamine is induced under Cu starvation and not under Cu excess, is in contrast to similar studies indicating species-specific reactions. However, the induction of nicotianamine under Cu starvation is in line with recent molecular data of the role of nicotianamine in intracellular Cu delivery.