Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Common Pattern of Language Impairment in Vascular Dementia and in Alzheimer Disease

The authors studied language performance patterns in early stages of vascular dementia and Alzheimer disease. The objective was to clarify to what extent dissolution of language in vascular dementia is similar to that in Alzheimer disease. Both structured language tests (comprehension, repetition, reading, and naming tasks) and nonstructured language tests (object and picture description) were employed. The structured tasks evidenced impairment on complex auditory comprehension and on picture naming for both dementia groups, whereas oral reading and single word repetition did not differentiate the patients from matched control subjects. On the unstructured narrative tasks, both patient groups showed normal fluency, but content analysis revealed that the patients with dementia produced fewer semantic units (themes) than the control subjects. In summary, both patient groups showed impairment, specifically on semantically mediated language tasks. According to the present results, language impairment in vascular dementia resembles that observed in Alzheimer disease. Semantically mediated functions are among the most sensitive language measures in differentiating early stages of both vascular dementia and Alzheimer disease from normal aging.
Empowering or compelling reluctant participators using audience response systems

This article investigates the impact of an audience response system (ARS) on student engagement in undergraduate university courses. A survey was administered to students in a dozen courses piloting the ARS system. On 13 out of 14 measures the majority of students thought the system was helpful. Overall, students were more positive about the use of the ARS in courses that used the tool for formative feedback (empowering) rather than for grading or attendance purposes (compelling). The authors discuss the positive impact of the ARS on the engagement of `reluctant participators' or students who reported that they are least likely to participate in class under normal conditions. Reluctant participators' perceptions of the helpfulness of the ARS were compared to those of non-reluctant participators. Finally, student comments were analyzed to determine why students with the most negative feelings about the ARS felt the way they did and which teaching practices using the ARS were perceived to have the greatest value by the students.
Expression of Nitric Oxide Synthase in the Preoptic-Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System of the Teleost Oreochromis niloticus

In the present study, we have analyzed the expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the preoptic-hypothalamo-hypophyseal system of the teleost Oreochromis niloticus. The assay for enzyme activity demonstrated that a constitutive NOS activity is present both in soluble and particulate fractions of the homogenates of diencephalons. Western blot analysis using an antibody against the N-terminus of human nNOS revealed two bands both in the supernatant and in the pellet. One band co-migrates at approximately 150 kDa with that detected in the rat cerebellum homogenates and presumably corresponds to neuronal NOS (nNOS) of mammals. The additional band, which migrates at approximately 180 kDa, might be attributed to an alternatively spliced nNOS isoform. Using NADPH diaphorase (NADPHd) histochemistry in combination with NOS immunohistochemistry, nNOS expression has been detected in preoptic nuclei, hypophysiotrophic nuclei of the ventral hypothalamus, and the pituitary gland. Various degrees of dissociation of NADPHd activity and nNOS immunoreactivity have been detected that could be attributed to the expression of different subtypes of nNOS in the preoptic/hypothalamo/hypophysial system of tilapia. In this paper, we also investigated the colocalization of nNOS with arginine-vasotocin (AVT) by means of immunolabeling of consecutive sections. Results suggest that NO may be colocalized with AVT in a subpopulation of neurosecretory neurons. Present findings suggest that nitric oxide (NO) is implicated in the modulation of hormone release in teleosts in a similar way to mammals.
One-Breath-Hold Acquisition of the Whole Abdomen in One Minute Using Continuously Moving Table MRI

G. Sommer, U. A. Ludwig, O. Schafer, H-P. Fautz Diagnostic Radiology Medical Physics, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany Introduction In recent years fast MR imaging techniques with a continuously moving table that cover large volumes of interest in a very time efficient manner have been successfully applied to numerous clinical fields like angiography [1] and whole body tumor screening [2], [3]. However, the image quality provided by these techniques in body regions like the upper abdomen that are subject to strong motion could so far not compete with stationary multiple-breath-hold approaches. To improve this situation, a dedicated sequence setup for fast imaging of the whole abdomen is developed which combines 2D continuously moving table imaging [4] with parallel acquisition techniques [5], [6] to a one-minute scan with only one breath-hold required. A FOV-saving data acquisition technique [7] is applied to increase data homogeneity along the scanners axis.
EXTRAPOLATION METHOD FOR MAXIMAL AND 24-H AVERAGE LTE TDD EXPOSURE ESTIMATION

