Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Executive Function in Children and Adolescents with Critical Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract Children and adolescents with critical cyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD) are at risk for deficits in aspects of executive function (EF). The primary aim of this investigation was to compare EF outcomes in three groups of children/adolescents with severe CHD and controls (ages 10–19 years). Participants included 463 children/adolescents with CHD [dextro-transposition of the great arteries (TGA), n=139; tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), n=68; and, single-ventricle anatomy requiring Fontan procedure (SVF), n=145] and 111 controls, who underwent laboratory and informant-based evaluation of EF skills. Rates of EF impairment on D-KEFS measures were nearly twice as high for CHD groups (75–81%) than controls (43%). Distinct EF profiles were documented between CHD groups on D-KEFS tasks. Deficits in flexibility/problem-solving and verbally mediated EF skills were documented in all three CHD groups; visuo-spatially mediated EF abilities were impaired in TOF and SVF groups, but preserved in TGA. Parent, teacher, and self-report ratings on the BRIEF highlighted unique patterns of metacognitive and self-regulatory concerns across informants. CHD poses a serious threat to EF development. Greater severity of CHD is associated with worse EF outcomes. With increased understanding of the cognitive and self-regulatory vulnerabilities experienced by children and adolescents with CHD, it may be possible to identify risks early and provide individualized supports to promote optimal neurodevelopment. (JINS, 2014, 20, 34–49)
Efficient 3D Simulation of Thin Conducting Layers of Arbitrary Thickness

In this paper it is demonstrated how a class of relatively complex EMC simulations can be performed at a low cost, both in terms of time and money. Using a symmetric, two- way boundary condition formulation, shielding metal layers can be included in a global electromagnetic simulation, without the need to resolve in detail the interior of the layer. This formulation, which has been previously used for some specific microwave and EMC problems, has no restrictions on the ratio of layer thickness to the skin depth. It is implemented in a commercial finite element (FEM) solver installed on a standard PC and no source-code programming is required. The method is validated and its usefulness demonstrated by applying it to a number of 3D examples of general EMC relevance.
Rapid spectrophotometric differentiation between glutathione-dependent and glutathione-independent gentisate and homogentisate pathways

A total of four pathways are known for the catabolism by microorganisms of gentisate (2,5-dihydroxybenzoate) and homogentisate (2,5-dihydroxyphenylacetate). Both of these dihydric phenols can be degraded by either a glutathione-dependent or a glutathione-independent reaction sequence. We found that it is not always possible to unequivocally assign glutathione dependence or independence to a particular catabolic sequence by using the well-established spectrophotometric assays at 330 nm (gentisate pathway) or 320 nm (homogentisate pathway). This paper reports a modification of the classical spectrophotometric assays that allowed an unequivocal differentiation between glutathion-dependent and glutathione-independent pathways, even when crude cell extracts contained significant quantities of cell-derived, reduced glutathione. This was accomplished by performing assays in the presence of an approximately 10(-3) M solution of the sulfhydryl-binding agent N-ethylmaleimide.
The Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S Promoter: Combinatorial Regulation of Transcription in Plants

Appropriate regulation of transcription in higher plants requires specific cis elements in the regulatory regions of genes and their corresponding trans-acting proteins. Analysis of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter has contributed to the understanding of transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. The intact 35S promoter confers constitutive expression upon heterologous genes in most plants. Dissection into subdomains that are able to confer tissue-specific gene expression has demonstrated that the promoter has a modular organization. When selected subdomains are combined, they confer expression not detected from the isolated subdomains, suggesting that synergistic interactions occur among cis elements. The expression patterns conferred by specific combinations of 35S subdomains differ in tobacco and petunia. This indicates that a combinatorial code of cisregulatory elements may be interpreted differently in different species.
Technical Report : Probabilistic Latent Relational Model for Integrating Heterogeneous Information for Recommendation

Many recommender systems might be part of an e-commerce or multi functional system (or portal) where various information about users, products/documents, social networks, and different types of user feedback about products/documents are available. This paper exploits the heterogeneous information a recommender system might collect to make the most appropriate recommendations. We propose a new Probabilistic Latent Relational Modeling (PLRM) approach to jointly model user, product, social network, and different types of implicit and explicit user feedback. A system can make different types of recommendations, such as who you may want to trust or what product you may want to buy, based on a single probabilistic model. Different types of user feedback collected can be utilized to improve the performance of recommendations. We also propose a hybrid variational Bayesian and Max A Posteriori method to estimate the parameters from various types of user feedback. The experimental results on two Epinion.com data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modeling approach.
Transistor level optimization of sub-pipelined AES design in CMOS 65nm

