Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Asymmetry of cerebral gray and white matter and structural volumes in relation to sex hormones and chromosomes

Whilst many studies show sex differences in cerebral asymmetry, their mechanisms are still unknown. This report describes the potential impact of sex hormones and sex chromosomes by comparing MR data from 39 male and 47 female controls and 33 men with an extra X-chromosome (47,XXY). Methods: Regional asymmetry in gray and white matter volumes (GMV and WMV) was calculated using voxel based moprhometry (SPM5), by contrasting the unflipped and flipped individual GMV and WMV images. In addition, structural volumes were calculated for the thalamus, caudate, putamen, amygdala, and hippocampus, using the FreeSurfer software. Effects of plasma testosterone and estrogen on the GMV and WMV, as well on the right/left ratios of the subcortical volumes were tested by multi-regression analysis. Results: All three groups showed a leftward asymmetry in the motor cortex and the planum temporale, and a rightward asymmetry of the middle occipital cortex. Both asymmetries were more pronounced in 46,XY males than 46,XX females and 47,XXY males, and were positively correlated with testosterone levels. There was also a rightward asymmetry of the vermis and leftward GMV asymmetry in the cerebellar hemispheres in all groups. Notably, cerebellar asymmetries were larger in 46,XX females and 47,XXY males, but were not related to sex hormone levels. No asymmetry differences between 46,XX females and 47,XXY males, and no overall effects of brain size were detected. Conclusion: The asymmetry in the planum temporale area and the occipital cortex seem related to processes associated with testosterone, whereas the observed cerebellar asymmetries suggest a link with X-chromosome escapee genes. Sex differences in cerebral asymmetry are moderated by sex hormones and X-chromosome genes, in a regionally differentiated manner.
Long-term immune deficiency after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: B-cell deficiency is associated with late infections

Immune reconstitution was analyzed in 140 consecutive patients who were 2-year disease-free and who underwent myeloablative allogeneic transplantation. A CD4 and CD8 defect was observed involving naive, terminally differentiated, memory and competent cells and above limits values for activated subsets. Natural killer cells normalize at six months while we observed expansion of CD19+/CD5+ B cells after three months and a persisting defect of memory B cells. Chronic graft-versus-host disease did not influence significantly those parameters for CD8 subsets while the naïve and competent CD4 subsets were strongly affected. But the most profound impact of chronic graft-versus-host disease was on B-cell subsets, especially on the memory B population. The cumulative incidence of late severe infections was low (14% at four years). Using Cox’s models, only low B-cell counts at 12 (P=0.02) and 24 (P=0.001) months were associated with the hazard of developing late infection, in particular if patients did not develop chronic graft-versus-host disease.
Hepatitis B knowledge and practices among Chinese American women in Seattle, Washington.

BACKGROUND Chinese Americans have higher rates of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, resulting in higher incidences of liver cancer, compared with the general population. METHODS The authors conducted a community-based survey of HBV knowledge and preventive practices among Chinese American women in Seattle, Washington, during 1999. RESULTS Less than half (46%) of the respondents knew that HBV could cause liver cancer. Only 35% reported that they had been serologically tested for HBV, and most of those who knew they were susceptible (61%) had not been vaccinated. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate low levels of HBV knowledge, screening, and vaccination among Chinese immigrants. Targeted interventions are needed to reduce the burden of HBV infection and liver cancer in this community.
The Effectiveness of Virtual Tour Museums on Student Engagement in Social Studies Learning in Elementary Schools

During the era of digital transformation, the integration of technology into the field of education through teaching methods has become a necessity. This study aims to measure the effectiveness of museum virtual tour media on increasing student involvement in social studies learning in elementary schools. Research design uses quasi-experiment with pre-test and post-test control-group design. The research sample consisted of 64 students in the fifth grade. The dimensions and indicators used in the questionnaire are sourced from The Student Engagement in School Questionnaire (SESQ). The data used in this research comes from questionnaires, interviews, and documentation. The N-gain Score test was chosen to analyse the data, comparing the average scores between the experimental and control groups. The findings show that there is a disparity in the average engagement results between students who use virtual museum tour media and students who use traditional textbooks. The experimental class obtained an n-gain score of 0.683 which indicated an increase in student involvement in the high category, while the control class obtained an n-gain score of 0.193 which indicated an increase in student involvement in the low category. Thus, the use of virtual museum tour media is proven to be able to make a significant contribution in increasing student involvement, encouraging cultural appreciation, and strengthening students' sense of nationalism in elementary schools.
Quantitative thermoacoustic image reconstruction of conductivity profiles

