Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Response to Methylphenidate in Inattentive and Combined Subtype ADHD

Objective: To examine response to methylphenidate (MPH) assessed by direct observation of ecologically valid behaviors in boys with ADHD with high hyperactivity-impulsivity (HI) and those with predominantly inattentive symptoms (ADHD/I). Method: Sixty-three boys ages 7 to 13 participated in an ADHD Summer Treatment Program and received a double-blind placebo-controlled assessment of . 3 mg/kg of MPH on problem behaviors and individualized behavior goals. Medication effect sizes were calculated for each child for each behavior. Results: Children with ADHD/HI (n = 21) displayed larger MPH effect sizes for interrupting, verbal abuse, and compliance, and marginally greater response for teasing and counselor-directed goals. Children with ADHD/I (n = 21) displayed small medication effect sizes (ds < .20) for many behaviors often identified as primary deficits in this group (e.g., attention to activities, peer interaction, class work completion, and accuracy). Conclusion: Systematic medication assessment for ADHD/I that quantifies response in ecologically valid areas of functional impairment is essential.
The Effectiveness of Pre-Service Principal Preparation Programs on Instructional School Leadership in High Stakes Testing Grades

In today’s world of accountability, the preparation of school leaders has never been more critical. Many states are now developing policies and processes that seek to enhance school leadership preparation programs. Enhancing school leadership preparation programs is particularly important in the area of instructional leadership because research suggests that instructional leaders have a significant direct effect on student outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore principals’ perceptions of relationships between training in their pre-service principal preparation programs and their effectiveness as in-service instructional leaders in New Jersey schools. The study is significant because the preparation of school leaders impacts the success of their students. Twelve in-service principals participated in semi-structured interviews designed to explore their perceptions of the emphasis that their pre-service programs placed on three skills associated with effective instructional leadership: 1) setting high expectations, 2) establishing a positive school climate, and 3) instructional practice. Results of the interviews showed that while all principals used these skills in their current practice, they did not attribute their training primarily to their preservice principal preparation programs. Instead, they relied on alternative methods of training to gain these critical skills. Based on participant responses, recommendations are made for ongoing research to improve principal preparation programs through embedded practical opportunities.
Plasma adenosine and cardiovascular responses to dipyridamole in fetal sheep.

The effects of dipyridamole infusion on fetal arterial plasma adenosine level, [ADO], and the systemic cardiovascular system were studied in 10 fetal sheep at 130-135 days gestational age. Dipyridamole (0.25 mg/kg) was infused into the fetuses intravenously during normoxia and hypoxia. Plasma [ADO] was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography, (HPLC), and fetal heart rate and arterial blood pressure were monitored throughout the study. These studies were performed in the absence and presence of theophylline, an adenosine receptor antagonist. During normoxia (PO2, 23.8 +/- 2.0 Torr), dipyridamole infusion increased fetal plasma [ADO] from 0.82 +/- 0.10 microM to 1.41 +/- 0.16 microM within 1 min (P < 0.01) and fetal heart rate from 157 +/- 6 bpm to 174 +/- 7 bpm (P < 0.01), but did not change mean blood pressure. Fetal plasma [ADO] and fetal heart rate returned to basal levels quickly. Treatment with theophylline did not alter the elevation of plasma [ADO] after dipyridamole infusion, but abolished responses of fetal heart rate to dipyridamole infusion. After 15 min of hypoxia with an average arterial PO2 of 15.4 +/- 1.1 Torr, fetal plasma [ADO] increased to 1.15 +/- 0.14 microM (P < 0.01). Dipyridamole infusion then further raised fetal plasma [ADO] to 1.67 +/- 0.27 microM (P < 0.01). The duration of the increase of fetal plasma [ADO] after dipyridamole infusion was no longer in hypoxia than in normoxia, however there was no significant change in the pattern of transient fetal bradycardia and persistent hypertension. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Novel serpinopathy in rat kidney and pancreas induced by overexpression of megsin.

The intracellular polymerization of abnormal serine protease inhibitors (serpins) results in liver or neuronal cell abnormalities recently identified as "serpinopathies. " It was demonstrated in transgenic rats that overexpression of megsin, a recently discovered serpin located in the kidney, produces renal and pancreatic lesions characteristic of serpinopathies. Megsin expression is elevated in a variety of organs, including kidney and pancreas. Periodic acid-Schiff-positive, diastase-resistant intracellular inclusions develop only in the kidney and the pancreas. They correspond to electron-dense deposits, shown to contain megsin by immunohistochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy. In the kidney, inclusions are located mainly in the endoplasmic reticulum of glomerular epithelial, distal, and collecting duct cells, and are associated with massive proteinuria and an impaired renal function. In the pancreas, similar inclusions are found in the exocrine and Langerhans islet cells, where islet beta cells are reduced as a result of apoptosis. They are associated with diabetes with low insulin levels. The animals have an impaired growth and die within 10 wk. Rats that overexpress a mutant megsin, characterized by a deficient conformational transition activity, do not develop the serpinopathy, suggesting that some conformational flexibility of the serpin is required for the development of serpinopathy. This model of serpinopathy is the first to involve the kidney and the pancreas.
The Contribution of Executive Function to Source Memory Development in Early Childhood

