Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Large-Scale Study Indicates Increase in the Risk of Epilepsy in Patients With Different Risk Factors, Including Rheumatoid Arthritis

AbstractPeripheral neuropathy and inflammatory reactions of the central nervous system may accompany rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Inflammatory processes play a critical role in epilepsy. Therefore, we conducted this study to determine the risk of epilepsy in patients with RA.The RA cohort comprised patients ages 20 years and older who were newly diagnosed with RA between 2000 and 2011, with data obtained from the Registry of Catastrophic Illnesses Patient Database. Patients without RA were frequency matched with an RA cohort at a 1:1 ratio according to age, sex, and year of RA diagnosis.The overall crude hazard ratio (HR) for epilepsy was 1.27-fold higher in the RA cohort compared with that in the controls. After adjustment for age, sex, comorbidities, and medications, the patients with RA were associated with an increased risk of epilepsy compared with those without RA (adjusted HR [aHR] = 1.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.12–2.07). Compared with the RA patients with ⩽ 560 days of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, the RA patients with 1181 to 2145 and >2145 days of NSAID use had a significantly lower risk of epilepsy (aHR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.24–0.52 and aHR = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.09–0.24, respectively). This study provides compelling evidence of an increased risk of epilepsy in patients with RA. The period of NSAID treatment is negatively associated with the risk of epilepsy in RA patients.
Dynamic Plasticity of Axons within a Cutaneous Milieu

The skin is a repository of sensory axons immersed within the turnover of epidermal, follicular, and dermal cellular constituents. We show that epidermal and perifollicular axons within intact hairy skin of mice possess a remarkable dynamic plasticity linked to their microenvironment. For example, the majority of epidermal axons express the growth protein GAP43. Unexpectedly, we induced new cutaneous axogenesis by simple and noninvasive hair clipping, a response linked to a series of changes in their cutaneous neighbors. In thy-1 YFP transgenic mice with fluorescent axons, superficial epidermal and perifollicular cells newly acquired YFP, indicating diffuse activation by clipping despite the absence of skin injury. At 48 h after clipping, this activation was accompanied by a rise in the number of epidermal cells, transient rises in mRNA of Sox2, a marker of follicular stem cells, and a rise in mRNA of glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker of glial cells. Axons responded with rises in their numbers in the epidermis and around dermal hair follicles. Linking these responses were early, large, and selective rises in hepatic growth factor (HGF) mRNA, with its protein identified in epidermal cells, perifollicular cells, and sensory axons. Moreover, these elements also expressed the HGF receptor c-Met, especially in small caliber sensory neurons. Finally, we identified concurrent rises in Rac1 activation, a downstream target of ligated c-Met. Together, these results confirm critical linkages between sensory axons and their cutaneous milieu. We believe that the plasticity is provoked by follicular-originating cutaneous activation with HGF and Rac1 signaling, allowing cross talk and axonal remodeling.
Estimation of linear deformations of 3D objects

We propose a registration method to find affine transformations between 3D objects by constructing and solving an overdetermined system of polynomial equations. We utilize voxel coverage information for more precise object boundary description. An iterative solution enables us to easily adjust the method to recover e.g. rigid-body and similarity transformations. Synthetic tests show the advantage of the voxel coverage representation, and reveal the robustness properties of our method against different types of segmentation errors. The method is tested on a real medical CT volume.
ASKθ, a group-III Arabidopsis GSK3, functions in the brassinosteroid signalling pathway