Stage optimization of the hardware implementation of the popular encryption algorithms, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), is presented. The optimization, for lower power dissipation, is based on implementing the Multi Threshold CMOS (MTCMOS) technique in each of the AES stages. The critical paths are implemented using high performance gates based on high driving current transistors. For the optimized design, the Simulation results show about 10% reduction in power consumption compared to non optimized designs while maintaining the same throughput of 18Gbit/sec.
A 0.25mm3 Atomic Force Microscope on-a-chip

This paper reports the highest resolution achieved with a single-chip Atomic Force Microscope (sc-AFM). Images of a 20nm AFM calibration standard were obtained to show, for the first time, that single-chip instruments may obtain a vertical resolution comparable to state-of-the-art instruments at a minuscule fraction of the size (volume=1/1,000,000) and cost (1/1000). A maskless, 2-step release process is performed on CMOS chips in order to obtain devices that can image a sample without the need for any off-chip scanning or sensing components. We report a four-fold improvement in resolution when compared to previously reported sc-AFMs, enabling metrology for nanoscale manufacturing using MEMS AFM technology.
Nonspecific interaction of lac repressor with DNA: an association reaction driven by counterion release.

We have investigated the nonspecific interaction of lac repressor protein with DNA by a quantitative application of DNA-cellulose chromatography (deHaseth, P.L., et al. (1977), Biochemistry 16 (third of five papers in a series in this issue)). The observed association constant for the interaction, KRD obsd, is a sensitive function of ion concentrations and pH. Application of binding theory to interpret these effects gives the results that 11 +/- 2 monovalent ions are released in the interaction and two groups on repressor must be protonated for repressor to bind to DNA. We argue that much of the ion release results from the displacement of cations from the DNA, and estimate on this basis that 12 +/- 2 phosphates are involved in ionic interactions with the protein. Ion release drives the protonation reaction and the overall repressor-DNA interaction. The major role of low molecular weight ions in the repressor-DNA interaction suggests that ion concentration changes must be considered in discussing mechanisms of control of gene expression.
Achieving Our Humanity: The Idea of the Postracial Future

Title page Dedication page Preface Table of Contents Acknowledgments PART I Arguing with the Past 1. The Modern Invention of Race 2. Hume, Race, and Reason 3. Race: A Transcendental? Part II This Past Must Address its Future 4. Negritude: Der humanismus der anderen Menschen 5. Black Is, Black Ain't: African Philosophy Without a Portfolio 6. Achieving our Humanity Postscript Bibliography Index
Predictive value for the Chinese population of the Framingham CHD risk assessment tool compared with the Chinese Multi-Provincial Cohort Study.

CONTEXT The Framingham Heart Study helped to establish tools to assess coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, but the homogeneous nature of the Framingham population prevents simple extrapolation to other populations. Recalibration of Framingham functions could permit various regions of the world to adapt Framingham tools to local populations. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of the Framingham CHD risk functions, directly and after recalibration, in a large Chinese population, compared with the performance of the functions derived from the Chinese Multi-provincial Cohort Study (CMCS). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The CMCS cohort included 30 121 Chinese adults aged 35 to 64 years at baseline. Participants were recruited from 11 provinces and were followed up for new CHD events from 1992 to 2002. Participants in the Framingham Heart Study were 5251 white US residents of Framingham, Mass, who were 30 to 74 years old at baseline in 1971 to 1974 and followed up for 12 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES "Hard" CHD (coronary death and myocardial infarction) was used as the end point in comparisons of risk factors (age, blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C]) as evaluated by the CMCS functions, original Framingham functions, and recalibrated Framingham functions. RESULTS The CMCS cohort had 191 hard CHD events and 625 total deaths vs 273 CHD events and 293 deaths, respectively, for Framingham. For most risk factor categories, the relative risks for CHD were similar for Chinese and Framingham participants, with a few exceptions (ie, age, total cholesterol of 200-239 mg/dL [5.18-6.19 mmol/L], and HDL-C less than 35 mg/dL [0.91 mmol/L] in men; smoking in women). The discrimination using the Framingham functions in the CMCS cohort was similar to the CMCS functions: the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.705 for men and 0.742 for women using the Framingham functions vs 0.736 for men and 0.759 for women using the CMCS functions. However, the original Framingham functions systematically overestimated the absolute CHD risk in the CMCS cohort. For example, in the 10th risk decile in men, the predicted rate of CHD death was 20% vs an actual rate of 3%. Recalibration of the Framingham functions using the mean values of risk factors and mean CHD incidence rates of the CMCS cohort substantially improved the performance of the Framingham functions in the CMCS cohort. CONCLUSIONS The original Framingham functions overestimated the risk of CHD for CMCS participants. Recalibration of the Framingham functions improved the estimates and demonstrated that the Framingham model is useful in the Chinese population. For regions that have no established cohort, recalibration using CHD rates and risk factors may be an effective method to develop CHD risk prediction algorithms suited for local practice.
Co-production as a Tool for Realisation of Public Services

