Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A multicenter assessment of dopamine transporter imaging with DOPASCAN/SPECT in parkinsonism

Background: In vivo imaging of the dopamine transporter (DAT) with SPECT is a quantitative biomarker for PD onset and severity. Objective: To use a multicenter study to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of DOPASCAN and SPECT in patients with PD, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and essential tremor (ET), and in healthy controls (HC). Methods: Ninety-six individuals with known clinical diagnosis were imaged with DOPASCAN at five sites with different multidetector SPECT systems. Both masked visual interpretation and region of interest (ROI) analysis were performed at each site and at a core analysis center. Results: Visual interpretation of the images by an expert panel demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.98 and specificity of 0.83 comparing parkinsonian (PD + PSP) versus nonparkinsonian (ET + HC) controls. Quantitative analysis of putamen and caudate DOPASCAN uptake for each region in the PD or PSP groups was significantly reduced compared to the ET or HC groups. Comparison of parkinsonian (PD + PSP) versus nonparkinsonian (ET + HC) individuals demonstrated a reduction of 76% in mean putamen and 48% in mean caudate DOPASCAN uptake. Conclusions: DOPASCAN and SPECT imaging reliably and effectively distinguish between subjects with Parkinson’s syndrome (PD + PSP) and without Parkinson’s syndrome (HC + ET). This is the first multicenter assessment of dopamine transporter imaging demonstrating that this tool may be used widely to assess dopaminergic degeneration in patients with parkinsonism. –1547
Children's command of plural and possessive marking on Hebrew nouns: a comparison of obligatory versus optional inflections*

ABSTRACT We compare learning of two inflection types – obligatory noun plurals and optional noun possessives. We tested 107 Hebrew-speaking children aged 6–7 on the same tasks at the beginning and end of first grade. Performance on both constructions improved during this short period, but plurals scored higher from the start, with improvement only in changing stems. The main remaining challenge in mastering noun plural marking in grade school is thus to learn the various types of stem changes. In contrast, possessives improved across the board in first grade, with higher success on non-changing stems and first person suffixes respectively. This intense gain in first grade occurs when children learn to read and write and turn to the written modality as their main source of linguistic input. The study thus testifies to the impact of the shift from spoken language to the ‘language of literacy’ on children's construal of Hebrew morphology.
Combination of hydrochlorothiazide or benazepril with valsartan in hypertensive patients unresponsive to valsartan alone

Objective The aim of this open multicentric study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the addition of an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor (benazepril, 10 mg/day) or a diuretic (hydrochlorothiazide, 12.5 mg/day) for 4 weeks in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension having been treated for 4 weeks by an angiotensin II antagonist (valsartan, 80 mg/day) but still having a diastolic blood pressure (BP) > 90 mmHg on this medication given alone. Methods A total of 327 patients were included in the trial and 153 patients (46%) had their diastolic BP ⩽ 90 mmHg after 4 weeks of valsartan monotherapy. These patients continued the same treatment regimen for the next 4 weeks, but no further blood pressure reduction was observed. The remaining patients were randomized to either the valsartan–hydrochlorothiazide or the valsartan–benazepril combination. Results The two combinations induced an additional significant BP reduction, which was of similar magnitude for diastolic BP (−4.5 during valsartan–hydrochlorothiazide treatment and −3.3 mmHg during valsartan–benazepril treatment), but of greater magnitude for systolic BP during valsartan–hydrochlorothiazide (−6.77 mmHg) than during valsartan–benazepril co-administration (−3.2 mmHg). At the end of the trial, the BP of the responders to the valsartan monotherapy was lower than that of patients having required a combination therapy. Valsartan given alone or in association with hydrochlorothiazide or benazepril was well tolerated. Conclusion These data therefore show that in patients not responding sufficiently to angiotensin II receptor blockade BP can be further and safely lowered by adding a small dose of a diuretic or an ACE inhibitor, with the diuretic-containing combination tending to being more effective in controlling systolic BP.
Prophets and Loss: How “Soft Facts” on Social Media Influenced the Brexit Campaign and Social Reactions to the Murder of Jo Cox MP

