Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The natural order of events: How speakers of different languages represent events nonverbally

To test whether the language we speak influences our behavior even when we are not speaking, we asked speakers of four languages differing in their predominant word orders (English, Turkish, Spanish, and Chinese) to perform two nonverbal tasks: a communicative task (describing an event by using gesture without speech) and a noncommunicative task (reconstructing an event with pictures). We found that the word orders speakers used in their everyday speech did not influence their nonverbal behavior. Surprisingly, speakers of all four languages used the same order and on both nonverbal tasks. This order, actor–patient–act, is analogous to the subject–object–verb pattern found in many languages of the world and, importantly, in newly developing gestural languages. The findings provide evidence for a natural order that we impose on events when describing and reconstructing them nonverbally and exploit when constructing language anew.
Spread approximations for forbidden intersections problems

We develop a new approach to approximate families of sets, complementing the existing ‘ Δ -system method’ and ‘junta approximations method’. The approach, which we refer to as ‘spread approximations method’, is based on the notion of 𝑟 -spread families and builds on the recent breakthrough result of Alweiss, Lovett, Wu and Zhang for the Erd˝os–Rado ‘Sunflower Conjecture’. Our approach can work in a variety of sparse settings. To demonstrate the versatility and strength of the approach, we present several of its applications to forbidden intersection problems, including bounds on the size of regular intersecting families, the resolution of the Erd˝os–S´os problem for sets in a new range and, most notably, the resolution of the 𝑡 -intersection and Erd˝os–S´os problems for permutations in a new range. Specifically, we show that any collection of permutations of an 𝑛 -element set with no two permutations intersecting in at most (exactly) 𝑡 − 1 elements has size at most ( 𝑛 − 𝑡 )! , provided 𝑡 (cid:54) 𝑛 1 − 𝜖 ( 𝑡 (cid:54) 𝑛 13 − 𝜖 ) for an arbitrary 𝜖 > 0 and 𝑛 > 𝑛 0 ( 𝜖 ) . Previous results for these problems only dealt with the case of fixed 𝑡 .
Testicular sperm extraction and cryopreservation in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia prior to ovarian stimulation for ICSI

Objective: To compare between freshly retrieved and cryopreserved testicular sperm obtained from patients with nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA) undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Design: Retrospective analysis of 168 TESE / ICSI cycles. Setting: Adam international clinic. Giza, Egypt. Materials and methods: One hundred sixty patients with documented NOA underwent microdissection TESE and either cryopreservation of the retrieved sperms (107) or concomittent ICSI at the same time (53), ICSI was planned later for the group who underwent crypoperservation. Comparison between the two groups in terms of fertilization, implantation, clinical pregnancy and abortion rates was done Results: fifty four cycles were performed using freshly retrieved testicular sperm and 114 cycles were performed with cryo-thawed testicular sperms. The fertilization, implantation, pregnancy and abortion rates were 59.2%, 22%, 50% and 3.7% respectively for the first group versus 58.7%, 22% 45% and 16.3% for the second group respectively. No statistically significant differences were found in any of these parameters between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). Also, testicular histopathology did not affect ICSI outcome significantly between the 2 groups regardless of the degree of impairment of spermatogenesis. Conclusion: cryo-thawed testicular sperm from NOA patients has the same fertilizing potential in ICSI programs, as the freshly retrieved sperm in those patients, TESE/cryopreservation has many advantages over TESE/ICSI in patients with NOA, So it should be considered as the first line in the therapy of those patients.
A CMOS Image Sensor for Multi-Level Focal Plane Image Decomposition

An alternative image decomposition method that exploits prediction via nearby pixels has been integrated on the CMOS image sensor focal plane. The proposed focal plane decomposition is compared to the 2-D discrete wavelet transform (DWT) decomposition commonly used in state of the art compression schemes such as SPIHT and JPEG2000. The method achieves comparable compression performance with much lower computational complexity and allows image compression to be implemented directly on the sensor focal plane in a completely pixel parallel structure. A CMOS prototype chip has been fabricated and tested. The test results validate the pixel design and demonstrate that lossy prediction based focal plane image compression can be realized inside the sensor pixel array to achieve a high frame rate with much lower data readout volume. The features of the proposed decomposition scheme also benefit real-time, low rate and low power applications.
Childhood bullying and social dilemmas.

