Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measuring Physical Impairment and Disability With the Chedoke‐McMaster Stroke Assessment

Background and Purpose The Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment measures the physical impairments and disabilities that impact on the lives of individuals with stroke. This measure has three overall purposes:1) to stage motor recovery to classify individuals in terms of clinical characteristics, 2) to predict rehabilitation outcomes, and 3) to measure clinically important change in physical function. This study was carried out to evaluate the ability of this measure to yield reliable and valid results. Methods Thirty-two subjects from a stroke rehabilitation treatment unit were assessed by research and treating physical therapists using multiple measures on multiple occasions. The measure's three purposes dictated the study objectives and design. Results Intrarater, interrater, and test-retest reliabilities of the impairment and disability inventories were estimated. Reliability coefficients for the total scores ranged from 0.97 to 0.99. Construct and concurrent validities were studied by examining the correlations between this and other measures. A priori hypothetical constructs stated that these correlations should exceed 0.60. These constructs were confirmed; the impairment inventory total score was found to correlate with the Fugl-Meyer Test (r=0.95, p< 0.001) and the disability inventory with the Functional Independence Measure (r=0.79, p< 0.05). Additional study hypotheses were also substantiated. Conclusions This study confirms that the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment yields both reliable and valid results. With the evaluation study now completed, the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment can be used with confidence as both a clinical and a research tool that can discriminate among subjects and evaluate patient outcomes.
Absence Makes the Errors Go Longer: How Leaders Inhibit Learning from Errors

Learning and innovation are increasingly important for companies to compete in a global marketplace. Leaders are often in a position to exert significant influence on employees’ learning behaviors, and may also be able to foster learning from workplace errors. This cross-sectional research investigates the relationship between employee perceptions of leadership style, mindset (fixed vs. growth), and orientation to error learning. We examine five leadership styles – authentic, transformational, transactional, laissez-faire, and aversive leadership – and view them on an extended range, from more positive (authentic, transformational, and transactional) to more negative and destructive (laissez-faire and aversive). A sample of 268 participants completed an on-line survey of their leaders’ styles, as well as their own mindsets, and their reactions to workplace errors. Results suggest that authentic and transformational leadership styles foster more employee error learning than transactional leadership, while .
Mathematical Models For The Evolution And Development Of The Cerebral Cortex In Mammals

The cellular and areal organization of the cerebral cortex impacts how it processes and integrates information. How that organization emerges and how best to characterize it has been debated for over a century. Here we demonstrate and describe in the isocortices of seven primate species a pronounced, anterior-to-posterior gradient in the density of neurons and in the number of neurons under a unit area of the cortical surface. Our findings assert that the cellular architecture of the primate isocortex is neither arranged uniformly nor into discrete patches with an arbitrary spatial arrangement. Rather, it exhibits striking systematic variation. We conjecture that these gradients, which establish the basic landscape that richer areal and cellular structure is built upon, result from developmental patterns of cortical neurogenesis which are conserved across species. Moreover, we propose a functional consequence: that the gradient in neurons per unit of cortical area fosters the integration and dimensional reduction of information along its ascent through sensory areas and towards frontal cortex. 1 This text was first published in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy under the same title with authors Diarmuid J. Cahalane, Christine J. Charvet and Barbara L. Finlay.
Cubilin- and megalin-mediated uptake of albumin in cultured proximal tubule cells of opossum kidney.

BACKGROUND Reabsorption of albumin from the glomerular filtrate occurs via receptor-mediated endocytosis in the proximal tubule. This process is initiated by binding of albumin in apical clathrin-coated pits, followed by endocytosis and degradation in lysosomes. Although binding sites have been characterized by kinetic studies, the receptors responsible for the binding of albumin have not been fully identified. Two giant glycoproteins, cubilin and megalin, constitute important endocytic receptors localized to the kidney proximal tubule. METHODS In the present study, we examined the colocalization of cubilin and megalin in the endocytic pathway and the relationship between the uptake of albumin and the expression of cubilin and megalin in opossum kidney (OK) proximal tubule cells by immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting. RESULTS OK cells expressed both cubilin and megalin. The light microscope labeling patterns for cubilin and megalin were almost identical and were mainly located at the surface area of the cells. Cubilin and megalin were also shown to colocalize on cell surface microvilli, in coated pits, and in endocytic compartments at the electron microscope level. Endocytosed bovine serum albumin (BSA) was identified exclusively in cells expressing megalin and cubilin. Uptake of BSA-FITC was saturable and inhibited by receptor-associated protein (RAP) and by intrinsic factor-vitamin B12 complex (IF-B12) at high concentrations. Significant inhibition was also observed by specific antibodies to cubilin, and megalin and cubilin antisense oligonucleotides likewise significantly reduced albumin uptake. Egg albumin did not affect the uptake of BSA. CONCLUSION The present observations suggest that the two receptors cubilin and megalin are both involved in the endocytic uptake of albumin in renal proximal tubule cells.
Active Learning for Dependency Parsing Using Partially Annotated Sentences