The Long-Term Evolution (LTE) system represents the evolution of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System technology. This technology introduces two duplex modes: Frequency Division Duplex and Time Division Duplex (TDD). Despite having experienced a limited expansion in the European countries since the debut of the LTE technology, a renewed commercial interest for LTE TDD technology has recently been shown. Therefore, the development of extrapolation procedures optimised for TDD systems becomes crucial, especially for the regulatory authorities. This article presents an extrapolation method aimed to assess the exposure to LTE TDD sources, based on the detection of the Cell-Specific Reference Signal power level. The method introduces a βTDD parameter intended to quantify the fraction of the LTE TDD frame duration reserved for downlink transmission. The method has been validated by experimental measurements performed on signals generated by both a vector signal generator and a test Base Transceiver Station installed at Linkem S.p.A facility in Rome.
Topology structure and centrality in a java source code

Call graph plays a very important role in program analysis, and it has been widely used in software engineering (e.g., program understanding, compiling optimization, regression test, etc). In the present paper, we studied the source code structure of a Java program from a call graph perspective. We check the basal network properties of the call graph. By comparing several familiar centrality measures (betweenness, closeness, eccentricity, HITS-Authority and PageRank) and applying them to the call graph, we also give the centrality analysis of the call graph.
Inference of variable-length acoustic units for continuous speech recognition

In the field of speech recognition, the patterns assumed to structure the speech material (phonemes, triphones, words.) are defined a priori according to a linguistic criterion, whereas the recognition criterion is based on an acoustic similarity measure. From this may result a lack of consistency for the recognition units. We explore the possibility of a more data-driven approach, where recognition units are derived according to an acoustic criterion, and then, mapped to variable length sequences of phonemes in an unsupervised way. Continuous speech recognition experiments are reported to evaluate the consistency of those units as opposed to linguistically defined units.
Analysis and Design Optimization of a Coaxial Surface-Mounted Permanent-Magnet Magnetic Gear

This paper presents the analysis and design optimization of a coaxial surface-mounted permanent-magnet magnetic gear. The magnetic field distribution in the coaxial magnetic gear is calculated analytically in the polar coordinate system and then validated by the finite element method (FEM). The analytical field solution allows the prediction of the magnetic torque, which is formulated as a function of design parameters. The impacts of key design parameters on the torque capability are then studied and some significant observations are summarized. Furthermore, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is employed to optimize the studied magnetic gear. Given that the torque capability and material cost conflict with each other, both of them are set as the optimization objectives in this paper. Different weight factors may be chosen for the two objectives so that more attention can be placed on one or another. The results shows that the highest torque density of 157 kNm/m 3 is achieved with the consideration focusing on the torque capability only, then the highest torque per permanent magnet (PM) consumption could be improved to 145 Nm/kg by taking the material cost into account. By synthesizing the torque capability and material cost, a 124 kNm/m 3 of torque density and a 128 Nm/kg of torque per PM consumption could be achieved simultaneously by the optimal design.
E-learning: emerging uses, empirical results and future directions

The use of network technology to deliver training is the latest trend in the training and development industry and has been heralded as the ‘e-learning revolution. ’ In an effort to separate hype from reality, this paper reviews practitioner and research literature on e-learning, incorporating unpublished information from interviews with managers and consultants directly involved in e-learning initiatives. Specific attention is given to why organizations use e-learning, what the potential drawbacks to e-learning are, what we know from research about e-learning and what the future of e-learning may hold.
Impact of chronic pain on health care seeking, self care, and medication. Results from a population-based Swedish study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To explore individual and social factors that could predict health care utilisation and medication among people with chronic pain in an unselected population. DESIGN: A mailed survey with questions about pain and mental symptoms, disability, self care action, visits to health care providers, and medication. SETTING: General populations in two Swedish primary health care (PHC) districts. Medical care was given in a state health system. PARTICIPANTS: A random sample (from the population register) of 15% of the population aged 25-74 (n = 1806). MAIN RESULTS: Among people reporting chronic pain 45.7% (compared with 29.8 of non-chronic pain persons, p < 0.05) consulted a physician and 7.2% (compared with 1.2%, p < 0.05) a physiotherapist during three months. Primary health care was the most frequent care provider. High pain intensity, aging, depression, ethnicity, and socioeconomic level had the greatest impact on physician consultations. Alternative care, used by 5.9%, was associated with high pain intensity and self care. Use of self care was influenced by high pain intensity, regular physical activity, and ethnicity. Alternative care and self care did not imply lower use of conventional health care. Women reporting chronic pain consumed more analgesics and sedatives than corresponding men. Besides female gender, high pain intensity, insomnia, physician consultation, social network, and self care action helped to explain medication with analgesics. Use of herbal remedies and ointments correlated to self care action, visit to an alternative therapist, high pain intensity, and socioeconomic level. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of chronic pain has an impressive impact on primary health care and medication. Various therapeutic actions are common and are partly overlapping. The use of health care among people with chronic pain depends above all on pain perception and intensity of pain but is also affected by ethnicity, age, socioeconomic level, and depressive symptoms. Among people with chronic pain use of analgesics is common in contrast with other types of pain relief (acupuncture, physiotherapy) suitable for treating chronic pain symptoms.
Der Linked Employer-Employee-Datensatz aus IAB-Betriebspanel und Beschäftigtenstatistik der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit (LIAB)