Objective: New public governance is one of the most popular paradigms in public administration management. The aim of this article is to examine the co-production of public services, which is gaining interest in many European countries, including Poland, and to find out how co-production is defined, what the reasons to pay attention to this tool are, how we can distinguish between different models of co-production and, last but not least, what the possibilities and drawbacks of introducing it into practice are. Research Design & Methods: The article is a literature review based on the most important public management journals. Findings: In conclusion, the author shows new ways of defining co-production and presents a proposal for further research strategies for the co-production of public services. Implications / Recommendations: The meaning of co-production of public services has varied over the last few years due to the fact that various new elements have emerged. Therefore there is still a huge field, to cover such as conducting research about the use of social media in the co-production of public services. Contribution / Value Added: The most recent literature review about co-production was conducted by Vooberg in 2014. As a result, this article refreshes the knowledge about it and proposes a new research agenda for the future. Article Classification: Theoretical article: original literature review. JEL classification: R50
Relativistic Hartree+Bogoliubov description of the deformed N = 28 region

Ground-state properties of neutron-rich N≈28 nuclei are described in the framework of relativistic Hartree plus Bogoliubov (RH+B) theory. The model uses the NL3 effective interaction in the mean-field Lagrangian, and describes pairing correlations by the pairing part of the finite range Gogny interaction D1S. Two-neutron separation energies and ground-state quadrupole deformations that result from fully self-consistent RH+B solutions are compared with available experimental data. The model predicts a strong suppression of the spherical N=28 shell gap for neutron-rich nuclei: the 1f7/2 fp core breaking results in deformed ground states. Shape coexistence is expected for neutron-rich Si, S, and Ar isotopes.
Evaluation of the National Urban Community Empowerment Program

The main problem in this study is the low level of community participation in the implementation of National Urban Community Empowerment Program (NUCEP) in Grobogan Regency. This can be seen from the lack of community involvement in the entire process of the activity stage. The purpose of this study was to find out how the level of community participation in the implementation of NUCEP in Grobogan Regency. This research method uses a qualitative descriptive approach. Data analysis used qualitative and tirangulasi data analysis techniques. The evaluation model used is the Context, Input, Process and Product. The evaluation results show that the implementation of NUCEP is good, the context of the implementation of NUCEP is good, the input of NUCEP is good, but the available funds are insufficient to meet community needs; the implementation process went well, at the stage of preparation for less community participation especially in the FGD on Reflections on Poverty and the Preparation of Medium-Term Planning for Poverty Reduction Programs; then the implementation of the activities went well and the products of the NUCEP activities in the form of physical activities benefited the community. Based on the evaluation results it is recommended that, the effectiveness of NUCEP needs to be increased, the NUCEP District apparatus must be more democratic and participatory in the implementation of planned programs. Community involvement must always be encouraged in all processes and stages of activities, starting from planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and in the preparation of reporting for each activity.
Phenotypic variability and heritability of the cephalic region of Caiman latirostris

