Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gesture as a support for word learning: The case of under*

ABSTRACT Forty children, aged 1 ; 8–2 ; 0, participated in one of three training conditions meant to enhance their comprehension of the spatial term under: the +Gesture group viewed a symbolic gesture for under during training; those in the +Photo group viewed a still photograph of objects in the under relationship; those in the Model Only group did not receive supplemental symbolic support. Children's knowledge of under was measured before, immediately after, and two to three days after training. A gesture advantage was revealed when the gains exhibited by the groups on untrained materials (but not trained materials) were compared at delayed post-test (but not immediate post-test). Gestured input promoted more robust knowledge of the meaning of under, knowledge that was less tied to contextual familiarity and more prone to consolidation. Gestured input likely reduced cognitive load while emphasizing both the location and the movement relevant to the meaning of under.
Theories of the Firm

Abstract Since the seminal contributions of Coase, Williamson, Jensen and Meckling, and Easterbrook and Fischel, the characterisation of the firm as a nexus of contracts, its boundaries determined by the relative costs of markets and hierarchical organisation, has dominated the economic theory of the firm. The capabilities-based approach of Penrose, largely ignored by economists but developed in the resource-based theory of business strategy, provides a more illuminating perspective on a globalised and evolving business environment.
MicroRNA Species in Follicular Fluid Associating With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Related Intermediary Phenotypes.

CONTEXT Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has a largely unknown etiology and presents with a clinical heterogeneous patient group. Small noncoding microRNA (miRNA) might prove promising as biomarker candidates for PCOS patient stratification. Altered miRNA expression profiles have been observed in few studies. OBJECTIVE The aim was to assess the miRNA expression profile in follicular fluid from PCOS patients and healthy, regularly cycling, matched controls. DESIGN AND SETTING Experimental case-control study including 49 PCOS women (19 of which were hyperandrogenic and 30 normo-androgenic) and 21 healthy matched women all undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment. INTERVENTIONS AND MAIN OUTCOME Anthropometric and relevant clinical baseline measurements were obtained. Relative expression of miRNA levels were estimated using miRNA quantitative PCR arrays and validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Correlation between miRNAs and clinical relevant measurements was estimated. RESULTS PCOS women, both normo-androgenic and hyperandrogenic, had decreased levels of miR-24-3p, -29a, -151-3p, and -574-3p compared with controls. Furthermore, miR-518f-3p was differentially expressed within the PCOS group with high levels observed in the hyperandrogenic group compared with the normo-androgenic PCOS patients. Serum levels of total and free T were positively correlated with miR-518f-3p in PCOS subjects (P = .001). Distinction between PCOS and controls could be made using miR-151-3p alone with an area under the curve of 0.91 or a combination of four selected miRNAs (area under the curve, 0.93). Bioinformatic target analysis points to an involvement of these miRNAs in biological pathways involving regulation of cell proliferation, extracellular matrix, and processes in intermediary metabolism. CONCLUSION Our study provides evidence that the miRNA expression profile in follicular fluid is altered in PCOS and indicates that specific follicular fluid miRNAs are associated with phenotypical traits of PCOS. An altered miRNA profile holds potentials for new methods of PCOS patient stratification and may contribute to and in part explain the heterogeneous nature found within PCOS women.
Sox2 conditional mutation in mouse causes ataxic symptoms, cerebellar vermis hypoplasia, and postnatal defects of Bergmann glia