A numerical inversion scheme for recovering a map of the absolute conductivity from the absorbed power density map that is conventionally reconstructed in thermacoustic imaging is described. This offers the prospect of obtaining an image that is more closely related to the underlying tissue structure and physiology. The inversion scheme employs a full 3D full wave model of electromagnetic propagation in tissue which is iteratively fitted to the measured absorbed power density map using a simple recursive method. The reconstruction is demonstrated numerically using three examples of absorbers of varying geometries, tissue realistic complex permittivity values and noise. In these examples, the reconstruction is shown to rapidly converge to within good estimates of the true conductivity in less than 20 iterations.
Congestion estimation during top-down placement

Congestion is one of the fundamental issues in VLSI physical design. In this paper, we propose two congestion estimation approaches for early placement stages. First, we theoretically analyze the peak congestion value of the design and experimentally validate the estimation approach. Second, we estimate regional congestion in the early top-down placement. This is done by combining the wirelength distribution model and inter-region wire estimation. Both approaches are based on the well known Rent's rule, which is previously used for wirelength estimation. This is the first attempt to predict congestion using Rent's rule. The estimation results are compared with the layout after placement and global routing. Experiments on large industry circuits show that the early congestion estimation based on Rent's rule is a promising approach.
Robust Passive LED Driver Compatible With Conventional Rapid-Start Ballast

In this paper, a new LED fluorescent driver compatible with a rapid-start ballast is proposed. Using a compensation circuit composed of passive elements, a new LED fluorescent driver having highly reliable and robust characteristics was developed. This driver can prevent the fire problem that arose in conventional LED fluorescent switching power supplies. The design principle and architecture of the proposed LED driver was explained, and its feasibility was confirmed by simulations and experiments.
Strontium and Oxygen Isotope Profiles of Sequentially Sampled Modern Bison (Bison bison bison) Teeth from Interior Alaska as Proxies of Seasonal Mobility

Studies addressing prehistoric mobility in animals typically use isotopic analyses of sequentially formed tissues, such as the growth layers in teeth, to infer physical movement on the landscape. Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr values), which vary geographically, are particularly useful for this purpose, especially when paired with stable oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O), which vary seasonally. Together, these two isotope systems can provide information about past animal movement patterns on a seasonal scale. However, while many studies have used 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O values from analyses of sequentially formed tissues for this purpose, there have been limited analyses on modern animals of known movement patterns across high-latitude regions. In this pilot study, we sequentially sampled and analyzed one second molar (M2) and two third molars (M3) from two bison (Bison bison bison) from the Delta bison herd, which resides in interior Alaska and has known and documented seasonal mobility patterns. The resulting 87Sr/86Sr values from the teeth were compared to a high-resolution 87Sr/86Sr isoscape for the region and were paired with δ18O analyses to determine whether the seasonal 87Sr/86Sr values matched the predicted values for each of the seasonal bison habitat areas. The results indicate that the 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O values reliably reflected the known seasonal mobility patterns of bison and suggest that this approach could be used to investigate the mobility patterns of prehistoric bison in Alaska and surrounding high-latitude regions.
Increased Sp1 phosphorylation as a mechanism of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF/SF)-induced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF/VPF) transcription

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF/SF)-induced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF/VPF) has been implicated in paracrine amplification of angiogenesis, contributing to angiogenic responses during inflammation, wound healing, collateral formation and tumor growth. We have shown previously that HGF/SF-mediated VEGF/VPF expression by keratinocytes is primarily dependent on transcriptional activation, and we mapped the HGF/SF-responsive element to a GC-rich region between bp -88 and -65. Sp1-like factors bind to this element constitutively; however the VEGF/VPF promoter is transactivated by HGF/SF in the absence of induced binding activity. In experimental approaches to clarify molecular mechanisms of Sp1-dependent VEGF/VPF gene transcription, neither HGF/SF-dependent changes in nuclear expression nor in relative DNA binding activity of Sp family members to the indicated element were observed. Thus, HGF/SF was hypothesized to induce VEGF/VPF gene transcription via increased transactivation activity of Sp1 owing to biochemical modification. In immunoprecipitation studies, HGF/SF was found to increase the amount of serine-phosphorylated Sp1, revealing a likely mechanism of HGF/SF-induced VEGF/VPF expression, as phosphorylation may enhance the transcriptional activity of Sp1. The contribution of different signaling molecules to HGF/SF-induced VEGF/VPF transcription was demonstrated by the use of chemical inhibition, of expression of kinase-deficient signaling proteins, and by the use of antisense oligonucleotides. Herein, we provide evidence that PI 3-kinase, MEK1/2 and PKC-ζ play a significant role in HGF/SF-induced VEGF/VPF promoter activation. Together, our results elucidate a critical pathway of paracrine amplification of angiogenesis, suggesting that HGF/SF-induced Sp1 phosphorylation may activate VEGF/VPF promoter activity that requires the contribution of distinct signaling molecules.
Extraction Patterns for Information Extraction Tasks : A Survey

