Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient adaptive methods for measuring speech reception threshold in quiet and in noise.

An adaptive method for measuring speech reception threshold in noise (S/N-threshold) was evaluated with regard to reliability and learning effect. A corresponding method was also tested for speech reception threshold in quiet (SRT). The methods are designed for use with a speech and noise material developed by Hagerman (1982a). Ten normal-hearing subjects and 40 hearing-impaired subjects were tested, the results showing that the test-retest reliability of the S/N-threshold was much better with the new, adaptive, method than with the old one, which was not adaptive. With the new method, a S/N-threshold can be measured within two minutes for most patients (after the initial short training) with a reliability, i.e. standard deviation, of 0.78 dB and a learning effect that is negligible for most subjects if one training list is presented before the test session. It was also concluded that the adaptive method designed for the sentences in quiet gives at least as reliable an SRT result as the old spondée method (including learning effects), but in a shorter time.
Rehabilitation combined with ventriculoperitoneal shunt for patients with chronic normal pressure hydrocephalus due to aneurysm subarachnoid haemorrhage: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare activities of daily living and cognitive function after 6 months' rehabilitation training with or without ventriculoperitoneal shunt in patients with chronic normal pressure hydrocephalus following aneurysm subarachnoid haemorrhage. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-nine subjects diagnosed with chronic normal pressure hydrocephalus following aneurysm subarachnoid haemorrhage, based on clinical deterioration or non-improvement of gait ataxia, cognitive disturbance, and/or urinary incontinence during rehabilitation, were included in the study. A treatment group (n = 24) underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunt operation, and a control group (n = 15) did not undergo the operation. RESULTS Following the operation there was a significant difference in Barthel Index scores between treatment and control groups at 1 month (p<0.01) and 6 month follow-ups (p<0.01) in the treatment group. CONCLUSION Rehabilitation alone did not result in improvements in patients with chronic normal pressure hydrocephalus, but rehabilitation combined with ventriculoperitoneal shunt resulted in improvements in activities of daily living and cognitive function. The importance of early diagnosis of chronic normal pressure hydrocephalus is stressed.
Early Adolescence and Prosocial/Moral Behavior II:

This is the second installment of the special issue on prosocial and moral development in early adolescence. This issue focuses on social and contextual processes in young adolescents’prosocial and moral behaviors. In this introductory article, a brief review of the research on parents or family, peers, school environment, culture, and nationality as correlates of prosocial and moral development was presented. The research indicates that the social context plays an important role in prosocial and moral development. However, research on the social and contextual correlates of prosocial and moral development in early adolescence is at an embryonic stage. Research is needed that integrates analyses of individual and social contextual processes to fully understand prosocial and moral development. Moreover, more sophisticated design and assessment procedures and research with racially or ethnically diverse samples are needed. It is hoped that researchers focus more attention on the positive processes and behaviors associated with the various social contextual transitions in early adolescence.
Diagnosis and therapy of neutropenia in large granular lymphocyte leukemia

Purpose of reviewT-cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia is a chronic clonal lymphoproliferation of cytotoxic T cells often associated with immune-mediated cytopenias. The pathophysiology of cytopenias includes cytokine effects and direct antigen-specific cytotoxicity to hematopoietic precursors. This review will address the diagnostic challenges of and therapeutic options for T-cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia. Recent findingsImmunosuppressive therapy, with cyclosporine, methotrexate, and oral cyclophosphamide, is often used, but formal trials have not been performed and response rates are poorly established. In refractory cases, alternative regimens such as antithymocyte globulin or monoclonal antibody therapy have exhibited hematologic response. SummaryT-cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia may assume an indolent course but sometimes manifests with significant cytopenias. A majority of patients will ultimately require immunosuppressive therapy due to symptomatic neutropenia or anemia. In these cases, a variety of agents maybe used successfully though chronic therapy is often necessary.
Anisotropic scattering of electrons by N2 and its effect on electron transport.

As part of a systematic study of approximations commonly made in solutions of the Boltzmann equation for electrons in molecular gases, we have investigated the effects of anisotropic scattering on electron transport coefficients in ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ and have extended our study of the multiterm expansion technique to higher E/n. A critical survey of published data yields a set of differential and integral cross sections for electron energies from 0.003 to ${10}^{4}$ eV. For electric-field--to--gas-density ratios E/n between 10 and 500 Td (1 Td${=10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}21}$ V ${\mathrm{m}}^{2}$), the changes in the commonly measured transport and reaction coefficients resulting from the introduction of anisotropic elastic and inelastic scattering, while keeping the elastic momentum-transfer cross section constant, are less than 1%.
Insights into PARP Inhibitors’ Selectivity Using Fluorescence Polarization and Surface Plasmon Resonance Binding Assays

