Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Screening Out Chinese–English Biliterate Kindergarten Children with Handwriting Difficulties

ABSTRACT Aims: This study aimed to (1) develop and validate the Chinese and English Handwriting Screening Test for Kindergarten Children (CHEST) to screen children for handwriting difficulties in their final year of kindergarten education in Hong Kong, and to (2) identify common types of problems encountered by those children before their formal primary education. Method: One-hundred and fifty-one K3 (final year of kindergarten) children were recruited. The CHEST demonstrated good to excellent content validity, and test–retest and inter-rater reliabilities. Results: The CHEST scores for typically developing children were skewed to the higher endtypically developing, whereas those for children identified with handwriting difficulties were significantly lower, in Chinese and/or in English. The latter group of children showed difficulty reproducing the correct strokes and maintaining the appropriate proportions of Chinese characters, and they demonstrated difficulty maintaining the appropriate proportions of strokes within letters and along the lines in English. Conclusions: The CHEST is the first screening test developed for evaluating kindergarten children’s handwriting performance in both Chinese and English through having them copy a group of familiar words. It provides an objective measure to identify and describe children’s problems in their copying performance.
Patterns of performance degradation and restoration during sleep restriction and subsequent recovery: a sleep dose‐response study

Daytime performance changes were examined during chronic sleep restriction or augmentation and following subsequent recovery sleep. Sixty‐six normal volunteers spent either 3 (n = 18), 5 (n= 16), 7 (n = 16), or 9 h (n = 16) daily time in bed (TIB) for 7 days (restriction/augmentation) followed by 3 days with 8 h daily TIB (recovery). In the 3‐h group, speed (mean and fastest 10% of responses) on the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) declined, and PVT lapses (reaction times greater than 500 ms) increased steadily across the 7 days of sleep restriction. In the 7‐ and 5‐h groups speed initially declined, then appeared to stabilize at a reduced level; lapses were increased only in the 5‐h group. In the 9‐h group, speed and lapses remained at baseline levels. During recovery, PVT speed in the 7‐ and 5‐h groups (and lapses in the 5‐h group) remained at the stable, but reduced levels seen during the last days of the experimental phase, with no evidence of recovery. Speed and lapses in the 3‐h group recovered rapidly following the first night of recovery sleep; however, recovery was incomplete with speed and lapses stabilizing at a level comparable with the 7‐ and 5‐h groups. Performance in the 9‐h group remained at baseline levels during the recovery phase. These results suggest that the brain adapts to chronic sleep restriction. In mild to moderate sleep restriction this adaptation is sufficient to stabilize performance, although at a reduced level. These adaptive changes are hypothesized to restrict brain operational capacity and to persist for several days after normal sleep duration is restored, delaying recovery.
Open education

Introduction to some concepts of openness in education. This presentation addresses concepts of Open Licensing (Creative Commons licenses), Open Content, Open Coursewere, Open Educational Resources, and Open Teaching (Massive Open Online Courses - MOOC). The presentation loosely follow structure of David Wiley's Introduction to Openness in Education course[1], but chooses areas to focus on. The main focus is kept on open teaching and Massive Open Online Courses.
Radial velocities in the globular cluster ω Centauri

We have used the ARGUS multi-object spectrometer at the CTIO 4 m Blanco telescope to obtain 2756 radial velocity measurements for 1966 individual stars in the globular cluster ω Centauri brighter than blue photographic magnitude of about 16.5. Of these, 1589 stars are cluster members. A comparison with two independent radial velocity studies, carried out by Suntzeff & Kraft and by Mayor et al., demonstrates that the median error of our measurements is below 2 km s -1 for the stars brighter than B -magnitude 15, which constitute the bulk of the sample. The observed velocity dispersion decreases from about 15 km s -1 in the inner few arcmin to about 6 km s -1 at a radius of 25 ' . The cluster shows significant rotation, with a maximum amplitude of about 6 km s -1 in the radial zone between 6 ' and 10 ' . In a companion paper by van de Ven et al., we correct these radial velocities for the perspective rotation caused by the space motion of the cluster, and combine them with the internal proper motions of nearly 8000 cluster members measured by van Leeuwen et al., to construct a detailed dynamical model of ω Centauri and to measure its distance.
The Importance of Learning in Market Design ∗

