Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The P600 as an index of syntactic integration difficulty

The P600 component in Event Related Potential research has been hypothesised to be associated with syntactic reanalysis processes. We, however, propose that the P600 is not restricted to reanalysis processes, but reflects difficulty with syntactic integration processes in general. First we discuss this integration hypothesis in terms of a sentence processing model proposed elsewhere. Next, in Experiment 1, we show that the P600 is elicited in grammatical, non-garden path sentences in which integration is more difficult (i.e., ''who'' questions) relative to a control sentence (''whether'' questions). This effect is replicated in Experiment 2. Furthermore, we directly compare the effect of difficult integration in grammatical sentences to the effect of agreement violations. The results suggest that the positivity elicited in ''who'' questions and the P600-effect elicited by agreement violations have partly overlapping neural generators. This supports the hypothesis that similar cognitive processes, i.e., integration, are involved in both first pass analysis of ''who'' questions and dealing with ungrammaticalities (reanalysis).
Effects of mating on behavioral, neuroendocrine and neuronal responses to stressful stimuli in male and female Wistar rats: involvement of brain oxytocin

The present thesis provides evidence that sexual activity and mating can positively affect the response to subsequent anxiogenic and stressful stimuli in male Wistar rats. These effects of mating could be verified in rats selectively bred for extremes in anxiety-related behavior, namely the HAB and LAB breeding lines. Further, we could show that mating stimulates the brain OT system, as elevated release of OT was measured during sexual activity within the PVN and in anticipation of mating within the VTA of male rats. The activated brain OT system is causally linked to the anxiolytic effect of mating, as blockade of OTR abolished the anxiolytic effect of mating. In contrast, brain OT seems to be uninvolved in the attenuated neuronal reactivity found in the PVN of mated male rats after stressor exposure. In females, it could be shown that sexual activity also increases brain OT release within the PVN, but only under paced mating conditions. Paced mating, however, did not change anxiety-related behavior in female rats. Females became even more anxious if they were mated in unpaced conditions. We can conclude that sexual activity beneficially affects the response to emotional and physical/ psychological stressors in male rats. The consequences of sexual activity in females need further investigation, especially in context of the activated brain OT system, likely to be involved in the rewarding experience of paced mating. This may provide an interesting basis for future studies.
The complete mitochondrial genome of Saurida umeyoshii (Aulopiformes: Synodontidae)

Abstract In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) sequence of Saurida umeyoshii has been determined by long polymerase chain reaction and primer walking methods. The complete mitochondrial genome is 16,546 bp in length and contains 37 mitochondrial genes (13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA), 22 transfer RNA (tRNA)), and a control region as other bony fishes. Within the control region, we identified the termination-associated sequence domain (TAS), the central conserved sequence block domains (CSB-F, CSB-E, CSB-D, CSB-C, CSB-B and CSB-A), and the conserved sequence block domains (CSB-1, CSB-2 and CSB-3).
The Role of Homophily in the Emergence of Opinion Controversies

Understanding the emergence of strong controversial issues in modern societies is a key issue in opinion studies. A commonly diffused idea is the fact that the increasing of homophily in social networks, due to the modern ICT, can be a driving force for opinion polariation. In this paper we address the problem with a modelling approach following three basic steps. We first introduce a network morphogenesis model to re-construct network structures where homophily can be tuned with a parameter. We show that as homophily increases the emergence of marked topological community structures in the networks raises. Secondly, we perform an opinion dynamics process on homophily dependent networks and we show that, contrary to the common idea, homophily helps consensus formation. Finally, we introduce a tunable external media pressure and we show that, actually, the combination of homophily and media makes the media effect less effective and leads to strongly polarized opinion clusters.
Comparison of CSMA and TDMA for a Heartbeat VANET Application

Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANET) aim to increase security in the current transportation system by the means of wireless communication between vehicles and between vehicles and road infrastructure. In order to realize this goal, the Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol has to be highly reliable and has to assure a certain fairness between the nodes. In this paper, we make an in-depth analysis of the properties required from a MAC protocol in a VANET context. We then use these properties to compare the performance of two MAC protocols, one based on Carrier-Sense Multiple Access and the other using Time Division Multiple Access techniques in the case of a "heartbeat" application.
Rural-Urban Differences in Sexual Victimization and Reporting

In this study, the authors analyzed data from Uniform Crime Reports and from rape crisis centers in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania. Although absolute numbers of sexual victimization cases reported to rape crisis centers were higher in urban counties, rates of sexual victimization were higher in rural counties, particularly those with above median proportions of female officeholders in the county. Subsequent analyses indicated this effect was not related to the provision of victim services but could be related to a better educated population being more likely to use such services. In terms of reporting to the police, urban counties and counties with higher levels of assaults by strangers had higher rates of reporting to the police, although these effects were somewhat qualified by an interaction of the two variables. Additional analyses suggest that whether the county is urban or rural is related to the amount of funding allocated to victim services programs.
E-Cadherin repression increases amount of cancer stem cells in human A549 lung adenocarcinoma and stimulates tumor growth

