Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Further validation and development of a screening instrument for the assessment of substance misuse in adolescents.

AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of the Substance Misuse in Adolescence Questionnaire, which has been proposed as a screening instrument for problem drug use in adolescents. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING The participants in the study were 4544 11-16-year-olds attending eight secondary schools located in the north-west midlands of England. PROCEDURE Participants completed an anonymous self-report questionnaire that incorporated a modified version of the SMAQ (the Assessment of Substance Misuse in Adolescence: ASMA), together with other questions relating to substance use and associated issues. RESULTS The ASMA showed good reliability, both within the overall sample of respondents, and in a drug-using subsample. Principal-components analysis returned a single factor when applied either to the whole sample or to the drug-using subsample; 1.4% of respondents met a criterion equivalent to that proposed by Swadi (1997) for 'problem drug use' (ASMA > 12). A further 6.4% reached a threshold for potentially problematic drug use (ASMA > 8) and could be considered 'at risk'. In regression analyses, ASMA scores were predicted by drug-related variables, and by low resistance to peer influence (RPI), but not by alcohol-related variables. The highest ASMA scores and lowest levels of RPI were found in heroin users. Respondents' perceptions of their future risk of drug or alcohol problems were predicted by RPI and by frequency of drug use and drunkenness. CONCLUSIONS The ASMA may be a useful screening instrument for identifying problem drug use in adolescents unknown to treatment services.
Incorporating model complexity and spatial sampling bias into ecological niche models of climate change risks faced by 90 California vertebrate species of concern

Ecological niche models are increasingly being used to aid in predicting the effects of future climate change on species distributions. Complex models that show high predictive performance on current distribution data may do a poor job of predicting new data due to overfitting. In addition, model performance is often evaluated using techniques that are sensitive to spatial sampling bias. Here, we explore the effects of model complexity and spatial sampling bias on niche models for 90 vertebrate taxa of conservation concern.
Putting Ourselves in SME’s Shoes: Automatic Detection of Plagiarism by the WCopyFind tool

: Thanks in part, to the large amount of information circulating today on the Internet, unfortunately, the plagiarism has become a very common practice, up to become one of the biggest problems of today’s society. One of the most aﬀected sectors by the plagiarism are small and medium entreprises (SME’s), which are daily victims from their competitors. Finding a system able to detect plagiarism in texts, has become a major goal for the interests of SME’s, which are forced to solve the problem through the tools available on the web. In this paper we analyze the results obtained in the PAN’09 competition with the WCopyFind tool.
New Direction In Human Colonisation of The Pacific: Lapita Settlement of South Coast New Guinea

Abstract Expansion of Austronesianspeaking peoples from the Bismarck Archipelago out into the Pacific commencing c.3300 cal BP represents the last great chapter of human global colonisation. Bismarck Indonesia Archipelago Papua New Guinea Torres Strait Caution Bay The earliest migrants were bearers of finelymade dentate-stamped Lapita pottery, hitherto found only across Island Melanesia and western Polynesia. We document the first known occurrence of Lapita peoples on the New Guinea mainland. The new Lapita sites date from 2900 to 2500 cal BP and represent a newly-discovered migratory arm of Lapita expansions that moved westwards along the southern New Guinea coast towards Australia. These marine specialists ate shellfish, fish and marine turtles along the Papua New Guinea mainland coast, reflecting subsistence continuities with local pre-Lapita peoples dating back to 4200 cal BP. Lapita artefacts include characteristic ceramics, shell armbands, stone adzes and obsidian tools. Our Lapita discoveries support hypotheses for the migration of pottery-bearing Melanesian marine specialists into Torres Strait of northeast Australia c.2500 cal BP.
Detection of Occult Endoleaks After Endovascular Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging With a Blood Pool Contrast Agent: Preliminary Observations