Individuals often form preferences through search, interviews, discussion, and investigation. Endogenizing information acquisition in a stylized object allocation problem, we demonstrate that learning decisions depend on the incentives provided by the chosen allocation rule with important consequences for individual and social welfare. In particular, top trading cycles rules dominate serial priority rules under progressive measures of social welfare.
Compositional Requirements of Follow-Up Formula for Use in Infancy: Recommendations of an International Expert Group Coordinated by the Early Nutrition Academy

The follow-up formula (FUF) standard of Codex Alimentarius adopted in 1987 does not correspond to the recently updated Codex infant formula (IF) standard and current scientific knowledge. New Zealand proposed a revision of the FUF Codex standard and asked the non-profit Early Nutrition Academy, in collaboration with the Federation of International Societies for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (FISPGHAN), for a consultation with paediatric nutrition experts to provide scientific guidance. This global expert group strongly supports breastfeeding. FUF are considered dispensable because IF can substitute for breastfeeding throughout infancy, but FUF are widely used and thus the outdated current FUF standard should be revised. Like IF, FUF serve as breast milk substitutes; hence their marketing should respect appropriate standards. The compositional requirements for FUF for infants from 6 months onwards presented here were unanimously agreed upon. For some nutrients, the compositional requirements for FUF differ from those of IF due to differing needs with infant maturation as well as a rising contribution of an increasingly diversified diet with advancing age. FUF should be fed with adequate complementary feeding that is also appropriate for partially breastfed infants. FUF could be fed also after the age of 1 year without safety concerns, but different compositional requirements should be applied for optimal, age-adapted milk-based formulations for young children used only after the age of 1 year. This has not been considered as part of this review and should be the subject of further consideration.
The meanings of Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) in the ‘marvelous city’

ABSTRACT Since 2008, a new policing program has been in progress in the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro – known by Brazilians as ‘cidade maravilhosa’ (‘the marvelous city’) –, based on the implementation of UPPs (Unidades de Polícia Pacificadora, or Pacifying Police Units). In this article, we analyze the perceptions of dwellers of ten recently pacified favelas, seeking to unveil the meanings they lend to the community policing category. Data gathered with four focus groups, carried out in 2015, showed that UPP is a program welcomed and rejected by those living in favelas, as pacifying methods oscillate between proximity and brutality, contradicting the concept of community policing.
Is Cell Death Primary or Secondary in the Pathophysiology of Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease?

Currently, the pathophysiology of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease is explained by a loss of mainly dopaminergic nerve cells that causes a neurotransmitter deficiency. In the final stage of the disease, there is a marked loss of neurons in the substantia nigra. In addition, Lewy bodies can be found in some of the remaining neurons, which serve as the pathological hallmark of the disease. These Lewy bodies are composed mainly of aggregated α-synuclein, a physiological presynaptic protein. Lewy bodies were thought to be the pathophysiologically relevant form of α-synuclein because their appearance coincided with neuron loss in the substantia nigra. In consequence, neuron loss was thought to be the primary step in the neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease. On the other hand, the clinical syndrome suggests a synaptic disorder. If α-synuclein aggregation was causally linked to the pathophysiology of disease, α-synuclein pathology should be found at the synapse. As recently demonstrated, one to two orders of magnitude more α-synuclein aggregates are present in presynaptic terminals than in Lewy bodies or Lewy neurites. Degeneration of dendritic spines associated with synaptic α-synuclein aggregates has been shown to occur in human disease. In experiments, using transgenic mice or cell cultures, mild (two- to three-fold) overexpression of α-synuclein caused an altered vesicle turnover and led to a reduction in neurotransmitter release. Different approaches linked these alterations to presynaptic aggregation of α-synuclein. These findings may fundamentally change the pathophysiological concept of Parkinson’s disease: not nerve cell loss, but the synaptic dysfunction of still existing nerve cells should become the focus of attention. From recent findings, it is quite evident that the death of dopaminergic neurons is a secondary event in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease.
Inequality implications of European economic and monetary union membership: A reassessment