This article examines “soft facts” about security issues in the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign. Soft facts arise when information provenance is uncertain, and are forms of malleable and contingent knowledge, such as rumors, conspiracy theories, and propaganda. There is a growing appreciation that digital communications environments are especially conducive to the dissemination of these kinds of information. Informed by empirical data comprising forty‐five thousand nine hundred and fifty‐seven data points collected by monitoring social media before and after the UK Brexit referendum campaign (June 16–October 12, 2016), the analysis examines how and why a series of soft facts concerning Brexit were mobilized. By developing the concept of “digital prophecy,” the article explores how influence is exerted by online prophets who were connecting current events to past grievances, to advance negative predictions about the future. This starts to capture the tradecraft of digital influencing, in ways that move beyond the structural topologies of communication networks. In policy terms, the analysis reminds us of the need to attend not just to how influence is achieved through fake news (e.g., using social media bots to amplify a message), but also why influence is sought in the first place.
Performance Comparison of Subjective Assessment Methods for Stereoscopic 3D Video Quality

The International Telecommunication Union has standardized many subjective assessment methods for stereoscopic threedimensional (3D) and 2D video quality. The same methods are used for 3D and 2D videos. The assessment time, stability, and discrimination ability, which means the ability to identify differences in video quality, are important factors in subjective assessment methods. Many studies on these factors have been done for 2D video quality. However, these factors for 3D video quality have not been sufficiently studied. To address this, we conduct subjective quality assessments for 3D and 2D videos using the absolute category rating (ACR), degradation category rating (DCR), and double stimulus continuous quality-scale (DSCQS) methods that are defined in ITU Recommendations. We first investigate the Pearson’s correlation coefficients and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between different pairings of the three methods to clarify which method is most efficient in terms of assessment time. The different pairings of the three methods exhibit high coefficients. These results indicate that the order relation of the mean opinion score (MOS) and the distance between the MOSs for these methods are almost the same. Therefore, for generally investigating the quality characteristics, the ACR method is most efficient because it has the shortest assessment time. Next, we analyze the stability of these subjective assessment methods. We clarify that the confidence intervals (CIs) of the MOSs for 3D video are almost the same as those for 2D video and that the stability of the DCR method is higher than that of the other methods. The DSCQS method has the smallest CIs for high-quality video. Finally, we investigate the discrimination ability of these subjective assessment methods. The results show that the DCR method performs better than the others in terms of the number of paired MOSs with a significant difference for low-quality video. However, we confirm that the DSCQS method performs better than the others for high-quality video. key words: ACR, DCR, DSQCS, 3D, 2D
Longitudinal Assessment of Response Preparation and Evaluation in Migraine Gives Evidence for Deviant Maturation

Evidence for deviant maturation of sensory processing in migraine has come recently from cross-sectional studies during childhood. Age-dependent development of response preparation and evaluation is characterized using a longitudinal design in school-aged migraine patients and controls in order to challenge the hypothesis of migraine as a maturation disorder. Forty-six children with migraine and 57 healthy controls aged 6-18 years were investigated and followed up 4 years later using a simple acoustic contingent negative variation (CNV) paradigm. Maturation in controls was characterized by increasing negativity of late and total CNV and stability of initial CNV (iCNV) and the motor postimperative negative variation (mPINV). Migraine patients showed a lack of development for late and total CNV and decreasing iCNV and mPINV negativity. This first longitudinal study confirms cross-sectional results of deviant CNV maturation in migraine. Altered maturation was not correlated with clinical improvement and may represent a vulnerability marker for migraine.
Size of plots for experiments with cactus pear cv. Gigante

