Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of two language-related genes in autism: a case–control association study of FOXP2 and CNTNAP2

Impairment of language abilities is a common feature in autistic individuals. Heterozygous mutations in the Forkhead Box P2 (FOXP2) gene lead to a severe spoken language disorder. Recently, several studies have pinpointed the involvement of common variants of the Contactin-Associated Protein-Like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene, whose transcription is regulated by the product of FOXP2, in several disorders characterized by language impairments such as autism, specific language impairment (SLI), and selective mutism (SM). In the present study, common variants of the FOXP2 and the CNTNAP2 genes were analyzed through a case–control association study in 322 Spanish autistic patients and 524 controls. The results of this study suggest that common variants of FOXP2 are unlikely to contribute to autism susceptibility, in agreement with previous findings. Furthermore, we failed to replicate in our sample a previous association finding of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs2710102 and rs7794745) in the CNTNAP2 gene with autism. No evidence for the association of these genes with language traits was observed in our analysis.
Attitudes toward Surveillance: Personality, Belief and Value Correlates

Two hundred and fifty adults completed a number of questionnaires about their attitudes to surveillance. They included measures of personality, paranoia, political cynicism, attitudes to authority, belief in conspiracy theories and the Big Five personality traits. The 25-item, surveillance scale, developed for this study, factored neatly into pro- and anti-surveillance attitudes. The strongest and most consistent correlates were attitudes to authority and political cynicism. Regressions indicated that the most powerful correlates of pro-surveillance attitudes were attitudes to authority, trait openness, conformity and right-wing authoritarianism. The most powerful anti-surveillance correlates were attitudes to authority, political cynicism, belief in conspiracy theories and paranoia. Implications and limitations of this study are considered.
The differential regulation of Gap43 gene in the neuronal differentiation of P19 cells

Growth associated protein 43 (Gap43) is a neuron‐specific phosphoprotein, which plays critical role in axon growth and synapses functions during neurogenesis. Here we identified two transcription start sites (TSSs) of the mouse Gap43 gene designated as a proximal site at +1, and a distal TSS at −414. RT‐qPCR data reveal that the transcripts from +1 increase 10‐fold on day‐1 post‐all‐trans retinoic acid (RA) treatment, reached a peak value at day‐4 and gradually reduced. By contrast, the distal TSS directs a late, remarkably sharp increase of the transcripts from the day‐5 on. An intense signal of Gap43 at the neurites and neural network is determined by the efficient transcription of the distal promoter as shown in Northern blot and RT‐qPCR assay. In addition, the targeting of p300 in combination with a differential enrichment of Brm to Brg1 change at the distal promoter region of the gene is induced under RA treatment. The over hundreds of GA rich stretches and the GAGAG elements located between the two TSSs may take parts in the differential transcription of the two TSSs of the Gap43. Our findings provide the first evidence on the identification and differential transcription of the two TSSs of the mouse Gap43 gene, and the preferential distribution of their protein products in the specific stages of RA induced P19 differentiation. These data suggest the efficient transcription of the distal promoter of Gap43 is an important mark for the transition of P19 cells from the progenitor stage into neuronal differentiation. J. Cell. Physiol. 227: 2645–2653, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Valence Matters in Judgments of Stock Accumulation in Blood Glucose Control and Other Global Problems

Stock-flow failure is a reasoning error in dynamic systems that has great societal relevance: people misjudge a level of accumulation (i.e., stock) considering the information on flows that increase (i.e., inflow) or decrease (i.e., outflow) over time. Many interventions, including the use of analogies and graphical manipulations, to counteract this failure and help people integrate the flow information have been tested with little or no success. We suggest that this error relates to the valence of a problem: the framing of the inflow or outflow direction as “good” or “bad” is associated with the direction of its accumulation over time. To explore the effects of valence on accumulation judgments, we employ a scenario of a common health problem: blood glucose control through sugar consumption and insulin flows. We also investigate improvements of performance in a second scenario that result after viewing a video of a dynamic system demonstrating the effects of the correct accumulation trend. We discuss the implications of our findings for the blood glucose example and other global problems.
A hybrid MAC protocol based on ADAPT with modified back-off mechanism

Media Access Control (MAC) plays an important role in coordinating channel access among the nodes. This is especially important for Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs), where all mobile nodes use the same frequency spectrum for transmission. In this paper, a hybrid MAC protocol ADAPT-CND (ADAPT Considering Node Degree) is proposed, which is based on ADAPT. In ADAPT, back-off mechanism similar to Binary Exponential Back-off (BEB) is adopted to regulate the contention probability, while in ADAPT-CND, a modified BEB is proposed. In the modified back-off mechanism, each node regulates its contention window with varied step length, the step length is set according to each node's degree. By doing this, the modified back-off mechanism enables each node to regulate its contention probability adaptively with the aggravating competition, thereby obtain satisfied throughput even under the existing of large quantities of competition nodes. In this way, ADAPT-CND enables each node to self-adjust its behavior based on both traffic loads and its own node degree. From simulation results, we see evident improvement of throughput performance with respect to packet arrival rate and node density relative to ADAPT.
An execution slice and inter-block data dependency-based approach for fault localization