Zusammengefugte Employer-Employee-Datensatze (LEEpanel) konnen grundsatzlich furalle Fragestellungen herangezogen werden, die Interaktionen von Betrieben und Be-schaftigten betreffen (Hamermesh 1999: 25-41). Schon Willis (1986: 589) hat in seinemBeitrag fur das Handbook of Labor Economics darauf hingewiesen, dass die Entwicklungvon zusammengefugten Employer-Employee-Datensatzen entscheidend fur den Fort-schritt auf den Forschungsgebieten der Lohnstruktur- und der Humankapitaltheorie seien.Abowd und Kramarz (1999) zitieren in ihrem Beitrag fur das neue Handbook of LaborEconomics etwa 100 Studien aus 15 Landern. Es handelt sich also um ein sich rasantentwickelndes Forschungsgebiet. Wir wollen deshalb zunachst den Datensatzaufbau ei-nes Linked Employer-Employee-Datensatzes im IAB (LIAB), das analytische Potenzialderartiger Datensatze und die Datenweitergabe und -nutzung fur externe Wissenschaftlerbeschreiben.
The Construction of Stance in Reporting Clauses: A Cross-disciplinary Study of Theses

Using a corpus-based approach, this paper investigates the construction of stance in finite reporting clauses with that-clause complementation. The data are drawn from two corpora of theses in contrasting disciplines: a social science—politics—and a natural science—materials science. A network for the analysis of reporting clauses is presented which sets out the major alternatives available to academic writers and enables stance to be linked systematically to grammatical and semantic patterns of use. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data leads to the identification of an important, but somewhat under-researched, function of reporting clauses in academic writing: their use to report the writer's own work. Drawing on the notions of averral and attribution, the paper shows how writers can emphasize or hide their responsibility for their own propositions and thereby construct a stance which differs according to the epistemology and ideology of the discipline concerned. These reporting clauses play a key role in the construction of major claims, with greater writer visibility seen in politics than materials. However, despite the superficial objectivity and impersonality of writing in the natural sciences, it is argued that skilled exploitation of the interplay between averral and attribution allows writers to construct a stance that is both clear and pervasive.
Basal core promoter T1762/A1764 and precore A1896 gene mutations in hepatitis B surface antigen-positive hepatocellular carcinoma: a comparison with chronic carriers

Background: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and specific viral factors have been identified that may increase the risk for HCC development. However, the differences in these viral factors in chronic carriers who seldom develop HCC compared with HCC patients have not been adequately evaluated.
On Being Small: Brain Allometry in Ants

Comparative neurobiologists have provided ample evidence that in vertebrates small animals have proportionally larger brains: in a double-logarithmic plot of brain weight versus body weight all data points conform quite closely to a straight line with a slope of less than one. Hence vertebrate brains scale allometrically, rather than isometrically, with body size. Here we extend the phylogenetic scope of such studies and the size range of the brains under investigation to the insects, especially ants. We show that the principle of (negative) allometry applies as well, but that ants have considerably smaller brains than any ant-sized vertebrate would have, and that this result holds even if the relatively higher exoskeleton weights of ants (as compared to endoskeleton weights of mammals) are taken into account. Finally, interspecific comparisons within one genus of ants, Cataglyphis, show that species exhibiting small colony sizes (of a few hundred individuals) have significantly smaller brains than species in which colonies are composed of several thousand individuals.
The impact of negative interpersonal life events on social adaptation of Chinese college students: Mediator effect of self-esteem

In this study, we investigated the source and impact of negative interpersonal life events confronted by 210 Chinese college students, and discussed the mediator role of self-esteem. We collected data using the Self-Esteem Scale, the Loneliness Scale (LS), the Self-Report Depression Scale, the Social Avoidance Scale, and the Interpersonal Negative Life Events Scale. The results showed that: (1) According to the occurrence rate and the stress index of interpersonal negative life events, the following events ranked in the top three: “having a weak social network”, “reducing or losing contact with good friends”, and “being nervous or silent with unfamiliar people”. (2) Self-esteem partly mediated the impact of negative interpersonal life events on negative emotions such as depression and loneliness, and fully mediated the impact of interpersonal negative life events on social avoidance.
Decision Making in Acquisitions: The Effect of Outside Directors’ Compensation on Acquisition Patterns

