Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptation of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III and lessons learned for evaluating intelligence in low-income settings

ABSTRACT Many global settings lack indigenous measures of child development, making the adaptation of available instruments necessary. The aim of this study was to reliably adapt the core subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III (WPPSI-III) to assess cognitive abilities in young children in rural Pakistan. A systematic adaptation protocol was followed and psychometric properties were tested after completing data collection on a cohort of 1,273 children at 4 years of age. The results indicated a one-factor structure, and acceptable reliability of the full-scale score implying only this score should be used for any interpretation of results. Lessons learned for adaptation and evaluation in highly disadvantaged contexts are shared.
Data in Construction Grammar

Over the last approximately 25-30 years, a new family of linguistic theories has established itself as a powerful alternative to the then dominant generative approach to language in general and grammar in particular, the family of Construction Grammars. Many of these theories share most of their assumptions with the approach of Cognitive Linguistics, of which some are, in some sense, the grammatical part. However, the commonalities do not end there, and I want to point out two additional ones that bear on the data and methodology. First, just like semantic categories are described in Cognitive Linguistics as radial categories – categories whose members may be linked not directly but via family resemblances – different instantiations of Construction Grammar constitute a radial category of the same kind. cognitive commitment, namely " a commitment to providing a characterization of general principles for language that accords with what is known about the mind and brain from other disciplines. " Given this commitment, it is not surprising that, empirically speaking, Construction Grammar as a family of closely-related grammars is probably one of the methodologically most pluralistic fields, as it utilizes a large number of different data and methodologies. A very widespread classification of types of linguistic data has been to distinguish introspective, observational, and experimental data, where introspective data result from a speaker's second-level attention or second-level consciousness (to use Talmy's 2007 terminology), where observational data result from recordings or corpora of linguistic production in (often) noisy naturalistic settings, and where experimental data result from subjects' behavior
Symbolic dynamics for Lozi maps

We study the family of Lozi maps La,b:R2→R2, La,b(x,y)=(1+y−a|x|,bx), and their strange attractors Λa,b. We introduce the set of kneading sequences for the Lozi map and prove that it determines the symbolic dynamics for that map. We also introduce two other equivalent approaches.
Estimating the Trend of M3 Income Velocity Underlying the Reference Value for Monetary Growth

This paper documents the analytical work that was carried out for the 2001 review of the assumption for the trend in M3 income velocity used to calculate the reference value for M3 growth. We analyse the medium-term trend in velocity using univariate time series tools and different money demand models. In addition, some cross-checking is carried out to address data compilation issues related to the accession of Greece in 2001 and to different weighting schemes used to aggregate historical euro area data. It is found that the trend decline in M3 incomevelocity over the medium term is within a range of 1/2% to 1% per year.
Crenactin forms actin-like double helical filaments regulated by arcadin-2

The similarity of eukaryotic actin to crenactin, a filament-forming protein from the crenarchaeon Pyrobaculum calidifontis supports the theory of a common origin of Crenarchaea and Eukaryotes. Monomeric structures of crenactin and actin are similar, although their filament architectures were suggested to be different. Here we report that crenactin forms bona fide double helical filaments that show exceptional similarity to eukaryotic F-actin. With cryo-electron microscopy and helical reconstruction we solved the structure of the crenactin filament to 3.8 Å resolution. When forming double filaments, the 'hydrophobic plug' loop in crenactin rearranges. Arcadin-2, also encoded by the arcade gene cluster, binds tightly with its C-terminus to the hydrophobic groove of crenactin. Binding is reminiscent of eukaryotic actin modulators such as cofilin and thymosin β4 and arcadin-2 is a depolymeriser of crenactin filaments. Our work further supports the theory of shared ancestry of Eukaryotes and Crenarchaea. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.21600. 001
Glucosamine sulfate in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis symptoms: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study using acetaminophen as a side comparator.

OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of the prescription formulation of glucosamine sulfate (1,500 mg administered once daily) on the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA) during a 6-month treatment course. METHODS Three hundred eighteen patients were enrolled in this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial in which acetaminophen, the currently preferred medication for symptomatic treatment of OA, was used as a side comparator. Patients were randomly assigned to receive oral glucosamine sulfate 1,500 mg once daily (n = 106), acetaminophen 3 gm/day (n = 108), or placebo (n = 104). The primary efficacy outcome measure was the change in the Lequesne index after 6 months. Secondary parameters included the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and response according to the Osteoarthritis Research Society International criteria. These outcome measures were assessed using an intent-to-treat analysis. RESULTS At baseline, the study patients had moderately severe OA symptoms (mean Lequesne index approximately 11 points). Glucosamine sulfate was more effective than placebo in improving the Lequesne score, with a final decrease of 3.1 points, versus 1.9 with placebo (difference between glucosamine sulfate and placebo -1.2 [95% confidence interval -2.3, -0.8]) (P = 0.032). The 2.7-point decrease with acetaminophen was not significantly different from that with placebo (difference -0.8 [95% confidence interval -1.9, 0.3]) (P = 0.18). Similar results were observed for the WOMAC. There were more responders to glucosamine sulfate (39.6%) and acetaminophen (33.3%) than to placebo (21.2%) (P = 0.004 and P = 0.047, respectively, versus placebo). Safety was good, and was comparable among groups. CONCLUSION The findings of this study indicate that glucosamine sulfate at the oral once-daily dosage of 1,500 mg is more effective than placebo in treating knee OA symptoms. Although acetaminophen also had a higher responder rate compared with placebo, it failed to show significant effects on the algofunctional indexes.
Factors affecting the identification of talented junior-elite footballers: a case study

