Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching Verbal Behavior Using the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) With Children With Autistic Spectrum Disorders

eLementary-school-age children with autistic disorders whose vocal repertoires were severely limited, such as only a few phonemes, could acquire elementary comrnunication skills using PECS. The present study incorporated task analysis, in which a sequcnce of picture-exchanging behaviors was divided into 4 cornponents. The results demonstrated that all 3 children acquired the basic component of PECS within a short period. Data from the task analysis revealed that, with increased use of PECS, their prior mode of communication (grabbing, reaching, or crying) was gradually replaced, thereby indicating the reinforcing value embedded in PECS. In addition, the present data suggest that PECS training produced collateral behavioral changes, such as an emergence of intelligible
Evolution as a Theory for Political Behavior

The recognition of biological differences as an important explanatory and predictive element in political behavior has created the need to integrate various models from a variety of fields into a more cohesive theoretical framework. The ostensibly perplexing coexistence of individual differences in the face of universal human design needs to be reconciled. Here we introduce evolution as a theory of political behavior, which allows for the combination of familial socialization, cultural norms, environmental stimuli, rational action and endogenous or innate influences.
Explication of Political User-Generated Content and Theorizing about Its Effects on Democracy with a Mix-of-Attributes Approach and Documenting Attribute Presence with a Quantitative Content Analysis

ii Acknowledgments.iv Vita.v List of Tables.ix List of Figures.x Chapter 1: Introduction.1 Chapter 2: Theorizing Challenges in Today’s Communication Environment.3 Chapter 3: User-Generated Content.12 Chapter 4: Mix-of-Attributes (MOA) Approach.24 Chapter 5: Using the MOA to Explicate Political UGC Attributes.31 Political Participation.31 Participatory Democracy Theory.32 Variables and Processes Affecting Political Participation.41 Technology.44 Technological Attributes of UGC and Their Hypothesized Influence on Political Participation.46 Task-Specific Information Retrieval Performance.47 Information Environment Customizability.53 Content Manipulability.62 Direct Participation Facilitation.65 vii Community Orientation.68 Chapter 6: Hypotheses and Research Question . 72 Chapter 7: Method.79 Sampling.79 Blogs.86 Wikis.87 Content-Sharing Web Sites.87 Participatory Journalism Web Sites.88 Discussion Forums.88 Reference Group.89 Variables and Codebook.89 Improving Comparability across Web Sites.89 General Procedures for Identifying and Saving Content.89 Specific Procedures for Identifying and Saving Content.90 Coders and Reliability Assessment.94 Chapter 8: Results.96 Hypothesis 1.103 Research Question 1.108 Hypothesis 2.130 Hypothesis 3.130 Chapter 9: Discussion.131 Unexpected Findings.132 Hypothesis 3.132 Hypothesis 1.135
Muddling Through: Noisy Equilibrium Selection☆

Abstract This paper examines an evolutionary model in which the primary source of “noise” that moves the model between equilibria is not arbitrarily improbable mutations but mistakes in learning. We model strategy selection as a birth–death process, allowing us to find a simple, closed-form solution for the stationary distribution. We examine equilibrium selection by considering the limiting case as the population gets large, eliminating aggregate noise. Conditions are established under which the risk-dominant equilibrium in a 2×2 game is selected by the model as well as conditions under which the payoff-dominant equilibrium is selected. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers C70, C72.
The Loopix Anonymity System

We present Loopix, a low-latency anonymous communication system that provides bi-directional 'third-party' sender and receiver anonymity and unobservability. Loopix leverages cover traffic and Poisson mixing--brief independent message delays--to provide anonymity and to achieve traffic analysis resistance against, including but not limited to, a global network adversary. Mixes and clients self-monitor and protect against active attacks via self-injected loops of traffic. The traffic loops also serve as cover traffic to provide stronger anonymity and a measure of sender and receiver unobservability. Loopix is instantiated as a network of Poisson mix nodes in a stratified topology with a low number of links, which serve to further concentrate cover traffic. Service providers mediate access in and out of the network to facilitate accounting and off-line message reception. We provide a theoretical analysis of the Poisson mixing strategy as well as an empirical evaluation of the anonymity provided by the protocol and a functional implementation that we analyze in terms of scalability by running it on AWS EC2. We show that mix nodes in Loopix can handle upwards of 300 messages per second, at a small delay overhead of less than 1.5ms on top of the delays introduced into messages to provide security. Overall message latency is on the order of seconds - which is relatively low for a mix-system. Furthermore, many mix nodes can be securely added to the stratified topology to scale throughput without sacrificing anonymity.
Logistics service recovery and the role of technology

