Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assistive Technology as a Predictor of General or Alternate Assessment Among Elementary-aged Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 specifically mandates that all students participate in the general assessment process or some form of alternate assessment as a measure of school accountability for student academic progress. Although levels of communication difficulties, intellectual impairment, and specific diagnoses such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are correlated with increased probability of participating in alternate assessment methods, very little empirical research has focused on identifying predictors for students’ assessment modality. Archival data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS; 2005) were used to examine variables that predict whether elementary school students with ASD participated in the general or alternate assessment. Results indicated that receptive and expressive communication abilities appear to influence participation in the general vs. alternate assessment in tandem with access to assistive technology. Students with ASDs were approximately 2.71 times more likely to participate in the general assessment when they had access to assistive technology. Next, we performed a second, follow-up analysis for only ASD students with communication problems. The odds ratio value increased to 14.9 indicating that ASD students with communication problems that had access to assistive technology were almost 15 times more likely to participate in the general assessment than students with communication problems without access to assistive technology.
Control of a magnetic microrobot navigating in microfluidic arterial bifurcations through pulsatile and viscous flow

Navigating in bodily fluids to perform targeted diagnosis and therapy has recently raised the problem of robust control of magnetic microrobots under real endovascular conditions. Various control approaches have been proposed in the literature but few of them have been experimentally validated. In this paper, we point out the problem of navigation controllability of magnetic microrobots in high viscous fluids and under pulsatile flow for endovascular applications. We consider the experimental navigation along a desired trajectory, in a simplified millimeter-sized arterial bifurcation, operating in fluids at the low-Reynolds-number regime where viscous drag significantly dominates over inertia. Different viscosity environments are tested under a systolic pulsatile flow compatible with heart beating. The control performances in terms tracking, robustness and stability are then experimentally demonstrated.
Association between Body Mass Index, Waist-to-Height Ratio and Adiposity in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Obesity is defined as an abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) has been suggested as the gold standard to define obesity, but because its use is complex and expensive, anthropometric measures such as body mass index (BMI) or the waist-to-height ratio (WtHr) have been used as alternatives. The aim of this study was to review the published literature and investigate the correlation of BMI and WtHr with body fat (BF) measured by DEXA in pediatric populations. References were sought in PubMed/Medline and Embase datasets. Five original articles, published between 2013 and 2015, were finally included in this review. Their sample size ranged from 83 to 5355, and the age of participants ranged from 4.9 to 19 years old. The most frequently reported association measurements were the coefficients of determination (R2), followed by correlation coefficients and least-squares regression coefficients. BF measured by DEXA was strongly correlated with both BMI (R2 ranging from 0.32 to 0.91) and WtHr (R2 ranging from 0.49 to 0.73). Thus, either BMI or WtHr may be useful to define obesity when more sophisticated techniques are not available. Our systematic review of the available literature found that neither index demonstrated superiority in assessing obesity in children.
ANTIBODY FORMATION* IV. FORM.ATION OF RAPIDLY AND SLOWLY SEDIMENTING ANTIBODIES AND IMMUNOLOGICAL MEMORY TO BACTERIOPHAGE ~X 174 BY JONATHAN W. UHR,

Following the injection of any one of various antigens into humans (1, 2) and rabbits (3-5), rapidly sedimenting antibody molecules (19S) first appear in the circulation, and later are replaced by molecules of 7S sedimentation constant. Similar results were obtained after injection of bacteriophage q~X 174 into guinea pigs (6), newborn humans (7), sheep embryos (8), and several non-mammalian vertebrates (9), indicating the general occurrence of this sequence in the immune response. Earlier studies of antiMX formation in guinea pigs indicated certain similarities between the kinetics of primary 19S and secondary 7S antibody formations (6). The purpose of this study was to investigate the decline of 19S antibody formation, the primary 7S antibody response, and the relationship between the two responses. The results indicate that primary 7S antibody formation lasts for months and leads to preparation for a secondary 7S antibody response (immunological memory). In contrast, 19S antibody formation is relatively short-lived and in these studies did not lead to persisting immunological memory. It has also been shown that antigen can regulate the relative rate of antibody formation and the duration of rapidly sedimenting antibody synthesis, suggesting that the amount of antigen in immunologically competent cells may serve as a major control mechanism for several immunological functions.
Learnability of Influence in Networks

We show PAC learnability of influence functions for three common influence models, namely, the Linear Threshold (LT), Independent Cascade (IC) and Voter models, and present concrete sample complexity results in each case. Our results for the LT model are based on interesting connections with neural networks; those for the IC model are based an interpretation of the influence function as an expectation over random draw of a subgraph and use covering number arguments; and those for the Voter model are based on a reduction to linear regression. We show these results for the case in which the cascades are only partially observed and we do not see the time steps in which a node has been influenced. We also provide efficient polynomial time learning algorithms for a setting with full observation, i.e. where the cascades also contain the time steps in which nodes are influenced.
Vulnerability of Food Crop Farmers to Climate Change in South Eastern Nigeria

