Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Social Attention in a Virtual Public Speaking Task in Higher Functioning Children With Autism

Impairments in social attention play a major role in autism, but little is known about their role in development after preschool. In this study, a public speaking task was used to study social attention, its moderators, and its association with classroom learning in elementary and secondary students with higher functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD). Thirty‐seven students with HFASD and 54 age‐ and intelligence quotient (IQ)‐matched peers without symptoms of ASD were assessed in a virtual classroom public speaking paradigm. This paradigm assessed the ability to attend to nine avatar peers seated at a table, while simultaneously answering self‐referenced questions. Students with HFASD looked less frequently to avatar peers in the classroom while talking. However, social attention was moderated in the HFASD sample such that students with lower IQ, and/or more symptoms of social anxiety, and/or more attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder inattentive symptoms, displayed more atypical social attention. Group differences were more pronounced when the classroom contained social avatars versus nonsocial targets. Moreover, measures of social attention rather than nonsocial attention were significantly associated with parent report and objective measures of learning in the classroom. The data in this study support the hypothesis of the Social Attention Model of ASD that social attention disturbance remains part of the school‐aged phenotype of autism that is related to syndrome‐specific problems in social learning. More research of this kind would likely contribute to advances in the understanding of the development of the spectrum of autism and educational intervention approaches for affected school‐aged children. Autism Res 2013, ●●: ●●–●●. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Sorting and searching in the presence of memory faults (without redundancy)

We investigate the design of algorithms resilient to memory faults, i. e. , algorithms that, despite the corruption of some memory values during their execution, are able to produce a correct output on the set of uncorrupted values. In this framework, we consider two fundamental problems: sorting and searching. In particular, we prove that any O(nlog n) comparison-based sorting algorithm can tolerate at most O((nlog n)1/2) memory faults. Furthermore, we present one comparison-based sorting algorithm with optimal space and running time that is resilient to O((nlog n)1/3) faults. We also prove polylogarithmic lower and upper bounds on fault-tolerant searching.
Improvement of image matching by using the proximity criterion

The aim of this work is to develop a new algorithm for matching stereo images to the 3D reconstruction. We propose the use of a proximity criterion, to improve performance, and applying of the second chance algorithm. The similarity measures used are mutual information and correlation coefficient. The matching is done between neighborhoods of points of interest extracted from the images. We work in case which the sensor has a slight displacement between two images. The tests are performed on grayscale images.
Challenges and opportunities for software change request repositories: a systematic mapping study

Software maintenance starts as soon as the first artifacts are delivered and is essential for the success of the software. However, keeping maintenance activities and their related artifacts on track comes at a high cost. In this respect, change request (CR) repositories are fundamental in software maintenance. They facilitate the management of CRs and are also the central point to coordinate activities and communication among stakeholders. However, the benefits of CR repositories do not come without issues, and commonly occurring ones should be dealt with, such as the following: duplicate CRs, the large number of CRs to assign, or poorly described CRs. Such issues have led researchers to an increased interest in investigating CR repositories, by considering different aspects of software development and CR management. In this paper, we performed a systematic mapping study to characterize this research field. We analyzed 142 studies, which we classified in two ways. First, we classified the studies into different topics and grouped them into two dimensions: challenges and opportunities. Second, the challenge topics were classified in accordance with an existing taxonomy for information retrieval models. In addition, we investigated tools and services for CR management, to understand whether and how they addressed the topics identified. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Tuned In: The effectiveness for young adults of a group emotion regulation program using music listening

This article presents a description and pilot evaluation of Tuned In, a brief group intervention using music listening to teach young people emotional awareness and regulation skills. The program is underpinned by a two-dimensional (valence and arousal) model of emotion and activities to enhance participants’ emotional responses while listening to music. The four-session program was piloted with 51 university students aged 18–25 years (67% female). Approximately a third of the sample was above the normal range for depression, anxiety or stress symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned to Tuned In or a wait-list control. Tuned In involved groups of around eight participants with two psychologist facilitators. Tuned In participants experienced greater improvement in emotional awareness and clarity and total emotion regulation than controls. Weekly ratings pooled for the entire sample (after the wait-listed participants had completed Tuned In) indicated significant improvements over time in emotional awareness, ability to name emotions, and ability to regulate emotions. Ratings of engagement were high and the overall attendance rate was 98%. Tuned In shows promise as a brief emotion regulation intervention for young adults.
Why Have Dendrites? A Computational Perspective