ABSTRACT Here we show that cancer stem cells amount in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549 depends on E-cadherin expression. In fact, downregulation of E-cadherin expression enhanced expression of pluripotent genes (c-MYC, NESTIN, OCT3/4 and SOX2) and enriched cell population with the cells possessing the properties of so-called ‘cancer stem cells’ via activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Repression of E-cadherin also stimulated cell proliferation and migration in vitro, decreased cell amount essential for xenografts formation in nude mice, increased tumors vascularization and growth. On the other hand, E-cadherin upregulation caused opposite effects i.e. diminished the number of cancer stem cells, decreased xenograft vascularization and decelerated tumor growth. Therefore, agents restoring E-cadherin expression may be useful in anticancer therapy.
The CysLT1 Ligand Leukotriene D4 Supports α4β1- and α5β1-Mediated Adhesion and Proliferation of CD34+ Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells1

Cytokines and chemokines control hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HPC) proliferation and trafficking. However, the role of nonpeptide mediators in the bone marrow microenvironment has remained elusive. Particularly CysLT1, a G protein-coupled receptor recognizing inflammatory mediators of the cysteinyl leukotriene family, is highly expressed in HPCs. We therefore analyzed the effects of its ligands on human CD34+ HPCs. The most potent CysLT1 ligand, LTD4, rapidly and significantly up-regulated α4β1 and α5β1 integrin-dependent adhesion of both primitive and committed HPC. LTD4-triggered adhesion was inhibited by specific CysLT1 antagonists. The effects of other CysLT1 ligands were weak (LTC4) or absent (LTE4). In serum-free liquid cultures supplemented with various hematopoietic cytokines including IL-3, only LTD4 significantly augmented the expansion of HPCs in a dose-dependent manner comparable to that of peptide growth factors. LTC4 and LTE4 were less effective. In CD34+ cell lines and primary HPCs, LTD4 induced phosphorylation of p44/42 ERK/MAPK and focal adhesion kinase-related tyrosine kinase Pyk2, which is linked to integrin activation. Bone marrow stromal cells produced biologically significant amounts of cysteinyl leukotrienes only when hematopoietic cells were absent, suggesting a regulatory feedback mechanism in the hematopoietic microenvironment. In contrast to antagonists of the homing-related G protein-coupled receptor CXCR4, administration of a CysLT1 antagonist failed to induce human CD34+ HPC mobilization in vivo. Our results suggest that cysteinyl leukotriene may contribute to HPC retention and proliferation only when cysteinyl leukotriene levels are increased either systemically during inflammation or locally during marrow aplasia.
Internationalisation and standardisation of European Environmental Assessment. Relevance to India

This paper discusses the rationale underlying ‘PENTA’, an EU funded Erasmus Mundus project. In doing so, it explores the challenges of internationalising and standardising European environmental assessment (EA) practice and education to a third country audience, looking at India as a case study. It is argued that the EU EA Directives are influencing the development of EA systems internationally, leading to a standardisation of the way in which EA is practiced. The so‐called Bologna process is especially playing a crucial role in leading to the standardisation of European higher education and the EU's marketing initiatives are generating effects of internationalisation. Within this context, it is argued that an internationalised and standardised approach to EA education could improve the effectiveness of EA practice in both the developing and developed nations, and ultimately help address the environmental challenges that the world is facing today. However, harmonisation and standardisation challenges must be taken into account at an international and national level, as an internationalised EA curriculum such as that proposed by PENTA must nevertheless be relevant to different policy planning and cultural contexts.
Variational Autoencoded Regression: High Dimensional Regression of Visual Data on Complex Manifold

This paper proposes a new high dimensional regression method by merging Gaussian process regression into a variational autoencoder framework. In contrast to other regression methods, the proposed method focuses on the case where output responses are on a complex high dimensional manifold, such as images. Our contributions are summarized as follows: (i) A new regression method estimating high dimensional image responses, which is not handled by existing regression algorithms, is proposed. (ii) The proposed regression method introduces a strategy to learn the latent space as well as the encoder and decoder so that the result of the regressed response in the latent space coincide with the corresponding response in the data space. (iii) The proposed regression is embedded into a generative model, and the whole procedure is developed by the variational autoencoder framework. We demonstrate the robustness and effectiveness of our method through a number of experiments on various visual data regression problems.
Comparative study between children with and without cleft lip and cleft palate, part 1: cephalometric analysis.

