Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prophylactic efficacy of phenelzine and imipramine in chronic atypical depression: likelihood of recurrence on discontinuation after 6 months' remission.

OBJECTIVE Demonstration of antidepressant efficacy beyond 6 months has infrequently been addressed, and no long-term efficacy data exist for patients with chronic atypical depression. METHOD Sixty patients with atypical depression (according to Columbia University criteria) of at least 2 years' duration and who had improved with imipramine or phenelzine were stabilized for 6 months and then randomly continued the same medication or placebo for 6 months. RESULTS Several baseline differences suggested that patients who entered the discontinuation trial on a regimen of phenelzine were more chronically depressed than the imipramine-treated patients. Survival analysis showed a marked advantage for phenelzine relative to placebo. In addition, patients switched to placebo from phenelzine experienced a recurrence of depressive symptoms significantly more often than patients switched to placebo from imipramine. Patients maintained with imipramine did not have lower relapse rates than those switched from imipramine to placebo. Recurrence rates were 23% for patients maintained on a regimen of phenelzine, 41% for those maintained on a regimen of imipramine, 47% for those switched from imipramine to placebo, and 87% for placebo-treated patients originally treated with phenelzine. CONCLUSIONS Patients with chronic atypical depression are at high risk of recurrence if phenelzine is withdrawn 6 months after initial improvement. Similar findings were not demonstrated for imipramine; this replicates acute trials demonstrating imipramine's relative ineffectiveness in patients with atypical depression. Differences in recurrence rates after the switch to placebo from phenelzine and imipramine could be due to the two drugs' different mechanisms of action or to baseline differences in the two populations.
Exploring an monolingual English-speaking teacher's perceptions of classroom interventions to foster Hispanic English Language Learners' primary language

The study proposed in this paper is a qualitative case analysis that describes the monolingual English speaking teacher’s experiences when she implements interventions that fosters the use of English Language Learners’ primary language in the context of the classroom. The purpose of this study will be to extend understanding on how monolingual English-speaking teachers can strategically incorporate English Language Learners’ primary language into the context of the classroom and their experiences throughout this process. A purposive sample of one monolingual English-speaking teacher and her early childhood class will participate in this study. This class is eligible due to the age group of the students and their linguistic characteristics. The interventions that will be implemented in the participating classroom are: (1) environmental print in students’ primary languages, (2) including books in Spanish in the classroom library, (3) read-alouds, (4) utilizing short phrases in students’ primary language, and (5) completing a culture tree activity. There will be three types of data collection procedures utilized in this case study: pre, interim and post interviews, school and classroom observations, and journal entries written by the participating classroom teacher. This study will require me to be in the classroom for the months of March, April, and May. During this time I will introduce the teacher to the interventions and then she will implement them in the classroom. Before I introduce the teacher to the interventions a pre-interview and observation will take place and then interviews and observations will be conducted during and after the intervention process. I will be in the classroom regularly during the months of March, April and May to conduct observations in the classroom. Activities the teacher will be involved in: 1. Pre-observation (1 to 1 1⁄2 hours in length) 2. Pre-interview (1 to 1 1⁄2 hours in length) 3. Learning and implementing the interventions 4. Interim and post interviews (all interviews will be audio-taped) 5. Allowing me to observe in the classroom 3 days a week, for three months
THE EFFECTS OF EXPERIMENTER ATTITUDES AND FEELINGS ON RESPONSE TO PAINFUL STIMULATION.