This chapter concerns how dendritic trees may contribute to the information processing functions of individual neurons in the CNS. Before tackling this fascinating question, though, it is useful to address two background issues. First, could dendrites exist for reasons other than to enhance a cell's computing functions per se? If we focus on their spatial extent, we might infer that dendrites exist to increase the receptive surface area of a neuron, which they do by 10 or 20 fold. This makes room for a much larger number of synaptic connections between neurons, which seems advantageous. If we focus on their highly branched morphology, we might infer that dendrites are optimally shaped (per unit length) to extract information-bearing signals from the surrounding neuropil, analogous to root systems that are optimized for the extraction of water and nutrients from surrounding soil (Bejan 2000; Chklovskii, Schikorski et al. 2002). If we focus on their anatomically distinct subregions (e.g., apical vs. basal subtrees), we might infer dendrites exist so that different input pathways can be physically segregated on the surface of the cell (Shepherd 1998; McBain and Fisahn 2001). This could allow different classes of presynaptic terminals to be targeted by different modulatory substances (Patil, Linster et al. 1998), to be influenced by different classes of inhibitory interneurons (McBain and Fisahn 2001), or to be subjected to different synaptic learning rules (Golding, Staff et al. 2002; Froemke, Poo et al. 2005). Thus, at the very least, dendritic trees are likely to be multi-purpose devices which, apart from their information processing functions, play various physical roles in the early development and day-to-day operation of the neural circuit.
Performance measurement, visualization and modeling of parallel and distributed programs using the AIMS toolkit

Writing large‐scale parallel and distributed scientific applications that make optimum use of the multiprocessor is a challenging problem. Typically, computational resources are underused due to performance failures in the application being executed. Performance‐tuning tools are essential for exposing these performance failures and for suggesting ways to improve program performance. In this paper, we first address fundamental issues in building useful performance‐tuning tools and then describe our experience with the AIMS toolkit for tuning parallel and distributed programs on a variety of platforms. AIMS supports source‐code instrumentation, run‐time monitoring, graphical execution profiles, performance indices and automated modeling techniques as ways to expose performance problems of programs. Using several examples representing a broad range of scientific applications, we illustrate AIMS' effectiveness in exposing performance problems in parallel and distributed programs.
Stage-specific effects of Notch activation during skeletal myogenesis

Skeletal myogenesis involves sequential activation, proliferation, self-renewal/differentiation and fusion of myogenic stem cells (satellite cells). Notch signaling is known to be essential for the maintenance of satellite cells, but its function in late-stage myogenesis, i.e. post-differentiation myocytes and post-fusion myotubes, is unknown. Using stage-specific Cre alleles, we uncovered distinct roles of Notch1 in mononucleated myocytes and multinucleated myotubes. Specifically, constitutive Notch1 activation dedifferentiates myocytes into Pax7 quiescent satellite cells, leading to severe defects in muscle growth and regeneration, and postnatal lethality. By contrast, myotube-specific Notch1 activation improves the regeneration and exercise performance of aged and dystrophic muscles. Mechanistically, Notch1 activation in myotubes upregulates the expression of Notch ligands, which modulate Notch signaling in the adjacent satellite cells to enhance their regenerative capacity. These results highlight context-dependent effects of Notch activation during myogenesis, and demonstrate that Notch1 activity improves myotube’s function as a stem cell niche. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.17355. 001
Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV)-Based Assay Demonstrates Interferon-Antagonist Activity for the NDV V Protein and the Nipah Virus V, W, and C Proteins