Sox2 is a transcription factor active in the nervous system, within different cell types, ranging from radial glia neural stem cells to a few specific types of differentiated glia and neurons. Mutations in the human SOX2 transcription factor gene cause various central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities, involving hippocampus and eye defects, as well as ataxia. Conditional Sox2 mutation in mouse, with different Cre transgenes, previously recapitulated different essential features of the disease, such as hippocampus and eye defects. In the cerebellum, Sox2 is active from early embryogenesis in the neural progenitors of the cerebellar primordium; Sox2 expression is maintained, postnatally, within Bergmann glia (BG), a differentiated cell type essential for Purkinje neurons functionality and correct motor control. By performing Sox2 Cre‐mediated ablation in the developing and postnatal mouse cerebellum, we reproduced ataxia features. Embryonic Sox2 deletion (with Wnt1Cre) leads to reduction of the cerebellar vermis, known to be commonly related to ataxia, preceded by deregulation of Otx2 and Gbx2, critical regulators of vermis development. Postnatally, BG is progressively disorganized, mislocalized, and reduced in mutants. Sox2 postnatal deletion, specifically induced in glia (with GLAST‐CreERT2), reproduces the BG defect, and causes (milder) ataxic features. Our results define a role for Sox2 in cerebellar function and development, and identify a functional requirement for Sox2 within postnatal BG, of potential relevance for ataxia in mouse mutants, and in human patients.
WLC30-5: Statistical Delay Budget Partitioning in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless mesh networks (WMN) have great potential to support high quality multimedia delivery. However, multimedia applications require quality of service (QoS) guarantees for end-to-end (E2E) transmission. An important element in providing such guarantees is mapping E2E transmission requirements to link QoS requirements. While different algorithms have been proposed for mapping in connection oriented wired networks, it is yet to be addressed in multihop wireless networks. Even algorithms proposed for QoS partitioning in wired networks are either near optimal or heuristic, and only yield solutions for a single E2E QoS requirement. In this paper, we propose a partitioning algorithm capable of partitioning multiple E2E QoS requirements simultaneously. We define QoS as the pair of required E2E delay and the probability to violate this delay requirement, i.e. violation probability. Our approach is motivated by experiments concluding that the delay probability distribution is accurately characterized by a gamma distribution. This conclusion is used to formulate a mathematical linear program that optimally partitions the E2E delay and the logarithm of the E2E violation probability into link delays and the logarithm of the link violation probabilities. Extensive simulation verify the effectiveness of the algorithm compared to two QoS partitioning algorithms. The proposed algorithm outperforms the other algorithms for loose and stringent QoS requirements and over different path lengths.
Finding the Differences between the Perceptions of Experts and the Public in the Field of Diabetes

Automatic information extraction techniques such as named entity recognition and relation extraction have been developed but it is yet rare to apply them to various document types. In this paper, we applied them to academic literature and social media's contents in the field of diabetes to find distinctions between the perceptions of biomedical experts and the public. We analyzed and compared the experts' and the public's networks constituted by the extracted entities and relations. The results confirmed that there are some differences in their views, i.e., biomedical entities that interest them and relations within their knowledge range.
SNP-SNP Interaction Analysis on Soybean Seed Size in Multiple Years

Seed size traits of soybean are important for seed yield. In this research, multifactor dimensionality reduction method (MDR) and the soybean SNP dataset were employed to verify SNP-SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) interaction pairs of seed length (SL), seed width (SW) and seed length/width (SLW) in soybean for 7 years. In total, 1,962, 465 and 1,480 stable interaction pairs for SL, SW and SLW, respectively, were detected by MDR method across more than two years at p<0.001 level. In total, there were 37, 2 and 6 interaction pairs which showed significance for SL, SW and seed SLW, respectively. These were screened by the two ways ANOVA test at significant level of p<0.01. Six SNP–SNP networks have been constructed based on significant interaction pairs, 57 candidate genes were detected in the network. Two candidate genes located on the hub of network showed extremely related to the seed size, which have been verified and associated with seed size in rice or Arabidopsis. The results will be beneficial to the studies with focus on seed size traits. © 2018 Friends Science Publishers
Life Stress and the Accuracy of Cognitive Appraisals in Depressed Youth

This study investigated the accuracy of depressed youths' appraisals of naturally occurring life events. Participants (49% girls; M age = 12.44 years) with clinical diagnoses of depression (n = 24), subsyndromal symptoms of depression (n = 29), and no symptoms of psychopathology (n = 36) completed semi-structured interviews of life stress. As predicted, depressed youth experienced more independent and self-generated interpersonal stress than did nonsymptomatic youth. Consistent with a cognitive bias, clinically depressed youth overestimated the stressfulness of events and overestimated their contribution to events relative to nonsymptomatic youth. Youth with subsyndromal symptoms demonstrated similar, although typically less severe, impairment than those with clinical depression. Results contribute to cognitive-interpersonal models of depression by illustrating the need to consider both realistic interpersonal difficulties and biased appraisals of experiences.
Workplace-based communication skills training in clinical departments: Examining the role of collegial relations through positioning theory

Abstract Introduction: Studies suggest that the workplace is a key to understanding how clinical communication skills learning takes place and that medical communication skills need to be reinforced over time in order not to deteriorate. This study explored the perceptions of doctors in four hospital departments who participated in a workplace-based communication training project. Its specific focus was the relationship between collegial relations and learning communication skills. Methods: The study applied a qualitative design using an ethnographic methodology, i.e. interviews and observations. Positioning theory was used as the theoretical framework. Results: Training communication skills with colleagues in the actual workplace setting was valued by the participants who experienced more sharing of communication challenges, previously understood as something private one would not share with colleagues. However, collegial relations were also barriers for providing critical feedback, especially from junior doctors to their seniors. Conclusion: The position as “colleague” both reinforced the communication skills training and hindered it. The communication skills educational model had a flat, non-hierarchical structure which disturbed the hierarchical structure of the workplace, and its related positions.
Validation of a Plasma-Based Comprehensive Cancer Genotyping Assay Utilizing Orthogonal Tissue- and Plasma-Based Methodologies