The logistics industry is becoming increasingly competitive, and supply chains becoming increasingly complex. Service failures are inevitable and part of the logistics landscape. Service recovery is relevant given the logistic industry's trend toward a proactive approach to service failures. Furthermore, service recovery has the potential to become a source of organisational differentiation. Service failure management needs to be an integral part of the greater customer service program, rather than a reactive ad hoc process. Technology, already underpinning much of the industries capabilities, is seen as a likely enabler of sophisticated service recovery processes. The service recovery process is broken down into components and, subsequently, potential targets for technology led improvements are identified. A literature review of top tier journals has been undertaken to determine the current body of knowledge in this area. Findings show little coverage on service recovery in respect of the logistics industry. Moreover, there is a dearth of material on technology-based service recovery solutions. A case study is outlined as a future research path.
Discovering Team Structures in Soccer from Spatiotemporal Data

In team sports like soccer, utilizing tracking data for analysis is challenging due to the dynamic and multi-agent nature of the data. The biggest issue surrounds the changing of positions or “roles” between players on a frame-to-frame basis, which causes misalignment of the data and makes it difficult to perform team analysis. In this paper, we present an unsupervised method to learn a formation template which allows us to “align” the tracking data at the frame level. Not only does this approach give important contextual information to facilitate large-scale analysis (e.g., we know when a player is in the left-wing position compared to left-back), it also yields the team structure or “formation” which serves as a strong descriptor for identifying a team's style. The utility of the approach is demonstrated on a full season of player and ball tracking data from a professional soccer league consisting of over 21.5 million frames of player tracking data.
A European Renal Best Practice (ERBP) position statement on the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Clinical Practice Guidelines on Acute Kidney Injury: Part 1: definitions, conservative management and contrast-induced nephropathy†

The broad clinical syndrome of acute kidney injury (AKI) encompasses various aetiologies, including specific kidney diseases (e.g. acute interstitial nephritis), non-specific conditions (e.g. renal ischaemia) as well as extrarenal pathology (e.g. post-renal obstruction). AKI is a serious condition that affects kidney structure and function acutely, but also in the long term. Recent epidemiological evidence supports the notion that even mild, reversible AKI conveys the risk of persistent tissue damage, and severe AKI can be accompanied by an irreversible decline of kidney function and progression to end-stage kidney failure [1–3]. The Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Clinical Practice Guidelines for AKI [4] were designed to systematically compile information on this topic by experts in the field. These guidelines are based on the systematic review of relevant trials published before February 2011. Nevertheless, for many sections of the guidelines, appropriate supporting evidence is lacking in the literature. As a consequence, variations in practice will inevitably occur when clinicians take into account the needs of individual patients, available resources and limitations unique to a region, an institution or type of practice. Therefore, in line with its philosophy [5], the European Renal Best Practice (ERBP) wanted to issue a position statement on these guidelines. A working group was established to produce guidance from the European nephrology perspective, based on the compiled evidence as presented, with an update of the literature up to March 2012, following the methodology as explained in the ERBP instructions to authors [6]. The present document will deal with the diagnosis and prevention of AKI, and contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) (Sections 1–4 of the KDIGO document), and other chapters will be discussed in a separate position statement. As a general rule, we will only mention those guideline statements of the KDIGO document that we have amended, even when the change is small. If a KDIGO recommendation is not repeated, it can be considered as endorsed by ERBP as is, unless specifically stated otherwise.
Understanding and Improving Data Quality Relating to Low-Income Households