Children who witness bullying often do not defend victims. Bystanders might be reticent to intervene because they are stuck in "social dilemmas. " Social dilemmas are situations in which individuals make decisions based on self-interest due to their lack of confidence that others will join with them in decisions that benefit the collective. In this study, the social dilemmas concept, which comes from game theory and social psychology, was applied to bullying for the first time. A total of 292 middle school students at a private residential school in the United States completed surveys about their bullying-related experiences within their residences of 10 to 12 students of the same gender. Multilevel modeling was employed to assess if and how attitudes, group norms, and social dilemmas predict behavior in bullying situations. The findings suggested that both individual and group factors were associated with behavior in bullying situations and that attitudes, group norms, and social dilemmas each made a unique contribution to predicting behavior in bullying situations. Aggr. Behav. 42:97-108, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Cell-interactive Alginate Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Engineering

There is significant interest in the development of injectable carriers for cell transplantation to engineer bony tissues. In this study, we hypothesized that adhesion ligands covalently coupled to hydrogel carriers would allow one to control pre-osteoblast cell attachment, proliferation, and differentiation. Modification of alginate with an RGDcontaining peptide promoted osteoblast adhesion and spreading, whereas minimal cell adhesion was observed on unmodified hydrogels. Raising the adhesion ligand density increased osteoblast proliferation, and a minimum ligand density (1.5-15 femtomoles/cm2) was needed to elicit this effect. MC3T3-E1 cells demonstrated increased osteoblast differentiation with the peptide-modified hydrogels, as confirmed by the up-regulation of bone-specific differentiation markers. Further, transplantation of primary rat calvarial osteoblasts revealed statistically significant increases of in vivo bone formation at 16 and 24 weeks with G4RGDY-modified alginate compared with unmodified alginate. These findings demonstrate that biomaterials may be designed to control bone development from transplanted cells.
B cells and the humoral response in melanoma: The overlooked players of the tumor microenvironment

ABSTRACT Evidence of tumor-resident mature B cell and antibody compartments and reports of associations with favorable prognosis in malignant melanoma suggest that humoral immunity could participate in antitumor defense. Likely striving to confer immunological protection while being subjected to tumor-promoting immune tolerance, B cells may engender multiple functions, including antigen processing and presentation, cytokine-mediated signaling, antibody class switching, expression and secretion. We review key evidence in support of multifaceted immunological mechanisms by which B cells may counter or contribute to malignant melanoma, and we discuss their potential translational implications. Dissecting the contributions of tumor-associated humoral responses can inform future treatment avenues.
Role of magnetic resonance imaging in evaluation of spinal paraparesis

International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health Online 2016. © 2016 Kapil Vyas. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license. spinal paraparesis. [2,3] For diseases such as spinal tuberculosis (TB), a strong correlation is found between neurological recovery and MRI findings. [4] In some institutions, MRI is now the primary imaging study for most spinal evaluations; in others, computed tomography (CT) and myelography still play a primary role. MRI techniques permit, in most instances, a clear differentiation of the spinal cord throughout its length or in parts, without ionizing radiation or intrathecal introduction of contrast media. [1] This study was designed to analyze the performance of MRI for differential diagnosis of nontraumatic spinal paraparesis at our institution.
Ursolic acid improves lipid and glucose metabolism in high-fat-fed C57BL/6J mice by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha and hepatic autophagy.