Current successful probabilistic parsers require large treebanks which are difficult, time consuming, and expensive to produce. Some parts of these data do not contain any useful information for training a parser. Active learning strategies allow to select the most informative samples for annotation. Most existing active learning strategies for parsing rely on selecting uncertain sentences for annotation. We show in this paper that selecting full sentences is not an optimal solution and propose a way to select only subparts of sentences.
Urban-rural differences in the nature and prevalence of mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND In the general population there are statistically significant urban-rural differences in the rate of common mental disorders. In people with intellectual disability (ID) no study has attempted to address this issue. AIMS To compare the prevalence of mental illness, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and behaviour disorder in people with ID living in urban areas with those living in rural areas. METHODS Cross-sectional study of 2713 individuals registered with an ID service. Participants were assigned to urban or rural groups using the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs rural/urban local authority classification for their district. The main outcome variable was a clinical diagnosis of mental illness, ASD and behaviour disorder. Differences between diagnoses of mental illness in urban and rural areas were evaluated using the chi-squared test for the difference in two independent proportions. RESULTS No differences were observed between gender, age and level of ID of service users based on their place of residence. But more people from an ethnic minority background were living in urban areas than rural areas. No differences were observed in the overall prevalence of mental illness by place of residence. However, the results showed that ASD was more common in people living in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS We found these results surprising and at odds with the majority of studies carried out in the general population and propose several reasons for the differences found. We believe that the results and further studies in this area will help inform health service provision for those with ID who live in different geographical areas.
Testing the Hypothesis of Multiple Origins of Holoparasitism in Orobanchaceae: Phylogenetic Evidence from the Last Two Unplaced Holoparasitic Genera, Gleadovia and Phacellanthus

Orobanchaceae is the largest family among the parasitic angiosperms. It comprises non-parasites, hemi- and holoparasites, making this family an ideal test case for studying the evolution of parasitism. Previous phylogenetic analyses showed that holoparasitism had arisen at least three times from the hemiparasitic taxa in Orobanchaceae. Until now, however, not all known genera of Orobanchaceae were investigated in detail. Among them, the unknown phylogenetic positions of the holoparasites Gleadovia and Phacellanthus are the key to testing how many times holoparasitism evolved. Here, we provide clear evidence for the first time that they are members of the tribe Orobancheae, using sequence data from multiple loci (nuclear genes ITS, PHYA, PHYB, and plastid genes rps2, matK). Gleadovia is an independent lineage whereas Phacellanthus should be merged into genus Orobanche section Orobanche. Our results unambiguously support the hypothesis that there are only three origins of holoparasitism in Orobanchaceae. Divergence dating reveals for the first time that the three origins of holoparasitism were not synchronous. Our findings suggest that holoparasitism can persist in specific clades for a long time and holoparasitism may evolve independently as an adaptation to certain hosts.
A new backoff scheme of IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks

In this paper, we have analyzed TCP packet transmission time of IEEE 802.11 MAC DCF protocol for wireless LANs a proposed enhanced backoff algorithm. It is considered the transmission time of TCP packet on the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in AWGN channel. Also, to simulate wireless LANs system, we have assumed that three stations are operated, respectively. From the results, a proposed enhanced backoff algorithm produces a better performance than an original backoff in wireless LAN environment. Also, in OFDM/QPSK (12 Mbps and 18 Mbps) channel, we can achieve that the transmission time in wireless channel decreases as the TCP packet size increases and we can infer the correlation between packet size and the transmission time, allowing for an inference of the optimal packet size in the TCP layer
Frequency weighted model reduction using square-root balanced approach

In this paper, we propose a new frequency weighted order reduction algorithm which is an extension of Sreeram's technique [13] in conjunction with square-root balanced truncation [1]. The resulting reduced order models are stable for input, output and double sided weighting functions. A numerical example is incorporated to validate the proposed algorithm which shows the effectiveness over existing techniques.
Model-based Estimation of Texels and Placement Grids for Fast Realistic Texture Synthesis

