Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Winning on the Merits: The Joint Effects of Content and Style on Debate Outcomes

Debate and deliberation play essential roles in politics and government, but most models presume that debates are won mainly via superior style or agenda control. Ideally, however, debates would be won on the merits, as a function of which side has the stronger arguments. We propose a predictive model of debate that estimates the effects of linguistic features and the latent persuasive strengths of different topics, as well as the interactions between the two. Using a dataset of 118 Oxford-style debates, our model’s combination of content (as latent topics) and style (as linguistic features) allows us to predict audience-adjudicated winners with 74% accuracy, significantly outperforming linguistic features alone (66%). Our model finds that winning sides employ stronger arguments, and allows us to identify the linguistic features associated with strong or weak arguments.
Engineered recombinant human paraoxonase 1 (rHuPON1) purified from Escherichia coli protects against organophosphate poisoning

The high-density lipoprotein-associated enzyme paraoxonase 1 (PON1) hydrolyzes lactones, aromatic esters, and neurotoxic organophosphorus (OP) compounds, including insecticide metabolites and nerve agents. Experiments with mice lacking PON1 (PON1−/− mice) have established that plasma PON1 protects against chlorpyrifos/chlorpyrifos-oxon and diazinon/diazoxon (DZO) exposure but does not protect against parathion/paraoxon or nerve agents. The catalytic efficiency of PON1 determines whether or not it will protect against a given OP exposure. Expression of active recombinant human PON1 (rHuPON1) in Escherichia coli provides a system in which PON1 can be engineered to achieve a catalytic efficiency sufficient to protect against or treat specific OP exposures. Here, we describe the generation of highly purified engineered rHuPON1K192 that protects against DZO exposure when injected into PON1−/− mice. The injected rHuPON1 is nontoxic, persists in serum for at least 2 days after injection, and provides protection against DZO exposures of at least three times the median lethal dose value.
Effects of rivastigmine on cognitive function in patients with traumatic brain injury

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of rivastigmine (3 to 6 mg/day) vs placebo over 12 weeks in patients with traumatic brain injury and persistent cognitive impairment. Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 157 patients at least 12 months after injury. The primary efficacy measures were the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP) A′ subtest and the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test (HVLT). The primary efficacy outcome was the proportion of patients who demonstrated 1.0 SD or greater improvement from baseline at week 12 on CANTAB RVIP A′ or HVLT. Results: The percentage of responders at week 12 on either the CANTAB RVIP A′ or HVLT was 48.7% for rivastigmine and 49.3% for placebo (p = 0.940). Furthermore, for the overall study population, there were no significant differences for any of the secondary efficacy variables. In a subgroup of patients with moderate to severe memory impairment (n = 81), defined as 25% impairment or greater on HVLT at baseline, rivastigmine was significantly better than placebo for a number of measures, including the proportion of HVLT responders and CANTAB RVIP mean latency. Conclusions: Rivastigmine was safe and well tolerated in patients with traumatic brain injury with cognitive deficits. Rivastigmine shows promising results in the subgroup of patients with traumatic brain injury with moderate to severe memory deficits.
Methylation of demethylavermectins

Demethylavermectins, which lack methyl groups on the oleandrose moiety, were fed to wild-type "Streptomyces avermitilis," which produces the normal avermectin components, and the bioconversion products were identified. The oleandrose units of the demethylavermectins were not methylated by the wild-type strain, but the C-5 of the macrolide ring was methylated. This demonstrates that methylation of the oleandrose units is not a terminal step in avermectin biosynthesis and that it occurs before attachment of the sugars to the macrolide ring. Avermectin biosynthesis thus differs from that of tylosin and erythromycin, in which methylation of the hexose moieties is a terminal reaction.
Genetic Variability and Geographical Diversity of the Main Chagas' Disease Vector Panstrongylus megistus (Hemiptera: Triatominae) in Brazil Based on Ribosomal DNA Intergenic Sequences

ABSTRACT Studies were made on the ribosomal DNA intergenic region, comprising complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-1, 5.8S, and ITS-2 sequences, of populations of the triatomine Panstrongylus megistus, the most important vector of Chagas' disease in Brazil since Triatoma infestans eradication. Specimens were from 26 localities of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, and Sergipe states. In total, 21 ITS-1 and 12 ITS-2 haplotypes were found. Nucleotide differences were higher in ITS-1 (3.00%) than in ITS-2 (1.33%). The intergenic region was 1,513–1,522-bp-long (mean 1,516.9 bp), providing 26 combined haplotypes. The combination of microsatellites found in both ITSs may be of applied usefulness, to assess interpopulation specimen exchange and potential recolonizations after vector elimination by control implementation. Network results suggest that São Paulo maybe considered one of the spreading centers of this species. Molecular clock datation suggests that P. megistus populations are diversifying at least since 4.54 million years ago, with diversification still ongoing today by geographical isolation of populations. Evidence is provided about the relationship of genetic diversity with geographical spread that characterizes a major vector and explains its ability to colonize distant areas and different ecotopes, including human habitats, and consequently its importance in Chagas' disease epidemiology.
Predictors of increasing waist circumference in an Australian population

