Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Carolina Child Checklist of Risk and Protective Factors for Aggression

Objective: Extending the Social Health Profile and other instruments that measure problem behavior in childhood, the Carolina Child Checklist (CCC) was developed to measure risk and protective factors related to aggressive behavior in children ages 6 to 12. This study reports the psychometric properties of the CCC. Method: The measure’s dimensionality, reliability (internal consistency and test-retest), standard error of measurement, and validity (convergent, concurrent, treatment sensitivity) were evaluated in a project involving 171 sixth-grade students. Results: Factor analysis indicated four dimensions called Learning Orientation (behaviors and attributes related to classroom success), Relational Aggression, Social Involvement, and Physical Aggression. The measure has high internal consistency with low measurement error. Test-retest findings suggest a stable measure. The CCC has good convergent and concurrent validity and appears sensitive to treatment effects. Conclusions: The CCC is a promising measure for social workers assessing risk and protective factors related to childhood aggression.
Genetic maladaptation of coastal Douglas‐fir seedlings to future climates

Climates are expected to warm considerably over the next century, resulting in expectations that plant populations will not be adapted to future climates. We estimated the risk of maladaptation of current populations of coastal Douglas‐fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) to future climates as the proportion of nonoverlap between two normal distributions where the means and genetic variances of current and future populations are determined from genecological models derived from seedling common garden studies. The risk of maladaptation was large for most traits when compared with the risk associated with current transfers within seed zones, particularly for the more drastic climate change scenario. For example, the proportion of nonoverlap for a composite trait representing bud set, emergence, growth, and root : shoot ratio was as high as 0.90. We recommend augmenting within‐population variation by mixing local populations with some proportion of populations from lower elevations and further south. Populations expected to be adapted to climates a century from now come from locations as far down in elevation as 450–1130 m and as far south in latitude as 1.8–4.9°.
Nociceptive pathways: anatomy and physiology of nociceptive ascending pathways.

In primates, the principal nociceptive pathways ascend in the anterolateral quadrant of the spinal cord. Among these, the spinothalamic tract (s.t.t.) is the best studied. Cells in Rexed's laminae I and V project to the ventro-posterolateral (v.p.l.) thalamic nucleus. Other cells in the same and deeper laminae terminate in the intralaminar complex. Spinothalamic tract cells may be nociceptive-specific or multireceptive. Those ending in v.p.l. have restricted, contralateral receptive fields, whereas those projecting to the intralaminar region often have large, bilateral receptive fields. Spinoreticular tract (s.r.t.) cells are concentrated in laminae VII and VIII and may be nociceptive. It is proposed that the s.t. t. contributes to sensory-discriminative processing of pain and that the s.t. t. and s.r. t. play a role in the motivational-affective components of pain. Alternative nociceptive pathways are the spinocervical and postsynaptic dorsal column tracts.
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON EMISSION WITHIN Lyα BLOBS

We present Spitzer observations of Lyα blobs (LABs) at z = 2.38–3.09. The mid-infrared ratios (4.5 μm/8 μm and 8 μm/24 μm) indicate that ∼60% of LAB infrared counterparts are cool, consistent with their infrared output being dominated by star formation and not active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The rest have a substantial hot dust component that one would expect from an AGN or an extreme starburst. Comparing the mid-infrared to submillimeter fluxes (∼850 μm or rest-frame far-infrared) also indicates that a large percentage (∼2/3) of the LAB counterparts have total bolometric energy output dominated by star formation, although the number of sources with submillimeter detections or meaningful upper limits remains small (∼10). We obtained Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra of six infrared-bright sources associated with LABs. Four of these sources have measurable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features, indicative of significant star formation, while the remaining two show a featureless continuum, indicative of infrared energy output completely dominated by an AGN. Two of the counterparts with PAHs are mixed sources, with PAH line-to-continuum ratios and PAH equivalent widths indicative of large energy contributions from both star formation and AGN. Most of the LAB infrared counterparts have large stellar masses, around 1011 M☉. There is a weak trend of mass upper limit with the Lyα luminosity of the host blob, particularly after the most likely AGN contaminants are removed. The range in likely energy sources for the LABs found in this and previous studies suggests that there is no single source of power that is producing all the known LABs.
Septal Defect Closu re und er Transthorasic Echocardiograph y in Children

Objective: Atrial septal defect (ASD) device closure is routinely done under the guide of transesophageal or intracardiac echocardiography which are expensive techniques and not easily affordable in developing countries. Methods: Using metallic devices, we attempted 32 ASD device closures under transthoracic echocardiography. Findings: Of those, 30 procedures were successful (94 %). In two patients with relatively large ASD we encountered difficulty in positioning the device. These patients were referred for surgical closure. Conclusion: ASD device closure can be carried out successfully in most patients under transthoracic echocardiography in situations where transesophageal or intravenous echocardiographies are not available or affordable. Iranian Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 21(Number 4), December 2011, Pages: 473-478
Coadministration of Liraglutide With Tacrolimus in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Case Series