Age-related differences in episodic memory judgments assessing recall of fact information and the source of this information were examined. The role of executive function (EF) in supporting early episodic memory ability was also explored. Four- and 6-year-old children were taught 10 novel facts from two different sources (experimenter or puppet), and memory for both fact and source information was later tested. Measures of working memory, inhibitory control, and set shifting were obtained to produce an indicator of children's EF. Six-year-olds recalled more fact and source information than did 4-year-olds. Regression analyses revealed that age, language ability, and EF accounted for unique variance in children's fact recall and source recall performance. These findings suggest a link between episodic memory and EF, and we propose that developmental investigations should further explore this association.
Adaptive Precoder Selection for Multicast/Broadcast Service in MIMO-OFDMA Systems

The multicast/broadcast service (MBS) has emerged as a key technology for delivering multimedia contents in wireless networks.The development of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing access (OFDMA) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications have provided a high-throughput air interface for delivering the multimedia contents in MBSs. To further improve the spectral efficiency for MIMO communications, the technique of precoding can be applied to tailor the signals to the current downlink channel quality. However, due to the broadcasting nature of MBSs, link adaptation and precoder selection for individual user is infeasible. A fixed precoding scheme where the transmitter simply uses identical precoding matrices is commonly adopted for MBS transmissions in existing systems. In this paper, we propose an effective adaptive precoder selection scheme with low complexity based on precoder training and user feedback. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme effectively improves the performance of received SINR measured at the mobile stations (MSs).
Endmember labeling and Spectral Library building and updating based on hyperspectral images

This paper presents a new methodology for automatically labeling extracted endmembers from hyperspectral images, using a reference Spectral Library (SL). The SL is structured with three main layers: main consisting material, semantic meaning, and illumination conditions in order to classify the endmembers. The labeling process is based on two similarity metrics: the Spectral Angle Mapper and the Cross Correlation. These two metrics are initially introduced in spectral inequalities which characterize each endmember of the reference SL. During the labeling procedure, inequalities should be respected for labeling the endmembers, otherwise the values of metrics are used. Updating of the SL refers to incorporation of the not labeled endmembers in the SL. Photo-interpretation methodology and SAM calculation for checking the shifted values due to illumination variations are required. The proposed methodology is evaluated using CASI-550 radiance images. The methodology produced satisfactory results.
Medication error reporting in nursing homes: identifying targets for patient safety improvement

Background Legislation enacted in the US State of North Carolina in 2003 requires all licenced nursing homes to report all medication errors. In 2007, nursing homes were encouraged to voluntarily convert from aggregate reporting to a new online system where they reported each individual error. Methods A new optional web-based reporting tool was made available to all 393 North Carolina nursing homes to submit error reports for each distinct medication error as they occurred during the year. Results A total of 5823 medication error reports were submitted by 203 sites (52%) using the new system during the reporting year, a median of 18 error reports per site. Of the 5823 error reports, 612 (10.5%) were categorised as serious. Serious errors were more likely to be caused by drugs given to the wrong patient (RR 4.39, CI 3.7 to 5.2), lab-work error (RR 2.40, CI 1.4 to 4.0), wrong product given (RR 2.22, CI 1.8 to 2.8) and medication overdoses (RR 1.49, 1.2 to 1.8). Serious errors were more likely to occur on second shift (RR 1.32, 1.1 to 1.5). Common medications that are involved in the most serious errors include warfarin (RR 2.58, CI 2.09 to 3.18) and insulin (RR 2.35, CI 1.86 to 2.97), and oxycodone combinations (RR 1.48, CI 1.07 to 2.06). Conclusions Data collected from a nursing home medication error system can provide helpful information on serious errors that can be used to focus patient safety efforts to reduce harm. This improved information will be useful in nursing homes for continuous quality improvement efforts.
The bridge treatment selected at the decision for transplantation did not affect the outcomes in patients with MDS