This paper describes the basic steps of a new technique, called bunch sampling, that enables the realistic synthesis of spatially homogeneous textures. A geometric shape of the bunch (acting as a texel) and spatial placement grid governing relative positions of the bunches are estimated from the training texture by using a generic Gibbs random field texture model with multiple pairwise pixel interactions. During the synthesis, the bunches are randomly sampled from the training texture and placed into the large-size goal image with due account of their spatial interdependence.
Credit Risk and the Macroeconomy

We construct a new credit spread index, employing an extensive micro-level data set of secondary market prices of outstanding senior unsecured bonds over the 1973– 2009 period. Compared with the standard default-risk indicators such as the Baa-Aaa corporate bond spread and the paper-bill spread, our credit spread index is a robust predictor of future economic activity across a variety of economic indicators, sample periods, and forecast horizons. Using a flexible empirical bond-pricing framework, we decompose our credit spread index into a predictable component that captures the available firm-specific information on default risk and a residual component—the so-called excess bond premium. The results indicate that a substantial portion of the predictive content of our credit spread index for economic activity is attributable to the excess bond premium. Indeed, in the post-1985 period, the excess bond premium accounts for all of the predictive content of our credit spread index. Shocks to the excess bond premium that are orthogonal to current economic activity, the information contained in the term structure of interest rates, and news embedded in the stock market returns are shown to cause economically and statistically significant declines in consumption, investment, and output. Overall, our findings are consistent with the notion that an increase in the excess bond premium reflects a reduction in the risk appetite of the financial sector and, as a result, a contraction in the supply of credit, which has significant adverse consequences for economic outcomes. JEL Classification: E32, E44, G28
Regulation of Long-Term Depression and Climbing Fiber Territory by Glutamate Receptor δ2 at Parallel Fiber Synapses through its C-Terminal Domain in Cerebellar Purkinje Cells

Glutamate receptor (GluR) δ2 selectively expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) plays key roles in long-term depression (LTD) induction at parallel fiber (PF)–PC synapses, motor learning, the matching and connection of PF–PC synapses in developing and adult cerebella, the elimination of multiple climbing fibers (CFs) during development, and the regulation of CF territory on PCs. However, it remains unsolved how GluRδ2 regulates cerebellar synaptic plasticity, PF–PC synapse formation, and CF wiring. One possible signaling mechanism through GluRδ2 is signaling by protein–protein interactions. The C-terminal region of GluRδ2 contains at least three domains for protein–protein interactions. The PDZ (postsynaptic density-95/Discs large/zona occludens 1)-binding domain at the C terminal, named as the T site, interacts with several postsynaptic density proteins. Here, we generated GluRδ2ΔT mice carrying mutant GluRδ2 lacking the T site. There were no significant differences in the amount of receptor proteins at synapses, histological features, and the fine structures of PF–PC synapses between wild-type and GluRδ2ΔT mice. However, LTD induction at PF–PC synapses and improvement in the accelerating rotarod test were impaired in GluRδ2ΔT mice. Furthermore, CF territory expanded distally and ectopic innervation of CFs occurred at distal dendrites in GluRδ2ΔT mice, but the elimination of surplus CF innervation at proximal dendrites appeared to proceed normally. These results suggest that the C-terminal T site of GluRδ2 is essential for LTD induction and the regulation of CF territory but is dispensable for PF–PC synapse formation and the elimination of surplus CFs at proximal dendrites during development.
Designing data marts for data warehouses

Data warehouses are databases devoted to analytical processing. They are used to support decision-making activities in most modern business settings, when complex data sets have to be studied and analyzed. The technology for analytical processing assumes that data are presented in the form of simple data marts, consisting of a well-identified collection of facts and data analysis dimensions (star schema). Despite the wide diffusion of data warehouse technology and concepts, we still miss methods that help and guide the designer in identifying and extracting such data marts out of an enterprisewide information system, covering the upstream, requirement-driven stages of the design process. Many existing methods and tools support the activities related to the efficient implementation of data marts on top of specialized technology (such as the ROLAP or MOLAP data servers). This paper presents a method to support the identification and design of data marts. The method is based on three basic steps. A first top-down step makes it possible to elicit and consolidate user requirements and expectations. This is accomplished by exploiting a goal-oriented process based on the Goal/Question/Metric paradigm developed at the University of Maryland. Ideal data marts are derived from user requirements. The second bottom-up step extracts candidate data marts
A Chemical Proteomics Approach for the Identification of Accessible Antigens Expressed in Human Kidney Cancer*S

