Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Posterior Cortical Atrophy: Clinical Characteristics and Differences Compared to Alzheimer’s Disease

Background: Predominant and progressive complex visual disorders are often due to posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a rare early-onset dementing syndrome presenting with visual complaints. In clinicopathological studies, PCA is most commonly considered a form of Alzheimer’s disease (AD); no prior study has evaluated clinical differences between PCA and AD. Methods: This study identified 15 patients who presented with progressive complex visual disorders and predominant occipitoparietal hypoperfusion on SPECT. These patients were retrospectively compared on clinical variables with 30 patients with clinically probable AD matched for gender, age and duration of illness. Results: The PCA patients presented with alexia, elements of Balint’s syndrome, apperceptive visual agnosia, dressing apraxia and environmental disorientation along with elements of Gerstmann’s syndrome. Compared to the AD patients, the 15 PCA patients (mean age of onset 58 years, range 51–64) had significantly better verbal fluency, less memory difficulty, more depression and greater insight into their illness but similar familial and apolipoprotein E risk factors. In the PCA patients, MRI often showed occipitoparietal atrophy without detectable mesiotemporal atrophy. Conclusions: PCA is a distinct clinical syndrome and not just AD with prominent visual deficits. Compared to AD controls, PCA patients have better language and memory but more insight and depression and more posterior atrophy on MRI. These results indicate clinical criteria for the diagnosis of PCA and recommend specific interventions such as visual aids and antidepressant medications. Similar risk factors and course suggest that PCA is most commonly an early-onset posteriorly shifted AD variant.
Unsupervised Part of Speech Tagging Using Unambiguous Substitutes from a Statistical Language Model

We show that unsupervised part of speech tagging performance can be significantly improved using likely substitutes for target words given by a statistical language model. We choose unambiguous substitutes for each occurrence of an ambiguous target word based on its context. The part of speech tags for the unambiguous substitutes are then used to filter the entry for the target word in the word--tag dictionary. A standard HMM model trained using the filtered dictionary achieves 92.25% accuracy on a standard 24,000 word corpus.
Automated error localization and correction for imperative programs

In this paper, we present a novel debugging method for imperative software, featuring both automatic error localization and correction. The input of our method is an incorrect program and a corresponding specification, which can be given in form of assertions or as a reference implementation. We use symbolic execution for program analysis. This allows for a wide range of different trade-offs between resource requirements and accuracy of results. Our error localization method rests upon model-based diagnosis and SMT-solving. Error correction is done using a template-based approach which ensures that the computed repairs are readable. Our method can handle all sorts of incorrect expressions, not only under a single-fault assumption but also for multiple faults. Finally, we present experimental results, where an implementation for C programs is used to debug mutants of the TCAS case study of the Siemens suite.
Metaperception Accuracy: An Israeli Study

Research on meta-accuracy (the ability of people to know how others view them) has indicated that people do not know how they are differentially seen by others. Although Kenny and DePaulo (1993) have explained this finding by self-perception theory, it seems likely that feedback from the partner should be a factor in meta-accuracy. The present study examined meta-accuracy within an Israeli group-interaction setting. It was assumed that the directness and straight talk typical of interpersonal communication in Israeli society would greatly improve feedback and, therefore, would increase meta-accuracy as well. A group assessment procedure was administered to 154 female candidates to educational programs at a university and a teacher-training college. Despite the inclusion of group activities expected to enhance interaction and feedback, the assessment procedure was found to generate a rather low level of meta-accuracy, supporting Kenny and DePaulo's (1993) self-perception theory.
Functional Neuroimaging of Cortical Plasticity in the Human Visual System