Information Extraction systems rely on a set of extraction patternsthat they use in order to retrieve from each document the relevant information. In this paper we survey the various types of extraction patterns that are generated by machine learning algorithms. We identify three main categories of patterns, which cover a variety of application domains, and we compare and contrast the patterns from each category.
A comparison of speaker clustering and speech recognition techniques for air situational awareness

In this paper we compare speaker clustering and speech recognition techniques to the problem of understanding patterns of air traffic control communications. For a given radio transmission, our goal is to identify the talker and to whom he/she is speaking. This information, in combination with knowledge of the the roles (i.e. takeoff, approach, hand-off, taxi, etc.) of different radio frequencies within an air traffic control region could allow tracking of pilots through various stages of flight, thus providing the potential to monitor the airspace in great detail. Both techniques must contend with degraded audio channels and significant non-native accents. We report results from experiments using the nn-MATC database [6] showing 9.3% and 32.6% clustering error for speaker clustering and ASR methods respectively.
Research on Cup and Handle Price Pattern Based on Svm Method

Analysis of the data of stock is one of the most important methods for investor to knowing if the stock is going to have a uptrend and determine whether call and put the stock. This is one of the methods that can highly decrease the risk of investing. Therefore, to decrease the risk of loss and increase the return, prediction of the stock price become a crucial task and has attracted many investors. To introduce a new method to solve the problem, this paper didn’t focus on predicting the price of stock but cup and handle pattern. This pattern always implies that there is an upward trend follows this. The trouble is how to find out the stock has the pattern from many stock data. Based on machine learning (ML) techniques, this paper uses support vector machine (SVM) model to classify the data and to determine whether this set has the pattern or not. The model uses gaussian radial function as kernel function. The experiment result demonstrates that the classify model reach a relatively satisfied result and can give a relative good, classified result.
Bézier variant of modified Srivastava–Gupta operators

Srivastava and Gupta proposed in 2003 a general family of linear positive operators which include several well known operators as its special cases and investigated the rate of convergence of these operators for functions of bounded variation by using the decomposition techniques. Subsequently, researchers proposed several modifications of these operators and studied their various approximation properties. Yadav, in 2014, proposed a modification of these operators and studied a Voronovskaya-type approximation theorem and statistical convergence. In this paper, we introduce the Bezier variant of the operators defined by Yadav and give a direct approximation theorem by means of the Ditzian–Totik modulus of smoothness and the rate of convergence for absolutely continuous functions having a derivative equivalent to a function of bounded variation. Furthermore, we show the comparisons of the rate of convergence of the Srivastava–Gupta operators vis-a-vis its Bezier variant to a certain function by illustrative graphics using Maple algorithms.
Asthma: A Brief Overview

&NA; Asthma, a common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by reversible airway obstruction, is a substantial health problem without regard for age, gender, or ethnicity. Guidelines have been established to provide clinicians with evidence‐based recommendations to assist in the diagnosis and management of asthma. This review offers a brief overview of the current understanding of the pathogenesis and definition of asthma, the diagnosis and classification of asthma, and the pharmacologic therapy of asthma in adults. Further studies are required to determine whether the development of new targeted treatments will be effective in the management of asthma.
Interaction of Cuminaldehyde with Bovine Serum Albumin and Human Serum Albumin

Cuminaldehyde, an oxidized aldehyde monoterpene, present in green cumin seeds (CuminumcyminumLinn,FamilyApiaceae), is traditionally used for the treatment of abdominal colic, dyspepsia , diarrhoea and jaundice. Also, many studies have reported the antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal effects of Cuminaldehyde. Serum albumins are the major soluble and small molecule-binding proteins, present in abundance in the circulatory system of a wide variety of organisms. Studies on the interaction of bioactive molecules with Bovine serum albumin(BSA) and Human serum albumin(HSA) have attracted enormous interest due to its direct consequence on drug delivery, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic e�cacy and drug designing. Our present study is carried out to understand the mechanism of interaction of pharmaceutically important component of spices, Cuminaldehyde with BSA and HSA. Fluorescence spectroscopic measurements con�rmed that Cuminaldehyde interacted with BSA and HSA and quenched its �uorescence intensity via static quenching mechanism. The change in secondary conformation of BSA and HSA upon interaction with Cuminaldehyde was explored by UV-Visible absorption studies. The location of binding site for Cuminaldehyde in BSA and HSA was investigated by site probe displacement experiments and the results indicated that Cuminaldehyde was bound to BSA and HSA at site I. Thermodynamic studies revealed that vander Waal’s interaction and hydrogen bonding play a major role in Cuminaldehyde-BSA system while electrostatic interaction plays vital role in Cuminaldehyde-HSA system.
Secure distributed programming with value-dependent types

