Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lack of institutional support entails disruption in cortisol awakening response in caregivers of people with high-functioning autism

Several studies have found disruptions in cortisol awakening response in informal caregivers. Institutional support may modulate these effects, and this study analyses how the health of caregivers is affected when institutional support is provided for families of people with high-functioning autism. Self-reported health, depression and cortisol awakening response were analysed in three groups: supported caregivers, non-supported caregivers and non-caregivers. Non-supported caregivers presented higher somatic symptoms and lower cortisol awakening response than the supported caregiver and non-caregiver groups. A high number of somatic symptoms and low functionality of offspring were related to a lower cortisol awakening response only in the non-supported caregiver group. These findings demonstrate the importance of institutional support for improving the health of caregivers.
An enzyme immunoassay of ADAMTS13 distinguishes patients with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura from normal individuals and carriers of ADAMTS13 mutations

Summary Recent studies demonstrate that assay of ADAMTS13, a circulating zinc metalloprotease that cleaves von Willebrand factor (VWF) at the Y1605-M1606 bond, is an important tool in the diagnosis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). In order to develop a method that could be adapted for general use, we describe an enzyme immunoassay (EIA)-based method for measuring the activity of ADAMTS13 in patient plasma samples. A monomeric peptide consisting of the amino acid residues D1596-R1668 of VWF was produced that spanned the ADAMTS13 cleavage site and was franked by glutathione s-transferase (GST) and a 6His sequences at the amino and carboxyl termini respectively. When probed with either anti-GST or anti-6His, the VWF fragment appeared as a 38.1-kDa band. After incubation with normal plasma, the VWF fragment was replaced by a 30.4-kDa band, which was recognized by antiGST but not by anti-6His, consistent with the expected cleavage at the Y1605-M1606 bond. EDTA or plasma samples from patients with TTP inhibited this cleavage. After incubation with normal plasma, the VWF fusion protein immobilized onto antiGST coated microtiter plate wells lost its anti-6His binding activity in a timeand plasma concentration-dependent manner. By using this EIA, the ADAMTS13 activity level was less than 0.12 U/mL in patients with acquired or hereditary TTP, distinguishing these patients from normal individuals or carriers of one copy of mutant ADAMTS13 allele. These results suggest the EIA method based on the VWF fusion protein is a simple but promising alternative for measuring ADAMTS13 activity.
Emotional Intelligence & Military Leadership

In military structures, the leader has always been at the forefront of organising and carrying out specific actions with the aim of increasing the organisation’s efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, the military organisation’s efficiency and effectiveness are the effects of leaders’ ability to react to disturbances, ensuring optimal orientation of those in command, and finding optimal answers to the questions “how” and “what” is to be done so that the best organisational course of action could be achieved. In this article we consider it appropriate to analyse emotional intelligence, how it influences military leadership, how an optimal affective environment influences the military actions, and to answer the question: Do military leaders need emotional intelligence?
Comparison of event‐specific rainfall–runoff responses and their controls in contrasting geographic areas

Numerous studies have examined the event‐specific hydrologic response of hillslopes and catchments to rainfall. Knowledge gaps, however, remain regarding the relative influence of different meteorological factors on hydrologic response, the predictability of hydrologic response from site characteristics, or even the best metrics to use to effectively capture the temporal variability of hydrologic response. This study aimed to address those knowledge gaps by focusing on 21 sites with contrasting climate, topography, geology, soil properties, and land cover. High‐frequency rainfall and discharge records were analysed, resulting in the delineation of over 1,600 rainfall–runoff events, which were described using a suite of hydrologic response metrics and meteorological factors. Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques were then applied to synthesize the information conveyed by the computed metrics and factors, notably measures of central tendency and variability, variation partitioning, partial correlations, and principal component analysis. Results showed that some response magnitude metrics generally reported in the literature (e.g., runoff ratio and area‐normalized peak discharge) did not vary significantly among sites. The temporal variability in site‐specific hydrologic response was often attributable to the joint influence of storage‐driven (e.g., total event rainfall and antecedent precipitation) and intensity‐driven (e.g., rainfall intensity and antecedent potential evapotranspiration) meteorological factors. Mean annual temperature and potential evapotranspiration at a given site appeared to be good predictors of hydrologic response timing (e.g., response lag and lag to peak). Response timing metrics, particularly those associated with response initiation, were also identified as the metrics most critical for capturing intrasite response variability. This study therefore contributes to the growing knowledge on event‐specific hydrologic response by highlighting the importance of response timing metrics and intensity‐driven meteorological factors, which are infrequently discussed in the literature. As few correlations were found between physiographic variables and response metrics, more data‐driven studies are recommended to further our understanding of landscape–hydrology interactions.
Wearable sensors for monitoring sports performance and training

