Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Personality Correlates of Adults Who Had Imaginary Companions in Childhood

Two studies showed that adults who reported having an imaginary companion as a child differed from adults who did not on certain personality dimensions. The first yielded a higher mean on the Gough Creative Personality Scale for the group who had imaginary companions. Study 2 showed that such adults scored higher on the Achievement and Absorption subscales of Tellegen's Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. The results suggest that some differences reported in the developmental literature may be observed in adults.
The Developmental Origins of Adult Disease

Low birthweight is now known to be associated with increased rates of coronary heart disease and the related disorders stroke, hypertension and non-insulin dependent diabetes. These associations have been extensively replicated in studies in different countries and are not the result of confounding variables. They extend across the normal range of birthweight and depend on lower birthweights in relation to the duration of gestation rather than the effects of premature birth. The associations are thought to be consequences of developmental plasticity, the phenomenon by which one genotype can give rise to a range of different physiological or morphological states in response to different environmental conditions during development. Recent observations have shown that impaired growth in infancy and rapid childhood weight gain exacerbate the effects of impaired prenatal growth. A new vision of optimal early human development is emerging which takes account of both short and long-term outcomes.
Immunological relationships of an endogenous guinea pig retrovirus with prototype mammalian type B and type D retroviruses

A retrovirus endogenous to guinea pig cells was earlier shown to be morphologically similar to type B and type D prototype retroviruses. Molecular hybridization techniques were used to show that guinea pig virus nucleotide sequences are endogenous to both domestic (Cavia porcellus) and indigenous (Cavia aperea) guinea pigs, but cannot be detected in the DNA of either other hystricomorph rodents or other mammals tested. Using radioimmunological techniques designed to detect interspecies relationships, the major internal polypeptide of guinea pig virus (p26) was shown to share three different sets of interspecies antigenic determinants with squirrel monkey retrovirus, viper retrovirus, and mouse mammary tumor virus. Thus, guinea pig virus appears to provide an evolutionary link between type B and D retroviruses.
Archaeological Context and Systemic Context

Abstract The cultural aspect of the processes responsible for forming the archaeological record is argued to be an underdeveloped branch of archaeological theory. A flow model is presented by which to view the "life history" or processes of systemic context of any material element. This model accounts for the production of a substantial portion of the archaeological record. The basic processes of this model are: procurement, manufacture, use, maintenance, and discard. Refuse labels the state of an element in archaeological context. The spatial implications of the model suggest a largely untapped source of behavioral information. Differential refuse disposal patterns are examined as they affect artifact location and association. The meaning of element relative frequencies in refuse is discussed.
Ionic conditions modulate stimulus‐induced capacitance changes in isolated neurohypophysial terminals of the rat

Peptidergic nerve terminals of the neurohypophysis (NH) secrete both oxytocin and vasopressin upon stimulation with peptide‐specific bursts of action potentials from magnocellular neurons. These bursts vary in both frequency and action potential duration and also induce in situ ionic changes both inside and outside the terminals in the NH. These temporary effects include the increase of external potassium and decrease of external calcium, as well as the increase in internal sodium and chloride concentrations. In order to determine any mechanism of action that these ionic changes might have on secretion, stimulus‐induced capacitance recordings were performed on isolated terminals of the NH using action potential burst patterns of varying frequency and action potential width. The results indicate that in NH terminals: (1) increased internal chloride concentration improves the efficiency of action potential‐induced capacitance changes, (2) increasing external potassium increases stimulus‐induced capacitance changes, (3) decreasing external calcium decreases the capacitance induced by low frequency broadened action potentials, while no capacitance change is observed with high frequency un‐broadened action potentials, and (4) increasing internal sodium increases the capacitance change induced by low frequency bursts of broadened action potentials, more than for high frequency bursts of narrow action potentials. These results are consistent with previous models of stimulus‐induced secretion, where optimal secretory efficacy is determined by particular characteristics of action potentials within a burst. Our results suggest that positive effects of increased internal sodium and external potassium during a burst may serve as a compensatory mechanism for secretion, counterbalancing the negative effects of reduced external calcium. In this view, high frequency un‐broadened action potentials (initial burst phase) would condition the terminals by increasing internal sodium for optimal secretion by the physiological later phase of broadened action potentials. Thus, ionic changes occurring during a burst may help to make such stimulation more efficient at inducing secretion. Furthermore, these effects are thought to occur within the initial few seconds of incoming burst activity at both oxytocin and vasopressin types of NH nerve terminals.
Robust tongue tracking in ultrasound images: a multi-hypothesis approach

