Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dynamical properties and extremes of Northern Hemisphere climate fields over the past 60 years

Abstract. Atmospheric dynamics are described by a set of partial differential equations yielding an infinite-dimensional phase space. However, the actual trajectories followed by the system appear to be constrained to a finite-dimensional phase space, i.e. a strange attractor. The dynamical properties of this attractor are difficult to determine due to the complex nature of atmospheric motions. A first step to simplify the problem is to focus on observables which affect – or are linked to phenomena which affect – human welfare and activities, such as sea-level pressure, 2 m temperature, and precipitation frequency. We make use of recent advances in dynamical systems theory to estimate two instantaneous dynamical properties of the above fields for the Northern Hemisphere: local dimension and persistence. We then use these metrics to characterize the seasonality of the different fields and their interplay. We further analyse the large-scale anomaly patterns corresponding to phase-space extremes – namely time steps at which the fields display extremes in their instantaneous dynamical properties. The analysis is based on the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, over the period 1948–2013. The results show that (i) despite the high dimensionality of atmospheric dynamics, the Northern Hemisphere sea-level pressure and temperature fields can on average be described by roughly 20 degrees of freedom; (ii) the precipitation field has a higher dimensionality; and (iii) the seasonal forcing modulates the variability of the dynamical indicators and affects the occurrence of phase-space extremes. We further identify a number of robust correlations between the dynamical properties of the different variables.
Cocaine addicts and their families: An empirical study of the processes of identification

The processes of identification between adolescent cocaine addicts and their parents were studied in 402 subjects, in total 134 familial triads (father“mother”son), subdivided into two groups of 67 triads, one of these groups having as the child an adolescent of masculine sex dependent on cocaine and the other, equal in number, being a control group, duly matched for age and socio‐economic status. The instrument employed was the Rorschach test (1922), limited to the application of the Lerner Defense Scale (LDS; Lerner & Lerner, 1980). The findings in the affected triads showed up as consistent statistically for the presence of intense processes of pathological identification, especially between father and son, a sign of the importance of the presence of disturbances of paternal function in the development of this addiction. The utilisation of very regressive defence mechanisms, above all of projective identification, was the predominant mode of procedure in triads with a dependent child. In comparisons between the fathers the odds ratio (OR) for projective identification was 8.66 to 1, which points to the association between cocaine addiction and the primitive mental functioning of the fathers. With empirical methodology these findings serve to corroborate the psychoanalytical conclusions based on studies of single case studies, testifying that the dysfunctions of identificatory phenomena in familial functioning are predominant in the mental organisation of cocaine addicts.
Biology and Gender in the Labor Market

Can biology help us to better understand gender differences in labor market behavior and outcomes? This chapter reviews the emerging literature which sheds light on this question, considering research in four broad areas: i) behavioral endocrinology; ii) human genetics; iii) neuroeconomics; and iv) sensory functioning and time-space perceptions.
An Effective Switching Current Methodology to Predict the Performance of Complex Digital Circuits

A new methodology to assess dynamic circuit performance using basic device currents is presented. In contrast to existing effective drive current calculation considering inverters only, our approach provides precise circuit delays of product-relevant NAND and NOR logic gates over a wide range of supply voltages. The relevance of currents in the linear regime for circuit performance in sub-65 nm CMOS technologies is demonstrated also experimentally by a 65% performance boost in complex multi-gate FET circuits.
Intraocular pressure changes in patients undergoing cataract extraction and lens implantation: laryngeal mask airway versus endotracheal tube