Purpose: To analytically and clinically validate a circulating cell-free tumor DNA sequencing test for comprehensive tumor genotyping and demonstrate its clinical feasibility. Experimental Design: Analytic validation was conducted according to established principles and guidelines. Blood-to-blood clinical validation comprised blinded external comparison with clinical droplet digital PCR across 222 consecutive biomarker-positive clinical samples. Blood-to-tissue clinical validation comprised comparison of digital sequencing calls to those documented in the medical record of 543 consecutive lung cancer patients. Clinical experience was reported from 10,593 consecutive clinical samples. Results: Digital sequencing technology enabled variant detection down to 0.02% to 0.04% allelic fraction/2.12 copies with ≤0.3%/2.24–2.76 copies 95% limits of detection while maintaining high specificity [prevalence-adjusted positive predictive values (PPV) >98%]. Clinical validation using orthogonal plasma- and tissue-based clinical genotyping across >750 patients demonstrated high accuracy and specificity [positive percent agreement (PPAs) and negative percent agreement (NPAs) >99% and PPVs 92%–100%]. Clinical use in 10,593 advanced adult solid tumor patients demonstrated high feasibility (>99.6% technical success rate) and clinical sensitivity (85.9%), with high potential actionability (16.7% with FDA-approved on-label treatment options; 72.0% with treatment or trial recommendations), particularly in non–small cell lung cancer, where 34.5% of patient samples comprised a directly targetable standard-of-care biomarker. Conclusions: High concordance with orthogonal clinical plasma- and tissue-based genotyping methods supports the clinical accuracy of digital sequencing across all four types of targetable genomic alterations. Digital sequencing's clinical applicability is further supported by high rates of technical success and biomarker target discovery. Clin Cancer Res; 24(15); 3539–49. ©2018 AACR.
Light for communication and superconductors for efficiency in neural computing

Optical communication achieves high fanout and short delay advantageous for information integration in neural systems. Superconducting detectors enable signaling with single photons for maximal energy efficiency. We present designs of superconducting optoelectronic neurons based on superconducting single-photon detectors, Josephson junctions, semiconductor light sources, and multi-planar dielectric waveguides. These circuits achieve complex synaptic and neuronal functions with high energy efficiency, leveraging the strengths of light for communication and superconducting electronics for computation. The neurons send few-photon signals to synaptic connections. These signals communicate neuronal firing events as well as update synaptic weights. Spike-timing-dependent plasticity is implemented with a single photon triggering each step of the process. Microscale light-emitting diodes and waveguide networks enable connectivity from a neuron to thousands of synaptic connections, and the use of light for communication enables synchronization of neurons across an area limited only by the distance light can travel within the period of a network oscillation. Experimentally, each of the requisite circuit elements has been demonstrated, yet a hardware platform combining them all has not been attempted. Compared to digital logic or quantum computing, device tolerances are relaxed. For this neural application, sources providing incoherent pulses with 10,000 photons produced with efficiency of 10$^{-3}$ operating at 20\,MHz at 4.2\,K are sufficient to enable a massively scalable neural computing platform with connectivity comparable to the brain and thirty thousand times higher speed.
Spatial navigation from same and different directions: The role of executive functions, memory and attention in adults with autism spectrum disorder

To resolve some of the inconsistencies in existing research into spatial navigation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), we tested two large age‐ and ability‐matched groups of ASD and typically developing (TD) participants for their spatial navigation abilities in a route learning task, which has been shown to shed light on the strategies participants employ when navigating complex environments. Participants studied a route through a virtual maze by watching a short video of a first‐person perspective navigating a maze. The maze included four four‐way intersections that were each marked with two unique landmarks in two corners of the intersection. At test, static images of the intersections, either as seen during the video or as approached from a different direction, were presented and participants had to indicate in which direction they would need to travel (straight, left, or right) in order to follow the originally studied route. On both types of test trials, the ASD group performed worse and their difficulties were related to reduced cognitive flexibility. Eye‐movement data and follow‐up item‐memory tests suggested that navigation difficulties may have been related to differences in attention during encoding and less spontaneous use of landmarks as cues for navigation. Spatial navigation performance was best predicted by memory for landmarks as well as by executive functions. The results are discussed in relation to theories of underlying navigation‐related brain regions. More research is needed to disentangle the influence of executive functions, memory and attention on spatial navigation. Autism Res 2018, 11: 798–810. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Performance comparison of IST and multi scale principal component analysis in the EEG signal processing