ABSTRACT The definition of experimental plot size is an essential tool to ensure precision in statistical analysis in experiments. The objective of this study was to estimate the plot size for the cactus pear cv. Gigante using the Modified Maximum Curvature Method, under the semi-arid conditions of Northeastern Brazil. The uniformity test was conducted at the Federal Institute of Bahia, Guanambi Campus, Bahia state, Brazil, during the agricultural period from 2009 to 2011. The spatial arrangement was composed of ten rows with 50 plants each, whose evaluated area was formed by the eight central rows with 48 plants per row, making 384 plants and area of 153.60 m2. The following variables were evaluated: plant height; length, width and thickness of cladode; number of cladodes; total area of cladodes; cladode area and green mass yield in the third production cycle. In the evaluations, each plant was considered as a basic experimental unit (BEU), with an area of 0.4 m2, comprising 384 basic units (BU), whose adjacent ones were combined to form 15 pre-established plot sizes with rectangular shapes and in rows. The characteristics total area of cladodes and green mass yield require larger plot sizes to be evaluated with greater experimental accuracy. For experimental evaluation of cactus pear cv. Gigante, plot size should be eight plants in the direction of the crop row.
American and British English: Divided by a Common Language?

Is British English becoming more like American English? If so, why, and in what ways? This book compares examples of American and British language data from the 1930s, 1960s, 1990s and 2000s, to track the most important ways that both varieties are changing over time, and compares the extent to which they are following similar paths using a mixture of computer and human analysis. The analysis is carried out across several levels, including spelling differences (such as colour vs color), vocabulary (truck vs lorry), and a range of morphological, grammatical, semantic and pragmatic features. Baker explores the changing aspects of American and British society which help to explain the findings.
Television as a talking picture book: a prop for language acquisition

ABSTRACT This study provides longitudinal observations of young children's behaviours while viewing television in their own homes, over a time when the children were actively involved in the process of language acquisition. Sixteen children were observed for a period ranging from 0; 6 to 0;8. At the beginning, their ages ranged from 0; 6.15 to 5.15; at the end, from 1; 2.15 to 3;0. The observations yielded documentation of an overwhelming and consistent occurrence of language-related behaviours among children and parents in the viewing situation. The categories of child and adult talk are reported, with description and examples of each category. The categories are compared with those reported for parent–child interactions outside the viewing experience, – in particular joint book-reading. A model of television as a talking picture book is proposed. It is argued that television has the potential to serve as a facilitator of children's language acquisition.
Group therapy for pathological love.

2In this model, the Mania love style corresponds to PL, which is experienced as an obsessive emotion that dominates the individual, who feels forced to continually attract the partner’s attention. We selected through media advertisement 8 individuals that felt that their way of loving made them suffer. The intervention proposed was based on psychodramatic analysis. Psychodrama group therapy is an effective approach for the enhancement of interpersonal relationships by promoting psychological insight, helping self-esteem improvement, and consequently, contributing to the development of healthier relationships. 3 Intervention comprised 18 consecutive weekly sessions summarized on Table 1. Mean age of the participants was 41.5 years (SD = 9.75), the majority were women, currently divorced or sin gle. Psychiatry comorbidity was accessed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) 4 and major depression was the most frequent diagnosis (n = 5). Participants answered a 6-point Likert-type analogue scale assessing dependency on the relationship that motivated treatmentseeking (higher scores meaning a healthier relationship). Scoring on this Love Health Scale (LHS), varying from 0 to 100, is initially defined by the patient who shares with the group her/his reasons for such self-score. Then, a final score is defined through interactions and suggestions by other group members, having the therapists as the impartial facilitators of the scoring process. The Love Attitudes Scale (LAS) 5
Kinetic Properties of Solar Wind Discontinuities at 1 AU Observed by ARTEMIS