SCOPE This study investigated metabolic effects of ursolic acid (UA), a peroxisome proliferation-activated receptor (PPAR)-α activator, in vivo. METHODS AND RESULTS High-fat diet (HFD)-fed C57BL/6J mice were orally administered UA (50 or 200 mg/kg body weight) for 8 wk. UA reduced liver and adipose tissue mass, adipocyte size, and plasma leptin concentrations, plasma triglyceride and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, while it elevated the high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and adiponectin concentrations significantly compared with controls. UA induced the expression of PPARα and its responsive genes involved in fatty acid uptake and β-oxidation in the livers, whereas genes involved in lipogenesis, including sterol regulatory element-binding proteins-1c, were downregulated. UA administration improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity significantly compared with the HFD-fed control livers. UA administration also activated hepatic autophagy as assessed by the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1A/1B-light chain 3 (LC3)-II and other key proteins in the autophagy pathway. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that UA ameliorates lipid and glucose metabolism in HFD-fed mice primarily by the activation of PPARα and induction of the hepatic autophagy pathway. Thus, intake of UA in the diet or in an isolated form may ameliorate lipid and glucose metabolism.
Comparison of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, Microsatellite Length Polymorphism, and Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA Analyses for FingerprintingAspergillus fumigatus Isolates

ABSTRACT Aspergillus fumigatus fingerprints generated by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) upon hybridization with repeated DNA sequences, and PCR detection of microsatellite length polymorphism (MLP) were compared among 67 isolates. In contrast to RAPD, RFLP and MLP gave discriminating and significantly concordant genotyping results.
Balance improvements in female high school basketball players after a 6-week neuromuscular-training program.

CONTEXT Poor balance has been associated with increased injury risk among athletes. Neuromuscular-training programs have been advocated as a means of injury prevention, but little is known about the benefits of these programs on balance in high school athletes. OBJECTIVE To determine whether there are balance gains after participation in a neuromuscular-training program in high school athletes. DESIGN Nonrandomized controlled trial. SETTING All data were collected at each participating high school before and after a 6-wk intervention or control period. PARTICIPANTS 62 female high school basketball players recruited from the local high school community and assigned to a training (n = 37) or control (n = 25) group. INTERVENTION Training-group subjects participated in a 6-wk neuromuscular-training program that included plyometric, functional-strengthening, balance, and stability-ball exercises. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Data were collected for the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) and Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) before and after the 6-wk intervention or control period. RESULTS The authors found a significant decrease in total BESS errors in the trained group at the posttest compared with their pretest and the control group (P = .003). Trained subjects also scored significantly fewer BESS errors on the single-foam and tandem-foam conditions at the posttest than the control group and demonstrated improvements on the single-foam compared with their pretest (P = .033). The authors found improvements in reach in the lateral, anteromedial, medial, and posterior directions in the trained group at the posttest compared with the control group (P < .05) using the SEBT. CONCLUSION The study demonstrates that a neuromuscular-training program can increase the balance and proprioceptive capabilities of female high school basketball players and that clinical balance measures are sensitive to detect these differences.
Duration of experimental nerve block by combinations of local anesthetic agents

The effects of bupivacaine‐prilocaine and meperidine‐lidocaine combinations (as compared with those of the agents used alone) on the duration of peripheral sensory nerve block were studied with the infraorbital nerve block model (IONB) in the rat, and those on motor block with spinal anesthesia (SA) in the mouse. The duration of bupivacaine‐induced IONB was invariably prolonged when prilocaine was included in the solution. When included in 0.125% bupivacaine, 1.0% prilocaine had a slightly less pronounced enhancing efTect than 0.5% prilocaine (24–57% vs. 74%‐104%, respectively). The duration of IONB with 1.0% prilocaine was significantly reduced (14–37%) by inclusion of 0.125% bupivacaine. In SA, inclusion in 0.125% bupivacaine of prilocaine (0.5% or 1.0%) prolonged motor block by 128% and 192%, respectively. When included in 0.25% bupivacaine, both 0.5% and 1.0% prilocaine significantly reduced the duration of SA, by 42% and 37%, respectively. With one exception, the duration of IONB by meperidine was significantly shortened (<44%) when lidocaine was included in the solution. In SA, inclusion of 2% lidocaine with 2% meperidine did not affect the duration of meperidine‐induced motor block. The duration of SA obtained with the combination of 4% lidocaine and 4% meperidine was 45% shorter than that induced by 4% meperidine alone. The reasons for these variable effects are not clear, but may be due to interaction or antagonism at any of multiple sites.
Arguing for the Use of Portfolio in L2 Classrooms

