Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Evaluation of DTW Approaches for Whole-of-Body Gesture Recognition

This paper systematically explores the capabilities of different forms of Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithms and their parameter configurations in recognising whole-of-body gestures. The standard DTW (SDTW) (Sakoe and Chiba 1978), globally feature weighted DTW (Reyes et al. 2011) and locally feature weighted DTW (Arici et al. 2013) algorithms are particularly considered, while an enhanced version of the globally feature weighted DTW (EDTW) algorithm is presented. A wide range of configurable parameters: distance measures (Euclidean and Mahalanobis), combination of features (Cartesian velocity, angular velocity and acceleration), combinations of skeletal elements, reference signal count and k-nearest neighbour count are tested in order to understand the impact on final recognition accuracies. The study is conducted by collecting gesturing data from 10 participants for 9 different whole-of-body gesture commands. The results suggest that the proposed enhanced version of the globally feature weighted DTW algorithm performs significantly better than the other DTW algorithms. Given sufficient training data this study suggests that the Mahalanobis distance has the capability to better differentiate certain gestures compared to the Euclidean distance. Out of the features, Cartesian velocity combined with angular velocity provides the highest gesture discriminant capability while acceleration provides the lowest. When highly informative and stable skeletal elements are selected, the overall performance gain obtained by adding extra skeletal data is marginal. Also the recognition accuracies are sensitive to the reference signal count and the KNN percentage. Additionally, the presented results summarise the unique capabilities of certain configurations over others, highlighting the importance of selecting the appropriate DTW algorithm and its configurations to achieve optimal gesture recognition performances.
Influence of age and cardiovascular factors on regional pulsed wave Doppler myocardial imaging indices.

AIMS To describe the influence of age and other cardiovascular factors on regional pulsed wave Doppler myocardial imaging (DMI), and to compare DMI with conventional transmitral echocardiography and the atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD) method. METHODS AND RESULTS Eighty-eight healthy subjects aged 20-81 years were examined by DMI, performed in the intraventricular septum just below the mitral annulus and in the corresponding lateral region, by transmitral pulsed wave Doppler echocardiography, and by AVPD. The DMI peak velocity during the left ventricular (LV) early filling phase (e), decreased with age from 12.3 +/- 2.3 cm/s in the youngest to 7.0 +/- 1.7 cm/s in the oldest tercentile (r=- 0.76, P<0.001). The DMI peak velocity during atrial contraction (a), increased from 7.5 +/- 2.2 cm/s in the youngest to 9.7 +/- 1.7 cm/s in the oldest tercentile (r=0.41, P<0.001). The DMI systolic peak velocity (s), decreased with age from 8.2 +/- 1.1 (youngest tercentile) to 6.9 +/- 1.1 (oldest tercentile), r=-0.39, P<0.001 cm/s, while the fraction shortening of the LV increased from 33.7 +/- 4.1 to 38.2 +/- 5.9% (r=0.36, P<0.01). The DMI e/a correlated with the transmitral early/atrial (E/A) (r=0.83, P<0.001) and with the AVPD measurement of diastolic function AV-LA/AV-mean (r=0.82, P<0.001). The DMI e velocity correlated with the transmitral E velocity (r=0.38, P<0.001). In the multiple regression analysis of DMI e, age was the strongest factor and LV mass index correlated inversely and independently with e. No DMI variables were influenced by gender, while transmitral E correlated with gender. The LV dimension variables explained 35% (R2 adjusted) of the DMI e velocity changes; only 7% of the transmitral E changes were explained by those variables. CONCLUSION Regional DMI indices are highly age-dependent. In comparision with conventional echocardiography, regional DMI might be more influenced by LV geometry and by myocardial structural changes. These findings suggest a complementary role for regional DMI to conventional echocardiography for the assessment of myocardial function.
Insights into Lysine Deacetylation of Natively Folded Substrate Proteins by Sirtuins*