PARP inhibitors are an exciting new class of antineoplastic drugs that have been proven to be efficacious as single agents in cancer settings with inherent DNA repair defects, as well as in combination with DNA-damaging chemotherapeutics. Currently, they are designed to target the catalytic domain of PARP-1, the most studied member of the family, with a key role in the DNA-damage repair process. Because PARP inhibitors are substrate (NAD+) competitors, there is a need for a deeper understanding of their cross-reactivity. This is particularly relevant for PARP-2, the PARP-1 closest homologue, for which an embryonic lethal phenotype has been observed in double knockout mice. In this study, we describe the development and validation of binding assays based on fluorescence polarization (FP) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) techniques. PARP-1, PARP-2, PARP-3, and TNKS-1 FP displacement assays are set up by employing ad hoc synthesized probes. These assays are suitable for high-throughput screening (HTS) and selectivity profiling, thus allowing the identification of NAD+ binding site selective inhibitors. The PARP-1 and PARP-2 complementary SPR binding assays confirm displacement data and the in-depth inhibitor characterization. Moreover, these formats have the potential to be broadly applicable to other members of the PARP family.
Asset Pricing Under Asymmetric Information About Distribution of Risk Aversion

We study a dynamic competitive equilibrium model with asymmetric information about time-variant aggregate risk aversion. We show that there still exists a linear price function in out model, a nice result in the other asymmetric information competitive equilibrium models. Furthermore, we show that in our model, asymmetric information play a role in the long run risk premium. When the proportion of informed agents is large, the risk premium will monotonically decrease as more agents become informed because of less uncertainty. When the proportion of informed agents is small, the adverse selection brought by the asymmetric information will increase the long-run risk premium. Furthermore, an increase in the noise about aggregate risk aversion may decrease risk premium when there is enough asymmetric information. We also show that our model predicts positive correlation between volume and absolute dividend change, volume and absolute price change. Expected future excess returns are negatively related to current volume and current dividend change, current volume and price change, current volume and current excess returns. All these are consistent with empirical facts in the literature. ∗This is a revised chapter of my PhD thesis at Wharton School. I thank Andy Abel for introducing me to this project and several conversations on the topic. I thank Bruce Grundy, Domenico Cuoco, and seminar participants at University of Melbourne for helpful comments. Needless to say, all remaining errors are mine. †Finance Department, Faculty of Economics and Commerce, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia. Email: qzeng@unimelb.edu. au
Expression and switching of TH1/TH2 type cytokines gene in human gliomas.

OBJECTIVE To study the expression and switching of Th1/Th2 cytokines gene in human gliomas and its effects on occurring and developing of human gliomas. METHODS Interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon-gamma represent Th1 type cytokines. IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-13 represent Th2 type cytokines. The gene expressions of Thl/Th2 cytokines in human glioma cells, glioma infiltrating lymphocytes, and glioma cell lines were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The biological activity of cytokines in the supernatant of glioma cell lines was assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS The total positive rates of Th1 and Th2 type cytokines gene in human glioma cells were 14.77% and 75%. The total positive rates of Th1 and Th2 type cytokines gene in glioma infiltrating lymphocytes were 22.73% and 68.17%. There was obviously predominant expression of Th2 type cytokines in human glioma tissues, glioma infiltrating lymphocytes, and glioma cell lines. There was no unbalanced expression of Th1/Th2 cytokines in normal brain tissues. CONCLUSION There is a predominant expression of Th2 type cytokines in human glioma cells. The switching of Thl/Th2 cytokines gene may play an important role in the occurring and developing of human gliomas.
Presence of extended spectrum Î²-lactamase (ESBL) E. coli and K. pneumoniaeisolated from blood cultures of hospitalized patients

Ten strains of Gram-negative bacteria comprising of 5 Escherichia coli and 5 Klebsiella pneumoniae were isolated from blood samples of hospitalized patients in Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital (EBSUTH), Abakaliki. Detection of extended spectrum β-lactamases was carried out by double disc diffusion test methods. Identification of organisms was done using appropriate microbiological technique. Antibiotics susceptibility test was carried out Mueller-Hinton agar using the disc diffusion method. Ofloxacin and cefoxitin were 100% active against E. coli, followed by sulphamathroxazole with 80% activity. While ofloxacin was 100% active against K. pneumoniae, followed by cefoxitin and tetracycline with 80% activity. Amikacin and ciprofloxacin showed the highest resistance against E. coli and K. pneumoniae. This resistance is associated with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) production which was detected in K. pneumoniae and E. coli. ESBL production was observed in 80% of Gramnegative bacilli. This present study suggested that clinical microbiology laboratories should take into account the changing epidemiology of ESBL producers in order to establish a proper treatment procedure.
Parents’ Spatial Language Mediates a Sex Difference in Preschoolers’ Spatial-Language Use

