Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Morphological awareness and visual processing of derivational morphology in high-functioning adults with dyslexia: An avenue to compensation?

ABSTRACT This study examined the processing of derivational morphology and its association with measures of morphological awareness and literacy outcomes in 30 Dutch-speaking high-functioning dyslexics, and 30 controls, matched for age and reading comprehension. A masked priming experiment was conducted where the semantic overlap between morphologically related pairs was manipulated as part of a lexical decision task. Measures of morphological awareness were assessed using a specifically designed sentence completion task. Significant priming effects were found in each group, yet adults with dyslexia were found to benefit more from the morphological structure than the controls. Adults with dyslexia were found to be influenced by both form (morpho-orthographic) and meaning (morphosemantic) properties of morphemes while controls were mainly influenced by morphosemantic properties. The reports suggest that morphological processing is intact in high-functioning dyslexics and a strength when compared to controls matched for reading comprehension and age. Thus, reports support morphological processing as a potential factor in the reading compensation of adults with dyslexia. However, adults with dyslexia performed significantly worse than controls on morphological awareness measures.
Product differentiation, voluntary export restraints, and profits

Using a duopoly model of product differentiation with consistent conjectures, we show that, compared with the free-trade equilibrium, voluntary export restraints improve the profits of both the foreign firm and the home firm in both quantity and price competition. The changes in profits of the foreign firm depend on the degree of product differentiation and the nature of competition.
Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentrations in lean and overweight children and adolescents.

CONTEXT Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor appear to be important components of the leptin-signaling cascade involved in energy homeostasis, and mice with BDNF or TrkB gene haploinsufficiency have excessive adiposity. Little is known about the relationship between adiposity and BDNF, particularly in children. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to study the association of serum BDNF with measures of adiposity in children. DESIGN/SETTING/PATIENTS BDNF was determined by a sandwich-type ELISA after an overnight fast in convenience sample of 328 subjects, aged 3-19 yr enriched for extreme obesity. In 43, BDNF was also measured before, and again 1 h after, consuming a high-energy content (787 kcal) milkshake. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Measures included associations between BDNF and measures of adiposity. RESULTS There were no significant univariate associations between log BDNF and adiposity measured by body mass index (BMI), BMI-Z score, or fat mass. However, in an analysis of covariance accounting for age, sex, race, pubertal status, and platelet count, BDNF was lower in overweight children (mean +/- sd, 39.8 +/- 24.8 vs. 47.0 +/- 25.4 ng/dl, P = 0.03); in multiple regression analyses with log BDNF as the dependent variable, BMI (P = 0.03), BMI-Z (P = 0.01), and body fat (P < 0.02) were all negatively associated with BDNF once age, pubertal status, and platelet count were included in the model. Ingestion of a meal did not significantly alter serum BDNF 1 h later (P = 0.26). CONCLUSIONS Serum BDNF is lower in extremely overweight children and adolescents than those of normal weight. It remains to be determined whether obese individuals with low serum BDNF for age and platelet count have mutations that alter BDNF function.
Viability of Traditional Banking Activities: Evidence from Shifts in Conduct and Excess Capacity

This paper applies modem statistical techniques to estimate levels and shifts of market conduct and aggregate excess capacity in the provision of traditional US banking products such as loans and demand deposits. A variety of models indicate that loans are competitively supplied, with no obvious excess capacity as defined. Some models indicate an anticompetitive shift in demand deposits after 1984, but other evidence suggests that this result may be an artifact attributable to the growth of NOW accounts, MMDAs, and the like. All results suggest that the current levels of these services can be profitably sustained under current market conditions.
Joint MMSE Transceiver Design in Non-Regenerative MIMO Relay Systems

In this letter, we address the problem of transceiver design in a non-regenerative MIMO relay system, where linear processing is applied at both the relay and destination to jointly minimize the mean-squared error (MSE) of symbol estimations. Under average power constraint at the relay station, we show that the optimal relay-precoder always loads power across channel eigenvectors and then decomposes the equivalent MIMO channel into a set of parallel SISO channels. Simulation results demonstrate that our method outperforms other relaying schemes in terms of both BER and MSE.
Hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.42/6:1 for perioperative plasma volume replacement in children: preliminary results of a European prospective multicenter observational postauthorization safety study (PASS)