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify and examine factors associated with the identification of talented junior-elite footballers. Three data collection methods were employed: (1) document analysis (4 documents), (2) overt observation (~105 h) and (3) 12 semi-structured one-to-one interviews with staff responsible for player recruitment (M = 70 min). Data were analysed using a constant comparative approach, which allowed flexibility and reflexivity throughout the data collection period. Two core themes concerning the identification of talented players at this academy emerged: "structural issues", which were further categorised as: (1) financial; (2) educational; (3) philosophical or cultural; (4) competition amongst clubs; and (5) hours in practice; and "Current performance and potential talent" which covered issues around growth, maturation and development and psycho-social attributes. The paper concludes by suggesting that clubs should be more proactive in understanding the structural issues that affect talent identification processes, and better educating and supporting staff responsible for recruitment activity.
Introducción: la singularidad de la violencia letal en América Latina

Los homicidios en America Latina revelan un escenario dramatico, no solo por tratarse de la region del planeta con mayor incidencia de homicidios, sino tambien por su evolucion negativa en los ultimos anos, de tal forma que la brecha con otros continentes continua creciendo. La singularidad de este «problema latinoamericano» afecta tambien al perfil de las victimas, los medios y los moviles de la violencia, que tambien difieren en alguna medida en relacion con otras regiones. Este articulo busca ofrecer un panorama de los homicidios en la region y muestra los principales modelos explicativos adoptados para explicar este fenomeno, asi como las politicas que estan siendo implementadas en los ultimos anos para prevenirlo. Por ultimo, el articulo introduce este numero monografico y presenta un resumen de cada articulo, esperando con ello poder contribuir a fomentar la reflexion sobre la violencia letal en America Latina y la participacion de todos los sectores en la busqueda de soluciones.
A single flexible RNAPII-CTD integrates many different transcriptional programs

ABSTRACT The RNAPII-CTD functions as a binding platform for coordinating the recruitment of transcription associated factors. Altering CTD function results in gene expression defects, although mounting evidence suggests that these effects likely vary among species and loci. Here we highlight emerging evidence of species- and loci-specific functions for the RNAPII-CTD.
Transitive Behavior in Hippocampal-Lesioned Pigeons

The hippocampus of birds and mammals is critical for the learning of map-like memory representations of environmental space. It has been suggested that the hippocampus of rats also participates in non-spatial relational learning, including the learning of non-spatial transitive relationships among odor stimuli [Bunsey and Eichenbaum, Nature 1996]. Although transitive-like learning has been demonstrated in a variety of vertebrate species, from a comparative perspective the role of the hippocampus in this form of learning has not been tested in other amniote groups. We trained control and hippocampal-lesioned homing pigeons on a series of visual, non-spatial, go/no-go conditional discriminations and then tested them on novel transitivity probe trials. The hippocampal-lesioned pigeons were as successful as control pigeons in responding appropriately to correct and incorrect transitivity pairs. The finding that the homing pigeon hippocampal formation is not necessary for solving this serial, conditional discrimination task is important for further understanding hippocampal function across species, and represents one of the few studies that have attempted to localize a brain region responsible for the phenomenon of transitive behavior learning.
Analysis of HFE And Non-HFE Gene Mutations in Brazilian Patients with Hemochromatosis