Textile based devices for biochemical analysis of body fluids represent a new development in the area of wearable sensors. This paper outlines the development of a fluid handling system and wireless sensors for the real-time analysis of sweat pH and sodium levels during exercise. Liquid is drawn into the system using a moisture wicking material and passive pump. The sensor then displays pH induced colorimetric changes, which are recorded using an optical detection system. The device has been tested under laboratory conditions and can easily detect increments of 0.2 pH units. At present, changes in sodium content are determined using a specially constructed classic ion selective electrode and reference electrode, combined to form a single probe. This is placed in contact with the fabric of the fluid handling system in order to obtain a real-time potentiometric sodium measurement. Both devices have successfully been used for the investigation of sweat composition during on-body trials.
Colonial Competitive Algorithm Development Toward Harmonic Minimization in Multilevel Inverters

Selective harmonic elimination pulse width modulation (SHEPWM) is a well-known switching technique applied directly to the output voltage waveform of multilevel inverters which aims to omit low-order harmonics. Related equations for this technique are transcendental, so an objective function should be defined in order to cover all constraints. Evolutionary computation is demonstrated to be a promising tool meeting requirements of such problems. In this paper, the standard colonial competitive algorithm (CCA) is improved to be employed for the mentioned technique in two cases of equal and unequal dc sources. The results are compared with two other successful algorithms namely genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Results indicate that this method outperforms other methods in terms of convergence rate and tackling local optima. Experimental results verify the simulation results.
Neural discrimination of communication signals in the avian auditory system: Roles of sex, estrogens, and social experience

Songs are learned in songbirds, much as speech is acquired in human infants, and serve social and reproductive functions. In most songbirds studied to date, males produce learned vocalizations while females do not and the male brain contains a more developed forebrain vocal control pathway. Males use song both in interactions with other males and in courtship displays to varying degrees in different species. In the zebra finch, the male sings to court females, who do not sing, but use this signal in the process of mate selection. Thus this species provides a model of sexual dimorphism in the use of song. An avian forebrain auditory area, NCM, seems to be specialized to discriminate and remember the unique songs of other individuals, through a process of stimulus-specific adaptation, but sex differences in NCM function have not been iii described. The present study compares neurophysiological responses recorded in NCM of adult male and female zebra finches that were either raised in the general aviary by their parents, or reared in individual isolation with an artificial song tutor. Extra-cellular multi-unit recordings were made at multiple sites bilaterally in NCM of awake, restrained adult birds during song playback to assess auditory responses, stimulus-specific adaptation, preference for conspecific song, and song recognition memory for the tutor song as well as songs heard in adulthood. In a subset of these birds, estradiol levels were manipulated pharmacologically to compare the role of this hormone – which is known to be synthesized in the brain-in auditory responses in the two sexes. The results in untreated birds show differences between males and females in adaptation to song playback in NCM, although absolute responses do not differ between the sexes. Estradiol depletion in both males and females interfered with the memory for recently heard songs, although it had no clear effect on the memory for the tutor song heard in development. In addition, in females, but not males, estradiol depletion disrupted the typical neural response bias for conspecific song. These results are consistent with evolving ideas about the dynamic effects of sex steroids on sensory brain function beyond the established role of these hormones in reproductive behavior. The observations further suggest how, in females in the sexually receptive state, estradiol production in addition to its production in the brain itself, may influence the way the songs of potential suitors are discriminated, remembered and compared in the brain, thus contributing …
A Novel Thermal Sensor for the Sensitive Measurement of Chemical Oxygen Demand

A novel rapid methodology for determining the chemical oxygen demand (COD) based on a thermal sensor with a flow injection analysis system was proposed and experimentally validated. The ability of this sensor to detect and monitor COD was based on the degree of enthalpy increase when sodium hypochlorite reacted with the organic content in water samples. The measurement results were correlated with COD and were compared against the conventional method using potassium dichromate. The assay required only 5–7 min rather than the 2 h required for evaluation by potassium dichromate. The linear range was 5–1000 mg/L COD, and the limit of detection was very low, 0.74 mg/L COD. Moreover, this method exhibited high tolerance to chloride ions; 0.015 mol/L chloride ions had no influence on the response. Finally, the sensor was used to detect the COD of different water samples; the results were verified by the standard dichromate method.
Burst Synchronization and Chaotic Phenomena in Two Strongly Coupled Resonate-and-Fire Neurons