ABSTRACT Objectives: To investigate the influence on intraocular pressure (IOP) of airway management with a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) or tracheal tube (ETT), and secondly to compare the devices with regard to their impact on IOP. Design: Prospective, randomized observational study over a four-month period (August—November 2002) Setting: University-affiliated tertiary level hospital in Pretoria, South Africa Subjects: Forty ASA I and II adult patients undergoing unilateral cataract extraction and lens implantation under general anaesthesia Outcome measures: Changes in intraocular pressure after placement of airway device Methods: Following a standard anaesthestic induction with propofol and atracurium, airway management was randomized to LMA or ETT. IOP was measured pre-induction, 3 min post induction but before airway manipulation, 20 sec post LMA or ETT insertion and finally 2 min post airway instrumentation. Results: There was a small increase in mean IOP in the LMA group, which was statistically insignificant. However there was a significant rise in mean IOP in the ETT group (p = 0.0001) which returned to almost pre-insertion levels at 2 minutes. Conclusions: The LMA causes minimal changes in intraocular pressure when used to secure the airway during cataract surgery. The rise in IOP following tracheal intubation is significant, yet transient and probably clinically insignificant.
The readiness potential reflects intentional binding

When a voluntary action is causally linked with a sensory outcome, the action and its consequent effect are perceived as being closer together in time. This effect is called intentional binding. Although many experiments were conducted on this phenomenon, the underlying neural mechanisms are not well understood. While intentional binding is specific to voluntary action, we presumed that preconscious brain activity (the readiness potential, RP), which occurs before an action is made, might play an important role in this binding effect. In this study, the brain dynamics were recorded with electroencephalography (EEG) and analyzed in single-trials in order to estimate whether intentional binding is correlated with the early neural processes. Moreover, we were interested in different behavioral performance between meditators and non-meditators since meditators are expected to be able to keep attention more consistently on a task. Thus, we performed the intentional binding paradigm with 20 mindfulness meditators and compared them to matched controls. Although, we did not observe a group effect on either behavioral data or EEG recordings, we found that self-initiated movements following ongoing negative deflections of slow cortical potentials (SCPs) result in a stronger binding effect compared to positive potentials, especially regarding the perceived time of the consequent effect. Our results provide the first direct evidence that the early neural activity within the range of SCPs affects perceived time of a sensory outcome that is caused by intentional action.
Clinical utility of multiplanar reformation in pulmonary CT angiography.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether the view used, multiplanar or axial, for image interpretation at pulmonary CT angiography for suspected acute pulmonary embolism alters the diagnostic confidence, accuracy, and interpretation time of cardiothoracic radiology specialists and radiology residents. MATERIALS AND METHODS Patients who underwent 50 consecutive pulmonary 64-MDCT angiographic examinations formed the study group (18 men, 32 women; mean age, 53 years; range, 19-93 years). Three blinded cardiothoracic faculty radiologists and three blinded radiology residents reviewed each case independently initially using only axial display mode and later using multiplanar reformation (MPR) in any x-, y-, or z-axis. The presence of pulmonary embolism in the main through subsegmental pulmonary arteries was scored on a 5-point scale; diagnostic confidence for the overall examination was scored on a 3-point scale; and interpretation time was recorded. A surrogate reference standard consisted of either faculty agreement or, in cases of disagreement, adjudication by another, senior faculty member. Statistical analysis included the Kendall coefficient (W), receiver operating characteristics curves, and a univariate repeated measures model. RESULTS Interobserver agreement between specialists on the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism was good for axial viewing (W=0.72) and for MPR viewing (W=0.79). Interobserver agreement between residents was good for axial viewing (W=0.62) and for MPR viewing (W=0.70). Reader confidence improved among all readers with MPR viewing, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. Interpretation time with MPR was significantly longer for two of the three specialists and significantly shorter for two of the three residents. CONCLUSION Use of MPR for viewing increased the reader agreement and interpretation time of cardiothoracic specialists but increased reader agreement between residents and might have decreased interpretation time. All readers had a trend toward increased confidence.
EUROBRIDGE: new insight into the geodynamic evolution of the East European Craton