Ultrasound (US) imaging is an excellent means of observing tongue motion during speech. Tracking the tongue contour in US video is required for analysis of this motion, but most currently available techniques suffer from either a lack of temporal consistency or a lack of robustness to difﬁcult conditions such as a rapidly deforming tongue or momentarily poor image quality. This paper proposes a new algorithm combining active contours, active shape models and particle ﬁltering that addresses these shortcomings. The strength of this approach lies in the fact that it maintains multiple tongue shape hypotheses simultaneously. Experimental results show that this approach outperforms a classic active contour algorithm as well as a shape-constrained variant thereof, particularly in difﬁcult tracking conditions.
Etiologic and Other Factors Predicting Nevus-Associated Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma

Cutaneous malignant melanomas with histologic evidence of an associated nevus (N+) may have a different risk factor profile from that of melanomas without it (N−). To address this question, a case-only analysis of 932 people with cutaneous malignant melanoma was done to identify etiologic and other factors associated with N+ melanoma. Evidence of an associated nevus was found in 36% of melanomas. N+ melanomas were thinner (Ptrend = 0.0009) and more likely to be of the superficial spreading type than other types of melanoma. Subjects with N+ melanomas were younger (Ptrend < 0.0001) and reported a higher nevus density on their skin than subjects with N− melanomas [odds ratio (OR), 3.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.6-6.0, for high nevus density versus no nevi]. Indicators of high accumulated sun exposure were less prevalent among subjects with N+ melanomas (OR, 0.3; 95% CI, 0.2-0.4, for melanoma location on the head and neck versus location on trunk; OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.4, for severe solar elastosis adjacent to the melanoma versus no elastosis; OR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.4, for lentigo maligna melanoma subtype versus superficial spreading subtype). With the exception of solar elastosis and age, all of the aforementioned variables remained significantly associated with N+ melanomas in multivariate analyses. No associations with self-reported measures of sun exposure, sunburn, or pigmentation phenotype were apparent. Our findings provide some support for the hypothesis of etiologically separate pathways for melanoma, with N+ melanomas appearing less likely to develop in the presence of characteristics suggesting high accumulated sun exposure than N− melanomas. However, it is possible that high UV exposure causes involution of nevi, thus reducing the density of nevi in exposed skin and thereby the probability of N+ melanoma.
Asym ptotic distributions of apparen t open times and shut times in a single channel record allowing for the omission of b rief events

The openings and shuttings of individual ion channel molecules can be described by a Markov process with discrete states in continuous time. The predicted distributions of the durations of open times, shut times, bursts of openings, etc. are all described, in principle, by mixtures of exponential densities. In practice it is usually found that some of the open times, and the shut times, are too short to be detected reliably. I f a fixed dead-time T is assumed then it is possible to define, as an approximation to what is actually observed, an ‘extended opening’ or e-opening which starts with an opening of duration at least followed by any num ber of openings and shuttings, all the shut times being shorter than t; the e-opening ends when a shut time longer than x occurs. A similar definition is used for e-shut times. The probability densities, f ( t ) , of these extended times have previously been obtained as expressions which become progressively more complicated, and numerically unstable to compute, as ► oo. In this paper we present, for the two-state model, an alternative representation as an infinite series of which a small number of terms gives a very accurate approximation o ff( t) for large t. For the general model we present an asymptotic representation as a mixture of exponentials which is accurate for all except quite small values of t. Some simple model-independent corrections for missed events are discussed in relationship to the exact solutions.
Deep brain stimulation in clinical trials and animal models of depression

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is currently being investigated as a therapy for the treatment of depression. Despite promising results of recent clinical trials, neural and chemical mechanisms responsible for the effects of stimulation are still unclear. In this article, we review clinical and laboratory findings on DBS for depression. Particular emphasis will be given to aspects involved in the translation of data from animal models to humans and in our findings on the potential substrates involved in the antidepressant effects of DBS in rats.
The influence of elevated atmospheric CO2 on fine root dynamics in an intact temperate forest

