Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distributed under Creative Commons Cc-by 4.0 a New Direction for Prenatal Chromosome Microarray Testing: Software-targeting for Detection of Clinically Significant Chromosome Imbalance without Equivocal Findings

Purpose. To design and validate a prenatal chromosomal microarray testing strategy that moves away from size-based detection thresholds, towards a more clinically relevant analysis, providing higher resolution than G-banded chromosomes but avoiding the detection of copy number variants (CNVs) of unclear prognosis that cause parental anxiety. Methods. All prenatal samples fulfilling our criteria for karyotype analysis (n = 342) were tested by chromosomal microarray and only CNVs of established dele-tion/duplication syndrome regions and any other CNV >3 Mb were detected and reported. A retrospective full-resolution analysis of 249 of these samples was carried out to ascertain the performance of this testing strategy. Results. Using our prenatal analysis, 23/342 (6.7%) samples were found to be abnormal. Of the remaining samples, 249 were anonymized and reanalyzed at full-resolution; a further 46 CNVs were detected in 44 of these cases (17.7%). None of these additional CNVs were of clear clinical significance. Conclusion. This prenatal chromosomal microarray strategy detected all CNVs of clear prognostic value and did not miss any CNVs of clear clinical significance. This strategy avoided both the problems associated with interpreting CNVs of uncertain prognosis and the parental anxiety that are a result of such findings.
Is Anyone Doing the Housework? Trends in the Gender Division of Household Labor

Time-diary data from representative samples ofAmerican adults show thatthenumber ofoverall hours ofdomestic labor (excluding child care andshopping) has continued to decline steadily and predictably since 1965. This finding is mainly due todramatic declines among women (both in and out of thepaidlabor market), whohave cuttheir housework hours almostin halfsince the 1960s: abouthalfofwomen's 12-hour-per­ week decline can beaccountedfor bycompositional shifts - such asincreased labor force participation, later marriage, andfewer children. In contrast, men's housework time has almost doubled during thisperiod (to thepointwhere menwere responsible for a third ofhousework in the 1990s), and only about15% of theirfive-hour-per­ week increase can be attributed to compositional factors. Parallel results on gender differences in housework were obtained from theNational Survey of Families and Households estimate data, even though these producefigures 50%higher thandiary data. Regression results examiningfactors related to wives' andhusbands' housework hours showmore support for the time-availability and relative-resource models of household production thanfor thegender perspective, although there issome support for thelatter perspective aswell.
Eating in the Pigeon (Columba livia): Movement Patterns, Stereotypy, and Stimulus Control

High-speed cinematography was used to analyze the eating behavior of the pigeon and to clarify the nature of its control by stimulus and motivational variables. Eating-response sequences may be functionally subdivided into a series of individual movement patterns whose duration and sequential organization exhibit a range of stereotypy comparable with that of movement patterns with an obvious communication function. Food deprivation does not affect the topography or spatiotemporal organization of the eating-response sequence but increases the rate at which such sequences are emitted. Stimuli coming from food elicit and orient many components of the eating response and serve as coordinating links in the causal chain that integrates individual movement patterns into an adaptive behavior for the efficient ingestion of food.
Adapting Cued Speech for Welsh

This paper describes the adaptation of Cued Speech for use with the Welsh language. The background to the development and use of Cued Speech is briefly described, along with the ability to adapt the system for languages other than English. The phonology of Welsh is described, and it is noted that Welsh has two main varieties (northern and southern) that differ phonologically in the number of vocalic units that are used, as well as some differences in the consonantal system. The Cued Speech adaptation needed to be able to account for these dialectal differences. The large number of vocalic units in Welsh, and a number of unusual consonants resulted in modifications to the vowel positions and consonant handshapes. With the formal adaptation of Cued Welsh, deaf individuals have the opportunity to acquire access to the spoken form of the Welsh language. Readers working with Cued Speech and wishing to adapt it to new language varieties will find the example illustrated in this paper interesting and instructive.
EXPLORING STUDENT AND TEACHER INTERACTIONS FOR CRITICAL THINKING IN FACE-TO-FACE AND ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS IN AN EFL COURSE IN TAIWAN