Abstract : The hypothesis was that the more positive the experimentor's (E's) attitude and expressed affect toward Ss receiving painful electric shock, the more positive would be their subjective experience and the greater their learning efficiency. E's attitude and expressed affect for three independent groups of 16 Ss each was positive, neutral, and negative, respectively. The principal dependent variables were paired-associates learning, recall, and postexperimental subjective ratings of hostility and anxiety. Significant differences between the positive and negative groups on learning, recall, and hostility were in the predicted direction. The subjective ratings of hostility and the learning and recall measures supported the notion that the positive and negative groups conceptualized and responded to the painful stimulation in a different way. (Author)
Exclusion of pathogenic promoter region variants and identification of novel nonsense mutations in the zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 gene in posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy

Purpose To report the identification of five novel nonsense mutations in the zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1) gene and exclusion of promoter region mutations in individuals without ZEB1 coding region mutations in posterior polymorphous corneal dystrophy (PPCD). Methods Slit-lamp examination and DNA collection were performed for individuals diagnosed with PPCD and, when available, affected and unaffected family members. Genomic DNA prepared from peripheral blood leukocytes and buccal epithelial cells underwent PCR amplification and automated sequencing of the ZEB1 gene and 1 kb 5′ of ZEB1, presumably containing the ZEB1 promoter region. Results Thirteen unrelated individuals with PPCD were identified, and genomic DNA was collected from each individual. ZEB1 mutations were identified in six of the 13 probands, five of which were novel: p.(Gly150Alafs*36; spontaneous), p.(His230Argfs*7), p.(Ser638Cysfs*5), p.(Glu1039Glyfs*6), and p.(Gln884Argfs*37). Screening of the ZEB1 promoter region in 31 probands with PPCD without a ZEB1 coding region mutation identified only two known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) whose frequency in the affected probands did not differ significantly from that in the general population. Conclusions We report five novel frame-shift mutations, one confirmed as spontaneous, in the ZEB1 gene associated with PPCD, bringing the total number of reported pathogenic mutations to 24, and the percentage of PPCD associated with ZEB1 mutations to 32%. The absence of ZEB1 promoter region mutations in probands without a ZEB1 coding region mutation indicates that other genetic loci, such as the PPCD1 locus, are involved in the pathogenesis of PPCD.
Kinetic Characterization of the Monofunctional Glycosyltransferase from Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT The glycosyltransferase (GT) module of class A penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) and monofunctional GTs (MGTs) belong to the GT51 family in the sequence-based classification of GTs. They both possess five conserved motifs and use lipid II precursor (undecaprenyl-pyrophosphate-N-acetylglucosaminyl-N-acetylmuramoyl- pentapeptide) to synthesize the glycan chain of the bacterial wall peptidoglycan. MGTs appear to be dispensable for growth of some bacteria in vitro. However, new evidence shows that they may be essential for the infection process and development of pathogenic bacteria in their hosts. Only a small number of class A PBPs have been characterized so far, and no kinetic data are available on MGTs. In this study, we present the principal enzymatic properties of the Staphylococcus aureus MGT. The enzyme catalyzes glycan chain polymerization with an efficiency of ∼5,800 M−1 s−1 and has a pH optimum of 7.5, and its activity requires metal ions with a maximum observed in the presence of Mn2+. The properties of S. aureus MGT are distinct from those of S. aureus PBP2 and Escherichia coli MGT, but they are similar to those of E. coli PBP1b. We examined the role of the conserved Glu100 of S. aureus MGT (equivalent to the proposed catalytic Glu233 of E. coli PBP1b) by site-directed mutagenesis. The Glu100Gln mutation results in a drastic loss of GT activity. This shows that Glu100 is also critical for catalysis in S. aureus MGT and confirms that the conserved glutamate of the first motif EDXXFXX(H/N)X(G/A) is likely the key catalytic residue in the GT51 active site.
Homesickness, cognition, and health