Localizing a fault in a program is a complex and time-consuming process. In this paper we present a novel approach using execution slice and inter-block data dependency to effectively identify the locations of program faults. An execution slice with respect to a given test case is the set of code executed by this test, and two blocks are data dependent if one block contains a definition that is used by another block or vice versa. Not only can our approach reduce the search domain for program debugging, but also prioritize suspicious locations in the reduced domain based on their likelihood of containing faults. More specifically, the likelihood of a piece of code containing a specific fault is inversely proportional to the number of successful tests that execute it. In addition, the likelihood also depends on whether this piece of code is data dependent on other suspicious code. A debugging tool, DESiD, was developed to support our method. A case study that shows the effectiveness of our method in locating faults on an application developed for the European Space Agency is also reported.
Neighbourhood counting for activity detection from time series sensor data

Health status along with assistive support requirements can be assessed by measures of activities of daily living. Advances in pervasive sensing and intelligent reasoning pave a way to monitor, i.e. detect and recognise, activities automatically and unobtrusively. The first task in monitoring activities is to detect when an activity has taken place based on a time series of sensor activation events. Inspired by the concepts of dynamic time warping and neighborhood counting matrix in similarity measures, this paper proposes a novel method to segment streams of sensor events for activity detection. Sensor segments may then be used as inputs to evidential ontology networks of activities for activity recognition.
Crosstalk between intracellular and extracellular signals regulating interneuron production, migration and integration into the cortex

During embryogenesis, cortical interneurons are generated by ventral progenitors located in the ganglionic eminences of the telencephalon. They travel along multiple tangential paths to populate the cortical wall. As they reach this structure they undergo intracortical dispersion to settle in their final destination. At the cellular level, migrating interneurons are highly polarized cells that extend and retract processes using dynamic remodeling of microtubule and actin cytoskeleton. Different levels of molecular regulation contribute to interneuron migration. These include: (1) Extrinsic guidance cues distributed along migratory streams that are sensed and integrated by migrating interneurons; (2) Intrinsic genetic programs driven by specific transcription factors that grant specification and set the timing of migration for different subtypes of interneurons; (3) Adhesion molecules and cytoskeletal elements/regulators that transduce molecular signalings into coherent movement. These levels of molecular regulation must be properly integrated by interneurons to allow their migration in the cortex. The aim of this review is to summarize our current knowledge of the interplay between microenvironmental signals and cell autonomous programs that drive cortical interneuron porduction, tangential migration, and intergration in the developing cerebral cortex.
Neural processing of traumatic events in subjects suffering PTSD - a case study of two surgical patients with severe accident trauma

Neuroimaging research on the neurobiology of chronic PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) has revealed structural and functional alterations primarily affecting areas of the medial temporal lobe (hippocampus, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus) and the frontal cortex known to be associated with the disorder. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the present study studied the functional neuroanatomy of traumatic and non-traumatic emotional memory in two surgical patients who had sustained severe accident trauma. While patient 1 had developed acute PTSD following the traumatic event, patient 2 (control) did not. When confronted with traumatic (relative to negatively valenced non-traumatic) memory, the PTSD patient exhibited evidence for increased neural activity in the right and the left superior temporal lobe, the amygdala, the left angular gyrus, and the medial frontal gyrus, while the non-PTSD patient exposed to identical conditions showed increased activations in frontal and parietal regions. Both patients exhibited identical activation patterns when recalling non-traumatic memories relative to neutral memories. It is concluded that the pronounced activation patterns in the PTSD patient may be considered specific for acute PTSD, involved with the emotional arousal and the vivid visual recollections typical for the acute phase of the disorder.
An adaptive wireless push system for high-speed data broadcasting

With the increasing popularity of wireless networks and mobile computing, data broadcasting has emerged as an efficient way of delivering data to mobile clients having a high degree of commonality in their demand patterns. This paper proposes a push system that continuously adapts to the demand pattern of the client population in order to reflect the overall popularity of each data item. The adaptation is accomplished using a simple feedback from the clients. We propose that the simple feedback from the clients can be sent at regular time intervals in order to avoid the overhead that would be an incurred for acknowledging all item broadcasts. Simulation results are presented which reveal satisfactory performance in environments where client demands change over time with the nature of these changes being unknown to the broadcast server
Robust visual tracking by an active observer