Current literature indicates a lack of exploration of factors relating to Taiwanese students’ critical thinking in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The research study was a case study based on the social constructivist framework. The aim of this study was to explore how teacher and students interactions online impacted critical thinking by addressing the social norm in Confucius Heritage Culture (CHC). The characteristics of the social norm of CHC do not readily support verbalizing thoughts and challenging others face-to-face in public, which are important to the practice of critical thinking. The research was conducted in an English-major reading class at a university in Taiwan. The data collection methods included focus groups, collaborative inquiry with the teacher, and the researcher’s participant observation in both face-to-face and online discussions. The findings suggested that students need teacher’s cognitive, affective, pedagogical and technical support and face-to-face small group support before engaging in online interactions. Modified debates in new face-to-face models of interaction helped maximise the social constructivist approach with the teacher’s shepherd facilitation. The online interaction patterns in a CHC context underwent a three-phase process, which described how CHC students externalised critical thinking within groups, intergroups and inter-classes in online form. The study contributes to our understanding and the development of culturally suitable approaches to cognitive, affective, pedagogical and technical guidelines needed in facilitating EFL students’ critical thinking in face-to-face and online interactions in the context of Taiwan.
MRI Lesion and Epileptogenic Focus in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Abstract: The spatial relationship between a circumscribed lesion in the temporal lobe detected by MRI and an epibptogenic focus identified by ictal depth EEG along with a correlation, of the MRI lesion with neuropath logical findings were investigated in patients with medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy but without any focal lesion on CT. Four parameters (an areal ratio of the temporal lobe against the hemisphere, area and calculated T1, T2 values of the hippocampus) were used to determine the abnormal MRI side. An agreement was reached in 67–72%, of 18 patients between the abnormal values of the hippocampus area and of calculated T1, T2 and the side of the epileptogenic focus. In 14 of 17 patients, typical hippocampus sclerosis was demonstrated in respected tissue in accordance with the MRI lesions (atrophy and/or prolonged T2 of hippocampus). These results imply: 1) MRI abnormality thus defined may, if not all, indicate the side of the epileptogenic focus, and 2) also the presence of hippocampal sclerosis. It was emphasized that the MRI lesion would be a usable instrument to explore the causal relationship of hippocampus sclerosis to a generation of epileptogenic lesions as well as for presurgical evaluation.
Urgent Therapy for Stroke: Part II. Pilot Study of Tissue Plasminogen Activator Administered 91-180 Minutes From Onset

Background and Purpose Renewed interest in thrombolytic therapy as potential treatment for patients with acute Ischemic stroke prompted a dose-escalation safety study of tissue plasminogen activator in patients with very early (≤90 minutes; see Part I) neurological symptoms. To test whether this stringent entry window might be safely lengthened, a second study was organized to test tissue plasminogen activator in patients with symptoms of 91–180 minutes' duration before treatment Methods An open-label, dose-escalation design was chosen. Eligible patients had pretreatment head computerized tomographic scanning and treatment begun 91–180 minutes from stroke onset End points examined included the incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, other bleeding, and clinical outcome at 2 hours, 24 hours, and 3 months after treatment Results Twenty patients were treated at three hospitals in 13 months. Three doses were tested: 0.6 mg/kg (n=8), 0.85 mg/kg (n=6), and 0.95 mg/kg (n=6). Two patients, one each at the two highest doses, sustained fatal intracerebral hemorrhages. Three patients (15%) improved by ≥4 points on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale by 24 hours. Conclusions These observations suggest that tissue plasminogen activator treatment of acute ischemic stroke 91–180 minutes from onset in doses of ≥0.85 mg/kg is attended by a risk of intracerebral hemorrhage approximating 17% (range 3–44%, 95% confidence interval). The rate of early neurological improvement observed in this study was small but does not exclude an improvement over the natural history. Future study with placebo control subjects and stratification by time to treatment is indicated.
Are the effects of juvenile offender stereotypes maximized or minimized by jury deliberation

Although trial judges admonish jurors to avoid being influenced by personal biases, social psychological theories suggest that stereotypes can influence jurors’ case judgments. Further, such effects might be stronger or weaker after jury deliberation. In the current study, we examined the effect of stereotypes on preand postdeliberation case judgments in a mock trial. Jurors’ stereotypes of juvenile offenders (“Wayward Youth” and “Superpredator”) were measured and, in some conditions, activated by attorneys’ arguments. Jurors provided preand postdeliberation case judgments. Results indicated that the more jurors held preexisting Superpredator stereotypes about juvenile offenders, the more likely they were to find the defendant guilty and the less likely they were to believe the defendant should have been tried in juvenile court. There was some evidence that the effects of preexisting biases were minimized after jury deliberation. We also found that jurors’ juvenile offender stereotypes could be activated experimentally within the context of the trial. Compared to jurors in a control condition, jurors with an activated Superpredator stereotype were more likely to find the defendant guilty; jurors with an activated Wayward Youth stereotype were less likely to believe that the defendant should have been waived to criminal court. There was some evidence that experimentally activated biases were maximized after jury deliberation. We discuss theoretical explanations for why group deliberation might minimize the effect of jurors’ preexisting stereotypes, but maximize the effect of stereotypes experimentally activated during trial.
Applications and Benefits of Elliptic Curve Cryptography