Partial damage of the primary visual cortex (V1) and optic radiation lesions can cause visual field deficits restricted to specific regions of the contralateral visual hemifield. This thesis has explored the functional properties of the visual cortex and its capacity to reorganize in patients with chronic V1 or optic radiation lesions resulting in partial or complete homonymous quadrantanopia. We used functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) methods and quantitative population receptive field (pRF) analysis to investigate: i) how spared regions of the visual cortex cover the visual field following V1 injury, and ii) whether the retinotopic organization of the spared visual cortex changes as a result of reorganization. We demonstrate that the spared part of area V1 has at best a limited-degree of reorganization that manifests in some patients with a small shift of the pRF centers towards the border of the scotoma and by a slight increase in V1 pRF sizes near the border of the scotoma. Importantly, we show that responses in early and higher visual cortex are not always congruent with visual perception in subjects with visual cortical lesions. Several patterns of mismatch were identified: 1) visual field areas covered in both areas V1 and hV5/MT+, 2) visual field areas covered in hV5/MT+ but not V1 suggesting the existence of functional pathways that bypass area V1. Interestingly these areas overlap with dense regions of the perimetric scotoma, suggesting that activity in these areas does not contribute to visual awareness. Nevertheless, identifying and characterizing the patterns of activation seen in the visual cortex may help choose visual field locations with high potential for rehabilitation. Conversely, we found cases in which 3) spared area V1 failed to cover completely seeing visual field locations in the perimetric map, suggesting the existence of V1-bypassing pathways that are able to mediate useful vision. Understanding how the properties of visual areas change after injury, and how this correlates with perception is important in the effort to adopt new rational strategies for visual rehabilitation. Finally, we reviewed the literature and proposed a systematic approach to visual system rehabilitation using the combination of pRF mapping and real-time fMRI neuro-feedback methods.
NF‐κB, but not p38 MAP Kinase, is required for TNF‐α‐induced expression of cell adhesion molecules in endothelial cells

In response to inflammation stimuli, tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) induces expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) in endothelial cells (ECs). Studies have suggested that the nuclear factor‐κB (NF‐κB) and the p38 MAP kinase (p38) signaling pathways play central roles in this process, but conflicting results have been reported. The objective of this study is to determine the relative contributions of the two pathways to the effect of TNF‐α. Our initial data indicated that blockade of p38 activity by chemical inhibitor SB203580 (SB) at 10 µM moderately inhibited TNF‐α‐induced expression of three types of CAMs; ICAM‐1, VCAM‐1 and E‐selectin, indicating that p38 may be involved in the process. However, subsequent analysis revealed that neither 1 µM SB that could completely inhibit p38 nor specific knockdown of p38α and p38β with small interference RNA (siRNA) had an apparent effect, indicating that p38 activity is not essential for TNF‐α‐induced CAMs. The most definitive evidence to support this conclusion was from the experiments using cells differentiated from p38α knockout embryonic stem cells. We could show that deletion of p38α gene did not affect TNF‐α‐induced ICAM‐1 and VCAM‐1 expression when compared with wild‐type cells. We further demonstrated that inhibition of NF‐κB completely blocked TNF‐α‐induced expression of ICAM‐1, VCAM‐1 and E‐selectin. Taken together, our results clearly demonstrate that NF‐κB, but not p38, is critical for TNF‐α‐induced CAM expression. The inhibition of SB at 10 µM on TNF‐α‐induced ICAM‐1, VCAM‐1 and E‐selectin is likely due to the nonspecific effect of SB. J. Cell. Biochem. 105: 477–486, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identification of Beta-2 as a Key Cell Adhesion Molecule in PCa Cell Neurotropic Behavior: A Novel Ex Vivo and Biophysical Approach