Abstract Objective To identify predictors of increasing waist circumference (WC) over a 5-year period in a contemporary population of Australian adults. Design Longitudinal national cohort of adults participating in the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab). Settings Australian adults in 2000 and 2005. Subjects A total of 2521 men and 2726 women aged ≥25 years at baseline who participated in AusDiab and provided anthropometric measurements at baseline (1999–2000) and follow-up (2005). Results A ≥5 % increase of baseline WC occurred in 27 % of men and 38 % of women over the 5-year period. In the multivariate analysis of the total population, there was a higher risk of ≥5 % gain in baseline WC in women, younger people, people with a lower baseline WC, people who never married compared with married/de facto, current smokers compared with never smokers, people with a poorer diet quality and people with a low energy intake. However, there was no significant association with many expected predictors of waist gain such as physical activity. There were some associations between other lifestyle factors and change of WC by sex, age, level of education and across WC categories, but the associations differed across these groups. Conclusions A ≥5 % increase of baseline WC occurred in a significant proportion of men and women over the 5-year period. Of the behavioural factors, poor diet quality was the key predictor of the ≥5 % increase of baseline WC in this cohort. The findings highlight the need to understand better the causal role of lifestyle in regard to increasing WC over time.
Temporally-coherent Novel Video Synthesis Using Texture-based Priors

In this paper we propose a method to construct a virtual sequence for a camera moving through a static environment, given an input sequence from a different camera trajectory. Existing image-based rendering techniques can generate photorealistic images given a set of input views, though the output images almost unavoidably contain small regions where the colour has been incorrectly chosen. In a single image these artifacts are often hard to spot, but become more obvious when viewing a real image with its virtual stereo pair, and even more so when a sequence of novel views is generated, since the artifacts are rarely temporally consistent. To address this problem of consistency, we propose a new spatio-temporal approach to novel video synthesis. Our method exploits epipolar geometry to impose constraints on temporal coherence of the rendered views. The pixels in the output video sequence are modelled as nodes of a 3-D graph. We define an MRF on the graph which encodes photoconsistency of pixels as well as texture priors in both space and time. Unlike methods based on scene geometry, which yield highly connected graphs, our approach results in a graph whose degree is independent of scene structure. The MRF energy is therefore tractable and we solve it for the whole sequence using a state-of-the-art message passing optimisation algorithm. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in reducing temporal artifacts.
A “Hungarian experience”

Travelling is often a path to awareness. French travelers in Hungary between the two wars were penetrating another world which, however, was close to their hearts. The Ancient regime, for Pierre Delattre. The hope to meet a spirit hostile to all kinds of domination, for Pierre Chaillet. His own dreamt past for the young Nicolas de Rochefort. As far as Aurelien Sauvageot, Aldo Dami and even the journalists of the Action Francaise are concerned, Hungary was a sort of “almost perfect” distorting mirror.
Neural Transplantation in Parkinson's Disease

ABSTRACT: Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects about 1% of Canadians between the ages of fifty and seventy. The medical management for these patients consists of drug therapy that is initially effective but has limited long term benefits and does not alter the progressive course of the disease. The recalcitrance of longstanding Parkinson's disease to medical management has prompted the use of alternative surgical therapies. Many neurosurgical procedures have been utilized in order to improve the disabling symptoms these patients harbour. Although most of the current procedures involve making destructive lesions within various basal ganglia nuclei, neural transplantation attempts to reconstitute the normal nigrostriatal pathway and restore striatal dopamine. The initial success of neural transplantation in the rodent and primate parkinsonian models has led to its clinical application in the treatment of parkinsonian patients. Currently, well over one hundred patients throughout the world have been grafted with fetal tissue in an effort to ameliorate their parkinsonian symptoms. Although the results of neural transplantation in clinical trials are promising, a number of issues need to be resolved before this technology can become a standard treatment option. This review focuses on the current status of neural transplantation in Parkinson's disease within the context of other surgical therapies in current use.
Differential Bone Metabolism Between Postmenopausal Women With Osteoarthritis and Osteoporosis

A comparative study of bone metabolism between postmenopausal women with osteoarthritis and osteoporosis showed that differential levels of bone remodeling markers, leptin, free leptin index, and osteoprotegerin might partly contribute to the proposed inverse relationship in bone mass between postmenopausal women with osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
Esophageal and tympanic temperature responses to core blood temperature changes during hyperthermia.