Pursuing the traditional assessment in education has been a subject of considerable debate among educational experts particularly in language teaching. Depending on the needs of societies, suitable facilities, the purposes of the curricula, and highly educational demands, alternative assessment has been considered to meet the required outcomes. Portfolio, the most well-known of alternative assessments, is generally considered a purposeful collection of student work that shows the student’s effort, progress, and achievement in a target area as it not only provides a source for assessment but also enhances learning opportunities. Teachers, students, and researchers need to be well briefed on the benefits of portfolio in the classrooms. However, portfolio is not a perfect assessment tool specially with respect to grading on a large scale, its subjective design, logistic application, and reliability. To enjoy a probable foolproof assessment in language teaching, newer methods and approaches that assist a better and more authentic assessment should be welcomed.
Metrorrhagia in a Human Immunodeficiency Virus Positive Woman Caused by Cervical Histoplasmosis

In patients with AIDS, infection with Histoplasma capsulatum frequently results in disseminated disease. We discuss a 42-year-old HIV-infected woman presenting with fever, weight loss, pulmonary infiltrates, diarrhea, and metrorrhagia. Biopsy of bone marrow and skin demonstrated H capsulatum. Necrotic lesions of the uterine cervix, initially thought to represent cervical carcinoma, proved to be because of disseminated histoplasmosis. Involvement of the female genital tract by histoplasmosis is exceedingly rare, with cervical disease not having been described previously.
Full-Duplex Heterogeneous Networks With Decoupled User Association: Rate Analysis and Traffic Scheduling

Full-duplex (FD) transmission in a point-to-point (P2P) link, wherein bidirectional traffic flows simultaneously share the same spectrum, has the capability of doubling the link rate by completely removing self-interferences. However, the rate performance of an FD heterogeneous network (HetNet) is not as clear as that of an FD P2P link due to the co-channel interferences induced by the complex FD and half-duplex (HD) transmission behaviors in the HetNet. To thoroughly investigate the achievable link rate performances of users and base stations (BSs) in a HetNet with decoupled user association, a hybrid-duplex approach is proposed to model a HetNet in which all BSs and users can perform HD or FD transmission depending on their traffic patterns. We first characterize the decoupled rate-optimal user association scheme and use it to define and evaluate the downlink and uplink rates in the HetNet. The tight lower bounds on the link rates of the FD users and BSs are found in a neat form that characterizes general channel fading, imperfect self-interference cancellation, and the intensities of users and BSs. These bounds outline the rate regions of the FD users that inspire us to propose the opportunistic FD scheduling algorithms that maximize the sum rate of each bidirectional traffic and stabilize each of the queues in the HetNet.
Familial Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, 1850-1989: A Statistical Analysis of the World Literature

ABSTRACT: We present clinical and pathologic data on four previously unreported familial ALS pedigrees and review and analyze by descriptive and exploratory statistical techniques all published cases of familial ALS (1850-1989). In contrast to the age-dependent incidence of sporadic ALS, the age of onset of familial ALS is normally distributed about a mean of 45.7 years (std. dev. 11.3 years). Survival curves for the familial ALS data also demonstrate a skewed distribution with a median survival time of 24 months with 74% surviving at 12 months, 48% at 24 months and 23% surviving at 60 months. The patient characteristics of age at onset of disease, sex and focus of disease onset are unrelated variables and age at onset of disease is the only predictor of survival (Cox's proportional hazard model, chi-square 14.74, p = 0.0001). By applying accelerated failure time models with a log-normal baseline distribution, estimated probabilities for survival adjusted by age at onset were calculated. It was found that the older the age at disease onset, the shorter the survival.
Response to Letter to the Editor of JBMR: Treatment Sequence Matters