OBJECTIVE This study was conducted to compare craniofacial relationships, position, and curvature of the cervical spine between children with cleft lip and cleft palate who had been operated on and children without clefts. METHOD This study was performed in 28 children with mixed dentition. They were divided into two groups. The study group included 14 children with unilateral operated cleft lip and cleft palate, ranging in age from 6 to 12 years, who clinically presented with a short upper lip, abnormal lip seal, and inhibition of sagittal development of the midface that was radiographically assessed. The control group included 14 children without clefts, ranging in age from 8 to 11 years. All of them had normal lip seal, nasal breathing, and a clinically normal body posture. DESIGN A lateral craniocervical radiograph in a self-balanced natural head position in an erect posture, and without using a head holder, was taken for each child of both groups, with the mandible in maximum intercuspation and lips in habitual posture. The true vertical was marked on all the films. Specific angular and linear dimensions were used to assess the craniocervical relationships, as were the position of the cervical spine, its curvature, or both. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The study group presented a significant increase in the extension of the head on the neck, forward position of the cervical spine, and a decrease in the curvature of the cervical spine in comparison with the children without clefts. These results are more relevant considering that the study group also presented higher significant values of lower facial height than children without clefts.
On-street Parking Statistics Using LiDAR Mobile Mapping

This paper presents a procedure to extract parking statistics from a 3D point cloud recorded with two 2D LiDAR sensors mounted on a vehicle. Policy makers can use these parking statistics to reduce parking search traffic in cities by identifying parking characteristics and adjusting current parking rules and policies. The extraction procedure basically consists of an object segmentation and a classification step. For object segmentation, a region growing approach is used to extract the ground surface and to separate distinct objects. For object classification, a random forest classifier is employed with various local and global point features to identify the characteristic shape of vehicles. Comparing the point clouds of both LiDAR scanners allows the exclusion of moving vehicles from the result. A second segmentation in a finer raster after classification is used to reduce the occurrence of undersegmentation. The procedure is evaluated on a 5.5 km track including a residential and a commercial district with parallel and perpendicular parking in a large city in Germany. The results reveal reliable detection of parked vehicles in most situations and therefore approve its suitability for parking studies. Multiple statistics like vehicle dimensions, parking gaps and temporal behavior can be extracted from this procedure. As an example, the occupancy of street segments in the course of one day is presented.
Issue handling performance in proprietary software projects

Software maintenance tasks are mainly related to fixing defects and implementing new features. Higher efficiency in performing such tasks is therefore going to reduce the costs of maintenance. A previous study involving open source systems has shown that higher software maintainability corresponds to faster speed in fixing defects [1]. In this paper we replicate the previous study by mining bug report data of three proprietary software projects. In one of the projects, a correlation between higher software maintainability and faster defect resolution is confirmed. The quality of issue handling process (e.g., issue registration accuracy and completeness, scope and complexity of issue workflow) should be considered in further research as it might explain the circumstances under which the correlation can be observed.
Inclusive university settings? An analysis from the perspective of students with disabilities / ¿Contextos universitarios inclusivos? Un análisis desde la voz del alumnado con discapacidad

Abstract This article presents the partial results of a study that analysed the barriers and means of support that students with disabilities find in classrooms and other university settings (offices, departments, libraries, etc.), using the biographical narrative method. The results of this article focus exclusively on the obstacles and means of support identified by humanities students, with the information organized in relation to the institution in general, infrastructures and architectural barriers, lecturers and their teaching methods, fellow students and proposals for improving universities and classrooms. Finally, the conclusion discusses the main findings regarding how the university facilitates or hinders the participants’ learning processes in this study. From this perspective, and taking the social model of disability as a reference, it is concluded that in order to become inclusive, the university must commit to adopting proactive measures that eliminate the barriers preventing these students from learning and from participating fully.
Independence Complexes and Edge Covering Complexes via Alexander Duality

The combinatorial Alexander dual of the independence complex $\mathrm{Ind}(G)$ and that of the edge covering complex $\mathrm{EC}(G)$ are shown to have isomorphic homology groups for each non-null graph $G$. This yields isomorphisms of homology groups of $\mathrm{Ind}(G)$ and $\mathrm{EC}(G)$ with homology dimensions being appropriately shifted and restricted. The results exhibits the complementary nature of homology groups of $\mathrm{Ind}(G)$ and $\mathrm{EC}(G)$ which had been proved by Ehrenborg-Hetyei, Engstrom, and Marietti-Testa for forests at homotopy level.
Understanding and Addressing Racial Disparities in Health Care