Functional cerebral specialisation is a phenomenon of considerable relevance not only to those investigating normal brain function, but also to scientists who study and treat clinical populations. This special issue of Laterality brings together contributions both from researchers studying human populations and those using animal models, and includes a discussion of the current important issues in the field of lateralisation of function. The papers address the origins of laterality, and the nature of lateralised functions in various species as well as relations among the different forms of lateralisation. Included are such topics as lateralised memory processes, early experiential effects on laterality, the genetic basis of handedness, perceptual processing in the haptic or visual domain, and learning. Comparisons between human and nonhuman primate findings and implications of these findings for our understanding of the
High-intensity exercise performance is not impaired by low intramuscular glycogen.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of glycogen availability on short-term, high-intensity exercise performance. Eight males completed performance evaluation tasks (PET) consisting of maximum isokinetic strength and endurance, isometric strength, and electrically evoked force of the leg extensors, twice during each of two conditions. On day 1 (D1) of the control condition (C) subjects performed the PET, followed by strenuous exercise designed to deplete glycogen stores of the leg extensors. After consuming a mixed diet for 48h (days 2 and 3) they performed the PET again on day 4 (D4). The experimental condition (E) was identical to C, except that a strictly controlled low carbohydrate diet was consumed during Days 2 and 3. Biopsies from the vastus lateralis before the PET on D4 confirmed differences between conditions in intramuscular glycogen (426 +/- 43 vs 153 +/- 60 mmol glucose units.kg-1 d.w. for C and E respectively, P less than 0.001). Results obtained from the PET were not different between conditions on D4, nor within conditions when D1 and D4 were compared. Resting blood glucose, hematological variables indicative of hydration and acid-base status, and post PET blood lactate were similar for all trials. It is concluded that short-term, high-intensity exercise performance of glycogen depleted leg extensors is not impaired.
Low-profile capacitive fed air-supported microstrip antenna at UHF band for biomedical application

A compact L-shaped strip fed air-supported microstrip antenna with a simple structure is proposed at UHF band. This linear polarized microstrip antenna (LPMA) is miniaturized by bending both opposite sides of the antenna. To achieve the low profile, the L-shaped feeder, compensating the reactive of the antenna, has been designed. The dimensions of the proposed antenna are 200 mm×200 mm×15 mm (0.27λ<sub>0</sub>× 0.27λ<sub>0</sub> ×0.026λ<sub>0</sub>) at the center frequency 417 MHz). The antenna has been successfully simulated, fabricated and measured. Experimental results show that the proposed antenna exhibits a good impedance bandwidth of 7 MHz (414 MHz-421 MHz) for VSWR <; 2. The simulation and measured results show a good agreement with each other.
Iterative Development: Key Technique for Managing Software Developments

Iterative development provides the fundamental structure that enables the effective management of software development. Ultimately it helps to avoid the “big bang” issues and spreads the typical pain of development (integration, major re-writes, insufficient testing, deadline pressure, overtime, etc) over several, easier to manage, units of work. Scoped correctly, development iterations provide a concrete feedback mechanism, which enables better visibility and control of the key elements for successful development. This paper explores these key elements and the benefits that iterative development provides to each of them. In particular, we look at risk management, progress monitoring, requirements management, software architecture and testing.
Rapid Land Mapping by TerraSAR-X VHR Data

This work is devoted to the definition and application of a processing chain for rapid mapping using TerraSAR-X data, The approach is based on a quick extraction of spatial features such as linear and textural elements of the scene, and their combination with the original SAR data. The suitability of such procedure for an operative use is proved by the results shown on a simulated and two real TerraSAR-X data sets.
Nanomechanical In Situ Monitoring of Proteolysis of Peptide by Cathepsin B

Characterization and control of proteolysis of peptides by specific cellular protease is a priori requisite for effective drug discovery. Here, we report the nanomechanical, in situ monitoring of proteolysis of peptide chain attributed to protease (Cathepsin B) by using a resonant nanomechanical microcantilever immersed in a liquid. Specifically, the detection is based on measurement of resonant frequency shift arising from proteolysis of peptides (leading to decrease of cantilever's overall mass, and consequently, increases in the resonance). It is shown that resonant microcantilever enables the quantification of proteolysis efficacy with respect to protease concentration. Remarkably, the nanomechanical, in situ monitoring of proteolysis allows us to gain insight into the kinetics of proteolysis of peptides, which is well depicted by Langmuir kinetic model. This implies that nanomechanical biosensor enables the characterization of specific cellular protease such as its kinetics.
Novel band 3 variants (bands 3 Foggia, Napoli I and Napoli II) associated with hereditary spherocytosis and band 3 deficiency: status of the D38A polymorphism within the EPB3 locus