The removal of Ocular Artifacts (OA) in Electroencephalogram (EEG) data is one of the key challenges in the analysis of brain recordings. Brain activity produces electroencephalogram signals, which consists of some of vital signs of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, tumor cerebrovascular lesions and the problems associated with the trauma. These signals can be acquired by placing the electrodes on the scalp at specified positions and exists in order of 1–5μv, whose frequency range is DC-64 Hz. Acquisition of these signals mainly suffers from different unwanted signals (artifacts or noise) resulting in less signal information for identification. In this paper, two algorithms are proposed namely, Multi Scale Principal Component Analysis (MSPCA) and Iterative Soft Thresholding (IST) using wavelets in removing the Ocular Artifacts (OA) present in the EEG signals. This paper discusses not only the performance comparison of two algorithms on statistical parameters of EEG signals such as Signal to Noise Ratio, (SNR), SNRI or Noise Figure (NF) and Absolute Average Error (AAE) but also estimated the run time of each algorithm i.e., computational time of each algorithm.
Parametric study of patient-specific femoral locking plates based on a combined musculoskeletal multibody dynamics and finite element modeling

A combined musculoskeletal multibody dynamics and finite element modeling was performed to investigate the effects of design parameters on the fracture-healing efficiency and the mechanical property of a patient-specific anatomically adjusted femoral locking plate. Specifically, the screw type, the thickness and material of the locking plate, the gap between two femoral fragments (fracture gap) and the distance between bone and plate (interface gap) were evaluated during a human walking. We found that the patient-specific locking plate possessed greater mechanical strength and more efficient fracture healing than the corresponding traditional plate. An optimal patient-specific femoral locking plate would consist of bicortical locking screws, Ti-6Al-4V material and 4.75-mm plate thickness with a fracture gap of 2 mm and an interface gap of 1 mm. The developed patient-specific femoral locking plate based on the patient-specific musculoskeletal mechanical environment was more beneficial to fracture rehabilitation and healing. The patient-specific design method provides an effective research platform for designing and optimizing the patient-specific femoral locking plate under realistic in vivo walking conditions, which can be extended to the design of other implants as well as to other physiological loading conditions related to various daily activities.
Variability in temperature dependence of stem CO2 efflux from Norway spruce trees

This study presents results from continuous measurements of stem CO2 efflux carried out for seven experimental seasons (from May to October) in a young Norway spruce forest. The objectives of the study were to determine variability in the response of stem CO2 efflux to stem temperature over the season and to observe differences in the calculated relationship between stem temperature and CO2 efflux based on full growing season data or on data divided into periods according to stem growth rate. Temperature sensitivity of stem CO2 efflux (Q10) calculated for the established periods ranged between 1.61 and 3.46 and varied over the season, with the lowest values occurring in July and August. Q10 calculated using data from the full growing seasons ranged between 2.30 and 2.94 and was often significantly higher than Q10 calculated for the individual periods. Temperature-normalized stem CO2 efflux (R10) determined using Q10 from growing season data was overestimated when the temperature was below 10 °C and underestimated when the temperature was above 10 °C, compared with R10 calculated using Q10 established for the individual periods. The differences in daily mean R10 calculated by these two approaches ranged between -0.9 and 0.2 μmol CO2 m-2 s-1. The results of this study confirm that long periods for determining the temperature dependence of stem CO2 efflux encompass different statuses of the wood (especially in relation to stem growth). This may cause bias in models using this relationship for estimating stem CO2 efflux as a function of temperature.
A Comparative Study on Phytochemical Profiles and Biological Activities of Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst Leaf and Bark Extracts

Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst (Anacardiaceae) is a savannah tree that has long been used in sub-Saharan Africa as a medicinal remedy for numerous ailments. The purpose of this study was to increase the scientific knowledge about this plant by evaluating the total content of polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins in the methanol extracts of the leaves and bark (MLE and MBE, respectively), as well as the in vitro antioxidant activity and biological activities of these extracts. Reported results show that MLE is rich in flavonoids (132.7 ± 10.4 mg of quercetin equivalents/g), whereas MBE has the highest content of tannins (949.5 ± 29.7 mg of tannic acid equivalents/g). The antioxidant activity was measured using four different in vitro tests: β-carotene bleaching (BCB), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), O2−•, and nitric oxide (NO•) assays. In all cases, MBE was the most active compared to MLE and the standards used (Trolox and ascorbic acid). Furthermore, MBE and MLE were tested to evaluate their activity in HepG2 and fibroblast cell lines. A higher cytotoxic activity of MBE was evidenced and confirmed by more pronounced alterations in cell morphology. MBE induced cell death, triggering the intrinsic apoptotic pathway by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which led to a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential with subsequent cytochrome c release from the mitochondria into the cytosol. Moreover, MBE showed lower cytotoxicity in normal human dermal fibroblasts, suggesting its potential as a selective anticancer agent.