Concerns have been expressed about the reliability of income and expenditure data from Australian Bureau of Statistics surveys for those on low incomes. This paper analyses the factors behind the apparently low incomes recorded by many Australian households, in particular, in major ABS data collections, and the implications of these for income distribution and 'poverty' analysis. The paper seeks to identify the extent to which these arise from the concepts of income used in these surveys, which may result in the data being inappropriate for other analysis; and the degree to which it can be ascribed to inadequate reporting of incomes. The paper draws some conclusions about how the existence of such problems should be treated in income distribution and related poverty analysis, and whether any specific actions should be taken by analysts to derive data appropriate for the purposes of their analysis. It also considers some methodologies that can be adopted to reduce the impact of any identified problems in future data collections.
Can Directors Impact Performance? A Case-Based Test of Three Theories of Corporate Governance

We examine hypothesised links between the board of directors and firm performance as predicted by the three predominant theories in corporate governance research, namely agency theory, stewardship theory and resource dependence theory. By employing a pattern matching analysis of seven cases, we are able to examine the hypothesised link between board demography and firm performance expected under each theory. We find that while each theory can explain a particular case, no single theory explains the general pattern of results. We conclude by endorsing recent calls for a more process-orientated approach to both theory and empirical analysis if we are to understand how boards add value.
On the Construction of Topology-Preserving Deformation Fields

In this paper, we investigate a new method to enforce topology preservation on deformation fields. The method is composed of two steps. The first one consists in correcting the gradient vector fields of the deformation at the discrete level, in order to fulfill a set of conditions ensuring topology preservation in the continuous domain after bilinear interpolation. This part, although related to prior works by Karaçali and Davatzikos, proposes a new approach based on interval analysis. The second one aims to reconstruct the deformation, given its full set of discrete gradient vectors. The problem is phrased as a functional minimization problem on the convex subset K of the Hilbert space V. The existence and uniqueness of the solution of the problem are established, and the use of Lagrange's multipliers allows to obtain the variational formulation of the problem on the Hilbert space V . Experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the method.
Interaction of Angiotensin II Type 1 and D5 Dopamine Receptors in Renal Proximal Tubule Cells

Angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor and D1 and D3 dopamine receptors directly interact in renal proximal tubule (RPT) cells from normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). There is indirect evidence for a D5 and AT1 receptor interaction in WKY and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Therefore, we sought direct evidence of an interaction between AT1 and D5 receptors in RPT cells. D5 and AT1 receptors colocalized in WKY cells. Angiotensin II decreased D5 receptors in WKY cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner (EC50=2.7×10−9 M; t1/2=4.9 hours), effects that were blocked by an AT1 receptor antagonist (losartan). In SHR, angiotensin II (10−8 M/24 hours) also decreased D5 receptors (0.96±0.08 versus 0.72±0.08; n=12) and to the same degree as in WKY cells (1.44±0.07 versus 0.92±0.08). However, basal D5 receptors were decreased in SHR RPT cells (SHR 0.96±0.08; WKY 1.44±0.07; n=12 per strain; P<0.05) and renal brush border membranes of SHR compared with WKY (SHR 0.54±0.16 versus WKY 1.46±0.10; n=5 per strain; P<0.05). Angiotensin II decreased AT1 receptor expression in WKY (1.00±0.04 versus 0.72±0.08; n=8; P<0.05) but increased it in SHR (0.96±0.04 versus 1.32±0.08; n=8; P<0.05). AT1 and D5 receptors also interacted in vivo; renal D5 receptor protein was higher in mice lacking the AT1A receptor (AT1A−/−; 1.61±0.31; n=6) than in wild-type littermates used as controls (AT1A+/+; 0.81±0.08; n=6; P<0.05), and renal cortical AT1 receptor protein was higher in D5 receptor null mice than in wild-type littermates (1.18±0.08 versus 0.84±0.07; n=4; P<0.05). We conclude that D5 and AT1 receptors interact with each other. Altered interactions between AT1 and dopamine receptors may play a role in the pathogenesis of hypertension.
Comparison of Atmospheric Correction Methods in Mapping Timber Volume with Multitemporal Landsat Images in Kainuu, Finland

Using remote sensing to monitor large forest areas usually requires large field datasets. The need for extensive data collection can be reduced through interpretation of several images simultaneously. This study focused evaluating the accuracy and functionality of stand volume models in overlapping multi-temporal images that could form large areas covering a mosaic of scenes. Various atmospheric correction methods were tested to generalize field information outside the coverage of single images. A dataset consisting of three
Association of Eumycetoma and Schistosomiasis