Background: Several clinical studies have shown that hydroxyethyl starch (HES) may be as effective and safe as, but less expensive than, albumin when used for perioperative plasma volume replacement (PVR) in children. The new third generation HES 130/0.42 solution was designed to reduce adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and improve safety while maintaining efficacy. Therefore, the objective of this prospective multicenter observational postauthorization safety study (PASS) was to evaluate the perioperative use of HES 130/0.42 in 1000 children with a particular focus on possible ADRs.
Clinical and Molecular Epidemiological Features of Coronavirus HKU1–Associated Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Abstract BackgroundRecently, we described the discovery of a novel group 2 coronavirus, coronavirus HKU1 (CoV-HKU1), from a patient with pneumonia. However, the clinical and molecular epidemiological features of CoV-HKU1–associated pneumonia are unknown MethodsProspectively collected (during a 12-month period) nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) from patients with community-acquired pneumonia from 4 hospitals were subjected to reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, for detection of CoV-HKU1. The epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of patients with CoV-HKU1–associated pneumonia were analyzed. The pol spike (S), and nucleocapsid (N) genes were also sequenced ResultsNPAs from 10 (2.4%) of 418 patients with community-acquired pneumonia were found to be positive for CoV-HKU1. All 10 cases occurred in spring and winter. Nine of these patients were adults, and 4 had underlying diseases of the respiratory tract. In the 6 patients from whom serum samples were available, all had a 4-fold change in immunoglobulin (Ig) G titer and/or presence of IgM against CoV-HKU1. The 2 patients who died had significantly lower hemoglobin levels, monocyte counts, albumin levels, and oxygen saturation levels on admission and had more-extensive involvement visible on chest radiographs. Sequence analysis of the pol S, and N genes revealed 2 genotypes of CoV-HKU1 ConclusionsCoV-HKU1 accounts for 2.4% of community-acquired pneumonia, with 2 genotypes in the study population. Without performance of diagnostic tests, the illness was clinically indistinguishable from other community-acquired pneumonia illnesses
Academic Performance, Parental Income, and the Choice to Leave School at Age Sixteen

A general international observation is that adolescents from disadvantaged families are more likely to leave school at age 16. In this paper we extend the literature on school-leaving decisions by using a new and extensive panel data set from New Zealand; and by examining the effect of family income, and personal and environmental characteristics since childhood on both academic performance and subsequent schooling choices. Results obtained from single equations and joint estimation, allowing for possible endogeneity of academic performance, reveal the importance of the role of academic performance in models of demand for education. Several factors that are at work for a long time, such as household income at different points in time, influence the schoolleaving decision through academic performance. These results point to the role that stimulating academic performance may play in breaking cycles of disadvantage.
Six-Month-Old Infants' Perception of the Hollow Face Illusion: Evidence for a General Convexity Bias

Corrow, Granrud, Mathison, and Yonas (2011, Perception, 40, 1376–1383) found evidence that 6-month-old infants perceive the hollow face illusion. In the present study we asked whether 6-month-old infants perceive illusory depth reversal for a nonface object and whether infants' perception of the hollow face illusion is affected by mask orientation inversion. In experiment 1 infants viewed a concave bowl, and their reaches were recorded under monocular and binocular viewing conditions. Infants reached to the bowl as if it were convex significantly more often in the monocular than in the binocular viewing condition. These results suggest that infants perceive illusory depth reversal with a nonface stimulus and that the infant visual system has a bias to perceive objects as convex. Infants in experiment 2 viewed a concave face-like mask in upright and inverted orientations. Infants reached to the display as if it were convex more in the monocular than in the binocular condition; however, mask orientation had no effect on reaching. Previous findings that adults' perception of the hollow face illusion is affected by mask orientation inversion have been interpreted as evidence of stored-knowledge influences on perception. However, we found no evidence of such influences in infants, suggesting that their perception of this illusion may not be affected by stored knowledge, and that perceived depth reversal is not face-specific in infants.
The reliability-enhanced wireless networks through BATS codes

Network coding (NC) is a promising method used to achieve the channel capacity and enhance the reliability of multicast networks. However, the general wireless multicast networks based on NC are facing big problems such as long delays and large computational complexities. We propose a multicast network based on Batched sparse (BATS) codes which can efficiently solve these problems. Since fountain codes can also improve the reliability of wireless networks. We thoroughly compare the performance of BATS codes with that of fountain codes under our proposed networks. Simulation findings indicate that the proposed scheme results in much less transmission delay with minor complexity loss compared to fountain codes. Through analysis and simulation, we demonstrate that BATS codes perform much better than digital fountain codes in the aspects of throughput and overhead at the transmitter. It is also further shown that BATS codes are more robust against high packet loss.
Phospholipid Scramblase 1 Contains a Nonclassical Nuclear Localization Signal with Unique Binding Site in Importin α*