Sirtuins are NAD+-dependent lysine deacylases, regulating a variety of cellular processes. The nuclear Sirt1, the cytosolic Sirt2, and the mitochondrial Sirt3 are robust deacetylases, whereas the other sirtuins have preferences for longer acyl chains. Most previous studies investigated sirtuin-catalyzed deacylation on peptide substrates only. We used the genetic code expansion concept to produce natively folded, site-specific, and lysine-acetylated Sirt1–3 substrate proteins, namely Ras-related nuclear, p53, PEPCK1, superoxide dismutase, cyclophilin D, and Hsp10, and analyzed the deacetylation reaction. Some acetylated proteins such as Ras-related nuclear, p53, and Hsp10 were robustly deacetylated by Sirt1–3. However, other reported sirtuin substrate proteins such as cyclophilin D, superoxide dismutase, and PEPCK1 were not deacetylated. Using a structural and functional approach, we describe the ability of Sirt1–3 to deacetylate two adjacent acetylated lysine residues. The dynamics of this process have implications for the lifetime of acetyl modifications on di-lysine acetylation sites and thus constitute a new mechanism for the regulation of proteins by acetylation. Our studies support that, besides the primary sequence context, the protein structure is a major determinant of sirtuin substrate specificity.
Smoking and oral contraceptives as risk factors for cervical carcinoma In situ

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is probably a necessary but definitely not a sufficient cause of cervical carcinoma. However, it remains unclear which factors, in addition to HPV, are important for the development of cervical carcinoma and its precursor lesions. To address this issue, we conducted a case‐control study nested in a population‐based cohort consisting of women participating in cytological screening in one Swedish county, any time during 1969 through 1995. Detailed information on sexual practice, smoking habits and oral contraceptive (OC) use were collected through telephone interviews with 422 case patients diagnosed with cervical carcinoma in situ and 422 control subjects. All cytological smears were analyzed for presence of HPV16/18 by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based method. Odds ratios (OR) were used as measures of relative risk. After multivariate adjustment, a 2‐fold higher risk was observed among current smokers compared with never smokers [OR 1.94; 95% confidence interval (CI 1.32–2.85)], an association apparently confined to women younger than 45 years. Current use of OCs was associated with a 4‐fold increased risk overall (OR 3.64; 95% CI 1.91–6.93) with a monotonic increase with increasing duration of use (p for trend < 0.001). The number of sexual partners was significantly, positively associated with risk among HPV 16/18‐negative (p for trend < 0.005) but not among HPV 16/18‐positive women. Our data confirm the association between smoking and cervical carcinoma in situ, which might be age‐dependent. Our results further indicate a relation with OC use and the risk for cervical carcinoma in situ. Int. J. Cancer 81:357–365, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
[Trefoil factor 1 (pS2/TFF1), a peptide with numerous functions].

The trefoil factor (TFF) family includes three members : TFF1 also called pS2, TFF2 or spasmolytic peptide (SP) and TFF3 or intestinal trefoil factor (ITF). TFFs are associated with mucin-secreting epithelial cells and play a crucial role in mucosal defense and healing. In case of mucosa aggression (due to bacteria, virus or medication), inflammatory diseases and ulcerous pathology, they are involved in epithelium restitution and regeneration. In comparison with the other TFFs, pS2/TFF1 has particular functions. Notably, it acts like a suppressor gene for gastric tumors. Evidence of pS2/TFF1 overexpression has been found in a range of carcinomas (breast, bowel, prostate, pancreas, thyroid, lung.). In breast cancer, pS2/TFF1 overexpression contributes to a favorable prognosis. Moreover, it is a predictive factor of hormonotherapy response.
Lipid composition of five species of Indian prawns.