We thank Drs. Grey, Bolland and Cundy for their interest in our perspective entitled “Treatment Sequence matters: anabolic and antiresorptive therapy for osteoporosis”(1) in which we support the concept that anabolic treatment should be considered first line for patients at high risk for fracture. Drs. Grey and colleagues argue that there is insufficient evidence to justify this recommendation. While we agree that randomized trials to confirm that anabolic therapies reduce hip fracture risk would be valuable, it is likely that we will never have such evidence; absence of this evidence does not mean that the medications are not effective. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Community-Acquired Urinary Tract Infections in Children With Vesicoureteral Reflux Receiving Prophylactic Antibiotic Therapy

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to examine bacterial antimicrobial resistance of recurrent urinary tract infections in children receiving antibiotic prophylaxis because of primary vesicoureteral reflux. METHODS. We reviewed data retrospectively for children with documented vesicoureteral reflux in 2 hospitals during a 5-year follow-up period. The patients were receiving co-trimoxazole, cephalexin, or cefaclor prophylaxis or prophylaxis with a sequence of different antibiotics (alternative monotherapy). Demographic data, degree of vesicoureteral reflux, prophylactic antibiotics prescribed, and antibiotic sensitivity results of first urinary tract infections and breakthrough urinary tract infections were recorded. RESULTS. Three hundred twenty-four patients underwent antibiotic prophylaxis (109 with co-trimoxazole, 100 with cephalexin, 44 with cefaclor, and 71 with alternative monotherapy) in one hospital and 96 children underwent co-trimoxazole prophylaxis in the other hospital. Breakthrough urinary tract infections occurred in patients from both hospitals (20.4% and 25%, respectively). Escherichia coli infection was significantly less common in children receiving antibiotic prophylaxis, compared with their initial episodes of urinary tract infection, at both hospitals. Children receiving cephalosporin prophylaxis were more likely to have an extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing organism for breakthrough urinary tract infections, compared with children with co-trimoxazole prophylaxis. Antimicrobial susceptibilities to almost all antibiotics decreased with cephalosporin prophylaxis when recurrent urinary tract infections developed. The extent of decreased susceptibilities was also severe for prophylaxis with a sequence of different antibiotics. However, antimicrobial susceptibilities decreased minimally in co-trimoxazole prophylaxis groups. CONCLUSIONS. Children receiving cephalosporin prophylaxis are more likely to have extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing bacteria or multidrug-resistant uropathogens other than E coli for breakthrough urinary tract infections; therefore, these antibiotics are not appropriate for prophylactic use in patients with vesicoureteral reflux. Co-trimoxazole remains the preferred prophylactic agent for vesicoureteral reflux.
Biosorption and biotransformation of chromium by Serratia sp. isolated from tannery effluent

A bacterium isolated from soil and sediment of a leather tanning mill's effluent was identified as Serratia sp. by the analysis of 16S rDNA. Scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to assess morphological changes and confirm chromium biosorption in Serratia sp. both in a shake-flask culture containing chromium and in a tannery wastewater. The SEMEDX and the elemental analysis of the chromate-containing samples confirmed the binding of chromium with the bacterial biomass. The TEM exhibited chromium accumulation throughout the bacterial cell, with some granular deposits in the cell periphery and in the cytoplasm. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) was used to quantify the chromium and to determine the chemical nature of the metal–microbe interaction. The XRD data showed the crystalline character of the precipitates, which consisted of mainly calcium chromium oxide, chromium fluoride phosphate and related organo-Cr(III) complex crystals. The XRD data also revealed a strong involvement of cellular carboxyl and phosphate groups in chromium binding by the bacterial biomass. The results of the study indicated that a combined mechanism of ion-exchange, complexation, croprecipitation and immobilization was involved in the biosorption of chromium by bacterial cells in contaminated environments.