Eumycetoma is a morbid chronic granulomatous subcutaneous fungal disease. Despite high environmental exposure to this fungus in certain regions of the world, only few develop eumycetoma for yet unknown reasons. Animal studies suggest that co-infections skewing the immune system to a Th2-type response enhance eumycetoma susceptibility. Since chronic schistosomiasis results in a strong Th2-type response and since endemic areas for eumycetoma and schistosomiasis do regionally overlap, we performed a serological case-control study to identify an association between eumycetoma and schistosomiasis. Compared to endemic controls, eumycetoma patients were significantly more often sero-positive for schistosomiasis (p = 0.03; odds ratio 3.2, 95% CI 1.18–8.46), but not for toxoplasmosis, an infection inducing a Th1-type response (p = 0.6; odds ratio 1.5, 95% CI 0.58–3.83). Here, we show that schistosomiasis is correlated to susceptibility for a fungal disease for the first time.
The yeast ribosome synthesis factor Emg1 is a novel member of the superfamily of alpha/beta knot fold methyltransferases

Emg1 was previously shown to be required for maturation of the 18S rRNA and biogenesis of the 40S ribosomal subunit. Here we report the determination of the crystal structure of Emg1 at 2 Å resolution in complex with the methyl donor, S-adenosyl-methionine (SAM). This structure identifies Emg1 as a novel member of the alpha/beta knot fold methyltransferase (SPOUT) superfamily. In addition to the conserved SPOUT core, Emg1 has two unique domains that form an extended surface, which we predict to be involved in binding of RNA substrates. A point mutation within a basic patch on this surface almost completely abolished RNA binding in vitro. Three point mutations designed to disrupt the interaction of Emg1 with SAM each caused>100-fold reduction in SAM binding in vitro. Expression of only Emg1 with these mutations could support growth and apparently normal ribosome biogenesis in strains genetically depleted of Emg1. We conclude that the catalytic activity of Emg1 is not essential and that the presence of the protein is both necessary and sufficient for ribosome biogenesis.
Platelet Activating Factor-Induced Ceramide Micro-Domains Drive Endothelial NOS Activation and Contribute to Barrier Dysfunction

The spatial and functional relationship between platelet activating factor-receptor (PAF-R) and nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in the lateral plane of the endothelial plasma membrane is poorly characterized. In this study, we used intact mouse pulmonary endothelial cells (ECs) as well as endothelial plasma membrane patches and subcellular fractions to define a new microdomain of plasmalemma proper where the two proteins colocalize and to demonstrate how PAF-mediated nitric oxide (NO) production fine-tunes ECs function as gatekeepers of vascular permeability. Using fluorescence microscopy and immunogold labeling electron microscopy (EM) on membrane patches we demonstrate that PAF-R is organized as clusters and colocalizes with a subcellular pool of eNOS, outside recognizable vesicular profiles. Moreover, PAF-induced acid sphingomyelinase activation generates a ceramide-based microdomain on the external leaflet of plasma membrane, inside of which a signalosome containing eNOS shapes PAF-stimulated NO production. Real-time measurements of NO after PAF-R ligation indicated a rapid (5 to 15 min) increase in NO production followed by a > 45 min period of reduction to basal levels. Moreover, at the level of this new microdomain, PAF induces a dynamic phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of Ser, Thr and Tyr residues of eNOS that correlates with NO production. Altogether, our findings establish the existence of a functional partnership PAF-R/eNOS on EC plasma membrane, at the level of PAF-induced ceramide plasma membrane microdomains, outside recognized vesicular profiles.
Abnormally high levels of brain N-acetylaspartate in children with sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The most abundant metabolite visible by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in human brain is N-acetylaspartate (NAA), which is often used as a marker of viable neurons. NAA is anecdotally reported to be elevated in children with sickle cell disease (SCD), even though patients can have brain injury or atrophy. We measured NAA levels rigorously in SCD patients to test the hypothesis that NAA is elevated in this patient population. METHODS We evaluated 26 children with SCD and 25 age-similar healthy control subjects using a double spin-echo MRS technique to interrogate a 16 cc volume of interest in the basal ganglia. We acquired MRS spectra with an echo time (TE) of 30 ms to evaluate lipids, and with TE = 144 to show abundant metabolites against a flat baseline. We characterized metabolite relaxation properties and measured the water peak as an internal standard, to calculate the absolute quantity of metabolites. RESULTS The ratio of NAA:Choline was significantly elevated in basal ganglia of patients at both echo times (P <.016), and the absolute quantity of NAA was also elevated, with [NAA] 7-12% higher in patients than in control subjects. The measured increase in [NAA] cannot be explained by metabolite relaxation properties or by differences in tissue water content. CONCLUSION Brain NAA is greater in children with SCD than in healthy control subjects and appears not to be a reliable marker of viable neurons in SCD patients.
On the pointwise dimension of hyperbolic measures: a proof of the Eckmann-Ruelle conjecture