Prostate cancer (PCa) is believed to metastasize through the blood/lymphatics systems; however, PCa may utilize the extensive innervation of the prostate for glandular egress. The interaction of PCa and its nerve fibers is observed in 80% of PCa and is termed perineural invasion (PNI). PCa cells have been observed traveling through the endoneurium of nerves, although the underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated. Voltage sensitive sodium channels (VSSC) are multimeric transmembrane protein complexes comprised of a pore-forming α subunit and one or two auxiliary beta (β) subunits with inherent cell adhesion molecule (CAM) functions. The beta-2 isoform (gene SCN2B) interacts with several neural CAMs, while interacting putatively with other prominent neural CAMs. Furthermore, beta-2 exhibits elevated mRNA and protein levels in highly metastatic and castrate-resistant PCa. When overexpressed in weakly aggressive LNCaP cells (2BECFP), beta-2 alters LNCaP cell morphology and enhances LNCaP cell metastasis associated behavior in vitro. We hypothesize that PCa cells use beta-2 as a CAM during PNI and subsequent PCa metastasis. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of beta-2 expression on PCa cell neurotropic metastasis associated behavior. We overexpressed beta-2 as a fusion protein with enhanced cyan fluorescence protein (ECFP) in weakly aggressive LNCaP cells and observed neurotropic effects utilizing our novel ex vivo organotypic spinal cord co-culture model, and performed functional assays with neural matrices and atomic force microscopy. With increased beta-2 expression, PCa cells display a trend of enhanced association with nerve axons. On laminin, a neural CAM, overexpression of beta-2 enhances PCa cell migration, invasion, and growth. 2BECFP cells exhibit marked binding affinity to laminin relative to LNECFP controls, and recombinant beta-2 ectodomain elicits more binding events to laminin than BSA control. Functional overexpression of VSSC beta subunits in PCa may mediate PCa metastatic behavior through association with neural matrices.
Assembly and routing of von Willebrand factor variants: the requirements for disulfide-linked dimerization reside within the carboxy-terminal 151 amino acids

The precursor protein of von Willebrand factor (pro-vWF) consists of four different repeated domains, denoted D1-D2-D'-D3-A1-A2-A3-D4-B1-B2- B3-C1-C2, followed by a carboxy-terminal region of 151 amino acids without obvious internal homology. Previously, we have shown the requirement of the domains D1, D2, D', and D3 of pro-vWF in the assembly of pro-vWF dimers into multimers. Here, we define the domains of vWF involved in dimerization, using deletion mutants of full-length vWF cDNA transiently expressed in monkey kidney COS-1 cells. It is shown that only the carboxy-terminal 151 amino acid residues of vWF are required for dimerization. In addition, by analyzing a construct, encoding only the carboxy-terminal 151 amino acids of vWF, we find that the formation of dimers is an event independent of other domains present on pro-vWF, such as the domains C1 and C2 previously suggested to be involved in dimerization. Furthermore, it is shown that a deletion mutant of vWF, lacking the carboxy-terminal 151 amino acid residues and thus unable to dimerize, is proteolytically degraded in the ER. In contrast, a mutant protein, composed only of the carboxy- terminal 151 amino acids of vWF, and able to dimerize, is transported from the ER in a similar fashion as wild-type vWF. The role of the ER in the assembly of vWF is discussed with regard to the data presented in this paper on the intracellular fate of several vWF mutant proteins.
Decrease in stromal androgen receptor associates with androgen-independent disease and promotes prostate cancer cell proliferation and invasion

Androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in both stromal and epithelial cells of the prostate. The majority of studies on AR expression and function in prostate cancer is focused on malignant epithelial cells rather than stromal cells. In this study, we examined the levels of stromal AR in androgen‐dependent and ‐independent prostate cancer and the function of stromal AR in prostate cancer growth and invasion. We showed that stromal AR levels were decreased in the areas surrounding cancerous tissue, especially in androgen‐independent cancer. Using two telomerase‐immortalized human stromal cell lines, one AR‐positive and the other AR‐negative, we demonstrated that stromal cells lacking AR stimulated cell proliferation of co‐cultured prostate cancer cells in vitro and enhanced tumour growth in vivo when co‐injected with PC3 epithelial cells in nude mice. In contrast, stromal cells expressing AR suppressed prostate cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. In parallel with cancer growth, in vitro invasion assays revealed that stromal cells lacking AR increased the invasion ability of PC3 cell by one order of magnitude, while stromal cells expressing AR reduced this effect. These results indicate a negative regulation of prostate cancer growth and invasion by stromal AR. This provides potentially new mechanistic insights into the failure of androgen ablation therapy, and the reactivation of stromal AR could be a novel therapeutic approach for treating hormone refractory prostate cancer.
Beyond “It Was Good”: Students’ Post–Study Abroad Practices for Negotiating Meaning