Micro-level assessment of vulnerability to climate change creates basis for policy formulation. The study specifically ascertained the levels and determinants of vulnerability to climate change among selected food crop farmers. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and ordinary least square regression analysis. The result revealed that 15.95%, 68.97% and 15.08% of the households were highly vulnerable, moderately vulnerable and less vulnerable to climate change respectively. This implies a varied effect on crop farmers. The result also showed that amount saved, extension contacts, household expenditure and value of crop were significant at 1% level. The study recommended the provision of basic amenities and soft loans to farmers as well as an improvement in extension services. It also advocated the introduction of effective climate change mitigation and adaptive measures to boost agricultural output in their area.
The effect of shallow segmentation on English-Tigrinya statistical machine translation

This paper presents initial research on English-to-Tigrinya statistical machine translation (SMT). Tigrinya is a highly inflected Semitic language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Translation involving morphologically complex languages is challenged by factors including data sparseness, word alignment and language model. We try to address these problems through morphological segmentation of Tigrinya words. As a result of segmentation, the size of the language model and its perplexity were greatly reduced. Furthermore, the increase in Tigrinya tokens decreased out-of-vocabulary ratio by 46%. We analysed phrase-based translation with unsegmented and segmented corpus to investigate the effect of segmentation on translation quality. Preliminary results demonstrate promising performance improvement from a relatively small parallel corpus.
Mailbox-based scheme for mobile agent communications

In various situations, mobile agents at different hosts must cooperate with one another by sharing information and making decisions collectively. To ensure effective interagent communication, communication protocols must track target agent locations and deliver messages reliably. Researchers have proposed a wide range of schemes for agent tracking and reliable message delivery. However, each scheme has its own assumptions, design goals, and methodology. As a result, no uniform or structured methods exist for characterizing current protocols, making it difficult to evaluate their relative effectiveness and performance. The authors propose a mailbox-based scheme for designing mobile agent communication protocols. This scheme assigns each agent a mailbox to buffer messages, but decouples the agent and mailbox to let them reside at different hosts and migrate separately.
On the Immediate Consequences of Intergroup Categorization: Activation of Approach and Avoidance Motor Behavior Toward Ingroup and Outgroup Members

The present research argues that intergroup categorization has immediate behavioral consequences. Specifically, intergroup categorization is hypothesized to prepare the organism to respond differently to ingroup and outgroup members so that approach-like motor movements should be faster toward ingroup- versus outgroup-related stimuli. In contrast, avoidance-like behavior should be facilitated when reacting to outgroup versus ingroup members. Studies 1 and 2 test the basic hypothesis in relation to ethnic, national, age, and political categorization. Study 3 uses a minimal group paradigm to test the hypothesis in relation to newly formed groups. Across these experiments, participants were generally faster in performing approach-like motor movements toward ingroup members or avoidance behaviors toward outgroup members. The evolutionary function and the cognitive underpinnings of this state of “physical readiness” to approach ingroup and avoid outgroup members are discussed.
Improved exercise tolerance after losartan and enalapril in heart failure: correlation with changes in skeletal muscle myosin heavy chain composition.

BACKGROUND In congestive heart failure, fatigue-resistant, oxidative, slow type I fibers are decreased in leg skeletal muscle, contributing to exercise capacity (EC) limitation. The mechanisms by which ACE inhibitors and AII antagonists improve EC is still unclear. We tested the hypothesis that improvement in EC is related to changes in skeletal muscle composition toward type I fibers. METHODS AND RESULTS Eight patients with congestive heart failure, NYHA classes I through IV, were treated for 6 months with enalapril (E) 20 mg/d, and another 8 with losartan (L) 50 mg/d. EC was assessed with maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing at baseline and after treatment. Myosin heavy chain (MHC) composition of the gastrocnemius was studied after electrophoretic separation of slow MHC1, fast oxidative MHC2a, and fast glycolytic MHC2b isoforms from needle microbiopsies obtained at baseline and after 6 months. EC improved in both groups. Peak V(O2) increased from 21.0+/-4.7 to 27.6+/-4.3 mL . kg-1 . min -1 (P=0.011) in the L group and from 17.5+/-5.0 to 25.0+/-5.5 mL . kg-1 . min -1 (P=0.014) in the E group. Similarly, ventilatory threshold changed from 15.0+/-4.0 to 19.9+/-4.9 mL (P=0. 049) with L and from 12.0+/-1.9 to 15.4+/-3.5 mL (P=0.039) with E. MCH1 increased from 61.2+/-11.2% to 75.4+/-7.6% with L (P=0.012) and from 60.6+/-13.1% to 80.1+/-10.9% (P=0.006) with E. Similarly, MHC2a decreased from 21.20+/-9.5% to 12.9+/-4.4% (P=0.05) with L and from 19.9+/-7.8% to 11.8+/-7.9% (P=0.06) with E. MHC2b changed from 17. 5+/-6.5% to 11.7+/-5.2% (P=0.07) with L and from 19.5+/-6.4% to 8. 1+/-4.6% (P=0.0015) with E. There was a significant correlation between net changes in MHC1 and absolute changes in peak V(O2) (r2=0.29, P=0.029) and a trend to significance for MHC2a and 2b. CONCLUSIONS Six months' treatment with L and with E produces an improvement in EC of similar magnitude. These changes are accompanied by a reshift of MHCs of leg skeletal muscle toward the slow, more fatigue-resistant isoforms. Magnitude of MHC1 changes correlates with the net peak V(O2) gain, which suggests that improved EC may be caused by favorable biochemical changes occurring in the skeletal muscle.
Stability of axisymmetric core–annular flow in the presence of an insoluble surfactant

