Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for progression in frontal cortical pathology in late‐stage Huntington's disease

Atrophy of the cerebral cortex in Huntington's disease is regionally heterogeneous and progressive, involving the entire cerebral mantle in terminal stages. Here, two areas (9 and 46) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were analyzed in 11 late‐stage (grades 3 or 4) Huntington's diseased patients and 8 normal control subjects. We used a 3‐dimensional cell counting method to assess laminar cell density, number, and width. Reductions in overall cortical thickness in areas 9 (26%) and 46 (23%) were comparable. Area 9 exhibited loss of projection neurons in layers III (16%), V (31%), and VI (37%); these same layers were also reduced in width (25%, 34%, and 46%, respectively). In area 46, reductions in cortical width in layers II (18%) and VI (35%) were not accompanied by neuronal loss. Glial density was increased in deeper layers, reaching significance in layer VI (68%) of area 9 and in layer V (75%) of area 46; glial number was not altered. Thus, area 46 exhibited marked cortical thinning without apparent neuronal degeneration, whereas in area 9 neuronal loss was pronounced, consistent with an advanced phase of cortical pathology. Prominent involvement of corticothalamic neurons is discussed in the context of striatal loop circuitry and a possible pathologic cascade of cortical degeneration. J. Comp. Neurol. 468:190–204, 2004. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Effect of Noise on Sofware Engineers' Performance

Background: Noise, defined as an unwanted sound, is one of the commonest factors that could affect people's performance in their daily work activities. The software engineering research community has marginally investigated the effects of noise on software engineers' performance. Aims: We studied if noise affects software engineers' performance in (i) comprehending functional requirements and (ii) fixing faults in the source code. Method: We conducted two experiments with final-year undergraduate students in Computer Science. In the first experiment, we asked 55 students to comprehend functional requirements exposing them or not to noise, while in the second experiment 42 students were asked to fix faults in Java code. Results: The participants in the second experiment, when exposed to noise, had significantly worse performance in fixing faults in the source code. On the other hand, we did not observe any statistically significant difference in the first experiment. Conclusions: Fixing faults in source code seems to be more vulnerable to noise than comprehending functional requirements.
Dynamic prognostication using conditional survival estimates

Measures of prognosis are typically estimated from the time of diagnosis. However, these estimates become less relevant as the time from diagnosis increases for a patient. Conditional survival measures the probability that a cancer patient will survive some additional number of years, given that the patient has already survived for a certain number of years. In the current study, the authors analyzed data regarding patients with stage III melanoma to demonstrate that survival estimates from the time of diagnosis underestimate long‐term survival as the patient is followed over time. The probability of surviving to year 5 for patients at the time of presentation compared with patients who had already survived for 4 years increased from 72% to 95%, 48% to 90%, and 29% to 86%, respectively, for patients with substage IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC disease. Considering the major role played by survival estimates during follow‐up in patient counseling and the development of survivorship programs, the authors strongly recommend the routine use of conditional survival estimates. Cancer 2013;119:3589–3592. © 2013 American Cancer Society.
Applications of Ecosystem Patterns

—This article discusses the origins of natural ecosystem patterns from global to local scales. It describes how understanding these patterns can help scientists and managers in two ways. First, the local systems are shown within the context of larger systems. This perspective can be applied in assessing the connections between action at one scale and effect at another, the spatial transferability of models, and the links between terrestrial and aquatic systems. Second, scientists and managers can benefit because they gain information about the geographic patterns in ecosystems. Consequently, they are in a better position to design sampling networks, transfer knowledge, and analyze ecosystem diversity. The usefulness of multiscale analysis of ecosystem patterns suggests new scientific directions for research and points the way for restructuring the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture research programs.
Optimal Coverage and Connectivity Control Based on Associated Target in WSN

Coverage under certain conditions, with minimum sensor nodes to complete the coverage area and connectivity in wireless sensor networks has become a challenging one with the core issues. To this end, we propose a target associated with optimal coverage and connectivity control method using a double square to the target node within the planning area within the square, correlation model obtained by the sensor node and the destination node, for the entire coverage area is the use of probability determined to meet the minimum expectations of sensor nodes under cover conditions, and gives a probability model and the reasoning process connectivity square area outside edge node. Experimental results show that the error theoretical values with the simulation results of the method is less than 7.02%, to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm, reducing the allocation of network resources, you can better assess the performance of network coverage and connectivity.
Drug Screening to Treat Early-Onset Eye Diseases: Can Zebrafish Expedite the Discovery?