Because solar wind plasma flow transports the entire spectrum of magnetic field fluctuations (from low‐frequency inertial range to electron kinetic range), it is a natural laboratory for plasma turbulence investigation. Among the various wave modes and coherent plasma structures that contribute to this spectrum, one of the most important solar wind elements is ion‐scale solar wind discontinuities. These structures, which carry very intense current, have been considered as a free energy source for plasma instabilities that contribute to solar wind heating. Investigations of such discontinuities have been mostly focused on their magnetic field signatures; much less is known about plasma kinetics around them. Using statistics of such discontinuities observed around the Earth (∼1 AU) by two spacecraft from the Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) mission, we demonstrate that they are accompanied by density and temperature variations with a spatial scale of tens of ion inertial lengths. Inversely correlated density and temperature variations suggest the discontinuity configuration is nearly force free. The discontinuities are typified by two spatial scales, an intense current layer (>1 nA/m2), and a much broader current layer structure enveloping them. The magnetic field rotation occurs at the large scale, whereas at the small (inner) scale the plasma pressure gradients provide the pressure balance. We find that the electron kinetic behavior around the discontinuities strongly depends on electron energy: Whereas the pitch‐angle distribution of near‐thermal electrons (10–30 eV) changes significantly across discontinuities, hot (100–1,000 eV) electrons retain their properties on the two sides, suggesting they are able to cross the discontinuities freely. Exploring these and other kinetic characteristics of discontinuities, we discuss possible mechanisms of formation/evolution of these structures.
Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in human esophageal squamous cell carcinomas.

AIM To determine whether cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) was expressed in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blotting, immunohistoc-hemistry and immunofluorescence were used to assess the expression level of COX-2 in esophageal tissue. RESULTS COX-2 mRNA levels were increased by >80-fold in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma when compared to adjacent noncancerous tissue. COX-2 protein was present in 21 of 30 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues, but was undetectable in noncancerous tissue. Immunohistochemistry was performed to directly show expression of COX-2 in tumor tissue. CONCLUSION These results suggest that COX-2 may be an important factor for esophageal cancer and inhibition of COX-2 may be helpful for prevention and possibly treatment of this cancer.
Amisulpride in Addition to Clozapine : A Retrospective Study Indicates Improved Efficacy and Good Tolerability

Background: The common practice of augmenting the efficacy of clozapine by addition of amisulpride has some empirical and theoretical support, but has not been thoroughly investigated. Objective: We report on 14 patients (8 inpatients, 6 outpatients) with a mean age of 34.4 years (SD 8.6), who had received a combined clozapine/amisulpride treatment. 8 patients were suffering from schizophrenia (ICD-10 F20.0), 6 from a schizoaffective disorder (ICD-10 F20.5). All patients had received clozapine at a dosage of 338±177 mg for at least 4 weeks, amisulpride was added at a dosage of 514±235 mg, and combined treatment lasted for 20±22 weeks. Results: The mean CGI score (severity of illness item) decreased from 5.6±0.5 to 3.9±1.0 (p<.01). Accordingly, the CGI score (global improvement item) revealed that three patients (21%) were “very much improved”, eight patients (57%) “much improved”, two patients (14%) “minimally improved”, and only one patient (7%) was “not improved”. No patients experienced deterioration, and no severe side effects were reported. Conclusions: It is concluded that a combination of clozapine and amisulpride might be useful for patients not improving sufficiently under clozapine monotherapy (German J Psychiatry 2003; 6(3): 64-68)
The effect of cyclooxygenase‐2 inhibitor on experimental allergic neuritis

WE studied the effect of the cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor nimesulide on experimental allergic neuritis (EAN). In rats fed with nimesulide starting on day 1 post inoculation, the clinical EAN score was significantly lower and the maximal clinical score was reduced compared with the control group. Even if given after the onset of clinical signs, the clinical score was reduced and improvement was faster than the control group. Nimesulide inhibited decreases in weight in the experimental group. The histopathological observations of the sciatic nerve showed a decreased incidence of degenerated nerve fibers in the experimental group. Although the exact mechanism of its efficacy is not clear, a COX-2 inhibitor may have potential as an additional therapeutic agent in human inflammatory neuropathies.
Optical characterization of a chalcogenide glass nanophotonic device

