Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influences on Neighborhood Supply of Child Care in Massachusetts

In examining the relationship between socioeconomic characteristics and neighborhood supply of licensed child care in Massachusetts, we find a limited supply of center care, especially full‐day care, in low‐income neighborhoods. Although there is a better supply of family child‐care providers, it is nevertheless more limited than in higher income neighborhoods. The number of children ages 5 and under emerged as the most important factor determining availability of care. We base our findings on 1990 census tract data, arguing that zip code data provide too large a geographic area to capture the nuances of supply at the neighborhood level. Other variables considered include employment levels, residential stability, the ratio of adult men to women, the ratio of infants to children under age 11, the ratio of young children to adults, and the proportion of single working mothers.
GABAA Receptors: Post-Synaptic Co-Localization and Cross-Talk with Other Receptors

γ-Aminobutyric acid type A receptors (GABAARs) are the major inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors in the central nervous system, and importantly contribute to the functional regulation of the nervous system. Several studies in the last few decades have convincingly shown that GABA can be co-localized with other neurotransmitters in the same synapse, and can be co-released with these neurotransmitters either from the same vesicles or from different vesicle pools. The co-released transmitters may act on post-synaptically co-localized receptors resulting in a simultaneous activation of both receptors. Most of the studies investigating such co-activation observed a reduced efficacy of GABA for activating GABAARs and thus, a reduced inhibition of the post-synaptic neuron. Similarly, in several cases activation of GABAARs has been reported to suppress the response of the associated receptors. Such a receptor cross-talk is either mediated via a direct coupling between the two receptors or via the activation of intracellular signaling pathways and is used for fine tuning of inhibition in the nervous system. Recently, it was demonstrated that a direct interaction of different receptors might already occur in intracellular compartments and might also be used to specifically target the receptors to the cell membrane. In this article, we provide an overview on such cross-talks between GABAARs and several other neurotransmitter receptors and briefly discuss their possible physiological and clinical importance.
Evidence for Recycling of Invariant Surface Transmembrane Domain Proteins in African Trypanosomes

ABSTRACT Intracellular trafficking is a vital component of both virulence mechanisms and drug interactions in Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis and n'agana of cattle. Both maintaining the surface proteome composition within a life stage and remodeling the composition when progressing between life stages are important features of immune evasion and development for trypanosomes. Our recent work implicates the abundant transmembrane invariant surface glycoproteins (ISGs) in the uptake of first-line therapeutic suramin, suggesting a potential therapeutic route into the cell. RME-8 is a mediator of recycling pathways in higher eukaryotes and is one of a small cohort of intracellular transport gene products upregulated in mammal-infective trypanosomes, suggesting a role in controlling the copy number of surface proteins in trypanosomes. Here we investigate RME-8 function and its contribution to intracellular trafficking and stability of ISGs. RME-8 is a highly conserved protein and is broadly distributed across multiple endocytic compartments. By knockdown we find that RME-8 is essential and mediates delivery of endocytic probes to late endosomal compartments. Further, we find ISG accumulation within endosomes, but that RME-8 knockdown also increases ISG turnover; combined with previous data, this suggests that it is most probable that ISGs are recycled, and that RME-8 is required to support recycling.
Cross-Platform Prediction of Gene Expression Signatures

Gene expression signatures can predict the activation of oncogenic pathways and other phenotypes of interest via quantitative models that combine the expression levels of multiple genes. However, as the number of platforms to measure genome-wide gene expression proliferates, there is an increasing need to develop models that can be ported across diverse platforms. Because of the range of technologies that measure gene expression, the resulting signal values can vary greatly. To understand how this variation can affect the prediction of gene expression signatures, we have investigated the ability of gene expression signatures to predict pathway activation across Affymetrix and Illumina microarrays. We hybridized the same RNA samples to both platforms and compared the resultant gene expression readings, as well as the signature predictions. Using a new approach to map probes across platforms, we found that the genes in the signatures from the two platforms were highly similar, and that the predictions they generated were also strongly correlated. This demonstrates that our method can map probes from Affymetrix and Illumina microarrays, and that this mapping can be used to predict gene expression signatures across platforms.
Engaging Students with Computer Science through Creativity: Toward Better Understanding and Improved Methods

Interactive ways of learning and creative activities in teaching methods of Computer Science (CS) have drawn great interest in the last years. The goal of this PhD project is to focus on the main research question: How could practices for computer science education become more attractive and effective for students and especially female students? Initially the project will define the existing teaching practices of CS being used inside and outside school environment. Next, empirical tests will evaluate the effectiveness of proposed learning practices based on learning activities of different types, e.g. collaborative games, supervised or unsupervised project work). Qualitative and quantitative methodology will investigate among other the learning success, growth in competences and students' understanding of computer science.
Leonurine Protects Middle Cerebral Artery Occluded Rats Through Antioxidant Effect and Regulation of Mitochondrial Function

