Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Beyond regimes of signs: making art/istic portrayals of haptic moments/movements with child/ren/hood

ABSTRACT In this paper, we try to move beyond fixed narratives of child/ren and childhoods, a fixity that comes, in part, as a consequence of the adult/child dyad. We undertake a cutting together-apart of childhood photographs which allows us to explore the complex machinery that produces the categories of child/ren as human beings that are, variously, de(scribed) as not only ‘natural’, ‘innocent’ and ‘romantic’, but also ‘uncanny’ and ‘sexual’, tropes that find meaning and depiction through child/hood bodies and faces. Inspired by non-representational ethnography, we want to generate pictorial acts that move beyond the face – ‘as regimes of signs’ so that body and language can interrelate where ‘the configuration of the face is inextricably tied to the evolution of the voice’. In undertaking a form of schizoanalysis, we undo images of child/ren/hood from ‘the inside’ by connecting to haptic thinking as well as cutting together-apart, processes that allow us to think otherwise about our own and other childhood(s). Additionally, we want to liberate child/ren/hoods through artistic photograph sensing, and doings may be seen as a political act, a way to break down boundaries of power through art as events.
Narratives of Russian–German preschool and primary school bilinguals: Rasskaz and Erzaehlung

ABSTRACT The goal of this study was to trace the dual language development of the narrative macrostructure in three age groups of Russian–German bilingual children and to compare the performance of simultaneous and sequential bilinguals. Fine-grained analyses of macrostructure included three components: story structure, story complexity, and internal state terms. Oral narratives were elicited via the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives. Fifty-eight Russian–German speaking bilingual children from three age groups participated: preschoolers (mean age = 45 months) and elementary school pupils (mean age first grade = 84 months, mean age third grade = 111 months); and there were 34 simultaneous and 24 sequential bilinguals. The results showed significant improvement for all three components of macrostructure between the preschool and first-grade period. Additional significant development from first to third graders was found only for story complexity in Russian. This is explained by the Russian curriculum explicitly teaching narrative skills during early literacy training. In the two older groups, simultaneous bilinguals showed advantages over sequential bilinguals, for story complexity only. This finding suggests considering bilingual type when evaluating narrative skills of bilinguals. The results indicate cross-language association of only some components of narrative score across languages. The findings support the examination of various constituents of macrostructure when evaluating its development as well as the progression of narrative skills.
Physiological Benefits of Being Small in a Changing World: Responses of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) to an Acute Thermal Challenge and a Simulated Capture Event

Evidence is building to suggest that both chronic and acute warm temperature exposure, as well as other anthropogenic perturbations, may select for small adult fish within a species. To shed light on this phenomenon, we investigated physiological and anatomical attributes associated with size-specific responses to an acute thermal challenge and a fisheries capture simulation (exercise+air exposure) in maturing male coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Full-size females were included for a sex-specific comparison. A size-specific response in haematology to an acute thermal challenge (from 7 to 20°C at 3°C h−1) was apparent only for plasma potassium, whereby full-size males exhibited a significant increase in comparison with smaller males (‘jacks’). Full-size females exhibited an elevated blood stress response in comparison with full-size males. Metabolic recovery following exhaustive exercise at 7°C was size-specific, with jacks regaining resting levels of metabolism at 9.3±0.5 h post-exercise in comparison with 12.3±0.4 h for full-size fish of both sexes. Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption scaled with body mass in male fish with an exponent of b = 1.20±0.08. Jacks appeared to regain osmoregulatory homeostasis faster than full-size males, and they had higher ventilation rates at 1 h post-exercise. Peak metabolic rate during post-exercise recovery scaled with body mass with an exponent of b∼1, suggesting that the slower metabolic recovery in large fish was not due to limitations in diffusive or convective oxygen transport, but that large fish simply accumulated a greater ‘oxygen debt’ that took longer to pay back at the size-independent peak metabolic rate of ∼6 mg min−1 kg−1. Post-exercise recovery of plasma testosterone was faster in jacks compared with full-size males, suggesting less impairment of the maturation trajectory of smaller fish. Supporting previous studies, these findings suggest that environmental change and non-lethal fisheries interactions have the potential to select for small individuals within fish populations over time.
Interleukin‐6 and the acute phase response during treatment of patients with paget's disease with the nitrogen‐containing bisphosphonate dimethylaminohydroxypropylidene bisphosphonate