In this paper, we address the synchronization properties of two pulse-coupled resonate-and-fire neuron (RFN) models. The RFN model is a spiking neuron model that has second-order membrane dynamics with a threshold and a firing reset value. Due to such dynamics, the RFN model exhibits subthreshold oscillation of the membrane potential, and is sensitive to the timing of stimuli. So far the existence of anti-phase synchronization states and their stability in a system of two pulse-coupled RFN models have been reported. However, the effects of the reset value after firing on such synchronization states have not been considered. The reset value may affect the sensitivity to the input timing, leading to change in synchronization properties in the pulse-coupled RFN models. We newly found out-of-phase burst synchronization states and related bifurcation phenomena depending on the coupling strength in the system as the reset value was changed. Focusing on the symmetry of the system, we analyzed the stability of such phenomena by using a firing time difference map constructed from 1D return maps with respect to firing time difference between two neurons. The analyses revealed the global stability of the out-of-phase synchronization states and the existence of the type I intermittency chaotic behavior.
Marijuana Use, Abuse, and Dependence: Evaluation of Panic Responsivity to Biological Challenge

Abstract The present investigation examined marijuana use, abuse, and dependence in relation to anxious and fearful responding to panic-relevant bodily sensations elicited by a biological challenge procedure among a sample of young adult marijuana users (n = 64; 46.9% women; M age = 20.97, SD = 6.01). Results indicated that those who were dependent on marijuana had greater self-reported panic attack symptoms post-challenge than those who abused marijuana. No differences were found between those who did not meet criteria for either abuse or dependence (users), and those who abused or were dependent on marijuana. No group differences were found for heart rate reactivity. Results are discussed in relation to better understanding the role of marijuana use and its disorders in terms of panic responsivity.
Is the apolipoprotein e genotype a biomarker for mild cognitive impairment? Findings from a nationally representative study.

OBJECTIVE Although the ε4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype is a known risk factor for Alzheimer's dementia (AD), prior findings on whether it is also a risk factor for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) have been inconsistent. We tested two contrasting explanations: (a) an ε4-AD specificity hypothesis, and (b) a measurement insensitivity hypothesis. METHOD The frequency of the ε4 allele was investigated in older adults (mean age > 70) with various types of cognitive impairment (including MCI) and various types of dementia (including AD) with the aging, demographics, and memory study (ADAMS) of the National Institute on Aging's Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The ADAMS controls sources of Type I and Type II error that are posited in the ε4-AD specificity hypothesis and the measurement insensitivity hypothesis, and it is the only nationally representative data set on aging and cognitive impairment. RESULTS ε4 was a reliable predictor of MCI, with a frequency of 32% in MCI subjects versus 20% in healthy control subjects. This link was specific to MCI because ε4 was not a risk factor for other forms of cognitive impairment without dementia. CONCLUSIONS The results support the measurement insensitivity hypothesis rather than the ε4-AD specificity hypothesis and are consistent with recent research showing modest reductions in cognitive performance among normal functioning ε4 carriers.
ON THE EMBEDDED MULTIPLE-MODEL SCORING SCHEME FOR SPEECH RECOGNITION

A traditional hidden Markov model (HMM) consists of two stochastic processes, a hidden state transition process and a symbol-generating (output observation) process. Researches show that the description of the feature space or the scoring method in the second process is more important. In speech recognition, the feature space is often represented by the mixed Gaussian densities, which consumes a lot of time and storage. In this paper, a novel method is proposed, which is based on the nearest neighbour rule and is named as the embedded multiple-model (EMM) scheme. Taking both the time and space complexities, the EMM scheme has been proved efficient.
Taking Berger and Luckmann to the Realm of Materiality: Architecture as a Social Construction

Although objects and buildings form an integral part of the reality of everyday life, they have seldom been explicitly discussed in social theory. This article starts by exploring how various classical approaches relate the social to the material world in order to show, in a second step, how this can be done with the help of the ‘new sociology of knowledge’ formulated by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann in 1966. Central in this effort is the concept of ‘material objectivations’. Drawing on Émile Durkheim’s first and most basic rule of sociological thought, according to which sociologists should consider social facts as things, I pose the question: what happens when this rule is reversed and things are conceptualized as social facts or – to use the terminology of Berger and Luckmann – as material ‘objectivations’?
Wise, well off and tired: a qualitative study of over-35 mothers raising their teens

This qualitative study used a phenomenological approach to understand the experience of 10 later-life mothers who had a first child at age 35 or older and were in the process of raising a teenager. Data were collected with semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic coding. Initial findings suggest maternal age contributes to a positive parenting outcome due to life experience, emotional maturity and financial security. Drawbacks include fatigue and reduced fertility that limited family size, as well as competing life stages such as retirement and college. Older mothers felt in the mainstream. Clinical implications are discussed.
Tissue-Resident Ecto-5′ Nucleotidase (CD73) Regulates Leukocyte Trafficking in the Ischemic Brain