Root dynamics are important for plant, ecosystem and global carbon cycling. Changes in root dynamics caused by rising atmospheric CO2 not only have the potential to moderate further CO2 increases, but will likely affect forest function. We used FACE (Free‐Air CO2 Enrichment) to expose three 30‐m diameter plots in a 13‐year‐old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) forest to elevated (ambient + 200 µL L−1) atmospheric CO2. Three identical fully instrumented plots were implemented as controls (ambient air only). We quantified root dynamics from October 1998 to October 1999 using minirhizotrons. In spite of 16% greater root lengths and 24% more roots per minirhizotron tube, the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on root lengths and numbers were not statistically significant. Similarly, production and mortality were also unaffected by the CO2 treatment, even though annual root production and mortality were 26% and 46% greater in elevated compared to ambient CO2 plots. Average diameters of live roots present at the shallowest soil depth were, however, significantly enhanced in CO2‐enriched plots. Mortality decreased with increasing soil depth and the slopes of linear regression lines (mortality vs. depth) differed between elevated and ambient CO2 treatments, reflecting the significant CO2 by depth interaction. Relative root turnover (root flux/live root pool) was unchanged by exposure to elevated atmospheric CO2. Results from this study suggest modest, if any, increases in ecosystem‐level root productivity in CO2‐enriched environments.
Further refinement of the candidate region for monosomy 9p syndrome

With great interest we read the paper of Kawara et al. [2006], in which they describe a boy with clinically recognizable 9p-phenotype and a complex chromosomal rearrangement between chromosomes 2 and 9, resulting in a 6.6-Mb loss of 9p. Their data combined with previous studies [Christ et al., 1999; Jehee et al., 2005] narrowed down the candidate region for the monosomy 9p syndrome to a 4.7-Mb segment at 9p22.2p23. We recently performed cytogenetic analysis in a prematurely born girl with multiple congenital anomalies. The girl had the 9p-phenotype and a deletion of 9pter! p22.3. Our findings lead to further refinement of the critical region for the 9pphenotype. The patient was born at 34/7 weeks of gestation with a birth weight of 2,220 g (50th centile). In addition to facial dysmorphisms, a perimembranous ventricular septum defect (VSD) and a small atrium septum defect (ASD) were noted. Ultrasound investigations of abdomen and cerebrum did not reveal any additional abnormalities. At 3 months of age, she showed normal growth, length of 57 cm (15th centile) and a head circumference of 38.3 cm (15th centile). She had a metopic ridge, high narrow forehead with bitemporal narrowing, hypertelorism, upward slanting and narrow palpebral fissures, blue sclerae, low set ears with a prominent antihelix, an upturned nose with a long prominent philtrum, small mouth with thin lips, narrow palate, retrognathia and a short neck (Fig. 1A,B). The nipples were small and widely spaced, and a holosystolic murmur was noted. Her fingers were relatively long with small, narrow nails; she had a medial deviation of the hallux, a sandal gap and relatively long toes with clinodactyly of digits 4 and 5 bilaterally. On the abdomen and the left shoulder hemangiomas were observed. At the ageof 2 years, her developmentwas severely delayed; she could not sit unsupported, did not crawl and did not speak. Her growth was still normal, with height of 82 cm (10th centile) and head circumference of 46.5 cm (15th centile). The trigonocephaly became more apparent and, in addition, she was myopic ( 4/ 4). Routine cytogenetic GTG band analysis revealed additional material on the short arm of one of the chromosomes 9 (Fig. 1C) of the patient, with both parents having normal karyotypes. FISH analysis with a whole chromosome paint for chromosome 9 showed complete hybridization on both the normal and the aberrant chromosome, and with region-specific probes a duplication of the proximal part of the short arm of at least p10! p13 and a deletion of the distal part of at least the subtelomeric region was shown (Fig. 1D). Array CGH analysis with a set of 32,477 overlapping BAC clones, covering the entire human genome (described in detail by de Vries et al. [2005]) was performed, with all clone data based on version
Positive effects of front surface field in high-efficiency back-contact back-junction n-type silicon solar cells

The role of the phosphorus-doped front surface field (FSF) in n-type back-contact back-junction silicon solar cells was analyzed. The FSF improves the quality of the front surface passivation and enables very high efficiencies even for the cells with higher front surface recombination velocity. The stability of the front surface passivation using the FSF with respect to UV-light was analyzed by measurements of lifetime samples. Application of the FSF significantly improves the UV-light stability. The surface saturation current density (J0e) of the textured lifetime samples without FSF increased form 30 fA/cm2 to almost 450 fA/cm2 after 55 hours of UV-light exposure. J0e of the samples with FSF showed only a marginal increase from 30 to 35 fA/cm2. An additional positive effect of the FSF is the reduction of the lateral resistance losses. These losses are caused by a significant increase of the pitch on the rear cell side, when only low-cost structuring technologies (screen-printing and laser processing) are applied. An experimental study showed that the FSF strongly improved the fill factors of the cells with large pitches. Two-dimensional device simulations revealed that the FSF significantly contributes to the lateral transport of the majority carrier's current. The best cell efficiency of 21.3 % was obtained for the solar cell with a 1 Ω cm specific base resistivity and a front surface field with a sheet resistance of 148 Ω/sq.
Time course of symptom remission in eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE The study was carried out to test whether time to remission varies for different eating disorder symptoms. METHOD Sixty-five patients (35 anorexic patients and 30 bulimic patients) treated with psychotherapy were interviewed 2 1/2 years after initial assessment. RESULTS The anorexic physical symptoms remitted before the psychological symptoms of anorexia and bulimia nervosa, as did the bulimic behaviors: binging and purging. Nonpurging compensatory behavior and obsession with weight and shape were the last symptoms to remit. Differences between the anorexic and bulimic groups were found between the remission order of psychological symptoms. DISCUSSION In spite of different treatments and symptoms between patients, the results support the notion of a common pattern in the process of change including a long and stepwise course. The results detail a template of the course to recovery for eating disorders.
Enforcement of Late Replication Origin Firing by Clusters of Short G-rich DNA Sequences*♦