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant hormones that regulate many processes including cell elongation, leaf development, pollen tube growth and xylem differentiation. GSK3/shaggy-like kinases (GSK) are critical regulators of intracellular signalling initiated by the binding of BR to the BRI1 receptor complex. Three GSKs have already been shown to relay BR responses, including phosphorylation of the transcriptional regulator BES1. However, recent studies indicate that one or more yet unidentified protein kinases are involved in BR signalling. Here, we show that the in vivo protein kinase activity of the group-III GSK, ASKθ, was negatively regulated by BRI1. Arabidopsis thaliana plants with enhanced ASKθ activity displayed a bri1-like phenotype. ASKθ overexpressors accumulated high levels of brassinolide, castasterone and typhasterol, and were insensitive to BR. ASKθ localized to the nucleus and directly phosphorylated BES1 and BZR1. Moreover, the BES1/BZR1-like transcription factor BEH2 was isolated as an ASKθ interaction partner in a yeast two-hybrid screen. ASKθ phosphorylated BEH2 both in vitro and in vivo. Overall, these data provide strong evidence that ASKθ is a novel component of the BR signalling cascade, targeting the transcription factors BES1, BZR1 and BEH2.
A Foundation of Information Processes

In this paper the widely used concept of an information process is analyzed in more detail. Especially the information process is related to observable variables. The information process is usually understood to characterize investors’ expectations about future asset prices. We show under which conditions the information process is governed by a geometric Brownian motion and we give a rationale for stochastic volatility of the information process. The information process is also analyzed for the case of learning.
Improving the Odds: Identifying Language Activities that Support the Language Development of Preschoolers with Poorer Vocabulary Skills

ABSTRACT The aim of the current study is to determine what language activities Norwegian preschool children took part in, and to examine whether these language activities predict children’s language comprehension. We tested children (n = 134) with language measures at age 4/5 and age 5/6 and interviewed their teachers (n = 71) about the kinds of language activities the children engaged in during that school year. Teachers reported a variety of classroom language activities, ranging from informal language stimulation of everyday situations to more explicit language activities such as book reading, language games, vocabulary training and school preparation groups. Book reading every day significantly predicted children’s language comprehension.
The Relationship of Attributions and Parental Characteristics with Parental Problem Recognition

A significant number of youth experience mental health disorders for which they suffer negative consequences. Although there are evidence-based therapies available to help children and their families, most youth do not receive treatment. Parental problem recognition is likely a primary barrier in this process. This study begins to address why parents may have difficulty recognizing mental health problems by extending existing models and integrating evidence about parental perceptions. Specifically, the study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental attributions and parents’ problem determination, and to examine the influence that parental characteristics have on this judgment process. Participants included 164 parents of youth ages 6-11 years. Purposive sampling was used to recruit mothers and fathers from both lower and higher SES communities. Parents completed self-report measures of parental characteristics, including: parental psychopathology, parenting stress, parental tolerance, and parental self-efficacy. Parents read ten brief child behavior vignettes and completed a version of the Written Analogue Questionnaire to rate the cause of each behavior (assuming it was their own child in the vignette) along four dimensions. Parents also rated the extent to which the behavior was seen as a problem. Results indicated that parents’ causal attributions were highly associated with parents’ problem ratings, and the attributions of stability and controllability were particularly robust predictors of problem determination. Hypotheses regarding parental characteristics as moderators of the relationship between attributions and problem determination were not supported. Findings are discussed in
Stimulus‐locked responses on human arm muscles reveal a rapid neural pathway linking visual input to arm motor output

Previous studies have demonstrated that humans are sometimes capable of initiating arm movements towards visual stimuli at extremely short latencies, implying the presence of a short‐latency neural pathway linking visual input to limb motor output. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie such hastened arm responses. One clue may come from recent demonstrations that the appearance of a visual target can elicit a rapid response in neck muscles that is time‐locked to target appearance and functionally relevant for orienting gaze (head and eye) towards the target. Because oculomotor structures thought to contribute to ‘visual responses’ on neck muscles also target some arm muscles via a tecto‐reticulo‐spinal pathway, we hypothesized that a similar visual response would be present in arm muscles. Our results were consistent with this hypothesis as we observed the presence of rapid arm muscle activity (< 100 ms latency) that was time‐locked to target appearance and not movement onset. We further found that the visual response in arm muscles: (i) was present only when an immediate reach towards the target was required; (ii) had a magnitude that was predictive of reaction time; (iii) was tuned to target location in a manner appropriate for moving the arm towards the target; and (iv) was more prevalent in shoulder muscles than elbow muscles. These results provide evidence for a rapid neural pathway linking visual input to arm motor output and suggest the presence of a common neural mechanism for hastening eye, head and arm movements.
Cognition and Motor Execution in Piano Sight-Reading: A Review of Literature