Distributed applications are difficult to program reliably and securely. Dependently typed functional languages promise to prevent broad classes of errors and vulnerabilities, and to enable program verification to proceed side-by-side with development. However, as recursion, effects, and rich libraries are added, using types to reason about programs, specifications, and proofs becomes challenging. We present F*, a full-fledged design and implementation of a new dependently typed language for secure distributed programming. Unlike prior languages, F* provides arbitrary recursion while maintaining a logically consistent core; it enables modular reasoning about state and other effects using affine types; and it supports proofs of refinement properties using a mixture of cryptographic evidence and logical proof terms. The key mechanism is a new kind system that tracks several sub-languages within F* and controls their interaction. F* subsumes two previous languages, F7 and Fine. We prove type soundness (with proofs mechanized in Coq) and logical consistency for F*. We have implemented a compiler that translates F* to . NET bytecode, based on a prototype for Fine. F* provides access to libraries for concurrency, networking, cryptography, and interoperability with C#, F#, and the other . NET languages. The compiler produces verifiable binaries with 60% code size overhead for proofs and types, as much as a 45x improvement over the Fine compiler, while still enabling efficient bytecode verification. To date, we have programmed and verified more than 20,000 lines of F* including (1) new schemes for multi-party sessions; (2) a zero-knowledge privacy-preserving payment protocol; (3) a provenance-aware curated database; (4) a suite of 17 web-browser extensions verified for authorization properties; and (5) a cloud-hosted multi-tier web application with a verified reference monitor.
Eye Movement-Based Human-Computer Interaction Techniques: Toward Non-Command Interfaces

User-computer dialogues are typically one-sided, with the bandwidth from computer to user far greater than that from user to computer. The movement of a user’s eyes can provide a convenient, natural, and high-bandwidth source of additional user input, to help redress this imbalance. We therefore investigate the introduction of eye movements as a computer input medium. Our emphasis is on the study of interaction techniques that incorporate eye movements into the user-computer dialogue in a convenient and natural way. This chapter describes research at NRL on developing such interaction techniques and the broader issues raised by non-command-based interaction styles. It discusses some of the human factors and technical considerations that arise in trying to use eye movements as an input medium, describes our approach and the first eye movement-based interaction techniques that we have devised and implemented in our laboratory, reports our experiences and observations on them, and considers eye movement-based interaction as an exemplar of a new, more general class of non-command-based user-computer interaction.
Robust speaker DOA estimation based on the inter-sensor data ratio model and binary mask estimation in the bispectrum domain

When noise is directional instead of diffuse, the majority of conventional direction of arrival (DOA) estimation techniques suffer from performance degradation because of mismatched noise models. In this paper, a novel robust DOA estimation algorithm is developed as an initial investigation into DOA estimation of speech under directional non-speech interference (DNSI) and non-directional background noise (NDBN) using an acoustic vector sensor (AVS), a compact co-incident microphone array. Specifically, by defining an intersensor data ratio model in the bispectrum domain (BISDR), the relationship between the BISDR and the speech DOA cues are derived. By recursively estimating a priori local signal-to-interference ratio of the bispectrum (B-PriLSIR), a robust speech-dominated binary mask (SDBM) is estimated and thus the speech DOA cue is faithfully extracted. Experimental results with simulated and recorded data demonstrate that the proposed algorithm offers high DOA estimation accuracy for all angles and is robust against DNSI and NDBN.
Using Metaanalysis to Evaluate Evidence: Practical Tips and Traps

Although practising evidence-based medicine is the goal of most physicians, it can be a real challenge to sift through the vast body of data to determine the best strategies. Most clinical guidelines regard replicated randomized controlled trials (RCTs), metaanalyses, and systematic reviews as the highest level of evidence to support treatment recommendations. High-quality metaanalyses can overcome many of the drawbacks of individual RCTs and qualitative reviews. They can reduce bias, provide adequate power to demonstrate real differences in outcomes, and resolve the results of inconsistent studies. This paper focuses on basic principles and terms used in metaanalysis, so that clinicians can appropriately evaluate and use their results to guide treatment decisions.