AbstractThe molecular basis of many early-onset eye diseases has been uncovered, but the number of available drug treatments for improving deteriorated vision is still scarce. Consequently, there is a high demand for new drugs to treat these diseases. This review first provides a brief synopsis of the use of zebrafish model for screening drugs with vision benefits. In particular, visual-motor response, the activity response of larvae to a change in light stimuli, is proposed to serve as a simple and efficient tool for screening drugs that may improve vision in various zebrafish visual mutants. The second part of the review discusses the identification of novel drug candidates, with particular emphasis on naturally derived chemicals including traditional Chinese medicines and nutritional therapies on retinal degenerative diseases. Many of these chemicals have been used in neuroprotection and/or have been consumed by many populations for good health and vision; thus, the screening of these chemicals with various zebrafish visual mutants would expedite the development of novel drugs for treating early-onset eye diseases.
NUMERICAL STUDY ON MIXED CONVECTION AND THERMAL STREAKING IN POWER TRANSFORMER

The flow and temperature distribution in oil-guided disc windings of power transformers is characterized by mixed convection. In this investigation a two-dimensional CFD model has been used in order to study the flow distribution between parallel cooling ducts, and the results are compared with results obtained for forced convection, i.e. when buoyancy is neglected. The buoyancy term in the model has a significant influence on the flow distribution, and for some cases also the magnitude of the hot spot temperature of the winding is influenced. When the coolant is a high Prandtl number fluid, hot streaks from the outlets of horizontal ducts can impact the temperature distribution in the discs further downstream; however a fine discretization is needed to capture this effect.
A Study of Cross-Cultural Decision- Making Processes in M&A’s

Introduction Decision making is a process that managers have to face, of opening up to explore the possible options and then narrowing down on solutions. If managers are familiarized to cross-culture management and effective decision-making, it can enable smoother work place relationship within and across the border M&A. Therefore this paper studies influence on a Swedish company‟s decisions making in a cross-cultural acquisition from an Austrian Company. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to study the influence of cross-cultural implications on Decision-making in a Swedish M&A. Method We followed qualitative research and conducted semi-structured interviews with open ended questionnaires to collect empirical data to serve the purpose of this thesis. The study includes fourteen interviews which were carried out in a firm based in Sweden, following purposeful sampling. Conclusion The analysis helped us in finding that work behavior and unique perceptions pertaining to a culture, results in cultural disparity. And this affects the communication and interaction between the firms in M&A. Knowing this, the decision-making process is affected mostly at the tactical decision-making level compared to operational level.
POULTRY SUPPLY CHAIN : A SYSTEM APPROACH

Supply chains of individual farms linked with final market via intermediate companies are becoming a normal business phenomenon. Yet at present, it is not clear how such supply chain networks can achieve stability/sustainability in terms of structured network to gain benefits, meeting demand and supply and achieving highest productivity. This quantitative study investigates these questions using a production process simulation model of a poultry parent stock farm and its forward and reverse chains. The model was developed in a system dynamics simulation environment using a design science methodology. Model analysis shows that intricate poultry supply chains behave inconsistently over time to meet market demands. This paper also focuses on poultry unused wastages. The objectives of this study are to find out social, economic and environmental benefits through forward and reverse poultry supply chains.
Sirolimus‐ and paclitaxel‐eluting stents in comparison with balloon angioplasty for treatment of in‐stent restenosis

This study evaluated the acute and follow‐up effectiveness of sirolimus‐eluting stents (SESs) and nonpolymer‐based paclitaxel‐eluting stents (PESs) in comparison will balloon angioplasty for treatment of complex in‐stent restenosis (ISR) lesions. Drug‐eluting stents have been demonstrated to be highly effective for treatment of de novo lesions. The use of drug‐eluting stents for treatment of complex ISR is less well defined. Eighty one lesions with in‐stent restenosis (lesion length < 30 mm in a native coronary artery) were treated with either PTCA alone (n = 26 lesions in 25 patients), PES (n = 27 lesions in 24 patients; Achieve, Cook; 3,1 μg paclitaxel/mm2 nonpolymer‐based coating), SES (n = 28 lesions in 28 patients; Cypher, Cordis; 140 μg sirolimus/cm2 metal surface area). Nine‐month MACE rates were 32%, 8%, and 14% (all due to repeated revascularization procedures, except one death in the SES group) in the PTCA, PES, and SES group, respectively. Postintervention minimal lumen diameter in stent was significantly greater in the SES and the PES group in comparison with the PTCA group (2.37 ± 0.26, 2.54 ± 0.42, 1.78 ± 0.23 mm; P < 0.001). At 6‐month angiographic follow‐up, late loss in stent was 0.77 ± 0.45, 0.43 ± 0.53, and 0.29 ± 0.52 mm for the PTCA, PES, and SES group, respectively (P = 0.005). In‐lesion restenosis rate was 61% for the PTCA group, 20% for the PES group, and 13% for the SES group (P = 0.042). The implantation of SES as well as nonpolymer PES proved to be effective for treatment of ISR. The combination of improved acute gain and reduced late loss results in a significantly improved angiographic follow‐up result in comparison with PTCA. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2005;64:28–34. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A BUMP OR A HOLE ? AN EXPERIMENT ON TEMPORAL ASPECTS IN THE RECOGNITION OF FOOTSTEPS SOUNDS