A promising avenue toward the development of more selective anticancer drugs consists in the targeted delivery of bioactive molecules to the tumor environment by means of binding molecules specific to tumor-associated markers. We have used a chemical proteomics approach based on the ex vivo perfusion and biotinylation of accessible structures within surgically resected human kidneys with tumor to gain information about accessible and abundant antigens that are overexpressed in human cancer. This procedure led to the selective labeling with biotin of vascular structures. Biotinylated proteins were purified on streptavidin resin and identified using mass spectrometric methodologies, revealing 637 proteins, 184 of which were only found in tumor specimens and 223 of which were only found in portions of normal kidneys. Immunohistochemical and PCR analysis confirmed that several of the putative cancer antigens identified in this study are indeed preferentially expressed in tumors. In conclusion, we have developed a methodology that allows the identification of accessible biomarkers in human tissues. The tumor-associated antigens identified in this study may be suitable targets for antibody-based anticancer therapies. The experimental approach described here should be applicable to other surgical specimens and to other pathologies as well as to the study of basic physiological and immunological processes.
The influence of sports on Jacques Lecoq's actor training

This article seeks to examine the extent to which Jacques Lecoq's early experiences of sports, athletics and gymnastics informed his later work as an internationally influential specialist in movement-based theatre training. Although his experiences as a sports coach and therapist have been acknowledged, there has been little work to explore the extent to which these experiences, and the principles and values Lecoq may have acquired during them, have shaped his teaching and the structure and nature of the pedagogy at his school. The article begins with a review of Lecoq's own sports training and the critical influences on his early development as a sports coach and therapist. It then looks both at specific sports-related exercises that Lecoq used within his movement analysis sessions, and also at the overall structure of the school's training (the typical pattern of the classes, the classroom ethos, the integration of group/team activities, the nature of Lecoq's concept of ‘play’, and the development from exercise to dramatic genre). The article draws on personal experience as a student with Lecoq in the early 1980s, as well as writings on his work by recent commentators and by Lecoq himself.
In Vivo Evolution of a Novel, Syncytium-Inducing and Cytopathic Feline Leukemia Virus Variant

ABSTRACT Studies of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) have illustrated the importance of the genotype of the infecting virus in determining disease outcome. In FeLV infections, as in other retroviral infections, it is less clear how virus variants that evolve from the transmitted virus affect pathogenesis. We previously reported an analysis of the genotypic changes that occur in the viral envelope gene (env) in cats infected with a prototype transmissible FeLV clone, 61E (J. Rohn, M. Linenberger, E. Hoover, and J. Overbaugh, J. Virol. 68:2458–2467, 1994). In one cat, each variant (81T) had evolved, in addition to scattered amino acid changes, a four-amino-acid insertion with respect to 61E. This insertion was located at the same site in the extracellular envelope glycoprotein where the immunodeficiency-inducing molecular clone 61C possesses a six-amino-acid insertion critical for its pathogenic phenotype, although the sequences of the insertions were distinct. To determine whether acquisition of the four-amino-acid insertion was associated with a change in the replication or cytopathic properties of the virus, we constructed chimeras encoding 81T env genes in a 61E background. One representative chimeric virus, EET(TE)-109, was highly cytopathic despite the fact that it replicated with delayed kinetics in the feline T-cell line 3201 compared to the parental 61E virus. The phenotype of this virus was also novel compared to other FeLVs, including both the parental virus 61E and the immunodeficiency-inducing variant 61C, because infection of T cells was associated with syncytium formation. Moreover, in single-cycle infection assays, the 81T-109 envelope demonstrated receptor usage properties distinct from those of both 61E and 61C envelope. Thus, these studies demonstrate the evolution of a novel T-cell cytopathic and syncytium-inducing FeLV in the host. The 81T virus will be valuable for dissecting the mechanism of T-cell killing by cytopathic variants in the FeLV model.
SMDP-Based Radio Resource Allocation Scheme in Software-Defined Internet of Things Networks

With rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT), various machine-to-machine communications technologies have emerged in recent years to provide ubiquitous wireless connections for a massive number of IoT devices. This poses significant challenges to network control and management of large-scale IoT networks. Software-defined networking (SDN) is considered a promising technology to streamline network management due to dynamic reconfigurable network elements. Thus, the integration of SDN and IoT provides a potentially feasible solution to strengthening management and control capabilities of the IoT network. Benefit from the SDN technology, resource utilization in the IoT network can be further enhanced. In this paper, we first propose a software-defined network architecture for IoT. Then, the resource allocation problem in the proposed SDN-based IoT network is investigated. The optimal problem of maximizing the expected average rewards of the network is formulated as a semi-Markov decision process (SMDP). The optimal solution is obtained through solving the SMDP problem using a relative value iteration algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed resource allocation scheme is able to improve the system rewards compared with other comparative resource allocation schemes.