We prove the long-standing Eckmann–Ruelle conjecture in dimension theory of smooth dynamical systems. We show that the pointwise dimension exists almost everywhere with respect to a compactly supported Borel probability measure with non-zero Lyapunov exponents, invariant under a C1+α diffeomorphism of a smooth Riemannian manifold. Let M be a smooth Riemannian manifold without boundary, and f : M → M a C diffeomorphism of M for some α > 0. Also let μ be an f -invariant Borel probability measure on M with a compact support. Given a set Z ⊂M , we denote respectively by dimH Z, dimBZ, and dimBZ the Hausdorff dimension of Z and the lower and upper box dimensions of Z (see for example [F]). We will be mostly interested in subsets of positive measure invariant under f . To characterize their structure we use the notions of Hausdorff dimension of μ and lower and upper box dimensions of μ. We denote them by dimHμ, dimBμ, and dimBμ, respectively. We have dimHμ = inf{dimH Z | μ(Z) = 1}, dimBμ = lim δ→0 inf{dimBZ | μ(Z) ≥ 1− δ}, dimBμ = lim δ→0 inf{dimBZ | μ(Z) ≥ 1− δ}. It follows from the definitions that dimHμ ≤ dimBμ ≤ dimBμ. In [Y], Young found a criterion that guarantees the coincidence of the Hausdorff dimension and lower and upper box dimensions of measures. We define the lower Received by the editors May 13, 1996. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 58F11, 28D05.
Collins Asymmetries in Inclusive Charged KK and Kπ Pairs Produced in e⁺e⁻ Annihilation

We present measurements of Collins asymmetries in the inclusive process e^+e^− → h_1h_2X, h_1h_2 = KK, Kπ, ππ, at the center-of-mass energy of 10.6 GeV, using a data sample of 468 fb^(−1) collected by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II B factory at SLAC National Accelerator Center. Considering hadrons in opposite thrust hemispheres of hadronic events, we observe clear azimuthal asymmetries in the ratio of unlike sign to like sign, and unlike sign to all charged h_1h_2 pairs, which increase with hadron energies. The Kπ asymmetries are similar to those measured for the ππ pairs, whereas those measured for high-energy KK pairs are, in general, larger.
Novel RNA variants in colorectal cancers

With an annual estimated incidence of 1.4 million, and a five-year survival rate of 60%, colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major clinical burden. To identify novel RNA variants in CRC, we analyzed exon-level microarray expression data from a cohort of 202 CRCs. We nominated 25 genes with increased expression of their 3′ parts in at least one cancer sample each. To efficiently investigate underlying transcript structures, we developed an approach using rapid amplification of cDNA ends followed by high throughput sequencing (RACE-seq). RACE products from the targeted genes in 23 CRC samples were pooled together and sequenced. We identified VWA2-TCF7L2, DHX35-BPIFA2 and CASZ1-MASP2 as private fusion events, and novel transcript structures for 17 of the 23 other candidate genes. The high-throughput approach facilitated identification of CRC specific RNA variants. These include a recurrent read-through fusion transcript between KLK8 and KLK7, and a splice variant of S100A2. Both of these were overrepresented in CRC tissue and cell lines from external RNA-seq datasets.