ABSTRACT We have generated a recombinant Newcastle disease virus (NDV) that expresses the green fluorescence protein (GFP) in infected chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs). This virus is interferon (IFN) sensitive, and pretreatment of cells with chicken alpha/beta IFN (IFN-α/β) completely blocks viral GFP expression. Prior transfection of plasmid DNA induces an IFN response in CEFs and blocks NDV-GFP replication. However, transfection of known inhibitors of the IFN-α/β system, including the influenza A virus NS1 protein and the Ebola virus VP35 protein, restores NDV-GFP replication. We therefore conclude that the NDV-GFP virus could be used to screen proteins expressed from plasmids for the ability to counteract the host cell IFN response. Using this system, we show that expression of the NDV V protein or the Nipah virus V, W, or C proteins rescues NDV-GFP replication in the face of the transfection-induced IFN response. The V and W proteins of Nipah virus, a highly lethal pathogen in humans, also block activation of an IFN-inducible promoter in primate cells. Interestingly, the amino-terminal region of the Nipah virus V protein, which is identical to the amino terminus of Nipah virus W, is sufficient to exert the IFN-antagonist activity. In contrast, the anti-IFN activity of the NDV V protein appears to be located in the carboxy-terminal region of the protein, a region implicated in the IFN-antagonist activity exhibited by the V proteins of mumps virus and human parainfluenza virus type 2.
Long-term reduction in peripheral blood HIV type 1 reservoirs following reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND The long-term impact of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) reservoirs in patients receiving combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is largely unknown. METHODS We studied the effects of a reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic HSCT from donors with wild-type-CCR5(+) cells on HIV-1 peripheral blood reservoirs in 2 patients heterozygous for the ccr5Δ32 mutation. In-depth analyses of the HIV-1 reservoir size in peripheral blood, coreceptor use, and specific antibody responses were performed on samples obtained before and up to 3.5 years after HSCT receipt. RESULTS Although HIV-1 DNA was readily detected in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) before and 2-3 months after HSCT receipt, HIV-1 DNA and RNA were undetectable in PBMCs, CD4(+) T cells, or plasma up to 21 and 42 months after HSCT. The loss of detectable HIV-1 correlated temporally with full donor chimerism, development of graft-versus-host disease, and decreases in HIV-specific antibody levels. CONCLUSIONS The ability of donor cells to engraft without evidence of ongoing HIV-1 infection suggests that HIV-1 replication may be fully suppressed during cART and does not contribute to maintenance of viral reservoirs in peripheral blood in our patients. HSCTs with wild-type-CCR5(+) donor cells can lead to a sustained reduction in the size of the peripheral reservoir of HIV-1.
Minimum Error Thresholding Based on Two Dimensional Histogram

Thresholding is an important technique for image segmentation and is widely applied to the field of digital image processing. The purpose of this paper is to extend the minimum error thresholding to the 2dimensional histogram to come up a new algorithm, namely, minimum error thresholding based on the 2D histogram. This new method can derive the 2D optimal threshold vector by presuming that the object and background gray level values are normally distributed in the 2D histogram. This method utilizes not only the gray level information of each pixel but its spatial correlation information of its neighborhood in an image. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by simulation results.
The prevalence of depression in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective. There is substantial uncertainty regarding the prevalence of depression in RA. We conducted a systematic review aiming to describe the prevalence of depression in RA. Methods. Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, Medline and PubMed were searched for cross-sectional studies reporting a prevalence estimate for depression in adult RA patients. Studies were reviewed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and a meta-analysis was performed. Results. A total of 72 studies, including 13 189 patients, were eligible for inclusion in the review. Forty-three methods of defining depression were reported. Meta-analyses revealed the prevalence of major depressive disorder to be 16.8% (95% CI 10%, 24%). According to the PHQ-9, the prevalence of depression was 38.8% (95% CI 34%, 43%), and prevalence levels according to the HADS with thresholds of 8 and 11 were 34.2% (95% CI 25%, 44%) and 14.8% (95% CI 12%, 18%), respectively. The main influence on depression prevalence was the mean age of the sample. Conclusion. Depression is highly prevalent in RA and associated with poorer RA outcomes. This suggests that optimal care of RA patients may include the detection and management of depression.
Study of Surface Reconstruction Based on Contours of CT Image Slices

At present, there are two main types for medical CT image surface reconstruction: one is way of the slice contour, the other is voxel reconstruction, the former method is simple, easy for calculation and much classical computer graphics techniques can be used, the latter is related to complex computing. In this paper, image contours are extracted by active contour model, simplified by DP algorithm. Use Delaunnay splicing to construct triangulations for the sampled points of contours, finally surface of a human head are constructed through the surface fitting techniques.
Barriers and Supports to Help-Seeking in Survivors of Suicide Loss

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore barriers and supports to help-seeking in survivors of suicide loss. Methods: An anonymous online survey containing both quantitative and qualitative questions was developed with the goal of obtaining preliminary data using a mixed-methods approach in specific areas such as, experienced grief reactions, stigma from suicide, helpful and unhelpful forms of support. Sample: A total of 791 individuals completed the line survey about the barriers and supports to help seeking in survivors of suicide loss. Female participants accounted for 93% of the sample (N=735), males accounted for 6% of participants (n=52), transgender (n=1) and agender (n=3) made up the remaining 1% Results: Survivors of suicide loss report multiple difficulties in navigating their grief. 99.5% of respondents experienced intrusive thoughts about the suicide to a moderate to high degree. The most significant grief reactions included Shock 98% (n=729/747), Unhappiness 95% (n=705/739), Disbelief 93% (n=659/747), Regret 92% (687/740), and Guilt 89% (n=665/747). The most helpful supports were peer who have experienced a loss from suicide 85% (n=460/541), and support groups specific to suicide loss 83% (n=387/468). Participants noted that the most helpful interactions with professionals were those where the professional was responsive to their needs and helped the survivor process the death. The most unhelpful interactions with professionals were those notes as being empathic failures and when the survivor felt blamed for the suicide.
Final Author Comments: acp-2015-118 – “Use of North American and European air quality networks to evaluate global chemistry-climate modeling of surface ozone