A growing number of studies have concluded that the European economic and monetary union has exacerbated inequalities in income, wealth and society. Furthermore, the endogeneity of income inequality is now becoming recognised as an important part of the cost–benefit analysis of euro currency adoption. Yet the nature, significance and scale of different monetary (and market) integration channels in operation remain uncertain. In this contribution, we employ static and dynamic panel data methodologies to investigate the intra-national household inequality implications, both realised and expected over coming years. Our analysis reveals that the within-country inequality outcomes differ significantly for core and non-core country-groups in the European economic and monetary union, which have so far realised very different distributional costs and benefits from the integration process. These are crucial issues for policy-makers, not just for the European economic and monetary union member states, but for other countries as well, especially the European Union countries that are expected to adopt the euro currency in the future. This is so in terms of their attempts to look for, design and implement policies, which alleviate rather than exacerbate within-country inequality.
Repetitive stunning, hibernation, and heart failure: contribution of PET to establishing a link.

Heart failure is common and mortality from heart failure is increasing ([49][1]). Thrombolytic therapy has reduced the mortality of myocardial infarction, but many survivors go on to develop heart failure, which is expensive to treat, associated with a poor prognosis ([17][2]), and accounts for over
SDPR functions as a metastasis suppressor in breast cancer by promoting apoptosis

Significance Discovery of novel metastasis suppressor genes in breast cancer using genomic efforts has been limited, potentially due to overlooking their regulation by epigenetic mechanisms. We report the discovery of SDPR as a novel metastasis suppressor gene localized to 2q32-33, a region associated with significant loss of heterozygosity in breast cancer, using comparative gene expression analysis of a breast cancer progression model system in conjunction with in silico metaanalysis of publicly available datasets. SDPR is silenced epigenetically by promoter DNA methylation and its loss of expression correlates with significantly reduced distant-metastasis–free and relapse-free survival of breast cancer patients. Overexpression of SDPR reduces cell migration and intravasation/extravasation potential, favors cell death, and suppresses experimental lung metastasis of breast cancer cells. Metastatic dissemination of breast cancer cells represents a significant clinical obstacle to curative therapy. The loss of function of metastasis suppressor genes is a major rate-limiting step in breast cancer progression that prevents the formation of new colonies at distal sites. However, the discovery of new metastasis suppressor genes in breast cancer using genomic efforts has been slow, potentially due to their primary regulation by epigenetic mechanisms. Here, we report the use of model cell lines with the same genetic lineage for the identification of a novel metastasis suppressor gene, serum deprivation response (SDPR), localized to 2q32-33, a region reported to be associated with significant loss of heterozygosity in breast cancer. In silico metaanalysis of publicly available gene expression datasets suggests that the loss of expression of SDPR correlates with significantly reduced distant-metastasis–free and relapse-free survival of breast cancer patients who underwent therapy. Furthermore, we found that stable SDPR overexpression in highly metastatic breast cancer model cell lines inhibited prosurvival pathways, shifted the balance of Bcl-2 family proteins in favor of apoptosis, and decreased migration and intravasation/extravasation potential, with a corresponding drastic suppression of metastatic nodule formation in the lungs of NOD/SCID mice. Moreover, SDPR expression is silenced by promoter DNA methylation, and as such it exemplifies epigenetic regulation of metastatic breast cancer progression. These observations highlight SDPR as a potential prognostic biomarker and a target for future therapeutic applications.
Generic Communication ( IOP GenCom ) Quality of Service for Personal Networks at Home Deliverable D 2 . 4 Refinement of new QoS protocols and mechanisms