The optimal treatment for use as a bridge to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at the decision for transplantation has not been established in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). We retrospectively evaluated the clinical outcomes after the decision for transplantation in our patients with MDS or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) secondary to MDS, aged more than 15 years, who underwent transplantation between 2007 and 2012. A total of 124 patients were included. We classified patients into two groups according to the bridge treatment selected at the decision for transplantation: Group 1, supportive care (n = 79), immunosuppressive therapy (n = 7), low‐dose chemotherapy (n = 12); Group 2, AML‐type induction chemotherapy (ICT: n = 22), azacitidine (Aza: n = 4). The rate of blasts in the bone marrow significantly influenced the treatment selection at the time of decision. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the rate of overall survival (OS) from the decision (73.1% vs 80.4% at 1 year) or from transplantation (59.0% vs 59.2% at 1 year). A significant difference was not observed even after patients were stratified according to either the rate of blasts in the bone marrow at the time of decision or the propensity score. In conclusion, the bridge treatment selected at the decision for transplantation did not affect the outcomes of transplantation in patients with MDS. However, this analysis did not include patients who could not undergo transplantation after the decision, and thus a prospective study is warranted. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Eradication of endemic Brachyspira pilosicoli infection from a farrowing herd: a case report

Abstract Brachyspira pilosicoli and B. innocens were isolated repeatedly from a herd of 60 sows which mostly produced feeder pigs but also raised some fattening pigs. Postweaning diarrhea had been a severe problem in this herd for years. The B. pilosicoli eradication plan was based on the general guidelines for elimination of B. hyodysenteriae, with some modifica-tions. The eradication measures were run in August 1997. In-feed medication with 200p.p.m. tiamulin lasted for 18–30 days, depending on the age group. The piggery unit was emptied, cleaned, disinfected and dried, and all worn surfaces were repaired. The animals were removed to temporary sheds situated 0–100m from the piggery unit. Only the sows and the boar returned to the piggery unit. All other pigs were sold from the sheds within 3 months after the eradication. Immediately after the eradication, the clinical postweaning diarrhea disappeared. The success of the program was monitored four times bacteriologically, and the last control sampling was in December 1999, 7 months after the total withdrawal of antimicrobial feed additives. The primary cultures from the last three samplings were also analysed with B. pilosicoli-specific PCR. All the samples were negative for B. pilosicoli. However, B. innocens could be isolated from each batch of samples. The analysis of B. inno-cens isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis indicated that at least one genotype persisted in the herd. The clinical and laboratory findings suggest that the eradication of B. pilosicoli had succeeded in this herd
Carotid Intima‐Media Thickness and Arterial Stiffness and the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, Multi‐Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), and the Rotterdam Study

BACKGROUND We evaluated the association of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), carotid plaque, carotid distensibility coefficient (DC), and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) with incident atrial fibrillation (AF) and their role in improving AF risk prediction beyond the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE)-AF risk score. METHODS AND RESULTS We analyzed data from 3 population-based cohort studies: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study (n=13 907); Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA; n=6640), and the Rotterdam Study (RS; n=5220). We evaluated the association of arterial indices with incident AF and computed the C-statistic, category-based net reclassification improvement (NRI), and relative integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) of incorporating arterial indices into the CHARGE-AF risk score (age, race, height weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, antihypertensive medication use, smoking, diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, and previous heart failure). Higher cIMT (meta-analyzed hazard ratio [95% CI] per 1-SD increment, 1.12 [1.08-1.16]) and presence of carotid plaque (1.30 [1.19-1.42]) were associated with higher AF incidence after adjustment for CHARGE-AF risk-score variables. Lower DC and higher PWV were associated with higher AF incidence only after adjustment for the CHARGE-AF risk-score variables excepting height, weight, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Addition of cIMT or carotid plaque marginally improved CHARGE-AF score prediction as assessed by the relative IDI (estimates, 0.025-0.051), but not when assessed with the C-statistic and NRI. CONCLUSIONS Higher cIMT, presence of carotid plaque, and greater arterial stiffness are associated with higher AF incidence, indicating that atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness play a role in AF etiopathogenesis. However, arterial indices only modestly improve AF risk prediction.
Distributed Data Aggregation Using Clustered Slepian-Wolf Coding in Wireless Sensor Networks

Slepian-Wolf coding is a promising distributed source coding technique that can completely remove the data redundancy caused by the spatially correlated observations in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper, we study the major problems in applying Slepian-Wolf coding for data aggregation in cluster-based WSNs with an objective to optimize data compression so that the total amount of data in the whole network is minimized. We first consider the clustered Slepian-Wolf coding problem, which aims at selecting a set of disjoint potential clusters to cover the whole network such that the global compression gain of Slepian-Wolf coding is maximized. To solve this problem, a distributed optimal-compression clustering protocol (DOC2) is proposed. Under the optimal cluster hierarchy constructed by DOC2, we then consider the optimal intra-cluster rate allocation problem and present an approximation algorithm that can find an optimal rate allocation within each cluster to minimize the intra-cluster communication cost. With the optimal intra-cluster rate allocation found, the procedures to perform Slepian-Wolf coding within a cluster are also presented.
CrfA, a Small Noncoding RNA Regulator of Adaptation to Carbon Starvation in Caulobacter crescentus