In this paper, we have proposed a nonlinear photonic device and characterized linear and nonlinear optical properties from 1.5 µm to 5 µm using full vector finite element method. A sub-wavelength photonic wire inside a silica glass photonic crystal structure with an average index contrast ≈ 1.4 is found to maintain tight optical confinement at the peak operating wavelength. We have obtained a highly anomalous dispersion region starting from 1.76 µm to a maximum of 4.6 µm. A method to tune the upper zero GVD wavelength has been explored. Again, high anomalous dispersion of pure silica at longer wavelengths has been investigated for the first time. A nonlinearity parameter within the order of 105 W−1 Km−1 also confirms low power mid-IR supercontinuum generation for a pumping wavelength in the short-wavelength infrared band.
The Role of a 14-3-3 Protein in Stomatal Opening Mediated by PHOT2 in Arabidopsis[W][OA]

This study shows that the 14-3-3 λ protein, which interacts with PHOT2, is required for normal PHOT2-mediated blue light–induced stomatal opening. Furthermore, the PHOT2 residue responsible for the interaction with 14-3-3 λ was identified. The 14-3-3 λ isoform is required for normal stomatal opening mediated by PHOT2 in Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis PHOTOTROPIN2 (PHOT2) interacts with the λ-isoform 14-3-3 protein both in yeast two-hybrid screening and in an in vitro pull-down assay. Further yeast two-hybrid analysis also showed that the PHOT2 C-terminal kinase domain was required for the interaction. Site-directed mutagenesis indicated that PHOT2 Ser-747 is essential for the yeast interaction. Phenotypic characterization of a loss-of-function 14-3-3 λ mutant in a phot1 mutant background showed that the 14-3-3 λ protein was necessary for normal PHOT2-mediated blue light–induced stomatal opening. PHOT2 Ser-747 was necessary for complementation of the blue light–activated stomatal response in a phot1 phot2 double mutant. The 14-3-3 λ mutant in the phot1 mutant background allowed normal phototropism and normal chloroplast accumulation and avoidance responses. It also showed normal stomatal opening mediated by PHOT1 in a phot2 mutant background. The 14-3-3 κ mutant had no effect on stomatal opening in response to blue light. Although the 14-3-3 λ mutant had no chloroplast movement phenotype, the 14-3-3 κ mutation caused a weaker avoidance response at an intermediate blue light intensity by altering the balance between the avoidance and accumulation responses. The results highlight the strict specificity of phototropin-mediated signal transduction pathways.
A 'sidewinding' locomotion gait for hyper-redundant robots

The kinematics of a form of hyper-redundant mobile robot locomotion which is analogous to the sidewinding locomotion of desert snakes are considered. This form of locomotion can be generated by a repetitive traveling wave of mechanism bending. Using a continuous backbone curve model, algorithms are developed which enable travel in a uniform direction as well as changes in direction. <<ETX>>
The enigmatic behavior of breast cancer

A series of 502 patients with metastatic and/or recurrent breast cancer has been reviewed to study some of the time characteristics of the reactivated disease. Metastases become clinically apparent over an unexplainably wide range of time, but the median time of appearance becomes shorter with the more advanced presenting clinical stages. Survival after metastases also varies over an unexplainably wide range of time, but the median survival time after the appearance of the metastases becomes shorter with the more advanced presenting clinical stage, suggesting that clinical stage indicates tumor‐host potential more than the chronological age of the tumor. Metastases at specific sites occur at no constant relative time in the treatment‐to‐death interval, suggesting varying growth rates throughout the course of the disease. Metastases occurring within the first 18 months of treatment or in patients presenting with advanced clinical stages are more evenly distributed throughout the treatment‐to‐death interval than those occurring more than 36 months after initial treatment or with small primary lesions. This suggests that the ease of establishment of a metastasis is probably independent from its subsequent behavior.