Legal Statement UPDATE: Applications of Research in Music Education is copyrighted by MENC: The National Association for Music Education. You can read or download a single print of an MENC online journal exactly as if you had purchased a subscription to the journal in print form. You do not have any other rights or licenses to this material. This material cannot be reproduced, retransmitted, or reprinted without permission from MENC. This means multiple copies for handout or library reserve cannot be made. Placing on Web sites or school broadcast systems is prohibited, and printing in full or part in other documents is not permitted. To make use of an article or a journal in any of the aforementioned circumstances, please send a request to our editorial department at caroline@menc.org, fax a request to Caroline Arlington at 703-860-9443, or call 800-336-3768, ext. 238 for more information. FALL–WINTER 2005 VOLUME 24, NUMBER 1
Resistance of Aerosolized Bacterial Viruses to Four Germicidal Products

Viral diseases can spread through a variety of routes including aerosols. Yet, limited data are available on the efficacy of aerosolized chemicals to reduce viral loads in the air. Bacteriophages (phages) are often used as surrogates for hazardous viruses in aerosol studies because they are inexpensive, easy to handle, and safe for laboratory workers. Moreover, several of these bacterial viruses display physical characteristics similar to pathogenic human and animal viruses, like morphological size, type of nucleic acids, capsid morphology, and the presence of an envelope. In this study, the efficacy of four chemicals was evaluated on four airborne phages at two different relative humidity levels. Non-tailed bacteriophages MS2 (single-stranded RNA), ϕ6 (double-stranded RNA, enveloped), PR772 (double-stranded DNA), and ϕX174 (single-stranded DNA) were first aerosolized in a 55L rotative environmental chamber at 19°C with 25% and 50% relative humidity. Then, hydrogen peroxide, Eugenol (phenylpropene used in commercial perfumes and flavorings), Mist® (automobile disinfectant containing Triethylene glycol), and Pledge® (multisurface disinfectant containing Isopropanol, n-Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Amonium Chlorides, and n-Alkyl Dimethyl Ethylbenzyl Ammonium Chloride) were nebulized with the phages using a separate nebulizer. Aerosols were maintained in suspension during 10 minutes, 1 hour, and 2 hours. Viral aerosols were sampled using an SKC BioSampler and samples were analyzed using qPCR and plaque assays. The resistance levels of the four phages varied depending on the relative humidity (RH) and germicidal products tested. Phage MS2 was the most stable airborne virus under the environmental conditions tested while phage PR772 was the least stable. Pledge® and Eugenol reduced the infectivity of all airborne phages tested. At 25% RH, Pledge® and Eugenol were more effective at reducing infectivity of RNA phages ϕ6 and MS2. At 50% RH, Pledge® was the most effective agent against phage MS2. These findings illustrate that various airborne viruses should be tested to demonstrate the effectiveness of germicidal treatments. This research also provides a set of parameters for testing germicidal products in large-scale settings to reduce the risk of virus transmission.
Self-organization in vowel systems

This paper presents a computer simulation of the emergence of vowel systems in a population of agents. The agents (small computer programs that operate autonomously) are equipped with a realistic articulatory synthesizer, a model of human perception and the ability to imitate and learn sounds they hear. It is shown that due to the interactions between the agents and due to self-organization, realistic vowel repertoires emerge. This happens under a large number of di! erent parameter settings and therefore seems to be a very robust phenomenon. The emerged vowel systems show remarkable similarities with the vowel systems found in human languages. It is argued that self-organization probably plays an important role in determining the vowel inventories of human languages and that innate predispositions are probably not necessary to explain the universal tendencies of human vowel systems. ( 2000 Academic Press
Students' motivational factors during a collaborative laboratory work supported by Moodle