The study of the cephalic shape of crocodilian is relevant in the fields of ecology, systematics, evolution, and conservation. Therefore, the integration of geometric analysis within quantitative genetics allows the evaluation of the inheritable shape components. In this study, the dorsal cephalic region of 210 Caiman latirostris hatchlings was analyzed from seven populations in Santa Fe, Argentina, to detect intra‐, and inter‐population phenotypic variability, and to determine the heritability of biological shape and size, using newly available geometric morphometric tools. The principal component analysis showed two configurations of cephalic shape that could be related to sexual dimorphism. In the canonical variate analysis, Procrustes distances between groups indicated that there are differences in shape among populations. Furthermore, the method of partial least squares indicated a covariation between cephalic shape and environmental variables. Regarding to CS of the skull we found significant differences among populations, moreover the partial least squares was also significant. Estimates of the heritability of shape and size were high, indicating that the components of these features are susceptible to the selection. J. Morphol. 277:370–378, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Inflammatory cytokines, adiponectin, insulin resistance and metabolic control after periodontal intervention in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic periodontitis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effects of periodontal intervention on inflammatory cytokines, adiponectin, insulin resistance (IR), and metabolic control and to investigate the relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and moderately poor glycemic control and chronic periodontitis. METHODS AND PATIENTS A total of 190 moderately poorly controlled (HbA1c between 7.5% and 9.5%) T2DM patients with periodontitis were randomly divided into two groups according to whether they underwent periodontal intervention: T2DM-NT and T2DM-T group. The levels of serum adiponectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), lipid profile, glucose, insulin, homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and homeostasis model assessment of β-cell function (HOMA-β) were measured at baseline and after 3 months. RESULTS The levels of clinical periodontal variables, the probing depth, attachment loss, bleeding index, and plaque index were improved significantly in T2DM-T group after 3 months compared to T2DM-NT group (all p<0.01). After 3 months, the serum levels of hsCRP, TNF-α, IL-6, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting insulin (FINS) and HOMA-IR index decreased, and adiponectin was significantly increased in T2DM-T group compared to those in the T2DM-NT group (p<0.05 or p<0.01). CONCLUSION Periodontal intervention can improve glycemic control, lipid profile and IR, reduce serum inflammatory cytokine levels and increase serum adiponectin levels in moderately poorly controlled T2DM patients.
The association of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and inadequate physical activity with overweight and obesity in school-going children and adolescents in Pakistan

Obesity in children tracks into adulthood and is associated with premature cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and premature death.1 Although the prevalence of childhood obesity is escalating in developing countries including Pakistan,2 the factors fuelling this trend have not been well studied. We conducted a survey on 339 randomly selected children and adolescents aged 11–17 years from four private schools in Karachi, Pakistan to determine the factors associated with overweight and obesity. Approval to conduct the survey was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee of the Aga Khan University. From each school, a list of all the children in the specified classes was obtained. A random selection of children …
Représentations de scènes tactiles complexes dans la boucle thalamo-corticale du système vibrissal

Lorsque le rat explore tactilement son environnement, des sequences complexes de contacts de l’ensemble des vibrisses sont generees. Afin d’etudier l’integration par le cortex somato-sensoriel primaire, de ces patterns multi-vibrissaux, nous avons developpe un outil de stimulation pouvant deflechir 24 vibrisses independamment. Cet outil nous a permis de demontrer que la structure spatiale des champs recepteurs corticaux est stimulus-dependante et peut etre modulee par la direction de deflexion des vibrisses. La reponse corticale apparait aussi dependante des proprietes globales du stimulus. En effet, nous avons observe que les neurones corticaux sont selectifs a une direction d’un mouvement apparent genere par la stimulation sequentielle des vibrisses et differant de la selectivite a la direction locale. Puisque le noyau Ventro-Postero-Median thalamique (VPM), principale source de la voie afferente au cortex, integre deja l’information multi-vibrissale, nous avons emis l'hypothese d'une contribution des mecanismes sous-corticaux dans l'integration multi-vibrissale corticale. En effet, nous avons observe que la selectivite au mouvement global est presente dans le VPM, cependant en plus faible proportion que dans le cortex. La selectivite emergerait donc au niveau de la boucle thalamo-corticale et serait amplifiee dans le cortex via la connectivite intra-corticale. En effet, nous avons observe une diminution de la selectivite globale des neurones du VPM lors de l’inactivation de la voie cortico-thalamique. L’integration multi-vibrissale serait realisee par l'action conjointe de la boucle thalamo-corticale et de la connectivite intra-corticale
GENDESC : Vers une nouvelle représentation des données textuelles

Dans cet article nous nous interessons a la classification automatique de donnees textuelles par des algorithmes d'apprentissage supervise. L'objectif est de montrer comment l'amelioration de la representation des donnees textuelles influe sur les performances des algorithmes d'apprentissage. Partant du postulat qu'un mot n'a pas un sens bien etabli sans son contexte, nous proposerons des descripteurs donnant le plus d'information possible sur le contexte des mots. Pour cela, nous avons mis au point une methode, nommee GENDESC, qui consiste a "generaliser" les mots les moins pertinents pour la classification, c'est-a-dire, a eviter le bruit semantique (souvent du a la polysemie) provoque par ces termes non ou peu pertinents. Cette generalisation s'appuie sur des informations grammaticales, telles que la categorie et la position dans la structure. La methode GENDESC a ete evaluee et adaptee a la problematique de classification de textes selon une opinion ou une thematique. (Resume d'auteur)