Objective:To determine whether blood pool contrast agent-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can visualize endoleaks that are occult on computed tomography (CT) in patients with nonshrinking aneurysms after endovascular aneurysm repair. Materials and Methods:Written informed consent was obtained for this prospective institutional review board approved study. Twelve patients with nonshrinking aneurysms but no evidence of endoleak on CT angiography and delayed CT underwent MRI with a blood pool contrast agent (Gadofosveset trisodium, Bayer Schering Pharma, Berlin, Germany). Patients could participate once in the study. T1-weighted images were acquired before injection, 3 minutes and 30 minutes after injection. Two blinded readers independently scored the images into “endoleak,” “possible endoleak,” or “no endoleak” by comparing postcontrast MR images with precontrast images. Weighted kappas with linear weighting scheme were calculated for interobserver agreement. Results:One MRI examination was nondiagnostic because of patient motion. In the successful 11 MRI exams, MRI 3 minutes after injection demonstrated endoleak in 2/11 MRI exams (18%) and possible endoleak in 2/11 MRI exams (18%). After 30 minutes, MRI demonstrated endoleak in 6/11 scans (55%) and possible endoleak in 1/11 scans (9%). Weighted kappa was 0.78 and 0.89 for early and late postcontrast images. Conclusion:Endoleaks that are occult on CT can be detected by MRI with blood pool contrast agents. Late phase MRI 30 minutes after injection revealed additional endoleaks not seen 3 minutes after injection.
Construction of Chinese Idiom Knowledge-base and Its Applications

Idioms are not only interesting but also distinctive in a language for its continuity and metaphorical meaning in its context. This paper introduces the construction of a Chinese idiom knowledge base by the Institute of Computational Linguistics at Peking University and describes an experiment that aims at the automatic emotion classification of Chinese idioms. In the process, we expect to know more about how the constituents in a fossilized composition like an idiom function so as to affect its semantic or grammatical properties. As an important Chinese language resource, our idiom knowledge base will play a major role in applications such as linguistic research, teaching Chinese as a foreign language and even as a tool for preserving this non-material Chinese cultural and historical heritage.
Long non-coding RNA expression profiles of hepatitis C virus-related dysplasia and hepatocellular carcinoma

Recently, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) were found to be implicated in cancer progression. However, the contributions of lncRNAs to Hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain largely unknown. Here, we characterized lncRNA expression in 73 tissue samples from several different developmental stages of HCV-related hepatocarcinogenesis by repurposing microarray data sets. We found that the expression of 7 lncRNAs in preneoplastic lesions and HCC was significantly different. Among these significantly differently expressed lncRNAs, the lncRNA LINC01419 transcripts were expressed at higher levels in early stage HCC compared to dysplasia and as compared with early stage HCC, lncRNA AK021443 level increase in advanced stage HCC while lncRNA AF070632 level decrease in advanced stage HCC. Using quantitative real-time reverse-transcription PCR, we validated that LINC01419 was significantly overexpressed in HBV-related and HCV-related HCC when compared with matched non-tumor liver tissues. Moreover, functional predictions suggested that LINC01419 and AK021443 regulate cell cycle genes, whereas AF070632 is associated with cofactor binding, oxidation-reduction and carboxylic acid catabolic process. These findings provide the first large-scale survey of lncRNAs associated with the development of hepatocarcinogenesis and may offer new diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for HCV-related HCC.
Involvement, Attention, and Perceptions of Message Relevance in the Response to Persuasive Appeals

Conflicting results in the involvement literature arise from differences in the definitions and operationalizations applied to the term. This study argues that the construct should be treated as encompassing a number of related concepts and should be broken into its component forms. Two of these components, attention and perceptions of message relevance, were manipulated in an experiment designed to assess the impact of a message on heart disease risk reduction. Results indicate that attention to the message had primarily cognitive effects, leading to greater message recall, whereas perceptions of relevance influenced attitudes and behavior.
Single-cell analysis shows that paracrine signaling by first responder cells shapes the interferon-β response to viral infection