BACKGROUND Approximately one-half of Brazilian patients with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) are neither homozygous for the C282Y mutation nor compound heterozygous for the H63D and C282Y mutations that are associated with HH in Caucasians. Other mutations have been described in the HFE gene as well as in genes involved in iron metabolism, such as transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) and ferroportin 1 (SCL40A1). AIMS To evaluate the role of HFE, TfR2 and SCL40A1 mutations in Brazilian subjects with HH. PATIENTS AND METHODS Nineteen male subjects (median age 42 [range: 20–72] years) with HH were evaluated using the Haemochromatosis StripAssay A®. This assay is capable of detecting twelve HFE mutations, which are V53M, V59M, H63D, H63H, S65C, Q127H, P160delC, E168Q, E168X, W169X, C282Y and Q283, four TfR2 mutations, which are E60X, M172K, Y250X, AVAQ594-597del, and two SCL40A1 mutations, which are N144H and V162del. RESULTS In our cohort, nine (47%) patients were homozygous for the C282Y mutation, two (11%) were heterozygous for the H63D mutation, and one each (5%) was either heterozygous for C282Y or compound heterozygous for C282Y and H63D. No other mutations in the HFE, TfR2 or SCL40A1 genes were observed in the studied patients. CONCLUSIONS One-third of Brazilian subjects with the classical phenotype of HH do not carry HFE or other mutations that are currently associated with the disease in Caucasians. This observation suggests a role for other yet unknown mutations in the aforementioned genes or in other genes involved in iron homeostasis in the pathogenesis of HH in Brazil.
Effect of Active Exploration of 3-D Object Views on the View-Matching Process in Object Recognition

Harman et al (1999, Current Biology 9 1315–1318) showed that active exploration of novel objects allows faster recognition of these objects than passive viewing. Here, we examined whether active exploration of particular objects can facilitate subsequent view matching of different objects within the same category. In the generalisation phase, participants performed a matching task between two serially presented views of novel paper-clip objects. When the two views were of the same object, these were related by rotation about the vertical or horizontal axis. Subsequently, in the observation phase, participants were presented with another 5 paper-clip objects. One group of participants (active group) actively explored each of the objects for 20 s using a trackball over a limited range (−45° to +45°) of the horizontal axis. The other participants observed a replay of the active exploration of each of these objects by a participant in the active group (passive group) or observed a static view of the objects (still group). Following this observation phase, the generalisation phase was repeated twice for all groups of participants. The active group showed a clear expansion of the generalisation range about the horizontal axis. However, this expansion disappeared when we replicated the experiment using a smaller range of active exploration (−30° to +30°) and the experiment in which the participants observed a rotating object within the range of −45° to +45°. Furthermore, we found a significant improvement in view generalisation about the vertical axis when participants actively explored objects using a turntable over a range in −45° to +45° of the vertical axis. Most importantly, since participants explored different objects from the ones that were used in the generalisation phase, these results cannot be explained by improvement of the encoding process. The present findings therefore suggest that: (i) active exploration facilitates the process of view matching, (ii) this effect depends on the exploration range and rotational axis, and (iii) interaction between motor and visual information is necessary to facilitate the process of view matching.
The Case for Auctioning Countermeasures in the WTO

A prominent problem with the WTO dispute settlement procedures is the practical difficulty faced by small and developing countries in finding the capacity to effectively retaliate against trading partners that are in violation of their WTO commitments. In light of this problem, Mexico has proposed that retaliation rights be made tradeable. ' We offer a first formal analysis of the possibility that retaliation rights within the WTO system be allocated through auctions. We show that the auctions exhibit externalities among bidders, and we characterize equilibrium bidder behavior under alternative auction formats. A key feature of auction format is whether the country in violation of its WTO commitments is prevented from bidding to retire the right of retaliation: if so, then the possibility of auction failure' arises, in which no bids are made despite positive valuation by the bidders; if not, then auction failure is precluded, and indeed the right of retaliation is always retired. We also evaluate these different auction formats from normative (revenue, efficiency) standpoints.
Biology teachers’ conceptions about the origin of life in Brazil, Argentina, And Uruguay: a comparative study

Teachers’ conceptions about the origin of life in three Latin American countries with contrasting levels of secularism were analyzed: Argentina (Catholic constitution), Brazil (formally secular but not in practice), and Uruguay (consolidated secularism). A European survey questionnaire was used and the interpretation of the results drew on Barbour’s four categories concerning the relationships of science and religion. A large majority of Argentinian and Uruguayan teachers were clearly evolutionist, even when believing in God (Independence or Dialogue category), with no difference be- tween Argentina and Uruguay. The majority of Brazilian teachers assumed a religious position about the origin of life, being creation- ist (Conﬂict or Independence categories) or evolutionary creationist (Dialogue or Integration categories). Differences of Brazilian teach- ers’ conceptions may result from the higher percentage of evangelicals and lower proportion of agnostics/atheists. Brazilian Catholic teach- ers were more creationist than their Catholic colleagues in Argentina and Uruguay. Distinct patterns were found, but further research is needed to understand possible classroom impacts.
Changing Names in Online News Comments at the New York Times

Online news comments are often confronted with issues of civility and inclusivity, which are sometimes pegged to the anonymity afforded to contributors in those spaces. In this work we study one form of anonymity in online comments that manifests as users changing their display name when they write a given comment. We undertake a predominantly quantitative analysis of how display names are changed across over 4 million comments on the New York Times site. We characterize the extent and nature of name changes on the site, explore the relationship of name changes to topicality and sentiment, and examine how name changes might be used to inform the moderation of online comments.
A review of AC/DC flashover characteristics of contaminated insulators covered with artificial ice