In this paper we address the problem of tracking a moving target by a monocular observer. The ability to track a moving object has many applications in robotics, teleoperation, surveillance systems, human-machine interfaces, etc. Our goal was the development of a robust tracking system for practical (industrial) applications and therefore based on inexpensive hardware. The strategy we present is based on the integration of correlation based techniques together with active contours, using a Kalman filtering approach. The overall operating frequency is about 6 Hz. The system is robust both to changes in the illumination and multiple moving objects in cluttered environments. Results are presented and discussed.
ec 2 00 5 Modified Newtonian Dynamics and Induced gravity

Modified Newtonian dynamics, an alternative to the cosmic dark matter model, proposed that gravitational field deviates from the Newtonian law when the field strength g is weaker than a critical value g0. We will show that the dynamics of MOND can be derived from an induced gravity model. New dynamics is shown to be compatible with the spatial inhomogeneity of scalar fields coupled to the system. Approximate solutions are shown explicitly for a simple model with a spherically symmetric mass-distribution.
Model based fault detection for electrical drives with BLDC motor

Continuous improvements in microelectronic circuitry make possible the implementation of process diagnostics to a variety of systems in order to increase performances and reliability. The monitoring stage in the area of failure detection and isolation aims to classify and arrange the failure sources. In case of BLDC machines, one of the most important methods for failure detection and diagnosis starts with the analysis of the variations of the machine estimated parameters. The paper focuses on the implementation details of failure detection and diagnosis based on continuous time parameters estimation of BLDC motor mathematical model. Continuous time parameters are directly related to the physical characterizations of BLDC Motor. The parameters are estimated by the well-known prediction error methods devised for dynamic system identification. By changing the process coefficients and by applying statistical decision methods, failure detection occurs. The case of frequency domain identification in fail detection is also covered on a real CNC machine. Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) with the particular case of Goertzel algorithms is implemented for fault detection purposes. Unlike existing work and results in the fault detection area, the failure can be detected among time-varying process parameters.
Neutral hydrogen gas in interacting galaxies: the NGC 1511 galaxy group

We present H I line and 20-cm radio continuum observations of the NGC 1511 galaxy group obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The data reveal an extended, rather disturbed H I distribution for the peculiar starburst galaxy NGC 1511 and a narrow bridge to its small companion galaxy, NGC 1511B, which has been severely distorted by the interaction/collision between the two galaxies. No stellar counterpart to the gaseous bridge has been detected. In addition, we find that the peculiar optical ridge to the east of NGC 1511 is probably the stellar remnant of a galaxy completely disrupted by interactions with NGC 1511. The slightly more distant neighbour, NGC 1511 A, shows a regular H I velocity field and no obvious signs of interactions. Radio continuum emission from NGC 1511 reveals three prominent sources on top of a more diffuse, extended distribution. We derive an overall star formation rate of 7 M ○. yr -1 . The most enhanced star formation is found in the south-eastern part of the disc, coincident with several bright H II regions, and closest to the peculiar optical ridge. No continuum emission was detected in the companions, but NGC 1511 B appears to show an H II region at its faint western edge, closest to NGC 1511. The group displays a prime example of interaction-induced star formation activity.
InGaN-CdSe-ZnSe quantum dots white LEDs

White light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) were fabricated by combining blue InGaN chips with luminescent colloidal core-shell CdSe-ZnSe quantum dots (QDs). The core-shell CdSe-ZnSe QDs synthesized by thermal deposition approach exhibited high photoluminescence efficiency with a quantum yield more than /spl sim/40%, and size-tunable emission wavelengths from 510 to 620 nm. Three-band red-green-blue WLED was successfully assembled by blue InGaN chips and green-emitting and red-emitting CdSe-ZnSe QDs. Based on QDs with flexibly selected color, the WLEDs exhibited white light with a CIE-1931 coordinate of (0.33, 0.33) and color rendering index R/sub a/ of 91.
Analytical performance evaluation for HOSVD-based parameter estimation schemes

Subspace-based high-resolution parameter estimation schemes are used in a variety of signal processing applications including radar, sonar, communications, medical imaging, and the estimation of the parameters of the dominant multipath components from MIMO channel sounder measurements. It is of great theoretical and practical interest to predict the performance of these schemes analytically. Since they rely on the estimate of the signal subspace obtained via a singular value decomposition (SVD), significant contributions to the perturbation analysis of the SVD have been made in the last decades.
HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING FOR MINERAL MAPPING: A CASE-STUDY AT ALTO PARAÍSO DE GOÍAS, CENTRAL BRAZIL