Bisphosphonates suppress bone resorption and are used in the management of bone diseases with increasing frequency. In some patients treated for the first time with potent nitrogen‐containing bisphosphonates, there is a transient febrile reaction and transient hematological changes suggestive of an acute phase response. Because IL‐6 is considered to be an important mediator of the acute phase response, we examined the changes in circulating IL‐6 bioactivity in 38 patients with Paget's disease treated with the nitrogen‐containing bisphosphonate (3‐dimethyl‐ amino‐1‐hydroxypropylidene)‐1,1‐bisphosphonate (dimethyl‐APD). 16 patients who had never received such bisphosphonate were treated with oral dimethyl‐APD (100–400 mg/day) and 22 (9 for the first time) with intravenous dimethyl‐APD 4 mg/day. Treatment was given for 10 days. Eleven of 38 patients, all first treatments, showed an increase in body temperature of more than 0.5°C exceeding 37°C associated with a significant decrease in lymphocyte count and an increase in serum CRP values. These changes were transient and did not occur in the patients with no febrile response. In patients with a febrile reaction circulating IL‐6 bioactivity increased significantly and this increase generally preceeded the rise in temperature. Moreover, patients with an acute phase response had significantly higher peak IL‐6 values than those without (128 ± 30 vs. 31 ± 4 U/ml, p < 0.001). The peaks in plasma IL‐6 were further correlated with the peaks in temperature and in serum CRP values (r = 0.49, p < 0.05). In vitro, low concentrations of dimethyl‐APD, but not of clodronate, stimulated IL‐6 release from fetal mouse bone explants and this release was markedly enhanced after treatment of the bones with dimethyl‐APD followed by PTH. There was also a significant correlation between basal plasma PTH concentrations and IL‐6 peaks (r = 0.60, p < 0.005) in the patients that improved further when only results from patients with first time exposure to dimethyl‐APD were analyzed (r = 0.88, p < 0.002). In conclusion, an acute phase response occurred only in patients treated for the first time with the nitrogen‐containing bisphosphonate dimethyl‐APD and IL‐6 plays a role in this response. The cellular basis of the interaction between bisphosphonates and IL‐6 at the bone‐bone marrow interface remains to be elucidated.
A More Simplified Finnish Diabetes Risk Score for Opportunistic Screening of Undiagnosed Type 2 Diabetes in a German Population with a Family History of the Metabolic Syndrome

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of the Finnish diabetes risk score (FINDRISC) for identifying undiagnosed type 2 diabetes in a German population and to develop a more simplified alternative model. We invited 921 individuals with a family history of the metabolic syndrome in a cross-sectional survey. Of these, 771 subjects completed the FINDRISC questionnaire and underwent an oral glucose tolerance test. The performance of the FINDRISC was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC-AUC). The ROC-AUC of the FINDRISC was 0.81 (0.76-0.87). We detected no difference in diabetes prevalence between individuals with or without a family history of diabetes. Two logistic regression models (continuous- and categorical-model) were developed using the diagnosis of diabetes as the dependent variable, and age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, use of blood pressure medication, and history of high blood glucose as independent variables. After stepwise backward elimination of the insignificant variables, the following variables remained: age, BMI, and history of high blood glucose. The ROC-AUCs for the continuous- and categorical-models were 0.88 (0.85-0.92) and 0.86 (0.82-0.90), respectively, and were significantly larger than the ROC-AUC of the FINDRISC. There was no significant difference between the ROC-AUC of fasting plasma glucose and those of the two regression models. The FINDRISC questionnaire can be used to identify undetected diabetes in a German population. The simplified version, the categorical-model, may be a useful alternative for identifying asymptomatic type 2 diabetes.
The Sound Shape of Language