The effect of an insoluble surfactant on the stability of the core–annular flow of two immiscible fluids is investigated by a normal-mode linear analysis and by numerical simulations based on the immersed-interface method for axisymmetric perturbations. The results reveal that, although the Marangoni stress due to surfactant concentration variations is unable to initiate a new type of instability as in the case of two-dimensional two-layer channel flow, it does destabilize the interface by broadening the range of growing wavenumbers and by raising the growth rate of unstable perturbations. Numerical simulations for large-amplitude disturbances reveal that the surfactant plays an important role in determining the morphology of the interfacial structures developing in the nonlinear stages of the motion.
Power and emotion in negotiation: Power moderates the interpersonal effects of anger and happiness on concession making

This paper focuses on the interactive effects of power and emotion in negotiation. Previous research has shown that negotiators concede more to angry opponents than to happy ones, and that power influences the amount of attention that is devoted to the social environment. Integrating these two lines of inquiry, we predicted that low-power negotiators would be influenced by their opponent's emotions (conceding more to an angry opponent than to a happy one), whereas high-power negotiators would not. Five studies using different methods (an experiment, a field simulation, and three scenario studies), different samples (students, general population, managers), and different operationalisations of power (BATNA, number of alternatives, legitimacy, support) support this hypothesis. The results are discussed in terms of a motivated information processing model of the interpersonal effects of emotions in negotiations.
Beneficial effects of low-dose prostacyclin on cat intestinal perfusion during endotoxemia as evaluated with microdialysis and oxygen transport variables

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of low-dose prostacyclin on intestinal perfusion during endotoxemia. DesignA randomized, blinded experimental study. SettingA university laboratory. SubjectsSixteen anesthetized cats. InterventionsThe animals received endotoxin by continuous intravenous infusion (0.5 mg/kg plus 0.5 mg·kg−1·hr−1) and a continuous volume replacement throughout the experiment. Four hours after the start of endotoxin, the animals were randomized to receive an infusion of either prostacyclin at a dose of 1 ng·kg−1·min−1 (prostacyclin group) or vehicle (control group) during the next 4 hrs. Measurements and Main Results Intestinal vascular resistance was calculated from systemic arterial pressure, central venous pressure, and superior mesenteric artery blood flow, and intestinal oxygen delivery and uptake were calculated from superior mesenteric artery and vein blood samples and blood flow. Interstitial lactate, pyruvate, glucose, and glycerol in the ileal wall were measured by using microdialysis. There were no differences in baseline values between the groups. Systemic blood pressure decreased initially but recovered and remained stable in both groups. In the control group, intestinal vascular resistance increased from 10.9 ± 1.0 to 24.7 ± 5.3 mm Hg·mL·min−1·kg−1 (p < .05) at 8 hrs, and oxygen delivery decreased from 2.6 ± 0.2 to 1.3 ± 0.3 mL·min−1·kg−1 (p < .05). Simultaneously, microdialysis lactate increased from 1.6 ± 0.1 to 3.6 ± 0.5 mmol/L (p < .05) with concomitant pyruvate increase and unchanged lactate/pyruvate ratio. Blood lactate increased and pH decreased. In the prostacyclin group at 8 hrs, intestinal vascular resistance of 6.9 ± 0.8 mm Hg·mL·min−1·kg−1 was lower and intestinal oxygen delivery of 3.2 ± 0.3 was higher (p < .05) than in the control group at 8 hrs. Intestinal oxygen uptake of 0.54 ± 0.10 mL·min−1·kg−1 was higher than in the control group, in which oxygen uptake was 0.26 ± 0.04 mL·min−1·kg−1. Lactate, pyruvate, and pH were normalized at 8 hrs in the prostacyclin group. ConclusionLow-dose prostacyclin has beneficial effects on small intestinal perfusion during endotoxemia in this experimental cat model.
Metabolic profile in sons of women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