Student participation in short-term study abroad programs has increased at a rapid pace; however, little is known about students’ post–study abroad practices regarding negotiating meaning of their experiences. The purpose of this study is to explore students’ post–study abroad participation and reification of their experiences using the theoretical framework of communities of practice (Wenger, 1998). Findings from this study indicate that student learning is truncated by the practices students employed post–study abroad and the opportunities available to them to negotiate the meaning of their study abroad experiences. Recommendations include providing students with structured, programmatic opportunities and assistance in processing, articulating, and negotiating the meaning of their study abroad experiences.
A Content-Aware Video Adaptation Service to Support Mobile Video

Adaptive video streaming systems rely on the availability of different quality versions of a video. Such a system can dynamically adjust the quality of a video stream during its playback depending on the available network throughput. Even if the necessary throughput is available, mobile users can benefit from limiting the generated data traffic as most cellular network contracts have data caps. Usually, if the cap is reached, the throughput is throttled to a speed that does not allow video streaming. Existing systems react to varying network conditions but often neglect content-specific adaptation needs. Content inspection can help to save data traffic when a higher bitrate representation would not increase the perceived quality. In this work, we present the Video Adaptation Service (VAS), a support service for a content-aware video adaptation for mobile devices. Based on the video content, the adaptation process is improved for both the available network resources and the perception of the user. By leveraging the content properties of a video stream, the system is able to maintain a stable video quality and at the same time reduce the generated data traffic. The system is evaluated with different adaptation schemes and shows that content-specific adaptation can both increase the perceived quality as well as reduce the data traffic. Additionally, we demonstrate the practical feasibility of this approach by integrating the VAS into Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over the Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
Trends in melanosome microcavitation thresholds for nanosecond pulse exposures in the near infrared

Abstract. Thresholds for microcavitation of bovine and porcine melanosomes were determined using nanosecond laser pulses in the near-infrared (1000 to 1319 nm) wavelength regime. Isolated melanosomes were irradiated by single pulses (10 or 50 ns) using a Q-switched Spectra Physics Nd:YAG laser coupled with an optical parametric oscillator (1000 to 1200 nm) or a continuum laser at 1319 nm. Time-resolved nanosecond strobe photography after the arrival of the irradiation beam allowed imaging of microcavitation events. Average fluence thresholds for microcavitation increased nonlinearly with increasing wavelength from ∼0.5 J/cm2 at 1000 nm to 2.6 J/cm2 at 1319 nm. Fluence thresholds were also measured for 10-ns pulses at 532 nm and found to be comparable to visible nanosecond pulse values published in previous reports. Calculated melanosome absorption coefficients decreased from 925 cm−1 at 1000 nm to 176 cm−1 at 1319 nm. This trend was found to be comparable to the decrease in retinal pigmented epithelial layer absorption coefficients reported over the same wavelength region. Estimated corneal total intraocular energy retinal damage threshold values were determined in order to compare to current and proposed maximum permissible exposure (MPE) safe levels. Results from this study support recently proposed changes to the MPE levels.
Improvement in problem solving and critical thinking among Korean nursing students over an academic year