Esophageal, rectal, tympanic, and central blood temperature, i.e., pulmonary artery and aortic arch, were recorded in three patients during iatrogenic whole-body hyperthermia for the treatment of advanced malignant metastatic cancer. Aortic temperature closely followed changes in pulmonary arterial temperature, with an average delay time of 27 s. Esophageal temperature reflected quantitatively and more quickly (avg lag time, 80 s) the temperature changes in the pulmonary artery than tympanic membrane temperature. Tympanic temperature was consistently lower than the blood temperature of the heart during steady state. Therefore it is suggested that esophageal temperature is a preferable index of central blood temperature. Additionally, measurement of esophageal temperature can be made more easily and safely than tympanic membrane temperature.
Opioid use 12 months following interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation with weaning.

OBJECTIVES To examine the frequency of and factors predicting opioid resumption among patients with chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) and therapeutic opioid addiction (TOA) treated in an interdisciplinary chronic pain rehabilitation program (CPRP) incorporating opioid weaning. DESIGN Longitudinal retrospective treatment outcome study. Only those with addiction were counseled to avoid opioids for non-acute pain. SETTING Large academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS One hundred twenty patients, 32.5% with TOA. Participants were predominately married (77.5%), females (66.7%). Mean age was 49.5 (±13.7). 29.2% had lifetime histories of non-opioid substance use disorders. METHODS TOA was diagnosed using consensus definitions developed by American Academy of Pain Medicine, American Pain Society and American Society of Addiction Medicine to supplement Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria. Non-opioid substance use disorders were diagnosed using DSM-IV-TR. Data, including pain severity, depression and anxiety, were collected at admission, discharge and 12 months. Opioid use during treatment was based on medical records and use at 12 months was based on self-report. RESULTS Only 22.5% reported resuming use at 12 months. Neither patients with TOA nor patients with non-opioid substance use disorders were more likely to resume use than those without substance use disorders. Only posttreatment depression increased the probability of resumption. CONCLUSIONS CNCP and co-occurring TOA can be successfully treated within a CPRP. Patients report low rates of resumption regardless of addiction status. This is in marked contrast to reported outcomes of non-medically induced opioid addictions. Prolonged abstinence may depend upon the successful treatment of depression.
Development and Evaluation of a TSLGG— Application of an ETC Gun System to its First Stage

A new type of launcher, ETC-TSLGG, is a two-stage light gas gun (TSLGG) using the technology of electrothermal-chemical (ETC) gun for its first stage. ETC-TSLGG is an improved version of the ETC gun which we had researched previously. It is developed to speed up the projectile velocity and control of variation of delay time from the ignition signal to the projectile launch. It will be used as a projectile launcher in a counter impact. Therefore, launch timing of the projectile is very important. Adjusting charge voltage and inductance of coils in a 10-kJ condenser bank so that variation of delay time is as small as possible, we depressed jitter of launch timing within a microsecond order in ETC-TSLGG. In this study, we investigated the delay time generation process. In order to clarify the operational state, pressure sensors were mounted in the ignition chamber and the pump tube. We measured projectile velocity, delay time, discharge voltage profile, current profile, and pressure profiles at different charge voltage and inductance. It can be said from these profiles that the delay time jitter was stabilized at high charge voltage and low inductance. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the delay time jitter of ETC-TSLGG was 1/100 smaller than that of the conventional TSLGG
Engagement with the auditory processing system during targeted auditory cognitive training mediates changes in cognitive outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND Individuals with schizophrenia who engage in targeted cognitive training (TCT) of the auditory system show generalized cognitive improvements. The high degree of variability in cognitive gains maybe due to individual differences in the level of engagement of the underlying neural system target. METHOD 131 individuals with schizophrenia underwent 40 hours of TCT. We identified target engagement of auditory system processing efficiency by modeling subject-specific trajectories of auditory processing speed (APS) over time. Lowess analysis, mixed models repeated measures analysis, and latent growth curve modeling were used to examine whether APS trajectories were moderated by age and illness duration, and mediated improvements in cognitive outcome measures. RESULTS We observed significant improvements in APS from baseline to 20 hours of training (initial change), followed by a flat APS trajectory (plateau) at subsequent time-points. Participants showed interindividual variability in the steepness of the initial APS change and in the APS plateau achieved and sustained between 20 and 40 hours. We found that participants who achieved the fastest APS plateau, showed the greatest transfer effects to untrained cognitive domains. CONCLUSIONS There is a significant association between an individual's ability to generate and sustain auditory processing efficiency and their degree of cognitive improvement after TCT, independent of baseline neurocognition. APS plateau may therefore represent a behavioral measure of target engagement mediating treatment response. Future studies should examine the optimal plateau of auditory processing efficiency required to induce significant cognitive improvements, in the context of interindividual differences in neural plasticity and sensory system efficiency that characterize schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record
Mechanical engineering control system for the linear time delay with disturbances