The lipid and fatty acid compositions of five Indian species of prawns, Metapenaeus monoceros, M. dobsoni, M. affinis, Penaeus indicus and Parapenaeopsis stylifera, were examined. Phospholipids constituted 50–70% of the total lipids, with phosphatidyl choline (50%) and phosphatidyl ethanolamine (29%) as their chief components. Unsaponifiable matter comprised 21–40%, chiefly cholesterol: triglycerides only constituted 9–14.5%. In the total lipids (I.V. 90–112), saturated, monoenoic and polyenoic fatty acids averaged 42, 24 and 34%. Palmitic acid is high, oleic low, and 20:5 generally, but not always, higher than 22:6. The only brackish water prawn, M. monoceros, though generally in conformity, was distinctive in several respects.
Genetic contributions to the development of ADHD subtypes from childhood to adolescence.

OBJECTIVES Little is known about how genes influence the development of symptoms included in the DSM-IV subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from childhood to adolescence. The aim of this study was to examine genetic influences contributing to the development of hyperactive-impulsive symptoms and inattentive symptoms of ADHD from childhood to adolescence. METHOD The sample included all 1,480 twin pairs born in Sweden between May 1985 and December 1986. Parents responded to mailed questionnaires on three occasions, when the twins were 8 to 9, 13 to 14, and 16 to 17 years old. The authors used dimensional scales of hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention derived from a checklist of items based on the DSM symptoms of ADHD. RESULTS Symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity declined with increasing age, whereas there was no decline in symptoms of inattention. Persistent genetic influences explain between 45% and 90% of the total genetic variance in hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention across age. Persistent genetic variance was primarily operating across subtypes, even though persistent subtype-specific influences were also significant. CONCLUSIONS The finding of persistent cross-subtype (i.e., combined) and persistent subtype-specific genetic influences (i.e., primarily hyperactive-impulsive and primarily inattentive) are in line with a genetic basis for the DSM-IV classification of ADHD subtypes.
Failure and success of HIV tests for the prevention of HIV‐1 transmission by blood and tissue donations

French blood banks recently implemented nucleic acid testing (NAT) of all blood donations to reduce the risk of HIV transmission during the pre‐seroconversion period. For tissue donation, HIV infection screening relies on HIV p24 antigen and anti‐HIV1 and 2 antibody detection. In this report, two related cases of infectious donations are described from a cornea donor during the preseroconversion window who was infected by an HIV antibody and NAT negative blood donor. After investigation, the blood donor was found to be herself in the preseroconversion window. Two months after donation, she was found to be HIV positive. The residual risk of HIV infectious blood donations since NAT has been introduced is estimated to be lower than one out of 2.5 millions. Individual NAT instead of minipool testing would not increase significantly the blood transfusion safety. In contrast, introduction of NAT should be considered to increase tissue donation safety as soon as such screening will be possible technically. J. Med. Virol. 73:347–349, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
De novo food allergy after intestinal transplantation: a report of three cases.

Intestinal transplantation is increasingly performed to treat conditions once uniformly fatal. The de novo development of food allergies has been described after liver and bone marrow transplantation (1–5), but at our center, we have observed severe food allergy developing de novo after intestinal transplantation. Between 1999 and 2001, 28 pediatric patients at the Mount Sinai Medical Center underwent intestinal or combined intestinal-liver transplantation. We report three patients who experienced food allergy after their intestinal transplantation. Two patients had undergone transplantation at our center, and one patient had undergone transplantation at another center.
Anti-inflammatory Activity of Morus indica Linn.

Anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Morus indica Linn. was studied in wistar rats using the carrageenan induced left hind paw edema, carrageenan induced pleurisy and cotton pellet induced granuloma model. The ethanolic extract (100 mg/kg, p.o.) inhibited carrageenan induced rat paw edema. It also showed an inhibitory effect on leukocyte migration and a reduction on the pleural exudates as well as reduction on the granuloma weight in the cotton pellet granuloma method. The results indicated that the ethanolic extract produced significant (p < 0.05) anti-inflammatory activity when compared with the standard and untreated control.
Renormalization-group study of Anderson and Kondo impurities in gapless Fermi systems