This document presents a refinement of the state of the art QoS protocols and mechanisms for Personal networks as presented in the previous deliverable. In the first part of the document efficient searching for resources and services in Personal Networks is addressed. There are two common methods employed for searching: Flooding and Random Walks (RW), where for Personal Networks we propose the use of multiple RWs. The performance of searching with multiple RWs on two graph topologies, ER random graphs and power law graphs generated using preferential attachment are studied. An efficient way of searching graphs using RWs with no repetition of steps (i.e., memory) is shown, and in addition we show that an optimal value of the memory Μ depends on the topology of the network. The second part of the document deals with QoS differentiation in Personal Networks. By giving different priorities to users, their performance can be increased or decreased. We study the impact of the priority settings on the average waiting time of a packet for each customer class. A mathematical model is developed to approximate the 1-limited polling system that is used to model the network. The third part of the document analyses the throughput of Personal Networks, taking into account the impact of interference due to the wireless transmissions. A new theorem is stated and proven that provides an upper bound on the throughput a network can achieve. The results presented in this document can be used to refine existing protocols and serve as a basis for developing new ones. They provide insights in the different aspects affecting the QoS a Personal Network can obtain. IOP GenCom QoS for PNs at Home – D2.2 Assessment of proposed QoS protocols and mechanisms Colophon Date of Delivery: July 1, 2007 Version: 1.0 Authors: Tom Coenen, Santpal Dhillon Editor: Tom Coenen Participants: Network Architecture and Services (NAS), TUDelft Wireless Mobile Communication (WMC), TUDelft Design and Analysis of Communication Systems (DACS), UTwente Stochastic Operations Research (SOR), UTwente Work Package WP2 QoS control and modeling in both traffic and routing Classification: Public No. of Pages: 38 Revision History Version Date Editor Summary 1.0 1 July 2007 Tom Coenen IOP GenCom QoS for PNs at Home – D2.2 Assessment of proposed QoS protocols and mechanisms Table of Content
Spacetime ray tracing for animation

Techniques for the efficient ray tracing of animated scenes are presented. They are based on two central concepts: spacetime ray tracing, and a hybrid adaptive space subdivision/boundary volume technique for generating efficient, nonoverlapping hierarchies of bounding volumes. In spacetime ray tracing, static objects are rendered in 4-D space-time using 4-D analogs to 3-D techniques. The bounding volume hierarchy combines elements of adaptive space subdivision and bounding volume techniques. The quality of hierarchy and its nonoverlapping character make it an improvement over previous algorithms, because both attributes reduce the number of ray/object intersections that must be computed. These savings are amplified in animation because of the much higher cost of computing ray/object intersections for motion-blurred animation. It is shown that it is possible to ray trace large animations more quickly with space-time ray tracing using this hierarchy than with straightforward frame-by-frame rendering. <<ETX>>
Neighborhood Disadvantage, Neighborhood Safety and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in African Americans: Biosocial Associations in the Jackson Heart Study

Objective We examined associations between neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage, perceived neighborhood safety and cardiometabolic risk factors, adjusting for health behaviors and socioeconomic status (SES) among African Americans. Methods Study participants were non-diabetic African Americans (n = 3,909) in the baseline examination (2000–2004) of the Jackson Heart Study. We measured eight risk factors: the metabolic syndrome, its five components, insulin resistance and cardiovascular inflammation. We assessed neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage with US Census 2000 data. We assessed perceived neighborhood safety, health behaviors and SES via survey. We used generalized estimating equations to estimate associations with a random intercept model for neighborhood effects. Results After adjustment for health behaviors and SES, neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with the metabolic syndrome in women (PR 1.13, 95% CI 1.01, 1.27). Lack of perceived safety was associated with elevated glucose (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.03, 1.80) and waist circumference (PR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02, 1.11) among women, and with elevated glucose (PR 1.30, 95% CI 1.02, 1.66) and insulin resistance (PR 1.25, 95% CI 1.08, 1.46) among men. Conclusions Neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and perceived safety should be considered as targets for intervention to reduce cardiometabolic risks among African Americans.
Effect of Chronic Pioglitazone Treatment on Hepatic Gene Expression Profile in Obese C57BL/6J Mice