Signals produced by early responding cells to viral infection calibrate the immune response of the cell population. Taking the time to respond One of the earliest responses of cells to viral infection is expression of the gene encoding interferon-β (Ifnb1). Within a population of cells exposed to virus, the overall immune response is shaped by the percentage of cells that become infected, the proportion of those infected cells that initially express Ifnb1, and the extent of Ifnb1 expression per cell. Patil et al. used single-cell imaging to quantify the amounts of Ifnb1 and viral mRNAs in infected human dendritic cells over time. Mathematical simulations of viral infection indicated that differences in the timing of Ifnb1 induction in individual cells contributed to the dynamics of the population. Indeed, further experiments showed that the earliest responders released paracrine signals that controlled the timing of the antiviral response of the remaining cells within the population. These results have implications for understanding how individual immune cells coordinate the extent of the immune response to viral infection. Immune responses to viral infection are stochastic processes, which initiate in a limited number of cells that then propagate the response. A key component of the response to viral infection entails the synthesis and secretion of type I interferons (IFNs), including the early induction of the gene encoding IFN-β (Ifnb1). With single-cell analysis and mathematical modeling, we investigated the mechanisms underlying how increases in the amount of Ifnb1 mRNA per cell and in the numbers of cells expressing Ifnb1 calibrate the response to viral infection. We used single-cell, single-molecule assays to quantify the early induction of Ifnb1 expression (the Ifnb1 response) in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells infected with Newcastle disease virus, thus retaining the physiological stoichiometry of transcriptional regulators to both alleles of the Ifnb1 gene. We applied computational methods to extract the stochastic features that underlie the cell-to-cell variations in gene expression over time. Integration of simulations and experiments identified the role of paracrine signaling in increasing the number of cells that express Ifnb1 over time and in calibrating the immune response to viral infection.
International Conference on Computational Science , ICCS 2012 Hybrid OpenMP / MPI anisotropic mesh smoothing

Mesh smoothing is an important algorithm for the improvement of element quality in unstructured mesh finite element methods. A new optimisation based mesh smoothing algorithm is presented for anisotropic mesh adaptivity. It is shown that this smoothing kernel is very effective at raising the minimum local quality of the mesh. A number of strategies are employed to reduce the algorithm’s cost while maintaining its effectiveness in improving overall mesh quality. The method is parallelised using hybrid OpenMP/MPI programming methods, and graph colouring to identify independent sets. Different approaches are explored to achieve good scaling performance within a shared memory compute node.
Assessing Specific Grapho-Phonemic Skills in Elementary Students

This study examines the relation between decoding and spelling performance on tasks that represent identical specific grapho-phonemic patterns. Elementary students (N = 206) were administered a 597 pseudoword decoding inventory representing 12 specific grapho-phonemic patterns and a 104 real-word spelling inventory representing identical grapho-phonemic patterns presented on the decoding inventory. Correlational and quantile regression analyses revealed a moderate to strong correlation between student performance in decoding and spelling tasks, with stronger relations found among more complex grapho-phonemic patterns and weaker relations found among less complex grapho-phonemic patterns. The results of this study support the utility of a spelling assessment with items representing a wide range of grapho-phonemic patterns as a screener for specific areas of grapho-phonemic knowledge weakness and provide educators with an efficient method of collecting the data needed to develop targeted interventions.
The Phage Proteomic Tree: a Genome-Based Taxonomy for Phage

ABSTRACT There are ∼1031 phage in the biosphere, making them the most abundant biological entities on the planet. Despite their great numbers and ubiquitous presence, very little is known about phage biodiversity, biogeography, or phylogeny. Information is limited, in part, because the current ICTV taxonomical system is based on culturing phage and measuring physical parameters of the free virion. No sequence-based taxonomic systems have previously been established for phage. We present here the “Phage Proteomic Tree,” which is based on the overall similarity of 105 completely sequenced phage genomes. The Phage Proteomic Tree places phage relative to both their near neighbors and all other phage included in the analysis. This method groups phage into taxa that predicts several aspects of phage biology and highlights genetic markers that can be used for monitoring phage biodiversity. We propose that the Phage Proteomic Tree be used as the basis of a genome-based taxonomical system for phage.
Development of micro and nano resonators for acoustic sensing applications