Ectoenzymes expressed on the surface of vascular cells and leukocytes modulate the ambient nucleotide milieu. CD73 is an ecto-5′ nucleotidase that catalyzes the terminal phosphohydrolysis of AMP and resides in the brain on glial cells, cells of the choroid plexus, and leukocytes. Though CD73 tightens epithelial barriers, its role in the ischemic brain remains undefined. When subjected to photothrombotic arterial occlusion, CD73−/− mice exhibited significantly larger (49%) cerebral infarct volumes than wild-type mice, with concordant increases in local accumulation of leukocyte subsets (neutrophils, T lymphocytes, macrophages, and microglia). CD73−/− mice were rescued from ischemic neurologic injury by soluble 5′-nucleotidase. In situ, CD73−/− macrophages upregulated expression of costimulatory molecules far more than wild-type macrophages, with a sharp increase of the CD80/CD86 ratio. To define the CD73-bearing cells responsible for ischemic cerebroprotection, mice were subjected to irradiative myeloablation, marrow reconstitution, and then stroke following engraftment. Chimeric mice lacking CD73 in tissue had larger cerebral infarct volumes and more tissue leukosequestration than did mice lacking CD73 on circulating cells. These data show a cardinal role for CD73 in suppressing ischemic tissue leukosequestration. This underscores a critical role for CD73 as a modulator of brain inflammation and immune function.
Regulation of Aggregatibacter (Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans Leukotoxin Secretion by Iron

ABSTRACT The gram-negative oral and systemic pathogen Aggregatibacter (Actinobacillus) actinomycetemcomitans produces a leukotoxin (LtxA) that is a member of the RTX (repeats in toxin) family of secreted bacterial toxins. We have recently shown that LtxA has the ability to lyse erythrocytes, which results in a beta-hemolytic phenotype on Columbia blood agar. To determine if LtxA is regulated by iron, we examined beta-hemolysis under iron-rich and iron-limiting conditions. Beta-hemolysis was suppressed in the presence of FeCl3. In contrast, strong beta-hemolysis occurred in the presence of the iron chelator deferoxamine. We found that secretion of LtxA was completely inhibited by free iron, but expression of ltxA was not regulated by iron. Free chromium, cobalt, and magnesium did not affect LtxA secretion. Other LtxA-associated genes were not regulated by iron. Thus, iron appears to play an important role in the regulation of LtxA secretion in A. actinomycetemcomitans in a manner independent of gene regulation.
Design of a double-stator hybrid flux switching permanent magnet machine for direct-drive robotics

Direct-drive robotics is quite attractive because of its high efficiency, high robustness and wide application prospect. This paper is to propose a new double-stator hybrid flux switching permanent magnet (DSH-FSPM) machine for the direct-drive robotic applications. The key is to integrate the distinct merits of high torque density, flux-modulation capability, high fault-tolerant capacity and low torque ripple together. First, the machine design and flux switching principle are analyzed to illuminate the basic operation principle. Also the machine performance shows that the inner and outer torque ripples offset with each other and contribute to the low torque ripple less than 7%. Furthermore, with the addition of the DC current, the machine flux and EMF can be weakened, which can enlarge the flexibility and stability for the machine operation. The performances of the machine verify the feasibility of the new topology for the direct-drive robotics.
Targeted Therapies in Combination With Immune Therapies for the Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma

Abstract In recent years, the field of oncology has witnessed many breakthroughs in the treatment of advanced malignancies, particularly in patients with advanced melanoma. Targeted and immune checkpoint therapies have emerged as the primary treatment strategies for these patients. Molecular profiling of melanoma is incorporated into routine practice to identify potential therapeutic targets, and patients are offered either a targeted or immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy approach. Both strategies have limitations where not all patients experience durable responses. Preclinical data have demonstrated the ability of targeted therapy to enhance activity of effector T cells, reduce immunosuppressive cytokine production, and increase tumor cell antigen presentation, which can augment antitumor immunity. In vivo models have shown synergy with improved tumor control when targeted and immune checkpoint agents are combined. Therefore, combination strategies with targeted and immune checkpoint therapy may improve patient outcomes. Early clinical data with anti–programmed cell-death protein 1/programmed cell-death ligand 1 agents in combination with targeted inhibitors appear to have acceptable toxicity rates and the potential for enhanced antitumor activity. This review explores the current status of preclinical and clinical development for these combination approaches in patients with advanced melanoma.