dilute magnetic impurities in unconventional ( d- and p-wave! superconductors, ‘‘flux phases’’ of the twodimensional electron gas, and certain zero-gap semiconductors. For the nondegenerate Anderson model, the main effects of the depression of the low-energy scattering rate are the suppression of mixed valence in favor of local-moment behavior and a marked reduction in the exchange coupling on entry to the local-moment regime, with a consequent narrowing of the range of parameters within which the impurity spin becomes Kondo screened. The precise relationship between the Anderson model and the exactly screened Kondo model with power-law exchange is examined. The intermediate-coupling fixed point identified in the latter model by Withoff and Fradkin ~WF! is shown to have clear signatures both in the thermodynamic properties and in the local magnetic response of the impurity. The underscreened, impurity-spin-1 Kondo model and the overscreened, two-channel Kondo model both exhibit a conditionally stable intermediate-coupling fixed point in addition to unstable fixed points of the WF type. In all four models, the presence or absence of particle-hole symmetry plays a crucial role in determining the physics both at strong coupling and in the vicinity of the WF transition. These results are obtained using an extension of Wilson’s numerical renormalization-group technique to treat energy-dependent scattering. The strong- and weak-coupling fixed points of each model are identified and their stability is analyzed. Algebraic expressions are derived for the fixed-point thermodynamic properties and for low-temperature corrections about the stable fixed points. Numerical data are presented confirming the algebraic results, identifying and characterizing intermediate-coupling ~non-Fermi-liquid! fixed points, and exploring temperature-driven crossovers between different physical regimes. @S0163-1829~98! 04222-2#
Editorial: probiotics and IBS – where are we now?

The probiotic literature is like a boat listing in a fog of vague claims, in need of scientific ballast. It contracts under scrutiny for evidence for a specific claim with a given strain in a specific indication. The greatest impediment is the assumption that all probiotics are equal. Then, there is non-uniform quality control of probiotic products and the lack of well-designed controlled trials. However, in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), amidst a sea of conflicting data on pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical remedies, it is only fair to acknowledge evidence in support of some, but not all probiotic products. Furthermore, there is emerging rationale for manipulation of the microbiota, at least in a subset of sufferers. In defiance of the apparent heterogeneity of IBS, Sisson et al. report a statistically significant improvement in symptom severity score, their primary efficacy measure, with a multi-strain probiotic mixture in a single-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial over 12 weeks in 186 adult patients with IBS. The impact was modest, although severe cases also benefited, and the study confirmed that probiotic effects disappear when consumption stops. Importantly, all clinical subtypes of IBS were included. While the mechanism of action remains unclear and obscured by the inclusion of four different bacterial strains with a delivery vehicle containing barley extract, a source of beta-glucans, single strains are effective in IBS, as shown by an earlier larger trial by others with a single bifidobacterium strain in similar patients. Of course, additional trials are desirable, but in the interim there is encouragement to pursue microbial biomarkers and predictors of therapeutic response in IBS, which could enhance trial design. Meanwhile, for patients the message is clear; they should be recommended probiotic strains supported by clinical science and only from a reputable company.
Understanding the speech-understanding problems of older adults.

PURPOSE The purpose of this article was to review recent research from our laboratory on the speech-understanding problems of older adults. METHOD The method involved a narrative review of previously reported data from our laboratory. CONCLUSION To date, the results from most of our studies have indicated that peripheral and cognitive factors are the primary contributors to the speech-understanding problems of older adults, with the relative mix of these 2 factors changing for unaided (primarily peripheral) and aided (primarily cognitive) listening conditions.
ATTITUDES AND CONCERNS OF PARENTS OF CLEFT PALATE CHILDREN ABOUT SPEECH PROBLEMS AND THERAPY IN THEIR CHILDREN