"Reading this volume transported me back to Harvard and MIT lecture halls of the 1960s, where weekly Roman Jakobson would spellbind his audience (this reviewer included), developing his vision of language through impassioned exposition, deft and devastating allusions to critical literature, anecdotes with the force of parables, metaphors of mythic imagery, and above all else overriding verbal artistry: truly in his own phrase, 'In the poetry of grammar'. The Sound Shape of Language, his collaboration with Linda R. Waugh, a scholar who has devoted considerable attention to an exposition and elaboration of Jakobsonian views, fortunately has preserved in print the authoritative lectorial voice. " Michael Silverstein in Journal of Communication
Closing the Shop: Information Cartels and Japan's Mass Media

List of Tables and Figures xi Preface xii One Bringing in the Media 3 Two Press, Politics, and the Public in Historical Perspective 23 Three Japan's Information Cartels: Part I. Competition and the Closed Shop 62 Four Japan's Information Cartels: Part II. Structuring Relations Through Rules and Sanctions 102 Five Expanding the Web: The Role of Kyokai and Keiretsu 142 Six Why Information Cartels Matter 160 Appendices A. Regulations for the Diet Press Club 181 B. Kitami Administration of Justice Press Club Agreement 187 C. Chronology of Agreements between the Imperial Household Agency and the Magazine Kisha Club 191 D. A Comparison with the British Lobby 194 Notes 199 Bibliograpby 229 Index 247
Creativity factor evaluation: towards a standardized survey metric for creativity support

We present a new survey metric, the Creativity Support Index (CSI) that is designed to help researchers and designers evaluate the level of creativity support provided by various systems or interfaces. We initially employed a top-down literature-based approach to develop a beta version of the Creativity Support Index (Beta CSI). We discuss our usage of the Beta CSI in three different studies and what we learned from those deployments. We also present the results from an extensive creativity vocabulary study (n=300), which revealed a set of orthogonal creativity factors. This led to the current version of the CSI presented in this paper. Initial results from these formative evaluations suggest the value of this tool in assessing and comparing creativity support tools at points in time and longitudinally.
Segregation of Flowing Blood: Mathematical Description

Blood rheology is completely determined by its major corpuscles which are erythro- cytes, or red blood cells (RBCs). That is why understanding and correct mathematical description of RBCs behavior in blood is a critical step in modelling the blood dynamics. Various phenom- ena provided by RBCs such as aggregation, deformation, shear-induced diffusion and non-uniform radial distribution affect the passage of blood through the vessels. Hence, they have to be taken into account while modelling the blood dynamics. Other important blood corpuscles are platelets, which are crucial for blood clotting. RBCs strongly affect the platelet transport in blood expelling them to the vessel walls and increasing their dispersion, which has to be considered in models of clotting. In this article we give a brief review of basic modern approaches in mathematical descrip- tion of these phenomena, discuss their applicability to real flow conditions and propose further pathways for developing the theory of blood flow.
Factors Associated With Nonexclusive Breastfeeding in 5 East and Southeast Asian Countries: A Multilevel Analysis

This study aimed to examine individual-, household-, and community-level characteristics associated with nonexclusive breastfeeding (non-EBF) in infants younger than 6 months of age using Demographic and Health Surveys data collected between 2002 and 2005 in East and Southeast Asia. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios for factors associated with non-EBF. Exclusive breastfeeding rates in infants younger than 6 months were as follows: Vietnam, 15.5%; Timor-Leste, 30.7%; the Philippines, 33.7%; Indonesia, 38.9%; and Cambodia, 60.1%. The significant individual factors associated with non-EBF included first-born infants, working mothers, and higher maternal age. Communities with a higher proportion of wealthier households in Indonesia, trained delivery assistance in the Philippines, and poor maternal education in Vietnam and Cambodia were at greater risk for non-EBF. All countries need effort to improve EBF, specifically targeting working mothers, less educated women, rich households, and first-time mothers. Health institutions and care providers should be appropriately guided to support EBF. J Hum Lact. 26(3):248-257.
Ontogeny in the visual system of Nile tilapia