We report three novel variants of band 3 associated with hereditary spherocytosis: band 3 Foggia (311delC; ACCCAC → ACCAC), band 3 Napoli I (447insT; TCT → TTCT) and band 3 Napoli II (I783N; ATC → AAC). The first two mutations resulted in premature termination of translation, making one haploid set of band 3 mRNA unavailable. Since it affected a highly conserved position at the terminal end of transmembrane domain 11, the third mutation prevented one haploid set of band 3 from becoming incorporated or stabilized into the membrane. These three mutations resulted in a reduction of the band 3 level in the red cell membrane (by 20–25%) and were dominantly transmitted. The D38A substitution (GAC → GCC) is a low frequency change of band 3. In one compound heterozygote D38A/Napoli II, a markedly aggravated picture required early splenectomy. In contrast, the D38A change was not associated with deterioration in another compound heterozygote, carrying in trans, the previously recorded R760W mutation (CGG → TGG). In the aggravated case, SSCP analysis did not exhibit any additional change in the two EPB3 alleles. Nor did it show any alteration in the exons of the two ANK1 alleles, and the aggravating factor remained elusive. The D38A alteration should be regarded as an innocuous polymorphism.
Fast Image Restoration Methods for Impulse and Gaussian Noises Removal

In this paper, we study the restoration of blurred images corrupted by impulse noise or mixed impulse plus Gaussian noises. In the proposed method, we use the modified total variation minimization scheme to regularize the deblurred image and fill in suitable values for noisy image pixels where these are detected by median-type filters. An alternating minimization algorithm is employed to solve the proposed total variation minimization problem. Our experimental results show the proposed algorithm is very efficient and the quality of restored images by the proposed method is competitive with those restored by the existing variational image restoration methods.
Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric assessment of the Turkish version of the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Vulnerability to Abuse Screening Scale (VASS). Materials and methods: This was a methodological study. The sample included 140 elderly individuals. Data were collected by using a questionnaire form, the VASS, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The Cronbach alpha value was calculated and test? retest reliability was tested for the reliability analyses. Results: The Cronbach alpha value calculated for the VASS (12 items) was 0.819. There was no difference between test and retest mean scores of the VASS. A statistically significantly positive and strong relationship was found between the test and retest scores of the individuals. A statistically significantly positive and moderate relationship was found between the VASS and GDS scores. Factor analysis revealed that a total of four factors accounted for 63.66% of the total variance with an eigenvalue of >1. These results show that the Turkish version of the VASS is a valid and reliable scale. Conclusion: This study showed that the adoption of the translated VASS in Turkey is reliable and valid to evaluate the risk of abuse in adults over the age of 65.
COMPOUND BINARIZATION FOR DEGRADED DOCUMENT IMAGES

In this paper, we propose a new binarization method for degraded document images. Hence, the existing work is focus on finding a good global or local method in order to remove smear, strains, uneven illumination etc. We propose a new compound method that combines the advantages of both global and local thresholding methods. Our method is applicable for various types of degradation cases and the value of factors could be determined automatically. We compare our method with five state-of-the-art degraded document images. It also has been tested over the dataset that is obtained from the recent Document Image Binarization Contest (DIBCO) 2011 and 2013 for the experiments. Experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed technique compared to previous methods.
Fermentation and nitrogen dynamics in Merino sheep given a low-quality-roughage diet