Racial disparities in medical care should be understood within the context of racial inequities in societal institutions. Systematic discrimination is not the aberrant behavior of a few but is often supported by institutional policies and unconscious bias based on negative stereotypes. Effectively addressing disparities in the quality of care requires improved data systems, increased regulatory vigilance, and new initiatives to appropriately train medical professionals and recruit more providers from disadvantaged minority backgrounds. Identifying and implementing effective strategies to eliminate racial inequities in health status and medical care should be made a national priority.
Costs, effects, and savings of screening for cystic fibrosis gene carriers.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Evaluating the costs, effects, and savings of several strategies for cystic fibrosis (CF) gene carrier screening. DESIGN: A general model for evaluating prenatal, preconceptional, school, and neonatal carrier screening was constructed. For prenatal and preconceptional screening, two strategies were evaluated: single entry and double entry two step couple screening. Firstly, the Dutch situation was evaluated prospectively; subsequently the results were generalised to other carrier frequencies. SETTING: Prospective simulation model. MAIN RESULTS: Of all screening strategies, neonatal carrier screening gives most carrier couples an informed choice concerning reproduction. If the parents of carrier newborns would not be tested however, prenatal screening detects most carrier couples. Prenatal and single entry preconceptional screening programmes have a favourable cost-savings balance in the Netherlands under a wide range of assumptions. For double entry preconceptional screening and neonatal screening, high enough values of uptake of screening, prenatal diagnosis, and induced abortion are necessary. School carrier screening does not have a favourable cost-savings balance. CONCLUSIONS: If a CF screening programme is judged to be useful on individual and social grounds, costs considerations are no obstacle for prenatal and single entry preconceptional screening.
Dialysis facility ownership and epoetin dosing in patients receiving hemodialysis.

CONTEXT Epoetin therapy for dialysis-related anemia is the single largest Medicare drug expenditure. The type of facility (profit, chain, and affiliation status) at which a patient receives dialysis might affect epoetin dosing patterns and has implications for future epoetin policies. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between dialysis facility ownership and the dose of epoetin administered. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Data from the US Renal Data System were used to identify 159,522 adult Medicare-eligible, end-stage renal disease patients receiving in-center hemodialysis during November and December 2004. Regression models were used to estimate the mean epoetin dose and dose adjustment by profit, chain, and affiliation status. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Weekly mean epoetin dose administered in December 2004 and the adjustment in dose between November and December 2004. RESULTS Compared with patients in nonprofit dialysis facilities (n = 28,199), patients in large for-profit dialysis chain facilities (n = 106,116) were consistently administered the highest doses of epoetin regardless of anemia status. Compared with nonprofit facilities, for-profit facilities administered, on average, an additional 3306 U/wk of epoetin. Among the 6 large chain facilities with a similar patient case-mix, the average dose of epoetin ranged from 17,832 U/wk at chain 5 (nonprofit facilities with a mean hematocrit level of 34.6%) to 24,986 U/wk at chain 2 (for-profit facilities with a mean hematocrit level of 36.5%). Dosing adjustments also differed by type of facility. On average, compared with nonprofit facilities, for-profit facilities increased epoetin doses 3-fold for patients with hematocrit levels of less 33% and also increased the doses among patients with hematocrit levels in the recommended target of 33% to 36%, especially in the largest for-profit chain facilities. The greatest difference in dosing practice patterns between facilities was found among patients with hematocrit levels of less than 33%. CONCLUSIONS Dialysis facility organizational status and ownership are associated with variation in epoetin dosing in the United States. Different epoetin dosing patterns suggest that large for-profit chain facilities used larger dose adjustments and targeted higher hematocrit levels.
Ribosomal Protein Mutations Induce Autophagy through S6 Kinase Inhibition of the Insulin Pathway

Mutations affecting the ribosome lead to several diseases known as ribosomopathies, with phenotypes that include growth defects, cytopenia, and bone marrow failure. Diamond-Blackfan anemia (DBA), for example, is a pure red cell aplasia linked to the mutation of ribosomal protein (RP) genes. Here we show the knock-down of the DBA-linked RPS19 gene induces the cellular self-digestion process of autophagy, a pathway critical for proper hematopoiesis. We also observe an increase of autophagy in cells derived from DBA patients, in CD34+ erythrocyte progenitor cells with RPS19 knock down, in the red blood cells of zebrafish embryos with RP-deficiency, and in cells from patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS). The loss of RPs in all these models results in a marked increase in S6 kinase phosphorylation that we find is triggered by an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS). We show that this increase in S6 kinase phosphorylation inhibits the insulin pathway and AKT phosphorylation activity through a mechanism reminiscent of insulin resistance. While stimulating RP-deficient cells with insulin reduces autophagy, antioxidant treatment reduces S6 kinase phosphorylation, autophagy, and stabilization of the p53 tumor suppressor. Our data suggest that RP loss promotes the aberrant activation of both S6 kinase and p53 by increasing intracellular ROS levels. The deregulation of these signaling pathways is likely playing a major role in the pathophysiology of ribosomopathies.