In this paper, we present a preliminary experiment whose goal is to assess the role of temporal aspects in sonically simulating the act of walking on a bump or a hole. In particular, we investigate whether the timing between heel and toe and the timing between footsteps affects the perception of walking on unflat surfaces. Results show that it is possible to simulate a bump or a hole by only using temporal information in the auditory modality.
PHYSIOLOGY – Effects of playing surface in football activity

38 INTRODUCTION With the continued popularity and prevalence of football turf surfaces, it is essential that we understand the potential differences in players’ responses to football turf compared to traditional grass surfaces. When the characteristics of match play are considered, it appears that there are very few differences when matches on both surfaces are compared. However, there are still perceptions that football turf has a different feel to grass and some players have reported that grass seems to cause less fatigue when used as the playing surface. It is important that we attempt to quantify objectively how playing surface impacts on the body’s responses to football exercise. This is not possible during match play, as the tactical and technical aspects of the game mean that no two matches will ever be the same. The following article reports on a preliminary project that was carried out to investigate whether playing surface infl uences fatigue and the physiological responses that result from the performance of a simulated football exercise procedure.
Female Veterans Seeking Medical Care at Veterans Affairs Primary Care Clinics: Psychiatric and Medical Illness Burden and Service Use

ABSTRACT Objective: To examine rates of medical and psychiatric disorders among 187 female veterans recruited at four Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs), the recognition of such disorders by VAMC care providers, and the use of relevant medical and mental health services by women both within and outside of the VA setting. Methods: We used a cross-sectional, epidemiological design incorporating self-report measures, structured interviews, and chart reviews to obtain relevant information for analyses. Results: Forty-four percent (43.9%) of women met criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder; 34.0% of these women met criteria for two or more additional psychiatric diagnoses, and concordance rates between interview and chart diagnoses were low. Ninety-five percent (95.2%) of women had a medical condition noted in their charts; 86.6% had two or more additional medical conditions, and a significant number of women had both medical and psychiatric diagnoses. Forty-four percent (43.9%) of women with an identified mental health condition received specialized mental health care by the VA in the past year. Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest that female veterans treated in VAMCs had significant medical and psychiatric problems, and these women might not be getting their health care needs adequately met through the VA health care system. In light of our findings, we discuss relevant implications and future directions for research.
The Tragedy of Defect Prediction, Prince of Empirical Software Engineering Research

If measured by the number of published papers, defect prediction has become an important research field over the past decade, with many researchers continuously proposing novel approaches to predict defects in software systems. However, most of these approaches have had a noticeable lack of impact on industrial practice. This lack of impact is because something is intrinsically wrong in how defect prediction approaches are evaluated.
EVALUATING STATISTICALLY-EXTRACTED DOMAIN-SPECIFIC WORD LISTS

This study evaluates the efficacy of applying nine specific statistical tools (Freq, Dice, Cosine, CSM, LLR, Chi2, Yates, PMI and McNemar) to eight sub-domains of the BNC to create domain-specific single lexical vocabulary lists for particular proficiency levels, and examines the resulting lists for grade level, frequency level, and coverage for basic, function, and specialized words. It was demonstrated that it is possible to use particular measures to create lists for particular proficiency levels, that some measures extract a greater or lesser number of basic and function words, and that different measures extract a different number of specialized words.
Circulating Immature Granulocytes With T-Cell Killing Functions Predict Sepsis Deterioration*

Objectives:Primary objective was to identify leukocyte subsets that could predict the early evolution of sepsis at 48 hours (i.e., deterioration or stability/improvement). Secondary objectives were to evaluate the prognostic value of leukocyte subsets on mortality and immunosuppressive properties of immature granulocytes. Design:Twenty-three peripheral blood leukocyte subsets were analyzed using a new-generation 10-color flow cytometry. T-cell killing activity of immature granulocytes was explored using a sorting method specifically developed. Setting:ICUs and emergency departments. Patients:All patients admitted to emergency department and ICU for sepsis ongoing for less than 24 hours were eligible. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy, age less than 18 years, solid tumors, HIV infection, hematological or inflammatory conditions, and immunosuppressive drugs. Finally, 177 patients were included. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:The two most salient features of sepsis were decreased CD10 (CD10dim) and CD16 (CD16dim) expressions on granulocytes. With a threshold of 90% of CD10dim and 15% of CD16dim granulocytes, these immunophenotypic features, which are those of immature granulocytes, predicted sepsis deterioration at 48 hours with a sensitivity of 57% and 70% and a specificity of 78% and 82%, respectively. Survival rate at day 30 was 99% for patients without CD10dim and CD16dim, 85% for patients with increased CD16dim only, and 63% for patients with increased CD16dim and CD10dim granulocytes (p < 0.001). Among CD16dim immature granulocytes, we identified a CD14neg/CD24pos myeloid-derived suppressor cell subset with the capability of killing activated T cells. Consistently, an excess of CD16dim immature granulocytes was associated with both CD3 and CD4 T-cell lymphopenia in deteriorating patients. Conclusions:Circulating immature granulocytes predicted early sepsis deterioration and were enriched in myeloid-derived suppressor cells which could be responsible for immunosuppression through the induction of T-cell lymphopenia.
Prostate Cancer: Population-Based Survival Rates in Central Italy