We test the current generation of global chemistry-climate models in their ability to simulate observed, present-day surface ozone. Models are evaluated against hourly surface ozone from 4,217 stations in North America and Europe that are averaged over 1° x 1° grid cells, allowing commensurate model-measurement comparison. Models are generally biased high during all hours of the day and in all regions. Most models simulate the shape of regional summertime diurnal and annual cycles well, correctly matching the timing of hourly (~15:00) and monthly (mid-June) peak surface ozone abundance. The amplitude of these cycles is less successfully matched. The observed summertime diurnal range (~25 ppb) is underestimated in all regions by about 7 ppb, and the observed seasonal range (~21 ppb) is underestimated by about 5 ppb except in the most polluted regions where it is overestimated by about 5 ppb. The models generally match the pattern of the observed summertime ozone enhancement, but they overestimate its magnitude in most regions. Most models capture the observed distribution of extreme episode sizes, correctly showing that about 80% of individual extreme events occur in large-scale, multiday episodes of more than 100 grid cells. The models also match the observed linear relationship between episode size and a measure of episode intensity, which shows increases in ozone abundance by up to 6 ppb for larger-sized episodes.
How to do it

THE PARAMETERS OF SINGLE FIBRE EMG To detect abnormal neuromuscular transmission, two parameters are analysed: ‘jitter’ as an indicator of irregularity of neuromuscular transmission, and ‘blocking’ as an indicator of failure of transmission (Stalberg and Trontelj 1994). Each lower motor neurone arising from an anterior horn of the spinal cord connects with a number of muscle fi bres via the terminal branches of its axon. With discharge of the motor neurone, all the connected muscle fi bres fi re more or less simultaneously. Conduction of the discharge along the axon is fast but neuromuscular transmission from axon terminal to the muscle fi bre at the motor end plate is slower. And the transmission time across the motor end plate varies from one end plate to another. Even in the same motor end plate, it can differ from one fi ring to another. This variation is what is meant by jitter (Fig. 1a). While the variation in transmission time is least during regular fi ring of a muscle fi bre, it increases with irregular fi ring, and is most pronounced when the motor end plate is defective, as in myasthenia gravis HOW TO DO IT
Asymmetries : Conceptualizing Environmental Inequalities as Ecological Debt and Ecologically Unequal Exchange

In this compilation thesis, consisting of six papers and an introductory chapter, the concepts of ecological debt, climate debt, ecologically unequal exchange, and unequal carbon sink appropriation are at the centre. Their intellectual and political histories are traced to environmental justice movements, ecological economics and neo-Marxist economics. They are developed conceptually and linked together analytically using a stock-flow perspective. Special concern is devoted to climate debt as understood by the climate justice movement. Its claims on climate debt are identified, their normative assumptions tested and climate debt is quantified as consisting of both an emission debt and an adaptation debt. The last paper focus on a historical case study, where a method for measuring ecologically unequal exchange – time-space appropriation – is applied to discuss core and peripheries in the early modern world system, indicating a Sinocentric world economy. In the introductory chapter, sections on critical realism and mixed methods research position the thesis theoretically and methodologically. The concepts at the centre of the thesis are synthesized into what is called an ecological-economic asymmetries approach. Further, the possibilities to base the approach on ecological Marxism and historical-geographical materialism are explored and a potential future research strategy sketched.
Spoken Term Detection Based on Improved Index Structure

The performance of keyword spotting system suffers severe degradation when the index stage is so fast that the lattice may lose lots of information to retrieve the spoken terms. In this paper, we focus on this problem and present two algorithm: the first one called unconstraint word graph expansion (UWGE) and the other called dynamic position specific posterior lattice(D-PSPL). The motivation of these methods is to keep the pruned hypotheses which are discarded in the decoding procedure but may contain correct hypotheses. The proposed approaches is to eliminate the N-gram language model state limitation of lattice and reconstruct lattice to unconstrained word graph. On two Mandarin conversation telephone speech sets, we compare performance using the two methods with that on traditional trigram lattice, and our approaches give satisfying performance gains over trigram lattice. The experiment results also show that the D-PSPL algorithm is better than the UWGE algorithm in high score area.