1. Fermentation in the rumen and nitrogen dynamics in the body were studied in mature Merino sheep given a maintenance ration of a low-quality-roughage diet containing mainly chopped wheat straw. 2. Intake of metabolizable energy was 3.49 MJ/d and of total N 6.2 g/d. 3. From measurements of volatile fatty acid (VFA) production rates and stoichiometric principles, it was calculated that 75% of the digestible organic matter intake was fermented in the rumen, making an estimated 44 g/68d microbial dry matter available to the animal. 4. The total flux of ammonia through the rumen NH3 pool, estimated by 15NH3 dilution methods, was 8.2 g N/d of which 3.5 g N/d was irreversibly lost; thus 4.7 g N/d was recycled, partly within the rumen (approximately 3.8 g N/d) and partly via endogenous secretions (approximately 0.9 g N/d). The extensive recycling of NH3-N within the rumen indicated that turnover of microbial N was considerable, and the total production of micro-organisms was at least twice the net outflow. 5. The proportion of the N in rumen bacteria derived from rumen ammonia was 62% and thus 38% was derived from other nitrogenous compounds such as peptides and amino acids. 6. The rates of transfer of blood urea into the rumen, estimated from the appearance of 14CO2 or 15NH3 in the rumen after intravenous single injections of [14C]-and [15N]urea, did not differ significantly and the mean transfer was 2.3 urea-N/d. 7. Estimates of the rate of irreversible loss of urea-C (i.e. urea synthesis in the body) were obtained by analysis of samples of either blood or urine obtained after a single, intravenous injection of [14C]urea. The two methods gave results that did not differ significantly. The estimated rate of urea synthesis in the body was 5.3 g N/d. Urea excretion rate was relatively low, i.e. 1.2 g N/d, and thus transfer of urea to the digestive tract was approximately 4.1 g N/d. Approximately 53% of the latter was transferred to the rumen, and 47% to the rest of the digestive tract. These results are discussed in relation to similar studies with sheep given other diets. 8. Various aspects of isotope-tracer methods and the errors that could occur in this type of study are discussed.
Simple alternatives to the Ephraim and Malah suppression rule for speech enhancement

Short-time spectral attenuation is a common form of audio signal enhancement in which a time-varying filter, or suppression rule, is applied to the frequency-domain transform of a corrupted signal. The suppression rule (see Ephraim, Y. and Malah, D., IEEE Trans. on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Proc., vol.ASSP-32, no.6, p.1109-21, 1984) for speech enhancement is both optimal in the minimum mean-square error sense and well-known for its associated colourless residual noise; however, it requires the computation of exponential and Bessel functions. We show that, under the same modelling assumptions, alternative Bayesian approaches lead to suppression rules exhibiting almost identical behaviour. We derive three such rules and show that they are efficient to implement and yield a more intuitive interpretation.
The relationships among early maternal emotional support, career satisfaction, and life satisfaction for baby boom women at midlife

Maternal emotional support affects the early career behaviors of daughters, yet little is known about its contribution to the career outcomes of women later in life. This study used a lifespan approach along with relational theory to study the career satisfaction and life satisfaction of 101 employed, middle-aged women of the baby boom generation. Correlational analysis determined that career satisfaction and life satisfaction were strongly correlated, with much of the shared variance explained by supportive relationships at home and at work. Also strongly correlated with both career satisfaction and life satisfaction was the belief that one’s career goals had been realistic. Maternal emotional support did not predict career satisfaction, but it may have contributed to the formulation of goals and to the development of relational skills that led to supportive relationships. Maternal emotional support did predict life satisfaction. The study is limited in its generalizability because of the restricted range of the sample’s demographic variables. Recommendations for practice center around the acknowledgment of women’s relational identity and the development of relational competencies.
Brane inflation and cosmic string tension in superstring theory

In a simple reanalysis of the KKLMMT scenario, we argue that the slow roll condition in the -brane inflationary scenario in superstring theory requires no more than a moderate tuning. The cosmic string tension is very sensitive to the conformal coupling: with less fine-tuning, the cosmic string tension (as well as the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbation mode) increases rapidly and can easily saturate the present observational bound. In a multi-throat brane inflationary scenario, this feature substantially improves the chance of detecting and measuring the properties of the cosmic strings as a window to the superstring theory and our pre-inflationary universe.