Previous studies in budding yeast suggested that the default firing time of most DNA replication origins is early in S phase and that origins can be forced to fire later by proximity to certain cis-acting sequences. However, these cis-acting sequences were not well defined. We have attempted to characterize cis-acting sequences that affect replication timing in the fission yeast. We identified a stretch of 200 bp that was sufficient to compel nearby origins to fire late. The 200-bp stretch was able to force an origin to fire late whether adjacent to the origin or ∼800 bp away in opposite orientation. The stretch contains a cluster of three close matches to a G-rich, 10-bp late consensus sequence (LCS). The three LCS elements cooperate with each other and with other sequences within the 200-bp stretch to enforce late replication. Although only a few origins that fire in very late S phase have been identified in fission yeast, all of them are located close to a cluster of LCS elements.
Progressing Stroke: Towards an Internationally Agreed Definition

Background: The study of early neurological deterioration (progression) in acute stroke has been hampered by a lack of standardisation in the terminology or assessment procedures. An international panel was therefore convened, to agree on robust operational definitions for future studies and to validate them in an observational study involving 10 centres from the European Stroke Database Collaboration. Methods: Standardised neurological assessments were performed daily for the first 3 days on patients with acute stroke, consecutively admitted within 24 h of onset, using the Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS) scoring system. An early deterioration episode (EDE) was defined as a ≧2 SSS-point worsening in either conscious level, arm, leg or eye movement scores, and/or a ≧3 SSS-point worsening in speech score, between consecutive neurological assessments. Stroke progression (SP) was defined as a similar neurological worsening comparing the day 3 assessment with the baseline assessment, or death occurring within 72 h of onset. The ability of SP to predict poor outcome (death or a Barthel ADL score <15/20 at 3 months), independently of initial stroke severity or other prognostic factors, was compared with possible alternative definitions, including one based on the Canadian Stroke Scale. Results: The occurrence of EDEs and SP within the first 3 days of admission could be determined in 563 cases. EDEs occurred in 33% and SP in 26% of cases. Both were strong independent predictors of poor outcome. The prognostic efficiency of the European Progressing Stroke Study (EPSS) definition of SP was better than any of the alternatives examined, and clearly better than a definition based on changes in the total SSS score. Conclusions: The EPSS definitions of EDEs and SP have good construct and prognostic validity. They can be recommended as a standard for future studies on the aetiology and mechanisms of this common and important phenomenon.
Probing an ultra‐low velocity zone at the core mantle boundary with P and S waves

Recent studies of the core‐mantle boundary (CMB) have revealed some very anomalous structures interpreted in terms of ultra low velocity zones (ULVZ). However, there remains considerable uncertainties about their physical descriptions or even if they occur above or below the CMB. They have only been detected in isolated situations using rather special techniques; these includes: distortions in SKS with the development of SKPdS and SPdKS, broadband PKP precursors, distinct ScS and S beyond 100 degree, and rapid changes in differential travel times of neighboring phases. Here we report on a situation where ray paths associated with PKP precursors and SKPdS sample the same ULVZ structure. The structure lies beneath central Africa and has been detected from WWSSN analog data (SKPdS) discussed previously. This data set has been enhanced with a collection of digital records sampling an elongated North‐South zone roughly 800 km long. The entire SKPdS data set can be modeled with a ridge‐shaped cross section with widths of 250 to 400 km and drops in P and S velocity of 10 and 30 percent. Fortunately, a new IRIS station (MSKU) located in Western Africa provided excellent PKP data from the New Britain Region events sampling the above structure. The PKP and strong precursors can be modeled by 2D synthetics generated from the same structure (used in modeling SKP dS) which provides a strong constraint on the definition characteristics of this particular ULVZ.