This article examines how the compensation paid for outside directors affects firms’ acquisition behavior. Using panel data of Standard & Poor’s 1500 firms between 1996 and 2002, the authors find that stock and stock option pay for outside directors are related in an inverted U-shaped manner to a firm’s acquisition rate and that for stock options, this relationship is moderated by board composition. Their findings suggest a dual agency model of corporate governance, according to which not only executives’ incentives but also outside directors’ incentives should be aligned with the shareholder value creation.
Frequency-Offset Cartesian Feedback for MRI Power Amplifier Linearization

High-quality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) requires precise control of the transmit radio-frequency (RF) field. In parallel excitation applications such as transmit SENSE, high RF power linearity is essential to cancel aliased excitations. In widely-employed class AB power amplifiers, gain compression, cross-over distortion, memory effects, and thermal drift all distort the RF field modulation and can degrade image quality. Cartesian feedback (CF) linearization can mitigate these effects in MRI, if the quadrature mismatch and dc offset imperfections inherent in the architecture can be minimized. In this paper, we present a modified Cartesian feedback technique called “frequency-offset Cartesian feedback” (FOCF) that significantly reduces these problems. In the FOCF architecture, the feedback control is performed at a low intermediate frequency rather than dc, so that quadrature ghosts and dc errors are shifted outside the control bandwidth. FOCF linearization is demonstrated with a variety of typical MRI pulses. Simulation of the magnetization obtained with the Bloch equation demonstrates that high-fidelity RF reproduction can be obtained even with inexpensive class AB amplifiers. Finally, the enhanced RF fidelity of FOCF over CF is demonstrated with actual images obtained in a 1.5 T MRI system.
Dentin-cement Interfacial Interaction

The interfacial properties of a new calcium-silicate-based coronal restorative material (Biodentine™) and a glass-ionomer cement (GIC) with dentin have been studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy, and two-photon auto-fluorescence and second-harmonic-generation (SHG) imaging. Results indicate the formation of tag-like structures alongside an interfacial layer called the “mineral infiltration zone”, where the alkaline caustic effect of the calcium silicate cement’s hydration products degrades the collagenous component of the interfacial dentin. This degradation leads to the formation of a porous structure which facilitates the permeation of high concentrations of Ca2+, OH-, and CO32- ions, leading to increased mineralization in this region. Comparison of the dentin-restorative interfaces shows that there is a dentin-mineral infiltration with the Biodentine, whereas polyacrylic and tartaric acids and their salts characterize the penetration of the GIC. A new type of interfacial interaction, “the mineral infiltration zone”, is suggested for these calcium-silicate-based cements.
Kernel Based Nonlinear Dimensionality Reduction and Classification for Genomic Microarray

Genomic microarrays are powerful research tools in bioinformatics and modern medicinal research because they enable massively-parallel assays and simultaneous monitoring of thousands of gene expression of biological samples. However, a simple microarray experiment often leads to very high-dimensional data and a huge amount of information, the vast amount of data challenges researchers into extracting the important features and reducing the high dimensionality. In this paper, a nonlinear dimensionality reduction kernel method based locally linear embedding(LLE) is proposed, and fuzzy K-nearest neighbors algorithm which denoises datasets will be introduced as a replacement to the classical LLE's KNN algorithm. In addition, kernel method based support vector machine (SVM) will be used to classify genomic microarray data sets in this paper. We demonstrate the application of the techniques to two published DNA microarray data sets. The experimental results confirm the superiority and high success rates of the presented method.
The Roy Castle Fag Ends Stop Smoking Service: A Successful Client-Led Approach to Smoking Cessation

The Roy Castle Fag Ends Community Stop Smoking Service (RCFE) is commissioned by three primary care trusts (PCTs) to provide the adult smoking-cessation service across Liverpool. The service is not theoretically driven but there are several principles governing RCFE, which maintain the client-led, person-centred philosophy. Unique aspects are that the service is provided by trained lay advisors with a nonmedical background and there is no waiting list — clients can self-refer by calling a helpline or walking into a meeting. At RCFE, clients control their own quit attempt as well as self-regulating attendance at meetings and discharge from the service. Relapsed clients are also welcomed back without fear of criticism or the need for an appointment. Possible reasons for the success of RCFE include the client-led methodology, the community approach that removes doctor–patient barriers that may exist, and the nature of the group meetings, which allows interaction between clients who are at different stages of the quit process. Introducing some of the RCFE principles into other stop-smoking services may help to increase the overall smoking-cessation rate in England.