The aim of this paper is to present a research study about the students' motivational factors identified in a collaborative laboratory work supported by the Learning Management System Moodle. The study was carried out with a group of students enrolled in the Electronics Workshop and Laboratory Course at Pontifical Bolivarian University — UPB — at Monteria, Colombia
Computational approach based on a particle swarm optimizer for microwave imaging of two-dimensional dielectric scatterers

A computational approach based on an innovative stochastic algorithm, namely, the particle swarm optimizer (PSO), is proposed for the solution of the inverse-scattering problem arising in microwave-imaging applications. The original inverse-scattering problem is reformulated in a global nonlinear optimization one by defining a suitable cost function, which is minimized through a customized PSO. In such a framework, this paper is aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the proposed approach in locating, shaping, and reconstructing the dielectric parameters of unknown two-dimensional scatterers. Such an analysis is carried out by comparing the performance of the PSO-based approach with other state-of-the-art methods (deterministic, as well as stochastic) in terms of retrieval accuracy, as well as from a computational point-of-view. Moreover, an integrated strategy (based on the combination of the PSO and the iterative multiscaling method) is proposed and analyzed to fully exploit complementary advantages of nonlinear optimization techniques and multiresolution approaches. Selected numerical experiments concerning dielectric scatterers different in shape, dimension, and dielectric profile, are performed starting from synthetic, as well as experimental inverse-scattering data.
Fuzzy logic controller for permanent magnet synchronous machines

The fuzzy logic controller, FLC, it is part of the control with artificial intelligence (AI), and implies obtaining of improved signal wave forms at output and reduction of oscillations (such as output speed variation, torque variation, current variation for the three phases) comparatively with the classic control. This paper presents two cases of FLC for exterior permanent magnet synchronous machines, PMSM, (Ld=Lq), with 25 rules and with 49 rules. The FLC is developed to have less computational burden, which makes it suitable for real time implementation. The dynamic performances of permanent magnet synchronous machines opens new possibilities of large scale application of PMSM which has a high torque density, with low losses/torque ratio, high power factor and quick torque and speed response. For the real time implementation we have made reference to the digital signal processor controller board DS1104.
Pre-Clinical Assessment of 177Lu-Labeled Trastuzumab Targeting HER2 for Treatment and Management of Cancer Patients with Disseminated Intraperitoneal Disease

Studies from this laboratory have demonstrated the potential of targeting HER2 for therapeutic and imaging applications with medically relevant radionuclides. To expand the repertoire of trastuzumab as a radioimmunoconjugate (RIC) vector, use of 177Lu was investigated. The combination of a 6.7 d half-life, lower energy β−-emissions (500 keV max; 130 keV ave), and an imagable γ-emission make 177Lu an attractive candidate for radioimmunotherapy (RIT) regimens for treatment of larger tumor burdens not possible with α-particle radiation. Radiolabeling trastuzumab-CHX-A″-DTPA with 177Lu was efficient with a specific binding of 60.8 ± 6.8% with HER2 positive SKOV-3 cells. Direct quantitation of tumor targeting and normal tissue uptake was performed with athymic mice bearing subcutaneous and intraperitoneal LS-174T xenografts; a peak tumor %ID/g of 24.70 ± 10.29 (96 h) and 31.70 ± 16.20 (72 h), respectively, was obtained. Normal tissue uptake of the RIC was minimal. Tumor targeting was also demonstrated by γ-scintigraphy. A therapy study administeringescalating doses of 177Lu-trastuzumab to mice bearing three day LS-174T i.p. xenografts established the effective therapeutic dose of i.p. administered 177Lu-trastuzumab at 375 μCi with a median survival of 124.5 d while a median survival of 10 d was noted for the control (untreated) group. In conclusion, trastuzumab radiolabeled with 177Lu has potential for treatment of disseminated, HER2 positive, peritoneal disease.
Read optimized file system designs: a performance evaluation