ABSTRACT Small noncoding regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) play a key role in the posttranscriptional regulation of many bacterial genes. The genome of Caulobacter crescentus encodes at least 31 sRNAs, and 27 of these sRNAs are of unknown function. An overexpression screen for sRNA-induced growth inhibition along with sequence conservation in a related Caulobacter species led to the identification of a novel sRNA, CrfA, that is specifically induced upon carbon starvation. Twenty-seven genes were found to be strongly activated by CrfA accumulation. One-third of these target genes encode putative TonB-dependent receptors, suggesting CrfA plays a role in the surface modification of C. crescentus, facilitating the uptake of nutrients during periods of carbon starvation. The mechanism of CrfA-mediated gene activation was investigated for one of the genes predicted to encode a TonB-dependent receptor, CC3461. CrfA functions to stabilize the CC3461 transcript. Complementarity between a region of CrfA and the terminal region of the CC3461 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) and also the behavior of a deletion of this region and a site-specific base substitution and a 3-base deletion in the CrfA complementary sequence suggest that CrfA binds to a stem-loop structure upstream of the CC3461 Shine-Dalgarno sequence and stabilizes the transcript.
Event-triggered optimal fuzzy control of power system

In this paper, the state feedback fuzzy optimal event-triggered control scheme is investigated for simple interconnected power system when system states are measurable. By using the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model, the fuzzy model of the power system is established. In terms of and parallel distributed compensation (PDC) technology, the local fuzzy optimization controller is designed. The sufficient conditions which ensure the stability of the power system are given in the form of linear matrix inequality (LMI). According to Lyapunov stability theory, the system stability is proved. Simulation results demonstrate the proposed control scheme can realize the optimal control of the power system.
The Impact of Absorbed and Unabsorbed Slack on Firm Profitability: Implications for Resource Redeployment

Abstract This paper undertakes an empirical analysis of the impact of absorbed and unabsorbed slack, employing three different measures for each slack type, on firm profitability. We find that unabsorbed slack has a more favorable influence on future firm profitability than absorbed slack. While all the absorbed slack indicators have a significant negative influence on future profitability, the three unabsorbed slack indicators present positive, negative, and non-significant influences, respectively. The fewer constraints of unabsorbed slack on the redeployment to exploit new opportunities point to its comparative advantage over absorbed slack. We find evidence for the differential impact of absorbed versus unabsorbed slack on profitability in firms with lower levels of slack, which suggests firms prefer to withdraw resources from current business and redeploy them to develop new and more favorable business opportunities.
When and Where Are Informed Traders? What Is Their Relationship with Analysts in the Price Discovery Process?

ABSTRACT The authors' aim was to analyze the influence of analysts' recommendations on the activity of informed and uninformed traders and whether such influence produces changes in the price discovery process. The analysis was carried out in the Spanish market, considered to be an ideal market given its characteristics. The authors' results indicate that although investors as a whole react to new information from analysts and their activity increases, this reaction is not independent of the type of stock. Informed traders do not increase their activity with small stocks to the same extent as uninformed investors do. Furthermore, the influence of these movements on price discovery is not significant. The results suggest that the interpretation role of analysts is more important for less accessible firms in terms of assessing their growth opportunities. This role may enhance the herding behavior of uninformed agents trading in those small titles for which they would otherwise need to invest extra time and extra money for taking profitable decisions.
Outpatient Surgical Treatment with Co2 Laser in Oral Cancer: Immediate and Long-Term Results

The immediate and long-term results of excising squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity or lip by CO, laser are analysed in 51 consecutive subjects treated as out-patients. From January 1982 to December 1989, 39 cases of T1 and 12 cases of small (< 2.5 cm) non-infiltrating recurrences of squamous cell carcinoma were treated at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori in Milan. Complete removal was obtained in 44 instances, while in 7 cases cancerous margins were observed on the specimen; 5 of these underwent another wider treatment and 2 refused further therapy. Two of 39 T1 patients developed local relapses and 6/12 recurrent cancers relapsed again. Long term results are complicated by second primary cancers in 19 instances. Out-patient laser therapy is well accepted by patients and its use involves lowered direct and indirect health organisation and social costs.
Student's characteristics and programming learning — A Macanese perspective

Results in introductory programming courses are often disappointing. Several possible causes for this situation have been reported. This paper reports some results of an experiment where we tried to find correlations between novice student's performance in an introductory programming course and some of their characteristics, namely previous programming experience, past grades (in general and in Mathematics), learning styles and motivation to the study area. The study took place during the academic year of 2016–2017 involving a group of Macanese students. A comparison with a similar experiment done previously in Portugal, involving two different groups of students, is also presented.