Aims To evaluate survival in prostate cancer patients in the Province of Florence where the Tuscany Cancer Registry is active. Methods The survival of 777 patients with prostate cancer diagnosed in the period 1985-87 was evaluated. The observed and relative survival rates 1, 3 and 5 years after diagnosis were computed. Also the prognostic effect of age, disease extension, tumor grade, histological verification, place of residence and year of diagnosis were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analysis. Results The observed survival was 73.4% 1 year, 42.5% 3 years and 29.2% 5 years after diagnosis. The relative survival was respectively 78.7%, 53.0% and 43.0%. Significant independent risks were evident when the disease was extended out of the prostate, for patients older than 80 years, for high grade tumors and for patients without histological verification. Conclusion The 5-year relative survival rate in the province of Florence is similar to those from other European Registries and the Latina Registry, but much lower than the one reported by the SEER program in the US. Data on histological verification percentage, availability of information on disease extension, and tumor grade are discussed as indicators of the quality of the diagnostic approach in comparison with other registries.
Designing Animated Transitions to Convey Aggregate Operations

Data can be aggregated in many ways before being visualized in charts, profoundly affecting what a chart conveys. Despite this importance, the type of aggregation is often communicated only via axis titles. In this paper, we investigate the use of animation to disambiguate different types of aggregation and communicate the meaning of aggregate operations. We present design rationales for animated transitions depicting aggregate operations and present the results of an experiment assessing the impact of these different transitions on identification tasks. We find that judiciously staged animated transitions can improve subjects' accuracy at identifying the aggregation performed, though sometimes with longer response times than with static transitions. Through an analysis of participants' rankings and qualitative responses, we find a consistent preference for animation over static transitions and highlight visual features subjects report relying on to make their judgments. We conclude by extending our animation designs to more complex charts of aggregated data such as box plots and bootstrapped confidence intervals.
Graziano Attributing Awareness to Others The Attention Schema Theory and Its Relationship to Behavioural Prediction

The attention schema theory provides a single coherent framework for understanding three seemingly unrelated phenomena. The first is our ability to control our own attention through predictive modelling. The second is a fundamental part of social cognition, or theory of mind — our ability to reconstruct the attention of others, and to use that model of attention to help make behavioural predictions about others. The third is our claim to have a subjective consciousness — not merely information inside us, but something else in addition that is non-physical — and to believe that others have the same property. In the attention schema theory, all three phenomena stem from the same source. The brain constructs a useful internal model of attention. This article summarizes the theory and discusses one aspect of it in greater detail: how an attention schema may be useful for predicting the behaviour of others. The article outlines a hypothetical, artificial system that can make time-varying behavioural predictions about other people, and concludes that attributing some form of awareness to others is a useful computational part of the prediction engine. Correspondence: Michael S.A. Graziano, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Email: graziano@princeton.edu C op yr ig ht ( c) Im pr in t A ca de m ic 2 01 9 F or p er so na l u se o nl y -n ot fo r re pr od uc tio n
Ototoxicity monitoring in children treated with platinum chemotherapy

Abstract Objective: To review the prevalence, mechanisms, clinical presentation, risk factors and implications of platinum-induced ototoxicity in paediatric cancer patients based on published evidence, discuss options for monitoring hearing in young children during treatment and review long-term follow-up guidelines. Design: Narrative literature review. Results: Children treated with cisplatin are at high risk of hearing loss and early, accurate identification of ototoxicity is important for medical decision making and hearing rehabilitation. Challenges of monitoring hearing in young children during cancer treatment and options for monitoring hearing are discussed. Conclusion: Hearing loss has important consequences for the survivors of childhood cancer including communication, learning, cognition and quality of life. Due to the presentation and configuration of ototoxic hearing loss, the test frequencies that are prioritised and the sequence of testing may differ from standard paediatric hearing evaluations. Hearing should be monitored during treatment and after completion of therapy.