Background and Purpose— Oxidative stress is known to be involved in ischemic stroke. Intense interest is drawn to the therapeutic potential of Chinese herbs on ischemic stroke because many of them contain antioxidant properties. Leonurine, 1 of the active compounds from purified Herba Leonuri, was studied to evaluate its possible therapeutic effects on ischemic stroke. Method— Middle cerebral artery occlusion was selected as our model of study. The animals were pretreated with Leonurine orally for 7 days and the surgery was done. One day after surgery, 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining and neurological deficit score were carried out to evaluate the functional outcome of animals, whereas levels of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and malondialdehyde were analyzed for oxidative stress analysis. For mitochondrial studies, 3 hours after surgery, mitochondria were isolated for analysis of reactive oxygen species production, adenosine triphosphate biosynthesis, oxygen consumption, and respiratory control ratio value. Result— In in vivo experiments, Leonurine pretreatment reduced infarct volume, improved neurological deficit in stroke groups, increased activities of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, and decreased levels from the lipid peroxidation marker malondialdehyde. In terms of mitochondrial modulation, Leonurine inhibited mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and adenosine triphosphate biosynthesis. Animal studies also demonstrated that the mitochondrial function and redox state were restored by Leonurine treatment. Conclusions— Leonurine has neuroprotective effects and carries a therapeutic potential of stroke prevention.
On the Effect of Channel Impairments on VANETs Performance

The primary means of studying the performance of vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are computer simulations. Nowadays, the development of analytical models and the use of hybrid simulations that combine analytical modeling with discrete-event simulation are of great interest due to the significant reduction in computa- tional cost. In this paper, we extend previous work in the area by suggesting an analytical model that includes dis- tance-dependent losses, shadowing and small-scale fading. Closed-form expressions for the packet reception prob- ability and the packet forwarding distance in the absence of simultaneous transmissions are presented. Numerical simulations validate the proposed formulation. The impact of path loss and fading on network throughput is explored. Interesting results that show the efficacy of the approach are provided. The derived formulation is a useful tool for the modeling and analysis of vehicular communication systems.
Smallpox vaccination and risk of allergy and asthma.

BACKGROUND It has been proposed that childhood vaccinations may influence the development of allergy. Atopy and allergic diseases have increased after routine smallpox vaccination was stopped in the 1970s. OBJECTIVE We examined whether administration of smallpox vaccination during childhood was associated with a decreased risk of atopy, allergic rhinitis, and asthma. METHODS The occurrence of atopy, allergic rhinitis, and asthma was studied in nearly 2000 women participating in a national birth cohort study. Detailed information on smallpox vaccination was available from school health records. Atopic status was assessed serologically by a specific response to 11 common inhalant allergens by using serum samples obtained from the women during the period 1997 to 2001. Information on allergic rhinitis and asthma was available from telephone interviews. RESULTS We found no association between having been vaccinated against smallpox in childhood and risk of atopy or allergic rhinitis. Smallpox vaccination was associated with a slightly decreased risk of asthma. There was no association between age at smallpox vaccination and risk of atopy, allergic rhinitis, or asthma. Adjusting for birth cohort, sibship size, age of the woman's mother at birth, and social class in childhood did not change these results. CONCLUSION Our findings do not suggest that childhood vaccination against smallpox, even if given early in life, influences the development of atopy or allergic rhinitis. The association with asthma should be interpreted with caution and needs further study.
The farthest point strategy for progressive image sampling

A new method of "farthest point strategy" (FPS) for progressive image acquisition is presented. Its main advantage is in retaining its uniformity with the increased density, providing an efficient means for sparse image sampling and display. In contrast to previously presented stochastic approaches, the FPS guarantees the uniformity in a deterministic min-max sense. Within this uniformity criterion, the sampling points are irregularly spaced, exhibiting superior antialiasing properties. A straightforward modification of the FPS yields an image-dependent adaptive sampling scheme. An efficient, O(N log(N)), algorithm for both versions is introduced, and several applications of the FPS are discussed.
Producing Reflective Practice Capability: a Textual Analysis of Practice learning and Assessment Portfolios