Abstract The Palaeoproterozoic crust and upper mantle in the region between the Ukrainian and Baltic shields of the East European Craton were built up finally during collision of the previously independent Fennoscandian and Sarmatian crustal segments at c. 1.8-1.7 Ga. EUROBRIDGE seismic profiling and geophysical modelling across the southwestern part of the Craton suggest that the Central Belarus Suture Zone is the junction between the two colliding segments. This junction is marked by strong deformation of the crust and the presence of a metamorphic core complex. At 1.80-1.74 Ga, major late to post-collisional extension and magmatism affected the part of Sarmatia adjoining the Central Belarus Zone and generated a high-velocity layer at the base of the crust. Other sutures separating terranes of different ages are found within Sarmatia and in the Polish-Lithuanian part of Fennoscandia. While Fennoscandia and Sarmatia were still a long distance apart, orogeny was dominantly accretionary. The accreted Palaeoproterozoic terranes in the Baltic-Belarus region of Fennoscandia are all younger than 2.0 Ga (2.0-1.9, 1.90-1.85 and 1.84-1.82 Ga), whereas those in Sarmatia have ages of c. 2.2-2.1 and 2.0-1.95 Ga. Lithospheric deformation and magmatism at c. 1.50-1.45 Ga, and Devonian rifting, are also defined by the EUROBRIDGE seismic and gravity models.
Do Mental Processes Share a Domain-General Resource?

What determines success and failure in dual-task situations? Many theories propose that the extent to which two activities can be performed concurrently depends on the nature of the information involved in the activities. In particular, verbal and visuospatial activities are thought to be fueled by distinct resources, so that interference occurs between two verbal activities or two visuospatial activities, but little or no interference occurs between verbal and visuospatial activities. The current study examined trade-offs in four dual-task situations in which participants maintained verbal or visuospatial information while concurrently processing either verbal or visuospatial information. We manipulated the cognitive load of concurrent processing and assessed recall performance in each condition. Results revealed that both verbal and visuospatial recall performance decreased as a direct function of increasing cognitive load, regardless of the nature of the information concurrently processed. The observed trade-offs suggest strongly that verbal and visuospatial activities compete for a common domain-general pool of resources.
The time-course of morphosyntactic and semantic priming in late bilinguals: A study of German adjectives*

How do late proficient bilinguals process morphosyntactic and lexical-semantic information in their non-native language (L2)? How is this information represented in the L2 mental lexicon? And what are the neural signatures of L2 morphosyntactic and lexical-semantic processing? We addressed these questions in one behavioral and two ERP priming experiments on inflected German adjectives testing a group of advanced late Russian learners of German in comparison to native speaker (L1) controls. While in the behavioral experiment, the L2 learners performed native-like, the ERP data revealed clear L1/L2 differences with respect to the temporal dynamics of grammatical processing. Specifically, our results show that L2 morphosyntactic processing yielded temporally and spatially extended brain responses relative to L1 processing, indicating that grammatical processing of inflected words in an L2 is more demanding and less automatic than in the L1. However, this group of advanced L2 learners showed native-like lexical-semantic processing.
The digestibility of English and Canadian wheats with special reference to the digestibility of wheat protein by man

1. Two men and four women carried out digestibility experiments on English and Canadian wheats at 90 and 80% extractions. The flour was the only source of protein and contributed 77−93% of the total dietary calories. 2. At 90% extraction the digestibility of the diets in terms of calories was unaffected by the source of the flour and amounted to 93·3%. At 80% extraction the digestibility of the diet containing English wheat amounted to 95·6% and of those containing Manitoba wheat to 96·7%. The difference is attributed to mild intestinal upsets on the English flour. 3. The apparent digestibility of the protein depended upon the amount of N in the wheat and fell as the extraction rose. A quantitative analysis of the results indicates that the protein in wheat flour of 90 and 80% extraction is completely digested and absorbed, and that the N found in the faeces is entirely derived from the secretions of the gut. The Medical Research Council paid for the expenses of this investigation. We are very much indebted to Drs T. Moran, C. R. Jones and other members of the Cereals Research Station, St Albans, without whose help this study would hardly have been possible. We have also very much appreciated the help we have received from the subjects, Miss M. Costain, Miss C. M. Walsham, Miss E. Wilkinson and Mr R. Tayler, and also from Flt. -Sergeant Childs, who kindly made the bomb calorimeter determinations.
Duration of antipsychotic drug therapy in real-world practice: a comparison with CATIE trial results.