CONTEXT Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine-metabolic disorder with strong familial aggregation. It has been demonstrated that parents and brothers of PCOS women exhibit insulin resistance and related metabolic defects. However, metabolic phenotypes in sons of PCOS women have not been described. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to assess the metabolic profiles in sons of women with PCOS during different stages of life: early infancy, childhood, and adulthood. DESIGN Eighty sons of women with PCOS (PCOS(S)) and 56 sons of control women without hyperandrogenism (C(S)), matched for age, were studied. In early infancy, glucose and insulin were determined in the basal sample. In children and adults, a 2-h oral glucose tolerance test was performed with measurements of glucose and insulin. Adiponectin, leptin, C-reactive protein, SHBG, and serum lipids were determined in the basal sample during the three periods. RESULTS During early infancy, PCOS(S) showed higher weight (P = 0.038) and weight sd score (P = 0.031) than C(S). During childhood, weight (P = 0.003), body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.001), BMI sd score (P < 0.001), waist circumference (P = 0.001), total cholesterol (P = 0.007), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.022) were higher in PCOS(S) compared with C(S), but after adjusting for BMI, these differences were nonsignificant. During adulthood, PCOS(S) exhibited higher weight (P = 0.022), BMI (P = 0.046), and waist circumference (P = 0.028) than C(S). Fasting insulin (P = 0.030), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (P = 0.034), total cholesterol (P = 0.043), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.034), and 2-h insulin (P = 0.006) were also significantly higher and insulin sensitivity index composite significantly lower in PCOS(S) than in C(S) (P = 0.003). After adjusting for BMI, only 2-h insulin and insulin sensitivity index composite remained significantly different. CONCLUSIONS This study indicates that sons of PCOS women exhibit higher body weight from early infancy. In addition, insulin resistance became evident as the subjects got older, which may place them at risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Requirement of Ca2+ on activation of sperm motility in euryhaline tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus

SUMMARY Euryhaline tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus acclimates to the external spawning environment by modulating its mechanism for regulating sperm motility. Adaptation of sperm was performed by acclimating fish in various environments. In this paper, regulatory mechanisms of freshwater-acclimated tilapia were studied in detail. Tilapia sperm motility was vigorous in hypotonic conditions and decreased with increasing osmolality. Sperm motility was reduced in hypotonic conditions when extracellular Ca2+ was chelated; however, extracellular Ca2+ was not a major factor for motility activation since sperm were motile even when extracellular Ca2+ levels were nominally depleted by EGTA. The Ca2+ indicator, fluo 3, showed that intracellular [Ca2+] increased on motility activation independently of extracellular [Ca2+], accompanied by swelling of the sperm neck region called the sleeve structure. Intracellular [Ca2+] was not increased under hypertonic conditions, in which sperm were immotile, even on addition of extracellular Ca2+. It is possible that Ca2+ is stored in the neck region. Demembranated sperm were reactivated in the presence of Ca2+, but cAMP failed to reactivate the motility. Furthermore, we detected phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of three proteins at serine and threonine residues on motility activation. It is likely that hypotonic shock causes an increase in intracellular [Ca2+] that activates motility activation via phosphorylation of some flagellar proteins.
Let It Be and Keep on Going! Acceptance and Daily Occupational Well-Being in Relation to Negative Work Events

Negative work events can diminish daily occupational well-being, yet the degree to which they do so depends on the way in which people deal with their emotions. The aim of the current study was to examine the role of acceptance in the link between daily negative work events and occupational well-being. We hypothesized that acceptance would be associated with better daily occupational well-being, operationalized as low end-of-day negative emotions and fatigue, and high work engagement. Furthermore, we predicted that acceptance would buffer the adverse impact of negative work events on daily well-being. A microlongitudinal study across 10 work days was carried out with 92 employees of the health care sector, yielding a total of 832 daily observations. As expected, acceptance was associated with lower end-of-day negative emotions and fatigue (though there was no association with work engagement) across the 10-day period. Furthermore, acceptance moderated the effect of negative event occurrence on daily well-being: Highly accepting employees experienced less increase in negative emotions and less reduction in work engagement (though comparable end-of-day fatigue) on days with negative work events, relative to days without negative work events, than did less accepting employees. These findings highlight affective, resource-saving, and motivational benefits of acceptance for daily occupational well-being and demonstrate that acceptance is associated with enhanced resilience to daily negative work events.