A performance comparison is presented of several file system allocation policies. The file systems are designed to provide high bandwidth between disks and main memory by taking advantage of parallelism in an underlying disk array catering to large units of transfer, and minimizing the bandwidth dedicated to the transfer of metadata. All of the file systems described use a multiblock allocation strategy which allows both large and small files to be allocated efficiently. Simulation results show that these multiblock policies result in systems that are able to utilize a large percentage of the underlying disk bandwidth (more than 90% in sequential cases). As general-purpose systems are called upon to support more data intensive applications such as databases and supercomputing, these policies offer an opportunity to provide superior performance to a larger class of users. <<ETX>>
Right temporoparietal junction and attentional reorienting

The interaction between goal‐directed and stimulus‐driven attentional control allows humans to rapidly reorient to relevant objects outside the focus of attention—a phenomenon termed contingent reorienting. Neuroimaging studies have observed activation of the ventral and dorsal attentional networks, but specific involvement of each network remains unclear. The present study aimed to determine whether both networks are critical to the processes of top‐down contingent reorienting. To this end, we combined the contingent attentional capture paradigm with the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to interfere with temporoparietal junction (TPJ; ventral network) and frontal eye field (dorsal network) activity. The results showed that only right TPJ (rTPJ) TMS modulated contingent orienting. Furthermore, this modulation was highly dependent on visual fields: rTPJ TMS increased contingent capture in the left visual field and decreased the effect in the right visual field. These results demonstrate a critical involvement of the ventral network in attentional reorienting and reveal the spatial selectivity within such network. Hum Brain Mapp, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The anorexia nervosa experience: Shame, Solitude and Salvation

Aim Women with anorexia are often perceived very negatively – for example, as manipulative and deceitful – both by wider society and treatment providers. In this context, it is important for practitioners to understand the experience of living with this illness, but there is very little empirical research focused on the everyday phenomenology of anorexia. This study aimed to expand this limited literature by ‘giving voice’ to the lived experience of women with anorexia. Method A purposive sample of 12 women – 11 with a formal diagnosis of AN as a result of NHS treatment and one with a long behavioural history of dietary restriction who had received private treatment – who saw themselves as recovered, or in recovery, from anorexia nervosa participated in semi-structured interviews. The women were asked about the history of their eating disorder, their understandings of its cause and experiences of seeking help and treatment. Results The data were analysed with thematic analysis and three themes identified – Shame, Solitude and Salvation – which, when taken together, describe the dual role of anorexia nervosa as both problem and solution, the cyclical nature of sufferers’ behaviours and feelings and the way in which anorexia nervosa is a form of distress that can make its sufferers feel better as well as worse. Conclusions Further light is shed on the ambivalence about recovery, and resistance to treatment, that are frequently experienced by sufferers. Implications of these findings for those who work with eating disorders clients are discussed.
Technology and financial structure: are innovative firms different?

We use data on publicly traded U.K. firms to investigate whether financing choices differ systematically with R&D intensity. As well as looking at a balance sheet measure of the debt/assets ratio, we also consider the probability of raising finance by issuing new equity, and the shares of bank debt and secured debt in total debt. We find a nonlinear relationship with the debt/assets ratio: firms that report positive but low R&D use more debt finance than firms that report no R&D, but the use of debt finance falls with R&D intensity among those firms that report R&D. We find a simpler relationship with the probability of issuing new equity: Firms that report R&D are more likely to raise funds by issuing shares than firms that report no R&D, and this probability increases with R&D intensity. The shares of bank debt and secured debt in total debt are both lower for firms that report R&D compared to those that do not, and tend to fall as R&D intensity rises. We discuss possible explanations for these patterns.