Nuclear import of proteins containing a classical nuclear localization signal (NLS) is an energy-dependent process that requires the heterodimer importin α/β. Three to six basic contiguous arginine/lysine residues characterize a classical NLS and are thought to form a basic patch on the surface of the import cargo. In this study, we have characterized the NLS of phospholipid scramblase 1 (PLSCR1), a lipid-binding protein that enters the nucleus via the nonclassical NLS 257GKISKHWTGI266. This import sequence lacks a contiguous stretch of positively charged residues, and it is enriched in hydrophobic residues. We have determined the 2.2 Å crystal structure of a complex between the PLSCR1 NLS and the armadillo repeat core of vertebrate importin α. Our crystallographic analysis reveals that PLSCR1 NLS binds to armadillo repeats 1–4 of importin α, but its interaction partially overlaps the classical NLS binding site. Two PLSCR1 lysines occupy the canonical positions indicated as P2 and P5. Moreover, we present in vivo evidence that the critical lysine at position P2, which is essential in other known NLS sequences, is dispensable in PLSCR1 NLS. Taken together, these data provide insight into a novel nuclear localization signal that presents a distinct motif for binding to importin α.
Extraordinary intraspecific diversity in oyster sperm bindin

In free-spawning invertebrates sperm–egg incompatibility is a barrier to mating between species, and divergence of gamete recognition proteins (GRPs) can result in reproductive isolation. Of interest are processes that create reproductive protein diversity within species, because intraspecific variants are potentially involved in mate choice and early speciation. Sperm acrosomes of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas contain the protein bindin that bonds sperm to egg during fertilization. Oyster bindin is a single-copy gene encoding a diversity of protein variants. Oyster bindins have a conserved N-terminal region followed by one to five tandem fucose-binding lectin (F-lectin) domains. These repeats have diversified by positive selection at eight sites clustered on the F-lectin's fucose binding face. Additional bindin variants result from recombination in an intron in each F-lectin repeat. Males also express alternatively spliced bindin cDNAs with one to five repeats, but typically translate only one or two isoforms into protein. Thus, positive selection, alternative splicing, and recombination can create thousands of bindin variants within C. gigas. Models of sexual conflict predict high male diversity when females are diverse and sexual conflict is strong. The amount of intraspecific polymorphism in male GRPs may be a consequence of the relative efficiency of local (molecular recognition) and global (electrical, cortical, and physical) polyspermy blocks that operate during fertilization.
Dominant and Complementary Multi-Emotional Facial Expression Recognition Using C-Support Vector Classification

We are proposing a new facial expression recognition model which introduces 30+ detailed facial expressions recognisable by any artificial intelligence interacting with a human. Throughout this research, we introduce two categories for the emotions, namely, dominant emotions and complementary emotions. In this research paper the complementary emotion is recognised by using the eye region if the dominant emotion is angry, fearful or sad, and if the dominant emotion is disgust or happiness the complementary emotion is mainly conveyed by the mouth. In order to verify the tagged dominant and complementary emotions, randomly chosen people voted for the recognised multi-emotional facial expressions. The average results of voting are showing that 73.88% of the voters agree on the correctness of the recognised multi-emotional facial expressions.
Increased expression of serum amyloid A in glaucoma and its effect on intraocular pressure.

PURPOSE To search for and validate potential molecular pathogenic mechanisms in the trabecular meshwork (TM) responsible for the elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) associated with glaucoma. METHODS Gene chip arrays were used to identify differential gene expression in glaucomatous TM tissues. Serum amyloid A (SAA) upregulation was subsequently confirmed with quantitative PCR (QPCR) and ELISA. The effect of SAA on gene expression of cultured human TM cells was tested with gene chip arrays and verified with ELISA, and its effect on IOP was evaluated in the human ocular perfusion organ culture. RESULTS Microarray analysis showed that the expression of SAA2 was increased in TM tissues from donors with glaucoma. This finding was subsequently confirmed by QPCR. The SAA mRNA levels were increased in glaucoma TM tissues by more than 5-fold (P < 0.05) and in cultured TM cells derived from donors with glaucoma by 25-fold (P < 0.05) compared with controls. SAA protein levels in the TM of glaucoma patients were also significantly (P < 0.05) elevated by 2.9-fold. Treatment of cultured human TM cells with recombinant SAA affected gene expression, including a 22-fold up-regulation of interleukin-8 (P < 0.001). SAA increased IOP by approximately 40% (P < 0.05) in the human ocular perfusion organ culture without any observable changes in the morphology of the tissues involved in aqueous outflow. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that SAA, which is an acute-phase apolipoprotein that plays important roles in infection, inflammation, and tissue repair, may contribute to the pathogenic changes to the TM in glaucoma.
Binding and aggregation of the 25-kilodalton toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis to cell membranes and alteration by monoclonal antibodies and amino acid modifiers