Do boys produce more terms than girls to describe the spatial world—that is, dimensional adjectives (e.g., big, little, tall, short), shape terms (e.g., circle, square), and words describing spatial features and properties (e.g., bent, curvy, edge)? If a sex difference in children’s spatial-language use exists, is it related to the spatial language that parents use when interacting with children? We longitudinally tracked the development of spatial-language production in children between the ages of 14 and 46 months in a diverse sample of 58 parent-child dyads interacting in their homes. Boys produced and heard more of these three categories of spatial words, which we call “what” spatial types (i.e., unique “what” spatial words), but not more of all other word types, than girls. Mediation analysis revealed that sex differences in children’s spatial talk at 34 to 46 months of age were fully mediated by parents’ earlier spatial-language use, when children were 14 to 26 months old, time points at which there was no sex difference in children’s spatial-language use.
Curiosity‐based learning in infants: a neurocomputational approach

Abstract Infants are curious learners who drive their own cognitive development by imposing structure on their learning environment as they explore. Understanding the mechanisms by which infants structure their own learning is therefore critical to our understanding of development. Here we propose an explicit mechanism for intrinsically motivated information selection that maximizes learning. We first present a neurocomputational model of infant visual category learning, capturing existing empirical data on the role of environmental complexity on learning. Next we “set the model free”, allowing it to select its own stimuli based on a formalization of curiosity and three alternative selection mechanisms. We demonstrate that maximal learning emerges when the model is able to maximize stimulus novelty relative to its internal states, depending on the interaction across learning between the structure of the environment and the plasticity in the learner itself. We discuss the implications of this new curiosity mechanism for both existing computational models of reinforcement learning and for our understanding of this fundamental mechanism in early development.
Adrenocortical response to corticotropin is potentiated by part of the amino-terminal region of pro-corticotropin/endorphin.

Five peptides derived from pro-corticotropin/endorphin (pro-ACTH/endorphin), the pituitary corticotroph cell prohormone, were bioassayed with isolated rat adrenocortical cells: alpha- and beta-melanotropin, beta-lipotropin, beta-endorphin, and the amino-terminal region of pro-ACTH/endorphin known as "16k fragment. " The effect of each on steroidogenesis was measured at potentially physiological concentrations (0.01-1 nM) in both the absence and presence of varying concentrations of ACTH-(1-24). Of the peptides tested, only 16k fragment, the amino-terminal region of pro-ACTH/endorphin, has a slight but significant potentiating effect on ACTH-(1-24) action. Prior treatment of 16k fragment with trypsin for 30 sec dramatically increases this dose-dependent synergism. Experiments performed in vivo with hypophysectomized female rats indicate that the trypsin digest of 16k fragment stimulates cholesterol ester hydrolase (cholesterol esterase; sterol-ester acylhydrolase, EC 3.1.1.13) activity in the adrenal cortex but fails to activate cholesterol side-chain cleavage. The effect of the trypsinized material can therefore be qualitatively distinguished from that of ACTH-(1-24). When both ACTH-(1-24) and the digest are administered together, a synergistic increase in serum corticosterone concentration results. We propose that a portion of 16k fragment molecule may play a hormonal role in the control of adrenocortical steroidogenesis.
The TV industry : advertising and programming

The key to an understanding of the TV industry is the market for TV advertising. We present a model of this market that also encompasses the product markets and the viewer market. Because viewers dislike commercials, there is congestion in advertising, and TV channels offer complementary goods to advertisers. A move from a TV monopoly to a TV duopoly, we find, may reduce both the total number of viewers and the total amount of TV advertising. A softening of competition in each product market results in more investment in programming, higher price per advertising slot, and more advertising. (98 words) *This is a revision of parts of a paper titled “TV Advertising, Programming Investments, and ProductMarket Oligopoly”. The results of the rest of that paper now appear in a paper titled “Who Are the Advertisers? ”. We are indebted to Philippe Cyrenne, Ted Frech, Laurent Linnemer, and seminar participants at the Universities of Calgary, California-Berkeley, California-Santa Barbara, and Colorado, at Northwestern University and Copenhagen Business School, and at the 2000 CEA (Vancouver), EARIE (Lausanne), and EEA (Bolzano) meetings, for helpful comments. Part of this research is financed by the Norwegian Research Council, the Norwegian Competition Authority, and the Norwegian Ministry of Government Administration, through SNF (The Foundation for Research in Economics and Business Administration). Part of Nilssen's research was done during a visit at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Part of Sorgard's research was done during a visit at the Department of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The hospitality of the two institutions, as well as travel grants from the Research Council of Norway and the U.S.-Norway Fulbright Foundation for Educational Exchange, are gratefully acknowledged.
Achievable Transmission Capacity of Relay-Assisted Device-to-Device (D2D) Communication Underlay Cellular Networks