This paper covers relatively new and emerging subject of the elliptic curve crypto systems whose fundamental security is based on the algorithmically hard discrete logarithm problem. Work includes the study of the following issues: mathematical background of the elliptic curve crypto systems, discrete logarithm problem, practical use cases in the industry, common implementation mistakes, performance comparison of elliptic curve and RSA crypto systems etc. The conclusion contains a brief summary of the elliptic curve cryptosystem practical applications, the potential practical benefits and disadvantages with respect to the widely used RSA crypto system.
Sleep patterns in children with ADHD: a population-based cohort study from birth to 11 years

Associations between sleep duration and disturbance in infancy and early childhood and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnoses were investigated. Data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a population‐based prospective longitudinal birth‐cohort study of children born in 1991–1992 in South‐West England, were employed. Eight thousand, one hundred and ninety‐five children were assessed using the Development and Well‐Being Assessment. One hundred and seventy‐three cases (2.1%) met criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Parental report at eight time points showed children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder slept less than peers. Absolute differences were small and mainly restricted to night‐time sleep, with no strong evidence of differences from controls, except at 69 months [5 years 9 months; 12 min (95% CI: 5–19), P = 0.001], at 81 months [6 years 9 months; 15 min (95% CI: 8–22), P < 0.001] and at 115 months [9 years 7 months; 11 min (95% CI: 4–18), P = 0.001]. The attention deficit hyperactivity disorder group had more night‐waking at every age, significant from about 5 years. When tracking children's sleep along a normative centiles chart, a shift in sleep duration from one centile to a lower centile was a useful predictor of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Age‐specific decreases of >1SD in sleep duration across adjacent time points was a significant predictor of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at 3–5 years (P = 0.047). In children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, shorter sleep duration and sleep disturbances appear early and predate the usual age of clinical diagnosis. The rate of change of sleep duration relative to an individual, rather than absolute sleep duration at any stage, may prove beneficial in identifying increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Novel hydrogel microspheres of chitosan and pluronic F-127 for controlled release of 5-fluorouracil

Hydrogel microspheres of chitosan (CS) and Pluronic F127 (PF-127) were prepared by the emulsion-crosslinking method employing glutaraldehyde (GA) as a crosslinker. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), an anticancer drug with good water solubility, was encapsulated into hydrogel microspheres. Various formulations were prepared by varying the ratio of CS and PF-127, % drug loading and amount of GA. Microspheres were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to confirm the absence of chemical interactions between drug, polymer and the crosslinking agent. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to study the surface morphology of the microspheres. SEM showed that microspheres have smooth shiny surfaces. Particle size, as measured by laser light scattering technique, gave an average size ranging from 110 to 382 µm. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (X-RD) studies were performed to understand the crystalline nature of the drug after encapsulation into hydrogel microspheres. Encapsulation of the drug up to 86% achieved was measured by UV spectroscopy. Equilibrium swelling experiments were performed in distilled water. Diffusion coefficients (D) of water through microspheres were estimated by an empirical equation. In vitro release studies indicated the dependence of release rate on the extent of crosslinking, drug loading and the amount of PF-127 used to produce the microspheres; slow release was extended up to 24 h. The release data were also fitted to an empirical equation to compute the diffusional exponent (n), which indicated that the release mechanism followed the non-Fickian trend.
Obstacle avoidance by combining background subtraction, optical flow and proximity estimation

For Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs), robust obstacle avoidance during flight is a challenging problem because only light weight sensors as monocular cameras can be mounted as payload. With monocular cameras depth perception cannot be estimated from a single view, which means that information has to be estimated by combining images from multiple viewpoints. Here we present a method which focuses only on regions classified as foreground and follow features in the foreground to estimate threat of potential objects being an obstacle in the flight path by depth segmentation and scale estimation. We evaluate results from our approach in an outdoor environment with a small quadrotor drone and analyze the effect of the different stages in the image processing pipeline. We are able to determine evident obstacles in front of the drone with high confidence. Robust obstacleavoidance algorithms as presented in this article will allow Micro Aerial Vehicles to navigate semi-autonomously in outdoor scenarios.
A novel interdigitated, inductively tuned, capacitive shunt RF — MEMS switch for X and K bands applications

This paper presents a new type of capacitive shunt RF-MEMS switch. In the proposed design, interdigitation of signal lines with actuation electrodes is used to make a compact device. A bridge structure anchored in between ground planes and attached to two cantilevers on either side has been used to implement the switch structure. This novel structure is used to inductively tune the isolation peaks in X and K bands which is not possible with conventional approach. The designed switch shows an insertion loss of 0.01 dB to 0.11 dB over the frequency range from 1 to 25 GHz. Isolation of 34.71, 34.33, and 40.7 dB has been observed at 10.4 GHz, 11 GHz and 21.4 GHz when bridge is electro-statically actuated with either left, right or both cantilevers in the down state respectively. The bridge structure shows a pull-in voltage of 12.25 V and switching time of 34.40 μs whereas left and right cantilevers have 7.5 V and 57 μs. The designed device can be useful for the future multiband communication applications.
Local bifurcations of a quasiperiodic Orbit