The 25-kilodalton toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis binds irreversibly to Aedes albopictus cells, Choristoneura fumiferana cells, and erythrocytes. The binding to cells increased with both toxin concentration and time and when the cells were first preincubated with unlabeled toxin. Binding data indicated a two- to threefold increase in the rate of binding after the amount of the membrane-bound toxin reached approximately 3.5 fmol/3 x 10(5) A. albopictus cells or 3.3. fmol/2 x 10(5) C. fumiferana cells. When this level of bound toxin was reached, the toxins also began forming aggregates at the cell membrane. The toxin aggregates were extracted with 10% Triton X-100 and separated from the monomers with a 5 to 20% sucrose density gradient. The toxin aggregates isolated from A. albopictus and C. fumiferana cell membranes were ca. 400 kilodaltons, while those isolated from human erythrocytes were significantly smaller. The proportion of the toxin found in aggregate form increased rapidly with the amount of toxin bound; however, the molecular size of the aggregates remained constant. Eleven monoclonal antibodies raised against the native form of the toxin blocked 80 to 97% of the toxin binding to cells. The epitope of one of these monoclonal antibodies was mapped to a domain which included the cysteine, suggesting the importance of the domain around this amino acid to binding. Toxin binding and cell lysis were also inhibited by treating the toxin with HgCl2, further indicating the importance of the C-terminal hydrophobic cysteine-containing domain in cytolytic activity of the 25-kilodalton protein.
Strategic Informed Trading and the Market Reaction to Earnings Announcements

We show that strategic informed trading that arises from information asymmetry (i.e., the difference in the precision of information) between the liquidity demander and the liquidity provider results in underreaction to earnings announcements. The price impact of a trade increases with the precision of the information used exclusively by the liquidity demander, but decreases with the precision of the information used by the liquidity demander and provider. The post-earnings announcement drift increases with both the price impact of a trade and the squared correlation coefficient between order imbalance and earnings surprise. We discuss several testable implications of our analytical results.
The Impact of R&D Intensity on Demand for Specialist Auditor Services

The audit fee research literature argues that auditors' costs of developing brand name reputations, including top tier designation and recognition for industry specialization, are compensated through audit fee premiums. Audited firms seek to reduce agency costs by engaging high quality auditors who will monitor the levels and reporting of discretionary expenditures and accruals. In this study we examine whether specialist auditor choice is associated with a particular discretionary expenditure, research and development (R&D). For a large sample of US companies from a range of industries, we find strong evidence that R&D intensity is positively associated with firms' choices of auditors who specialize in auditing R&D contracts. Additionally, we find that R&D intensive firms tend to appoint top tier auditors. We use simultaneous equations to control for interrelationships between dependent variables in addition to single equation OLS and logistic regression models. Our results are particularly strong in tests using samples of small firms whose auditor choice is not constrained by the need to appoint a top tier auditor to ensure the auditor's financial independence of the client.
Affirmative Action in Municipal Government: Anatomy of a Failure

This article assesses reform of employment practices in a moderate-sized university community. It suggests that cultural barriers to affirmative action may be much more significant than any other barriers, especially when the longer-term implementation is considered. Overcoming cultural barriers to reform will require much stronger links to women and minority constituencies and aggressive management-council-community relationships.
The Changing Malaysian Financial Environment and the Effects on Its Monetary Policy Transmission Mechanism

In recent times, economists concur that economy's response to monetary policy is somewhat weaker then they were in the past. However, the cause of such change remains an open issue. One plausible reason for this change could be attributed to the financial reform processes that have brought significant structural changes in the financial systems through financial innovation, integration and market development. As a result, these changes in the financial systems have prompted a reassessment of the transmission mechanism through which monetary policy affects the final variables of income and prices. In the Malaysian experience, major reforms were undertaken in the 90s that have opened up new avenues and opportunities for its financial market development. However, the changing financial environment posed great challenge to Bank Negara in the formulation and implementation of its monetary policy. This paper investigates to what extent the liberalisation processes in Malaysia have affected the transmission channels of monetary policy and their ability to achieve the ultimate goals of sustainable real income growth and price stability. The Johansen co-integrating technique and the error correction model is used to analyse the long run and the short run properties of the financial variables such as monetary aggregates, credit aggregates and interest rates with respect to ultimate goal variables. The empirical findings suggest that the credit and monetary aggregates are no longer reliable as the main intermediate target. Conversely, interest rates seem to have gained a significant role in the post reform period