After many decades of successful advances in applying multispectral remote sensing to the study of the Earth's characteristics and processes, a new data acquisition technology is emerging: hyperspectral remote sensing. This technology comprises the remote measurement of specific chemical and physical properties of surface materials through imaging spectroscopy. In this paper we examine the capability of hyperspectral remote sensing data acquired by the AVIRIS airborne instrument, over an area near Alto Paraiso de Goias. This area was chosen as a function of data availability, and not due to its geological characteristics. It comprises Proterozoic metasediments with little mineralogical variations and, although it does not represent an ideal site for the use of hyperspectral data, some interesting results were found in terms of mineral identification in portions of the image where enough ground exposure existed. Mineral assemblages, comprising mixtures of primary and secondary minerals, the latter related to weathering processes, were identified in the imagery, based solely on spectral signatures of pixels. These mixtures comprised mainly hematite, goethite, halloysite, kaolinite and Na-montmorillonite. Results were confirmed by laboratory reflectance measurements and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of soil samples, demonstrating the usefulness of AVIRIS data and the efficiency of the methods employed for remote mineral mapping. However, vegetation showed to represent a constraint for mineral mapping, since it is likely to conceal spectral information due to rocks and minerals.
Prospect Theory and Criminal Choice: Experiments Testing Framing, Reference Dependence, and Decision Weights

Abstract Rational choice theory in criminology is based on a model of decision-making, expected utility theory (EUT), that research in psychology and economics has shown to be descriptively inaccurate for many types of human decisions. Because of its ability to account for intuitive reasoning and anomalies in crime decisions, prospect theory (PT) may be a viable alternative to EUT for explaining criminal choices. The present study tests several hypotheses derived from PT about the effects of framing, reference dependence, and decision weights in crime decisions. We present findings from a series of survey-based experiments conducted with three different samples. The results support our hypotheses derived from EUT, but not those from PT. We find that although initial wealth, criminal benefits, and arrest risk impact offender decision-making, sanction-cost frames and gains/losses from monetary reference points have little if any effect. We discuss the implications of our findings and directions for future research.
3–10-GHz Ultra-Wideband Low-Noise Amplifier Utilizing Miller Effect and Inductive Shunt–Shunt Feedback Technique

In this paper, we demonstrate an SiGe HBT ultra-wideband (UWB) low-noise amplifier (LNA), achieved by a newly proposed methodology, which takes advantage of the Miller effect for UWB input impedance matching and the inductive shunt-shunt feedback technique for bandwidth extension by pole-zero cancellation. The SiGe UWB LNA dissipates 25.8-mW power and achieves S11 below -10 dB for frequencies from 3 to 14 GHz (except for a small range from 10 to 11 GHz, which is below -9 dB), flat S21 of 24.6 plusmn 1.5 dB for frequencies from 3 to 11.6 GHz, noise figure of 2.5 and 5.8 dB at 3 and 10 GHz, respectively, and good phase linearity property (group-delay variation is only plusmn28 ps across the entire band). The measured 1-dB compression point (P1 dB) and input third-order intermodulation point are -25.5 and -17 dBm, respectively, at 5.4 GHz.
The connection between the 15 GHz radio and gamma-ray emission in blazars

Abstract Since mid-2007 we have carried out a dedicated long-term monitoring programme at 15 GHz using the Owens Valley Radio Observatory 40 meter telescope (OVRO 40m). One of the main goals of this programme is to study the relation between the radio and gamma-ray emission in blazars and to use it as a tool to locate the site of high energy emission. Using this large sample of objects we are able to characterize the radio variability, and study the significance of correlations between the radio and gamma-ray bands. We find that the radio variability of many sources can be described using a simple power law power spectral density, and that when taking into account the red-noise characteristics of the light curves, cases with significant correlation are rare. We note that while significant correlations are found in few individual objects, radio variations are most often delayed with respect to the gamma-ray variations. This suggests that the gamma-ray emission originates upstream of the radio emission. Because strong flares in most known gamma-ray-loud blazars are infrequent, longer light curves are required to settle the issue of the strength of radio-gamma cross-correlations and establish confidently possible delays between the two. For this reason continuous multiwavelength monitoring over a longer time period is essential for statistical tests of jet emission models.
An improved method to image copy detection

Kim proposed a novel method to detect image copies based on DCT coefficients and ordinal measure. This method had a good ability to resist various signal and local geometric manipulations. However, Kim's method was based on block units, which would lead to an insufficient precision. In order to solve the problem, on the basis of Kim's method, we use an extended feature set which takes advantage of prior information to detect more attack types and the comparison of fine-grained edge information which can improve retrieval precision to further perfect Kim's method. Experimental results show the improved method not only detects all copies that Kim can detect, Such as histogram equalization, contrast enhancement, water coloring, motion blurring, mosaic tiling, Gaussian noising, resizing, rotate with 1800 and so on, but also significantly improves retrieval precision.