Predictive model following control mechanical engineering control system can output general signals following the desired ones. In this paper, a method of predictive system will be extended to be a design of linear system with time-delay. The bounded property of the internal states for the control is given and the utility of this control design is guaranteed. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Revisiting Darwin's hypothesis: Does greater intraspecific variability increase species' ecological breadth?

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Darwin first proposed that species with larger ecological breadth have greater phenotypic variation. We tested this hypothesis by comparing intraspecific variation in specific leaf area (SLA) to species' local elevational range and by assessing how external (abiotic) filters may influence observed differences in ecological breadth among species. Understanding the patterns of individual variation within and between populations will help evaluate differing hypotheses for structuring of communities and distribution of species. METHODS We selected 21 species with varying elevational ranges and compared the coefficient of variation of SLA for each species against its local elevational range. We examined the influence of external filters on local trait composition by determining if intraspecific changes in SLA with elevation have the same direction and similar rates of change as the change in community mean SLA value. KEY RESULTS In support of Darwin's hypothesis, we found a positive relationship between species' coefficient of variation for SLA with species' local elevational range. Intraspecific changes in SLA had the same sign, but generally lower magnitude than the community mean SLA. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that wide-ranging species are indeed characterized by greater intraspecific variation and that species' phenotypes shift along environmental gradients in the same direction as the community phenotypes. However, across species, the rate of intraspecific trait change, reflecting plastic and/or adaptive changes across populations, is limited and prevents species from adjusting to environmental gradients as quickly as interspecific changes resulting from community assembly.
Environmental adaptation and structural design in axially-pitched longhouses from Neolithic Europe

Abstract This paper analyses the structural and functional design of trapezoidal longhouses from the European Neolithic in the light of studies of ethnographic parallels from the highland area of New Guinea, which is comparable to temperate and sub‐alpine Europe in many aspects of its environment. It is argued that both longhouse types represent a parallel adaptation to adverse climatic conditions, and that their orientations are determined largely by wind direction in order to minimise structural stress and to increase heat retention. It is therefore suggested that, since the European examples show regionally consistent orientations which differ markedly from present‐day wind directions, significant changes have occurred in atmospheric circulation since the Neolithic period, and that studies of changes in orientation of longhouses through time might provide important information on climatic change in Europe since the Atlantic period.
The effects of music tempo on memory performance using maintenance rehearsal and imagery

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of music tempo on memory performance when different learning strategies, namely, maintenance rehearsal and imagery are used. A mixed model design experiment was conducted on a total of 120 (37 male and 83 female) participants. Participants were presented two word lists under three music tempo conditions (slow ? 60 bpm, optimum ? 120 bpm, fast ? 165 bpm) and a control condition, using either maintenance rehearsal or imagery in sequential order. A counting task was then introduced to induce delayed recall before being tested using free recall. This study found that participants were not affected by the order in which rehearsal or imagery was used; participants scored significantly higher using imagery in comparison to maintenance rehearsal in all four music conditions; and participants achieved the highest memory performance in the 120 bpm in comparison to the control condition, 60 bpm and the 165 bpm conditions. A research question regarding the interaction between music tempos and learning strategies was also investigated. Under within-subject conditions, no significant effect was found between music tempos and learning strategies, which means that the effect of a particular music tempo on a single participant was constant and the same level of arousal would be effected during Trial 1r (Rehearsal) and Trial 2i (Imagery).
A critical review of research on information behavior in assigned learning tasks

Purpose – This paper aims to give a critical review of the empirical information seeking and retrieval (IS&R) literature focusing on learning related information behavior. It also aims to propose the task‐based approach to link research on learning and information behavior in learning tasks and to organize and interpret the literature.Design/methodology/approach – This paper takes the form of a critical literature review.Findings – Researchers have identified patterns of information behavior and variations in the conceptions of seeking and using information for learning tasks. The results are fragmented and a framework should be developed to guide further research. Learners' information behavior in learning tasks may be attributable to various explanatory factors, which have not been taken into account in any single study. The concept of focus formulation appears to link information seeking and learning. The role of the writing process in learners' information behavior and the characteristics of the resul.