Within portfolios used by nurse education programmes of higher education for practice learning and assessment, reflective narrative accounts are considered evidence of practice learning outcomes. Evaluation research of portfolios used in nurse education programmes is for the most part based on student perceptions, which show that students are conflicted on the inclusion of reflective accounts in the portfolio. This paper examines how structural influences of the practice learning milieu shape the reflective practice capability of the learner based on an analysis of 15 reflective narrative accounts from five practice learning and assessment portfolios of an undergraduate professional development programme for specialist community nursing in the United Kingdom. Ethnomethodology provided an orientation for single case textual analysis of related interactional sequences. Findings from a case comparison take the form of a local practice learning scene showing two structural patterns of orientation: a learning practice and the formal programme. These orientations can be differentiated by the accomplishment of reflective thinking-for-action, reflective thinking-for-evaluation and reflective thinking-for-critical enquiry. Reflective practice capability as an accomplishment of how the local practice learning milieu constitutes the portfolio approach to practice learning and assessment is presented through a case comparison of some interactions, roles and outcomes. The analysis draws attention to theoretical sensitivity to client outcomes for enhancing the portfolio as an enquiry-based approach for the accomplishment of reflective practice capability and the need for further investigation into the role of the academic nurse tutor in the portfolio approach.
Chasing Demand: Learning and Earning in a Changing Environment

We consider a dynamic pricing problem in which a seller faces an unknown demand model that can change over time. The amount of change over a time horizon of T periods is measured using a variation metric that allows for a broad spectrum of temporal behavior. Given a finite variation “budget,” we first derive a lower bound on the expected performance gap between any pricing policy and a clairvoyant who knows a priori the temporal evolution of the underlying demand model, and then we design families of near-optimal pricing policies, the revenue performance of which asymptotically matches said lower bound. We also show that the seller can achieve a substantially better revenue performance in demand environments that change in “bursts” than in demand environments that change “smoothly,” among other things quantifying the net effect of the “volatility” in the demand environment on the seller’s revenue performance.
Influence of Running Stride Frequency in Heart Rate Variability Analysis During Treadmill Exercise Testing

The analysis and interpretation of heart rate variability (HRV) during exercise is challenging not only because of the nonstationary nature of exercise, the time-varying mean heart rate, and the fact that respiratory frequency exceeds 0.4 Hz, but there are also other factors, such as the component centered at the pedaling frequency observed in maximal cycling tests, which may confuse the interpretation of HRV analysis. The objectives of this study are to test the hypothesis that a component centered at the running stride frequency (SF) appears in the HRV of subjects during maximal treadmill exercise testing, and to study its influence in the interpretation of the low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) components of HRV during exercise. The HRV of 23 subjects during maximal treadmill exercise testing is analyzed. The instantaneous power of different HRV components is computed from the smoothed pseudo-Wigner-Ville distribution of the modulating signal assumed to carry information from the autonomic nervous system, which is estimated based on the time-varying integral pulse frequency modulation model. Besides the LF and HF components, the appearance is revealed of a component centered at the running SF as well as its aliases. The power associated with the SF component and its aliases represents 22 ± 7% (median ± median absolute deviation) of the total HRV power in all the subjects. Normalized LF power decreases as the exercise intensity increases, while normalized HF power increases. The power associated with the SF does not change significantly with exercise intensity. Consideration of the running SF component and its aliases is very important in HRV analysis since stride frequency aliases may overlap with LF and HF components.
Comparison of developmental norms for the boston naming test

Abstract The Boston Naming Test was originally developed for use with adults, but has also been used with children. Several sets of developmental norms have been published, but the samples on which the norms are based are small to moderate in size, and vary along important dimensions, including geographic distribution and ethnic composition. To investigate their comparability, the norms from all published studies were subjected to analyses of variance comparing the mean levels of performance at each age level for children from 5 to 13 years of age. Significant differences were obtained between studies at several age levels, although the differences explained less than 10% of the variance in all but one analysis. Because the differences were small in magnitude, the norms were combined. The combined norms increase linearly with age, with significant differences between all but two of the adjacent age levels. These findings may improve the reliability and validity of neuropsychological assessment of children.
DiDDeM: a system for early detection of TCP SYN flood attacks

This paper presents the distributed denial-of-service detection mechanism (DiDDeM) system for early detection of denial-of-service attacks. The design requirements of the system are posited to demonstrate the requirements for an early detection system. An overview of the system is presented to show how these requirements are met. DiDDeM provides a two-tier detection approach. First, pre-filters (PFs) filter traffic for possible attacks. This is achieved through the application of both stateful and stateless signatures utilising routing congestion algorithms. Second, command and control (C/sup 2/) servers provide intra- and inter-domain co-operation and response to contain an attack within the routing infrastructure. The results for stateful and stateless signature detection of TCP SYN flood attacks are presented.
The impact of cultural distance on local residents perception of tourism development: The case of Dubai in UAE