Device-to-Device (D2D) communication is considered to be a promising resource reuse technology for local users, which can support high-speed and power- saving services. However, when D2D users are far away from each other or the quality of D2D channel is not good enough for direct communication, transmission via a direct link is not a good choice. In this paper, we focus on the performance of relay assisted D2D network. Unlike the previous works that mainly study practical relay selection algorithm, we analyze the achievable transmission capacity of multi-hop D2D system over Rayleigh fading channels. First, by using stochastic geometry, the probability distribution of end-to-end signal-to-interference- plus-noise ratio (SINR) in the spectrum sharing network is formulated. Then the achievable transmission capacity is modeled as an optimization problem with constraints that guarantee the outage probability of both cellular and D2D systems. Finally the optimal design of D2D spatial density and transmit power is analyzed and the achievable transmission capacity of multi-hop D2D system is given in closed-form expression. Numerical results show the performance of the D2D network can be effectively enhanced by relay-assisted transmission. We also verify the optimal design of D2D parameters and evaluate the influence of the number of relay hops on the system capacity and power efficiency.
Synchrony of Thalamocortical Inputs Maximizes Cortical Reliability

Precise and Efficient Cortical Communication How do thalamic neurons reliably transmit information to the cerebral cortex, despite making few synaptic connections onto their target neurons? Correlated input spikes from the thalamus have been reported, but the number of synchronous inputs and their precision and reliability is unclear. Wang et al. (p. 106) analyzed a unique data set of simultaneous thalamic and cortical recordings in vivo and compared them with simulations of a model cortical neuron. Using the recorded spike trains as inputs to the model, and constraining the model by the measured output spike trains, allowed strong predictions of the degree of convergence of synchronous inputs from the lateral geniculate nucleus. Synchrony, rather than the strength or frequency of synaptic inputs, was key to signaling, and the data suggest that there may be a region of optimal synchronous coding. Synchronous synaptic inputs from a very small number of thalamic neurons can be strong enough to activate cortical neurons. Thalamic inputs strongly drive neurons in the primary visual cortex, even though these neurons constitute only ~5% of the synapses on layer 4 spiny stellate simple cells. We modeled the feedforward excitatory and inhibitory inputs to these cells based on in vivo recordings in cats, and we found that the reliability of spike transmission increased steeply between 20 and 40 synchronous thalamic inputs in a time window of 5 milliseconds, when the reliability per spike was most energetically efficient. The optimal range of synchronous inputs was influenced by the balance of background excitation and inhibition in the cortex, which could gate the flow of information into the cortex. Ensuring reliable transmission by spike synchrony in small populations of neurons may be a general principle of cortical function.
Multireference Alignment Is Easier With an Aperiodic Translation Distribution

In the multireference alignment model, a signal is observed by the action of a random circular translation and the addition of Gaussian noise. The goal is to recover the signal’s orbit by accessing multiple independent observations. Of particular interest is the sample complexity, i.e., the number of observations/samples needed in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (the signal energy divided by the noise variance) in order to drive the mean-square error to zero. Previous work showed that if the translations are drawn from the uniform distribution, then, in the low SNR regime, the sample complexity of the problem scales as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\omega (1/ \mathrm {SNR}^{3})$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. In this paper, using a generalization of the Chapman–Robbins bound for orbits and expansions of the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\chi ^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> divergence at low SNR, we show that in the same regime the sample complexity for any aperiodic translation distribution scales as <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\omega (1/ \mathrm {SNR}^{2})$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. This rate is achieved by a simple spectral algorithm. We propose two additional algorithms based on non-convex optimization and expectation–maximization. We also draw a connection between the multireference alignment problem and the spiked covariance model.
Le religieux sublimé dans le sacrifice du mouton : un exemple de coexistence communautaire au Liban

Les shi'ites ne mangeant que de la viande halâl (licite), c'est-a-dire obtenue suivant un rituel specifique accompli par un sacrificateur musulman, les maronites de Hsoun - village ou vivent aussi des shi'ites - font appel a ceux-ci pour l'abattage du mouton lors des fetes de leur calendrier liturgique et sanctoral. C'est la un exemple remarquable d'une sublimation du religieux, qui vise a garantir la coexistence au sein des groupes bi-confessionnels
Increase in Anoxia in Lake Victoria and Its Effects on the Fishery

Murithi Njiru1, Chrisphine Nyamweya2, John Gichuki2, Rose Mugidde3, Oliva Mkumbo4 and Frans Witte5 1Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Moi University, Eldoret, 2Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Kisumu, Kenya 3COWI, Uganda Ltd, Plot No. 3, Portal Avenue, Kampala, 4Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO), Jinja, 5Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, Leiden, 1,2Kenya 3,4Uganda 5Netherlands