The purpose of the study was to investigate: 1 The attitudes and concerns of cleft palate (CP) patients and their parents toward speech problems and therapy, and 2 The impact of speech problems on the CP patients’ life. The study was conducted in the cleft palate unit of Montréal Children’s Hospital, Canada. A questionnaire was used to collect the required data. The CP patients were divided into two groups; those without speech problem [group 1 = 26 (70%) patients] and others who had speech problems [group 2 = 11 (30%) patients]. The majority (91%) of parents of group 2 CP patients noticed the speech problem in their children when they were <3 years old. In more than half of these patients, the speech therapy started when they were 3 years old. The speech therapy was mostly long-term and conducted by a speech-language pathologist with some parental involvement. More than half of group 2 parents thought that the school teachers reacted in a positive way to their child’s speech problem, and most had not been teased due to their speech problem. The low teasing rate was reflected by the high confidence level of this group; as 82% denied that they have less confidence level because of their speech problem. About two-third (64%) of the group 2 parents thought that their child’s speech problems had a minor effect on their school results. Our results suggest that the parents of the CP children with speech problems had positive perception about the role of day care/school in improving the speech of their child. CP patients with speech problems showed low risk of developing problems such as confidence level, teasing by others, peer relationships and school performance. * Assistant Professor, Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ** Consultant Pediatric Dentist, Security Forces Hospital Program, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia *** Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Boston University, USA Correspondence: Dr. Ra’ed Al-Sadhan, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, PO Box 60169, Riyadh 11545, Saudi Arabia. Telephone: +966-506479246, Facsimile: +966 1 4677422
How China's Government and State Enterprises Partitioned Property and Control Rights

Applying the methodology developed in Ñopo (2004), this paper analyzes the evolution of the gender wage gap in Peru from 1986 to 2000. This methodology has two advantages. First, it recognizes that the supports of observable characteristics distributions differ substantially. Second, it provides deeper insights regarding the distribution of the unexplained gender differences in earnings. For the period under analysis, males earn on average 45 percent more than females. This wage gap is composed of three additive elements: 11 percent differences in supports, 6 percent differences in distributions of individual characteristics and 28 percent unexplainable differences. About half of these unexplainable differences occur in the highest quintile of the wage distribution.
Protective effects of thymoquinone on experimental testicular ischaemia–reperfusion injury: an apoptotic, proliferative and biochemical study

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of thymoquinone (TQ), which has antioxidant properties in the experimental testicular I/R model in rats in terms of its anti‐apoptotic, proliferative and biochemical attributes. In our study, 24 male rats were divided into three groups: control group, I/R group and I/R+TQ group. Testicular torsion was created by rotating the left testis 720° in a clockwise direction. The ischaemia period was 4 h, and an orchiectomy was performed after 4 h of detorsion. Spermatogenesis and the mean seminiferous tubule diameter were significantly decreased in the I/R groups compared to the control group. Furthermore, TQ‐treated animals displayed an improved histological appearance in the I/R group. It was also observed that treatment with TQ increased the activity of PCNA, which decreased as a result of I/R, and this treatment also reduced the number of TUNEL‐positive cells. The I/R+TQ group showed a decrease in malondialdehyde levels and an increase in the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase in comparison with the I/R group. It could be concluded that cytoprotective effects of TQ on the I/R testicles are via reduction of apoptosis, oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation.
Comparison between a switching controller and two LTI controllers for a class of LTI plants

We consider the design of three different control architectures for a step response tracking problem within a class of linear time‐invariant (LTI) plants. Our goal is to motivate the use of a particular switching architecture that has been the subject of our prior work. We present the design of the particular switching architecture that we use and characterize its step response performance (measured in terms of the percentage overshoot and 1% settling time of the step response). We then compare the response of the switching controller with two other forms of LTI control in a servo configuration, one in which the order of the controller is constrained to be first order (which matches the order of the dynamics of the switching controller) and one in which the order of the controller is unconstrained. We will show that the switching architecture can outperform first‐order LTI control, first in the context of a particular example. We shall then provide a weak generalization to extend this result to a more general class of plants. We shall also show that, while the LTI control of unconstrained order can outperform the switching architecture, the performance improvement is bounded (in a sense to be defined). Moreover, one method of designing close‐to‐optimal controllers will be discussed, which yields controllers of very high order. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.