SUMMARY Retinal neurogenesis in fish facilitates cellular rearrangement throughout ontogeny, potentially allowing for optimization of the visual system to shifts in habitat and behaviour. To test this possibility, we studied the developmental trajectory of the photopic visual process in the Nile tilapia. We examined ontogenetic changes in lens transmission, photoreceptor sensitivity and post-receptoral sensitivity, and used these to estimate changes in cone pigment frequency and retinal circuitry. We observed an ontogenetic decrease in ultraviolet (UV) photoreceptor sensitivity, which resulted from a reduction in the SWS1 cone pigment frequency, and was associated with a reduction in lens transmission at UV wavelengths. Additionally, post-receptoral sensitivity to both UV and long wavelengths decreased with age, probably reflecting changes in photoreceptor sensitivity and retinal circuitry. This novel remodelling of retinal circuitry occurred following maturation of the visual system but prior to reaching adulthood, and thus may facilitate optimization of the visual system to the changing sensory demands. Interestingly, the changes in post-receptoral sensitivity to long wavelengths could not be predicted by the changes observed in lens transmission, cone pigment frequency or photoreceptor sensitivity. This finding emphasizes the importance of considering knowledge of visual sensitivity and retinal processing when studying visual adaptations and attempting to relate visual function to the natural environment. This study advances our understanding of ontogeny in visual systems and demonstrates that the association between different elements of the visual process can be explored effectively by examining visual function throughout ontogeny.
Behavioral and Neural Discrimination of Speech Sounds After Moderate or Intense Noise Exposure in Rats

Objectives: Hearing loss is a commonly experienced disability in a variety of populations including veterans and the elderly and can often cause significant impairment in the ability to understand spoken language. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that neural and behavioral responses to speech will be differentially impaired in an animal model after two forms of hearing loss. Design: Sixteen female Sprague–Dawley rats were exposed to one of two types of broadband noise which was either moderate or intense. In nine of these rats, auditory cortex recordings were taken 4 weeks after noise exposure (NE). The other seven were pretrained on a speech sound discrimination task prior to NE and were then tested on the same task after hearing loss. Results: Following intense NE, rats had few neural responses to speech stimuli. These rats were able to detect speech sounds but were no longer able to discriminate between speech sounds. Following moderate NE, rats had reorganized cortical maps and altered neural responses to speech stimuli but were still able to accurately discriminate between similar speech sounds during behavioral testing. Conclusions: These results suggest that rats are able to adjust to the neural changes after moderate NE and discriminate speech sounds, but they are not able to recover behavioral abilities after intense NE. Animal models could help clarify the adaptive and pathological neural changes that contribute to speech processing in hearing-impaired populations and could be used to test potential behavioral and pharmacological therapies.
Deep Brain Stimulator Electrodes Used for Lesioning: Proof of Principle

OBJECTIVEPatients with chronically implanted deep brain stimulator (DBS) electrodes can encounter complications requiring hardware removal. We assessed the safety and efficacy of using implanted DBS electrodes to create a therapeutic lesion before their removal. METHODSRevision or removal of the DBS electrodes was required in two patients who had previously undergone DBS implantation. We conducted a series of in vitro experiments to confirm that the DBS electrodes could be used to generate radiofrequency lesions and to assess the relationship between radiofrequency parameters and lesion size. With this information, and with the approval of the hospital ethical review board, implanted electrodes were used to create incremental radiofrequency lesions in the thalamus in one patient and in the subthalamic nucleus in another. The procedures were performed under local anesthesia with contiguous contacts of the DBS lead connected to the active and reference sites of the RF generator to create a bipolar lesion. RESULTSA 51-year-old man with essential tremor and a thalamic DBS required repeated battery changes secondary to tolerance and high voltage demands. Rather than replacing the battery, a radiofrequency thalamotomy was performed by using the existing left DBS electrode. At the 6-month follow-up examination, successful lesioning provided near complete tremor control. A second patient, a 50-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease who had undergone bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation, developed skin erosion over the DBS hardware. A subthalamic nucleus lesion was made through the right DBS electrode. Lesion position and size were confirmed with magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSIONLesions can be made through chronically implanted DBS electrodes in a safe, graded fashion and can produce therapeutic benefit.
Analysis and classification of speech mode: whispered through shouted