Suspended vibrating structures play a significant role as basic building blocks for mechanical resonators and form the foundation of modern acoustic transducers. The practical use of mechanical resonators is not limited to acoustic technology but also includes a wide range of applications for sensing and actuation purposes. The ultimate goal of this project has been set to realise highly tunable and sensitive resonators that have operating frequencies covering the audible range (20 Hz – 20 kHz). In this thesis, two distinct types of mechanical resonators have been developed, dedicated mainly to hearing assistive devices and acoustic microphones. The overall performance of mechanical resonators is governed by their structural elements design, material properties, and dimensions. Inspired by their unique mechanical properties, a refractory metal of tantalum and a two-dimensional (2D) material of graphene have been utilised as vibrating structural elements for the developed resonators. In the first parts of this project, mechanical resonators of tantalum tunable to audio frequencies have been developed. First, a comprehensive investigation of the influence of fabrication process parameters on the residual stress of tantalum thin-films has been implemented. Based on the residual stress characterisation, an array of suspended microbeams of tantalum has been created and their mechanical static deflection has been investigated. Accordingly, the design and fabrication process of the resonators have been optimised, and hence straight and undeformed free-standing microbeams with lengths of 1 – 3.4 mm have been created and actuated electrostatically. The resonators have achieved a low resonant frequency (1.4 kHz) tuned over the audio range. Unlike the conventional microphones that have their vibrating membranes made of stressed and stiff materials, the graphene-based resonators developed here from ultra-large and thin bilayer membranes have the advantages of possessing enhanced durability and high frequency tuning sensitivity. A simple and reproducible fabrication process has been demonstrated to create millimetric membranes composed of a multilayer graphene and a thin polymeric film. The novelty of the developed resonators lies in the exceptional area to thickness aspect ratios of ∼ 10,000, and the implementation of electrothermal actuation to drive the membranes into resonance and tune their resonant frequencies.
CFD Simulation of Blood Clot Behaviour Using GP Device

There are 130,000 strokes in the UK alone each year, causing death or servere disability to those who are affected. Advances in recent times have enabled clot extraction to be undertaken using mechanical thrombectomy devices. In this paper we present a model of such an extraction device, and investigate the value of such modelling in predicting the behaviour of the device under given conditions. A 3-dimensional blood clot simulation associated with a plastic arterial catheter is studied by applying CFD simulations with different size of grid, using the Volume of Fluid (VOF) model. Grid size study shows that the smaller grid size (finer mesh) results in higher accuracy of the output result of the simulation. It is noted that grid independency is achieved when any further increase in the number of cells did not adversely affect the simulation results, the optimum grid size avoided any unnecessary prolonged computational effort required for the simulations with large number of cells. From the results obtained in the grid size study, it can be concluded that mesh 0.3 has reached its asymptotic level. It is believed that it can predict the right clot deformation and blood flow in the device. All the pressures used in this study are able to remove the blood clot. It is found that the higher the pressure applied the faster the removal. Different deformation patterns are also observed when different pressures are applied. It is found that the fastest time to remove the blood clot with the range of pressure used in this work is 0.006 s, when 60 kPa of suction pressure is applied.
Brain states and circuit mechanisms underlying sleep and general anesthesia