We consider the local bifurcations that can occur in a quasiperiodic orbit in a three-dimensional map: (a) a torus doubling resulting in two disjoint loops, (b) a torus doubling resulting in a single closed curve with two loops, (c) the appearance of a third frequency, and (d) the birth of a stable torus and an unstable torus. We analyze these bifurcations in terms of the stability of the point at which the closed invariant curve intersects a "second Poincare section". We show that these bifurcations can be classified depending on where the eigenvalues of this fixed point cross the unit circle.
The Differential Effect of Three Naturalistic Language Interventions on Language Use in Children With Autism

Naturalistic interventions show promise for improving language in children with autism. Specific interventions differ in direct elicitation of child language and indirect language stimulation, and thus may produce different language outcomes. This study compared the effects of responsive interaction, milieu teaching, and a combined intervention on the type and communicative function of expressive language in two preschoolers with autism using a randomized alternating treatments design. Milieu teaching led to more overall language, prompted language, and requests than responsive interaction. Responsive interaction led to more comments than milieu teaching. The combined intervention was similar to milieu teaching for prompted language and requests and responsive interaction for child comments. Implications for treatment of language deficits in autism are discussed.
Expert Power and Control in Late Modernity: An Empirical Review and Theoretical Synthesis

This paper provides an overview and evaluation of contemporary debates over the nature and significance of 'expert power' within 'late modemity'. It focuses on the changing relationship between expert power, organizational control and class formation within the wider context provided by the global shift towards more reflexive and flexible forms of capital accumulation. It concludes that the latter will have fateful consequences for the major forms of expertise. organizational design and class power taking shape in late modemity. In par ticular, it suggests that 'the politics of expertise' has become more intensely contested in contemporary conditions, and that this produces a more frag mented division of labour within and between the professional and managerial middle classes. Thus, expert groups are seen to play a strategic role in the radical restructuring of professional work organization and control occurring within the much more fragmented middle-class formations emerging in advanced capitalist societies.
The effect of activated carbon on partitioning, desorption, and biouptake of native polychlorinated biphenyls in four freshwater sediments

The present study evaluated the effect of activated carbon amendment in four freshwater sediments from the Great Lakes (North America) areas of concern with a wide range of sediment geochemical characteristics (0.83–5.1% total organic carbon) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations (0.33–84.7 μg/g). The work focused on understanding the impact of activated carbon amendment on PCB aqueous partitioning, PCB desorption characteristics, and PCB biouptake in a freshwater oligochaete (Lumbriculus variegatus). The results showed that PCB aqueous equilibrium concentrations, rapid desorption fractions, and biouptake by the oligochaete were reduced after activated carbon amendment. Addition of activated carbon at a dose of 0.5‐fold native organic carbon reduced PCB bioaccumulation by 42% for Niagara River sediment, 85% for Grasse River sediment, 74% for Milwaukee River sediment 1, and 70% for Milwaukee River sediment 2. A linear relationship was observed between log biota–sediment accumulation factor and the first 6‐h desorption fractions for each PCB homologue for treated and untreated sediments. Waterlipid bioconcentration factors for PCB congeners were largely conserved after amendment with activated carbon. Our present results suggest that at steady state, changes in the aqueous PCB concentrations can be used to predict changes in PCB bioaccumulation in deposit‐feeding organisms. Thus, use of advanced pore‐water measurement techniques, such as solid‐phase extraction passive samplers, may be suitable for long‐term monitoring of treatment performance.
Automatic out-of-language detection based on confidence measures derived from LVCSR word and phone lattices

Abstract Condence Measures (CMs) estimated from Large VocabularyContinuous Speech Recognition (LVCSR) outputs are com-monly used metrics to detect incorrectly recognized words.Inthispaper,weproposetoexploitCMsderivedfromframe-basedwordandphoneposteriorstodetectspeechsegmentscontainingpronunciations from non-target (alien) languages. The LVCSRsystem used is built for English, which is the target language,with medium-size recognition vocabulary (5k words). The ef-ciency of detection is tested on a set comprising speech fromthree different languages (English, German, Czech). Resultsachieved indicate that employment of specic temporal context(integrated in the word or phone level) signicantly increasesthe detection accuracies. Furthermore, we show that combina-tionofseveralCMscanalsoimprovetheefciencyofdetection.IndexTerms: LVCSR,CondenceMeasure,Out-Of-Language(OOL) detection 1. Introduction Condence Measures (CMs) are commonly used to detectrecognition errors obtained by Large Vocabulary ContinuousSpeech Recognition (LVCSR) systems. In preliminary work,C