Pioglitazone, a selective ligand of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), is an insulin sensitizer drug that is being used in a number of insulin-resistant conditions, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, there is a discrepancy between preclinical and clinical data in the literature and the benefits of pioglitazone treatment as well as the precise mechanism of action remain unclear. In the present study, we determined the effect of chronic pioglitazone treatment on hepatic gene expression profile in diet-induced obesity (DIO) C57BL/6J mice in order to understand the mechanisms of NAFLD induced by PPARγ agonists. DIO mice were treated with pioglitazone (25 mg/kg/day) for 38 days, the gene expression profile in liver was evaluated using Affymetrix Mouse GeneChip 1.0 ST array. Pioglitazone treatment resulted in exacerbated hepatic steatosis and increased hepatic triglyceride and free fatty acids concentrations, though significantly increased the glucose infusion rate in hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp test. The differentially expressed genes in liver of pioglitazone treated vs. untreated mice include 260 upregulated and 86 downregulated genes. Gene Ontology based enrichment analysis suggests that inflammation response is transcriptionally downregulated, while lipid metabolism is transcriptionally upregulated. This may underlie the observed aggravating liver steatosis and ameliorated systemic insulin resistance in DIO mice.
Screening of Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) Accessions for High Salt Tolerance

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) is an herbaceous leafy vegetable crop, comparatively more salt-tolerant than any other vegetables with high antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Salt-tolerant crop variety development is of importance due to inadequate cultivable land and escalating salinity together with population pressure. In this view a total of 25 purslane accessions were initially selected from 45 collected purslane accessions based on better growth performance and subjected to 5 different salinity levels, that is, 0.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, and 40.0 dS m−1 NaCl. Plant height, number of leaves, number of flowers, and dry matter contents in salt treated purslane accessions were significantly reduced (P ≤ 0.05) and the enormity of reduction increased with increasing salinity stress. Based on dry matter yield reduction, among all 25 purslane accessions 2 accessions were graded as tolerant (Ac7 and Ac9), 6 accessions were moderately tolerant (Ac3, Ac5, Ac6, Ac10, Ac11, and Ac12), 5 accessions were moderately susceptible (Ac1, Ac2, Ac4, Ac8, and Ac13), and the remaining 12 accessions were susceptible to salinity stress and discarded from further study. The selected 13 purslane accessions could assist in the identification of superior genes for salt tolerance in purslane for improving its productivity and sustainable agricultural production.
Evidence for Different Contributions of Archaea and Bacteria to the Ammonia-Oxidizing Potential of Diverse Oregon Soils

ABSTRACT A method was developed to determine the contributions of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) to the nitrification potentials (NPs) of soils taken from forest, pasture, cropped, and fallowed (19 years) lands. Soil slurries were exposed to acetylene to irreversibly inactivate ammonia monooxygenase, and upon the removal of acetylene, the recovery of nitrification potential (RNP) was monitored in the presence and absence of bacterial or eukaryotic protein synthesis inhibitors. For unknown reasons, and despite measureable NPs, RNP did not occur consistently in forest soil samples; however, pasture, cropped, and fallowed soil RNPs commenced after lags that ranged from 12 to 30 h after acetylene removal. Cropped soil RNP was completely prevented by the bacterial protein synthesis inhibitor kanamycin (800 μg/ml), whereas a combination of kanamycin plus gentamicin (800 μg/ml each) only partially prevented the RNP (60%) of fallowed soils. Pasture soil RNP was completely insensitive to either kanamycin, gentamicin, or a combination of the two. Unlike cropped soil, pasture and fallowed soil RNPs occurred at both 30°C and 40°C and without supplemental NH4+ (≤10 μM NH4+ in solution), and pasture soil RNP demonstrated ∼50% insensitivity to 100 μM allyl thiourea (ATU). In addition, fallowed and pasture soil RNPs were insensitive to the fungal inhibitors nystatin and azoxystrobin. This combination of properties suggests that neither fungi nor AOB contributed to pasture soil RNP and that AOA were responsible for the RNP of the pasture soils. Both AOA and AOB may contribute to RNP in fallowed soil, while RNP in cropped soils was dominated by AOB.