Problem solving and critical thinking are considered important characteristics that should be learned by nursing students during their education. The present study was conducted to measure differences in problem solving and critical thinking by nursing students between the beginning and end of the year using a self-reporting instrument. The total mean problem solving ability increased in juniors (t=3.33, p=0.001) and seniors (t=2.03, p=0.046). The mean problem discovery decreased in freshmen (t=-2.00, p=0.047), but increased in juniors (t=2.61, p=0.010) during the study period. Among sophomores, only the mean problem definition increased; however, the scores of most subcategories except solution implementation were increased among juniors. The solution implementation did not change significantly during the period for any academic classes. The total mean score of critical thinking disposition increased over the year for sophomores (t=2.12, p=0.036), juniors (t=2.87, p=0.005) and seniors (t=4.03, p<0.001). Among subscales, intellectual fairness decreased in freshmen (t=-1.98, p=0.050), while for sophomores and juniors objectivity (t=4.51, p<0.001) and systematicity (t=4.05, p<0.001) increased, respectively. Although most subcategories of intellectual fairness increased among seniors, intellectual eagerness/curiosity and self-confidence did not, and these occasionally decreased over during the period in all academic classes. Although nursing students are engaged in rigorous curricula, their problem solving ability and critical thinking disposition is less than straightforward.
From Knowledge-Creation to the Perfecting of Action: Tao, Basho and Pure Experience as the Ultimate Ground of Knowing

The idea of knowledge-creation and knowledge management has become an important area of research in management studies. This preoccupation with the creation and accumulation of knowledge in its explicit representational form is underpinned by the epistemological priorities of an alphabetic-literate1 culture that takes written knowledge as the only reliable basis for effective action. Documented knowledge necessarily precedes and hence determines action and performance. Such a metaphysical orientation precludes the possibility of attaining a form of direct unmediated knowing through the relentless perfecting of action. In traditionally based oral-aural communities or in non-alphabetic East Asian cultures knowing is more often achieved directly through the immediate engagement of tasks rather than through the acquisition of abstract written signs and symbols: learning by direct observation and doing is the order of the day. Consequently, there is little systematic documenting and recording of knowledge in the written form that one finds in abundance in contemporary western cultures. Yet this apparent lack has not prevented such predominantly non-alphabetic eastern cultures from achieving outstanding levels of performance in the arts, sport and in business. This would suggest that the current obsession with knowledge-creation and the presumed route of knowledge-creation-application-performance is a peculiarly western preoccupation and that it represents only one avenue of possibility for achieving effective action. This has significant implications for our understanding of the relationship among knowledge, action and performance.
Overt and Relational Aggression in Adolescents: Social-Psychological Adjustment of Aggressors and Victims

Examined the relative and combined associations among relational and overt forms of aggression and victimization and adolescents' concurrent depression symptoms, loneliness, self-esteem, and externalizing behavior. An ethnically diverse sample of 566 adolescents (55% girls) in Grades 9 to 12 participated. Results replicated prior work on relational aggression and victimization as distinct forms of peer behavior that are uniquely associated with concurrent social-psychological adjustment. Victimization was associated most closely with internalizing symptoms, and peer aggression was related to symptoms of disruptive behavior disorder. Findings also supported the hypothesis that victims of multiple forms of aggression are at greater risk for adjustment difficulties than victims of one or no form of aggression. Social support from close friends appeared to buffer the effects of victimization on adjustment.
Time Served and Release Performance: A Research Note

In this note, the association between length of time served in prison and release outcome is examined for a sample of 1546 federal adult male prisoners with control exercised for base expectancy (salient factor) score. All forms of release (parole/mandatory releaselexpiration of sentence) are included with a two year followup period utilized for each case. No substantial association between time served and release outcome is observable from the data for this sample. However, the percentage of cases with favorable outcome generally does appear to decrease slightly as one moves within risk categories from the groups serving shorter to longer periods of time.
Sub-nanosecond time synchronization mechanism for radio interferometer array

In both wired and wireless networks, time synchronization is an important service for a wide range of applications in distributed systems. This includes radio interferometry. However, literature researches show that many distributed protocols cannot satisfy sub-ns time synchronization accuracy due to asymmetric delay errors, accumulated jitters and because of the strategy used to compute and adjust offsets. This paper proposes a global time synchronization algorithm in distributed networks. The algorithm allows us to compute and adjust offsets delays between master and each slaves in star topology and minimize asymmetric delays with sub-ns accuracy better than 10 ps and achieved global time synchronization. The theory of the algorithm used is presented and analyzed to prove that it achieves global time synchronization. Simulation results are given to show the performance and limitations of the proposed algorithm.