BACKGROUND Duration of drug therapy is a key measure of drug effectiveness in schizophrenia. The Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) trial found that only olanzapine achieved a longer time to all-cause-discontinuation (TTAD) than a standard therapy comparator. This study compares the TTAD achieved when using alternative antipsychotics to treat patients with schizophrenia in real-world practice settings. METHODS A total of 219,504 episodes of antipsychotic therapy initiated in the years 2000 to 2002 were identified using data from the California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) program. To capture the full range of treatment scenarios facing clinicians, four episode types were included: restarting therapy using the drug used in the preceding episode; restarting therapy using a different medication (delayed switches); switching therapy without a break in therapy; and augmentation. TTAD and changes in therapy were analyzed using ordinary least squares and logistic regressions and Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS Atypical antipsychotics consistently achieved longer TTAD and reduced switching rates relative to conventional antipsychotics. Differences in TTAD favoring atypical antipsychotics were 13 to 15 days in restart episodes; 28 to 36 days for delayed switching episodes; 41 to 52 days in switching episodes; and 59 to 63 days for augmentation (P < 0.0001 for all estimates). Differences between the atypical antipsychotics were smaller than reported in other studies and may not be clinically significant. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms two results from the CATIE study: Patients with schizophrenia frequently do not achieve stable, long-term drug therapy regardless of the specific drug used, and olanzapine achieved longer TTAD than conventional drugs. However, this study also found that patients treated with risperidone and quetiapine also achieved longer TTAD than patients treated with conventional antipsychotics.
Psychogenic Movement Disorders

Purpose of ReviewThis review describes the main clinical features of psychogenic (functional) movement disorders and reports recent advances in diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment. Recent FindingsThe terminology and definition of patients with psychogenic movement disorders remain subjects of controversy; the term “functional” has been used more frequently in the literature in recent years regarding the neurobiological substrate underpinning these disorders. Correct diagnosis of psychogenic movement disorders should rely not on the exclusion of organic disorders or the sole presence of psychological factors but on the observation or elicitation of clinical features related to the specific movement disorder (ie, a positive or inclusionary rather than exclusionary diagnosis). Sudden onset, spontaneous remissions, and variability over time or during clinical examination are useful “red flags” suggestive of a psychogenic movement disorder. Imaging studies have demonstrated impaired connectivity between limbic and motor areas involved in movement programming and hypoactivity of a brain region that compares expected data with actual sensory data occurring during voluntary movement. Treatment of psychogenic movement disorders begins with ensuring the patient’s acceptance of the diagnosis during the initial debriefing and includes nonpharmacologic (cognitive-behavioral therapy, physiotherapy) and pharmacologic options. SummaryPsychogenic movement disorders represent a challenging disorder for neurologists to diagnose and treat. Recent advances have increased understanding of the neurobiological mechanism of psychogenic movement disorders. Treatment with cognitive strategies and physical rehabilitation can benefit some patients. As short duration of disease correlates with better prognosis, early diagnosis and initiation of treatment are critical.
Epileptic seizure prediction using the spatiotemporal correlation structure of intracranial EEG

A patient-specific seizure prediction algorithm is proposed that extracts novel multivariate signal coherence features from ECoG recordings and classifies a patient's pre-seizure state. The algorithm uses space-delay correlation and covariance matrices at several delay scales to extract the spatiotemporal correlation structure from multichannel ECoG signals. Eigenspectra and amplitude features are extracted from the correlation and covariance matrices, followed by dimensionality reduction using principal components analysis, classification using a support vector machine, and temporal integration to produce a seizure prediction score. Evaluation on the Freiburg EEG database produced a sensitivity of 90.8% and false positive rate of . 094.
The Relationship between Surface Free-Energy and Kinetics in the Mineralization and Demineralization of Dental Hard Tissue