The flashover of contaminated insulators is the one of the key issues to threaten the safe operation of transmission line. Especially for the transmission line operated in the complicated atmospheric environment, the descending flashover characteristic of insulator would be the major factor which caused grid accidents. This paper status on ac and dc flashover characteristics of iced-covered contaminated insulators in different environment at the artificial contaminated experimentation, including artificial contamination experimentation equipment and method, ac and dc flashover performance with varied altitude and contamination degree, the relationship between flashover voltage and ice weight, types of ice, freezing water conductivity, pollution level and air pressure, and problems to be clarified are summarized.
Simulations of Air Distributions in Buildings by FFD on GPU

Building design and operation often requires real-time or faster-than-real-time simulations for detailed information on air distributions. By solving the Navier-Stokes equations and transportation equations for energy and species, Fast Fluid Dynamics (FFD) model can provide detailed information as a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model. Compared to the CFD, the FFD is 50 times faster with some compromise in accuracy. But the accuracy and speed of the FFD model can be further enhanced by improving its numerical schemes. In addition, it was found that the computing time of the FFD program can be reduced up to 30 times by executing on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) instead of a Central Processing Unit (CPU). Furthermore, the FFD simulation can be accelerated by optimizing the GPU code and by using multiple GPUs. As a whole, it is possible to perform real-time simulation for a moderate size building with 107 grids and Δt = 0.1s using the FFD on GPUs
Mitochondrial Ca2+ Uptake Regulates the Excitability of Myenteric Neurons

We investigated the role of mitochondria in the regulation of intracellular Ca2+([Ca2+]i) and excitability of myenteric neurons in guinea pig ileum, using microelectrodes and fura-2 [Ca2+]i measurements. In AH/Type-II neurons, action potentials evoke ryanodine-sensitive increases in [Ca2+]i that activate Ca2+-dependent K+ channels and slow afterhyperpolarizations (AH) lasting ∼15 sec. Exposure to the protonophore carbonyl cyanidep-(trifluoromethoxy)phenylhydrazone (FCCP; 1 μm) had no significant effect on the membrane potential or resting [Ca2+]i. However, action potentials elicited in the presence of FCCP triggered a sustained (>5 min) increase in [Ca2+]i and a compound hyperpolarization (13.4 ± 1.5 mV). The respiratory chain blockers antimycin A and rotenone (10 μm) had similar effects that developed more slowly. Depletion of the intracellular Ca2+ stores with thapsigargin (2 μm) or ryanodine (10 μm) greatly attenuated the hyperpolarization caused by FCCP. S/Type-I neurons that do not have AH were hyperpolarized by mitochondrial inhibition independently of action potentials. Blockade of the F0F1 ATPase by oligomycin (10 μm) had variable effects on myenteric neurons. The majority of AH/Type-II neurons were hyperpolarized by oligomycin, most likely by activating ATP-dependent K+ channels. This hyperpolarization was not triggered by action potential firing and not accompanied by an increase in [Ca2+]i. MitoTracker staining revealed a dense mitochondrial network particularly in myenteric AH/Type-II neurons, supporting the importance of mitochondrial Ca2+ buffering in this subset of neurons. The data indicate that mitochondrial uptake of Ca2+released from the endoplasmic reticulum sets [Ca2+]i and the activity of Ca2+-dependent conductances, thus regulating the excitability of myenteric neurons.
A Sequential Ensemble Kalman Filter for Atmospheric Data Assimilation

An ensemble Kalman filter may be considered for the 4D assimilation of atmospheric data. In this paper, an efficient implementation of the analysis step of the filter is proposed. It employs a Schur (elementwise) product of the covariances of the background error calculated from the ensemble and a correlation function having local support to filter the small (and noisy) background-error covariances associated with remote observations. To solve the Kalman filter equations, the observations are organized into batches that are assimilated sequentially. For each batch, a Cholesky decomposition method is used to solve the system of linear equations. The ensemble of background fields is updated at each step of the sequential algorithm and, as more and more batches of observations are assimilated, evolves to eventually become the ensemble of analysis fields. A prototype sequential filter has been developed. Experiments are performed with a simulated observational network consisting of 542 radiosonde and 615 satellite-thickness profiles. Experimental results indicate that the quality of the analysis is almost independent of the number of batches (except when the ensemble is very small). This supports the use of a sequential algorithm. A parallel version of the algorithm is described and used to assimilate over 100 000 observations into a pair of 50-member ensembles. Its operation count is proportional to the number of observations, the number of analysis grid points, and the number of ensemble members. In view of the flexibility of the sequential filter and its encouraging performance on a NEC SX-4 computer, an application with a primitive equations model can now be envisioned.