Th is study discusses the importance of understanding cultural diff erences between tourists and hosts for developing positive cross-cultural tourist interaction and its infl uence on the host's perception of sociocultural impacts of tourism. A logistic regression model is used to identify the signifi cant positive as well as negative impacts perceived by hosts who view a signifi cant cultural distance between them and tourists versus those who do not. It is found that there is a signifi cant relationship between the perceived cultural diff erences and the perceived sociocultural impacts of tourism. Th e majority of respondents who do not perceive cultural diff erences agree to most of the perceived positive impacts of tourism. Th e results of running the regression model have identifi ed improved quality of life as the largest positive impact. Becoming more proud of their city comes next, then improved infrastructure, followed by an increased variety of leisure attractions, and lastly more shopping varieties and facilities. On the other hand, the study found that higher prices for goods and services are the largest perceived negative impact. Tourist's failure to respect local customs and moral values comes next, followed by community confl ict and tension, then loss of cultural identity, and increased crime. Th e implications of the results for tourism industry managements and marketers are presented as well as areas for future research.
Extracting Buildings from Aerial Images Using Hierarchical Aggregation in 2D and 3D

We propose a model-based approach to automated 3D extraction of buildings from aerial images. We focus on a reconstruction strategy that is not restricted to a small class of buildings. Therefore, we employ a generic modeling approach which relies on the well-defined combination of building part models. Building parts are classified by their roof type. Starting from low-level image features we combine data-driven and model-driven processes within a multilevel aggregation hierarchy, thereby using a tight coupling of 2D image and 3D object modeling and processing, ending up in complex 3D building estimations of shape and location. Due to the explicit representation of well-defined processing states in terms of model-based 2D and 3D descriptions at all levels of modeling and data aggregation, our approach reveals a great potential for reliable building extraction.
A Local Contingency Analysis of the Fine-Tuning Hypothesis.

A central question in the study of language development is whether the speech of parents is finetuned to their children's language level. This question was addressed through a local contingency analysis that examined the relationship between adjacent child utterances and parental responses. This analysis was applied to 3 longitudinal corpora from the Child Language Data Exchange System (B. MacWhinney, 1991): Adam (2-5 years old; 65,336 utterances), Sarah (2-5 years old; 64,346 utterances), and Abe (2-5 years old; 40,656 utterances) for 3 different lexical classes (modal auxiliaries, pronouns, and nouns). Results provide support for a developmentally sensitive version of the fine-tuning hypothesis. A contingent relationship in the interactional patterns of parents and their children that changed as a function of lexical class and child age was discovered
A Distributed, Collaborative Intelligent Agent System Approach for Proactive Postmarketing Drug Safety Surveillance

Discovering unknown adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in postmarketing surveillance as early as possible is of great importance. The current approach to postmarketing surveillance primarily relies on spontaneous reporting. It is a passive surveillance system and limited by gross underreporting (<10% reporting rate), latency, and inconsistent reporting. We propose a novel team-based intelligent agent software system approach for proactively monitoring and detecting potential ADRs of interest using electronic patient records. We designed such a system and named it ADRMonitor. The intelligent agents, operating on computers located in different places, are capable of continuously and autonomously collaborating with each other and assisting the human users (e.g., the food and drug administration (FDA), drug safety professionals, and physicians). The agents should enhance current systems and accelerate early ADR identification. To evaluate the performance of the ADRMonitor with respect to the current spontaneous reporting approach, we conducted simulation experiments on identification of ADR signal pairs (i.e., potential links between drugs and apparent adverse reactions) under various conditions. The experiments involved over 275 000 simulated patients created on the basis of more than 1000 real patients treated by the drug cisapride that was on the market for seven years until its withdrawal by the FDA in 2000 due to serious ADRs. Healthcare professionals utilizing the spontaneous reporting approach and the ADRMonitor were separately simulated by decision-making models derived from a general cognitive decision model called fuzzy recognition-primed decision (RPD) model that we recently developed. The quantitative simulation results show that 1) the number of true ADR signal pairs detected by the ADRMonitor is 6.6 times higher than that by the spontaneous reporting strategy; 2) the ADR detection rate of the ADRMonitor agents with even moderate decision-making skills is five times higher than that of spontaneous reporting; and 3) as the number of patient cases increases, ADRs could be detected significantly earlier by the ADRMonitor.