During sleep and general anesthesia, the brain enters a state of decreased arousal and consciousness is transiently suspended. How this transition occurs is a fundamental and unsolved question in neuroscience. The neural dynamics that disrupt consciousness have not been identified, and the circuit mechanisms that generate these dynamics remain unknown. Furthermore, understanding the neural basis of sleep and anesthesia is key to improving clinical monitoring of patients undergoing general anesthesia and to advancing treatments of sleep disorders and neurological conditions such as coma. In this thesis, I combine intracranial electrophysiology in human subjects with optogenetic manipulation of thalamocortical circuits in mice to identify the neural dynamics underlying sleep and anesthesia. I first show that loss of consciousness during propofol general anesthesia is associated with the abrupt onset of slow oscillations that disrupt cortical networks. I then demonstrate that activation of the thalamic reticular nucleus generates slow wave activity and decreases arousal state, identifying a causal mechanism that generates physiological and behavioral signs of sleep. Finally, I study patients undergoing deep general anesthesia at levels corresponding to medically induced coma, and show that this state is marked by local cortical dynamics consistent with impaired cerebral metabolism. Taken together, these results identify a set of neural dynamics associated with unconscious states, and demonstrate specific mechanisms for how they disrupt brain function. These findings provide new insight into the neuroscience of arousal states, and suggest clinical approaches that could improve patient care. Thesis supervisor: Emery Brown, M.D., Ph.D. Title: Professor of Computational Neuroscience, MIT Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering, MIT Warren M. Zapol Professor of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School Anesthetist, Massachusetts General Hospital
Simple Empirical Attenuation Relationship for Potential Nuclear Power Plant Sites

Seismic hazard assessments are performed on a variety of infrastructure projects. One component of a seismic hazard assessment is the attenuation relationship. Several attenuation relationships have been developed over the decades to predict peak ground acceleration under a variety of site conditions. For example, many attenuation relationships were designed to estimate peak ground acceleration, as well as other intensity measures, under a variety of soil conditions, mostly using the average shear wave velocity for the upper 30 m of earth material as a classification scheme. However, certain types of infrastructure, such as tunnels and nuclear power plants, are typically founded on and in bedrock. Using data from Japan, we developed a simple correlation to estimate peak ground acceleration for rock sites and compare the results from another popular attenuation relationship. Results indicate the popular attenuation relationship to be less than the proposed model for distances less than 200 km.
Leatherback Turtle Movements, Dive Behavior, and Habitat Characteristics in Ecoregions of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean

Leatherback sea turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, are highly migratory predators that feed exclusively on gelatinous zooplankton, thus playing a unique role in coastal and pelagic food webs. From 2007 to 2010, we used satellite telemetry to monitor the movements and dive behavior of nine adult and eleven subadult leatherbacks captured on the Northeast USA shelf and tracked throughout the Northwest Atlantic. Leatherback movements and environmental associations varied by oceanographic region, with slow, sinuous, area-restricted search behavior and shorter, shallower dives occurring in cool (median sea surface temperature: 18.4°C), productive (median chlorophyll a: 0.80 mg m−3), shallow (median bathymetry: 57 m) shelf habitat with strong sea surface temperature gradients (median SST gradient: 0.23°C km−1) at temperate latitudes. Leatherbacks were highly aggregated in temperate shelf and slope waters during summer, early fall, and late spring and more widely dispersed in subtropical and tropical oceanic and neritic habitat during late fall, winter and early spring. We investigated the relationship of ecoregion, satellite-derived surface chlorophyll, satellite-derived sea surface temperature, SST gradient, chlorophyll gradient and bathymetry with leatherback search behavior using generalized linear mixed-effects models. The most well supported model showed that differences in leatherback search behavior were best explained by ecoregion and regional differences in bathymetry and SST. Within the Northwest Atlantic Shelves region, leatherbacks increased path sinuosity (i.e., looping movements) with increasing SST, but this relationship reversed within the Gulf Stream region. Leatherbacks increased path sinuosity with decreasing water depth in temperate and tropical shelf habitats. This relationship is consistent with increasing epipelagic gelatinous zooplankton biomass with decreasing water depth, and bathymetry may be a key feature in identifying leatherback foraging habitat in neritic regions. High-use habitat for leatherbacks in our study occurred in coastal waters of the North American eastern seaboard and eastern Caribbean, putting turtles at heightened risk from land- and ocean-based human activity.