The interfacial free-energy is an important factor in the regulation of mineralization and dissolution at the surfaces of dental hard tissues. However, few thermodynamic studies have been aimed at the elucidation of the interfacial terms. Contact angle measurements (sessile drop and thin layer wicking) and kinetic dissolution and growth techniques have been used to study the interfacial properties of root dentin (D), human enamel (E), and hydroxyapatite (HAP). The interfacial tensions between water (w) and each of these phases were calculated from contact angle data according to surface tension components theory. The values γwD = 4.5 x 10-3J m-2, γ wE = 8.8 x 10-3J m-2, and γw,HAP = 10.4 x 10-3J m-2 were of the same order of magnitude as those obtained from dissolution kinetic data (pH = 4.5): γwD = 1.4 x 10-3J m-2, γwE = 3.2 x 10-3J m-2, and γwHAP = 9.3 x 10-3J m-2. Kinetics studies of the crystallization of HAP on HAP, dentin, and enamel yielded the interfacial free-energy values, γwHAP = 17.1 x 10-3J m-2, 17.7 x 10-3J m-2, and 9.4 x 10-3J m-2, respectively, probably reflecting the interfacial energies of the deposited phases rather than those of the dental hard-tissue substrata. The lower interfacial tension values are consistent with the higher solubilities of these solid phases: logKso = -52.0, -55 - 57, and -58 - 59, for root dentin, enamel, and HAP, respectively, expressed as an equivalent HAP ionic product. The higher interfacial free-energy is also consistent with the slower mineralization of HAP on dentin and enamel surfaces.
The Shadow Theory of Modular and Unimodular Lattices

Abstract It is shown that an n -dimensional unimodular lattice has minimal norm at most 2[ n /24]+2, unless n =23 when the bound must be increased by 1. This result was previously known only for even unimodular lattices. Quebbemann had extended the bound for even unimodular lattices to strongly N -modular even lattices for N in{1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15, 23}, (*)and analogous bounds are established here for odd lattices satisfying certain technical conditions (which are trivial for N =1 and 2). For N >1 in (*), lattices meeting the new bound are constructed that are analogous to the “shorter” and “odd” Leech lattices. These include an odd associate of the 16-dimensional Barnes–Wall lattice and shorter and odd associates of the Coxeter–Todd lattice. A uniform construction is given for the (even) analogues of the Leech lattice, inspired by the fact that (*) is also the set of square-free orders of elements of the Mathieu group M 23 .
Effect of Obesity on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in African American Women

Obesity is a growing health care concern with implications for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Obesity and CVD morbidity and mortality are highly prevalent among African American women. This pilot study examined the association between obesity and the traditional and emerging CVD risk factors in a sample of African American women. Participants comprised 48 women (27 obese, 21 normal weight) aged 18–45. with no known history of CVD. The women completed demographic and 7-day physical activity recall questionnaires. Height and weight were used to determine body mass index (BMI). Hypertension risk was assessed using the average of two resting blood pressure (BP) measurements. Lipid profile, blood glucose, fibrinogen, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and E-selectin (eSel) levels were assessed using fasting blood samples. Laboratory findings were interpreted using the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III reference guidelines as well as manufacturers’ reference ranges for the novel CVD risk factors. The most common traditional risk factors were physical inactivity (72.9%), positive family history of CVD (58.3%), and obesity (56.3%). Obese individuals had elevated systolic BP (p = .0002), diastolic BP (p = .0007) and HDL-cholesterol (p = .01), triglyceride (p = .02), hs-CRP (p = .002), and fibrinogen (p = .01), when compared with normal-weight women. The findings suggest an association between obesity and higher prevalence of both traditional and emerging CVD risk factors in young African American women.