Variation in vocal effort represents one of the most challenging problems in maintaining speech system performance for coding, speech and speaker recognition. Changes in vocal effort (or mode) result in a fundamental change in speech production which is not simply a change in volume. This is the first study to collectively consider the five speech modes: whispered, soft, neutral, loud and shouted. After corpus development, analysis is performed for i) sound intensity level, ii) duration and silence percentage, iii) frame energy distribution and iv) spectral tilt. The analysis shows vocal effort dependent traits which are used to investigate speaker recognition. Matched vocal mode conditions result in a closed-set speaker ID rate of 97.62%, with mismatch vocal conditions producing 54.02%. Finally, a speech mode classification system is developed, which has a range of classification rate from 44.5% to 98.5% confusing with adjacent vocal modes. These advancements can provide improved speech/speaker modeling information, as well as classified vocal mode knowledge to improve speech and language technology in real scenarios.
Health-supportive Behaviour, Subjective Health and Life Style of University Students

Studie shrnuje nejpodstatnějsi výsledky výzkumneho projektu podporovaneho GACR „Předpoklady životni spokojenosti a zdravi vysokoskolských studentů: tělesne sebepojeti, zdravi podporujici chovani a vybrane osobnostni charakteristiky“ (reg. c. 406/05/0564).
Gastric bypass surgery for obesity decreases the reward value of a sweet-fat stimulus as assessed in a progressive ratio task.

BACKGROUND Obesity is among the leading causes of disease and death. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment of obesity. There is increasing evidence that after gastric bypass surgery, patients and animal models show a decreased preference for sweet and fatty foods. The underlying mechanism may include alterations in taste function. OBJECTIVE We hypothesize that a gastric bypass reduces the reward value of sweet and fat tastes. DESIGN In this prospective case-control study, 11 obese patients who were scheduled to undergo a gastric bypass and 11 normal-weight control subjects in the fed state clicked a computer mouse to receive a sweet and fatty candy on a progressive ratio schedule 10 wk apart (in patients, testing took place 2 wk before and 8 wk after gastric bypass surgery). Subjects worked progressively harder to obtain a food reward (reinforcer) until they stopped clicking (ie, the breakpoint), which was a measure of the reinforcer value. Breakpoints were assessed by the number of mouse clicks in the last completed ratio. The experiment was repeated in a different cohort by using vegetable pieces as the reinforcer. RESULTS Breakpoints in the test sessions of control subjects correlated highly for both reinforcers. The median breakpoint for candies, but not vegetables, was reduced by 50% in the obese group after gastric bypass. Patients with the largest reduction in the breakpoint had the largest decrease in BMI. CONCLUSIONS Gastric bypass surgery resulted in the selective reduction of the reward value of a sweet and fat tastant. This application of the progressive ratio task provided an objective and reliable evaluation of taste-driven motivated behavior for food stimuli after obesity surgery.
Stability in the Underlying Constructs of Self-Control

The stability of self-control represents a recently popular empirical topic; however, little attention has been paid to the stability of the underlying constructs of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s conception of self-control. The present study uses longitudinal data on youth residing in the northeastern United States and employs trajectory analysis to explore the presence of varying developmental trends in these constructs. The findings indicate that these constructs follow unique and varied trajectories that may help to elucidate issues with our understanding of the stability of self-control.