Glucocorticoids commonly used in the posttransplant period have been demonstrated to reduce insulin sensitivity, impair α-cell function, and more recently, impair β-cell function and the incretin effect (1). Liraglutide is an incretin mimetic approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. One major concern about the use of liraglutide after transplantation is that it delays gastric emptying, which could potentially affect absorption of coadministered oral medications, such as tacrolimus, which has a narrow therapeutic index (2). This case series is the first to report on the safety of this drug combination in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). Nonpregnant, adult (≥18 years of age), and clinically stable (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and not experiencing allograft rejection or two serum creatinine values >30% of each other obtained at least 1 week apart within 4 weeks prior to enrollment) KTRs receiving unchanged tacrolimus doses for ≥4 weeks (goal trough concentration 5–15 …
Application of mathematical modeling in sustained release delivery systems

Introduction: This review, presenting as starting point the concept of the mathematical modeling, is aimed at the physical and mathematical description of the most important mechanisms regulating drug delivery from matrix systems. The precise knowledge of the delivery mechanisms allows us to set up powerful mathematical models which, in turn, are essential for the design and optimization of appropriate drug delivery systems. Areas covered: The fundamental mechanisms for drug delivery from matrices are represented by drug diffusion, matrix swelling, matrix erosion, drug dissolution with possible recrystallization (e.g., as in the case of amorphous and nanocrystalline drugs), initial drug distribution inside the matrix, matrix geometry, matrix size distribution (in the case of spherical matrices of different diameter) and osmotic pressure. Depending on matrix characteristics, the above-reported variables may play a different role in drug delivery; thus the mathematical model needs to be built solely on the most relevant mechanisms of the particular matrix considered. Expert opinion: Despite the somewhat diffident behavior of the industrial world, in the light of the most recent findings, we believe that mathematical modeling may have a tremendous potential impact in the pharmaceutical field. We do believe that mathematical modeling will be more and more important in the future especially in the light of the rapid advent of personalized medicine, a novel therapeutic approach intended to treat each single patient instead of the ‘average’ patient.
T Cell Activity After Dendritic Cell Vaccination Is Dependent on Both the Type of Antigen and the Mode of Delivery1

Previous work in both human and animal models has shown that CTL responses can be generated against proteins derived from tumors using either peptide-pulsed dendritic cells (DCs) or nucleic acids from the tumor transfected into autologous DCs. Despite the efficacy of this approach for vaccine therapy, many questions remain regarding whether the route of administration, the frequency of administration, or the type of Ag is critical to generating T cell responses to these Ags. We have investigated methods to enhance CTL responses to a peptide derived from the human proto-oncogene HER-2/neu using mice containing a chimeric HLA A2 and H2Kb allele. Changes in amino acids in the anchor positions of the peptide enhanced the binding of the peptide to HLA-A2 in vitro, but did not enhance the immunogenicity of the peptide in vivo. In contrast, when autologous DCs presented peptides, significant CTL activity was induced with the altered, but not the wild-type, peptide. We found that the route of administration affected the anatomic site and the time to onset of CTL activity, but did not impact on the magnitude of the response. To our surprise, we observed that weekly administration of peptide-pulsed DCs led to diminishing CTL activity after 6 wk of treatment. This was not found in animals injected with DCs every 3 wk for six treatments or in animals initially given DCs weekly and then injected weekly with peptide-pulsed C1R-A2 transfectants.
A text mining approach for Arabic question answering systems

As most of the electronic information available nowadays on the web is stored as text, developing Question Answering systems (QAS) has been the focus of many individual researchers and organizations. Relatively, few studies have been produced for extracting answers to “why” and “how to” questions. One reason for this negligence is that when going beyond sentence boundaries, deriving text structure is a very time-consuming and complex process. This thesis explores a new strategy for dealing with the exponentially large space issue associated with the text derivation task. To our knowledge, to date there are no systems that have attempted to addressing such type of questions for the Arabic language. We have proposed two analytical models; the first one is the Pattern Recognizer which employs a set of approximately 900 linguistic patterns targeting relationships that hold within sentences. This model is enhanced with three independent algorithms to discover the causal/explanatory role indicated by the justification particles. The second model is the Text Parser which is approaching text from a discourse perspective in the framework of Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST). This model is meant to break away from the sentence limit. The Text Parser model is built on top of the output produced by the Pattern Recognizer and incorporates a set of heuristics scores to produce the most suitable structure representing the whole text. The two models are combined together in a way to allow for the development of an Arabic QAS to deal with “why” and “how to” questions. The Pattern Recognizer model achieved an overall recall of 81% and a precision of 78%. On the other hand, our question answering system was able to find the correct answer for 68% of the test questions. Our results reveal that the justification particles play a key role in indicating intrasentential relations.
System Behavior Characterization via Information Content Clustering of System Logs

Self-awareness or the ability to be informed about system internal state is an important attribute for any system to have before it is capable of self-management. This is irrespective of which of the self-* properties of self-management in autonomic systems we choose to achieve. A system needs to have a continuous stream of real-time data to analyze to allow it be aware of its internal state. To this end, previous approaches have utilized system performance metrics and system log data as a means of characterizing system behaviour and internal state. In this work, we propose a scheme which utilizes the entropybased information content to group spatio-temporal partitions of system log data into conceptual clusters. We evaluate our method using cluster cohesion, cluster separation and cluster conceptual purity as metrics on High Performance Cluster (HPC) system log data. The results show that our proposed method not only produces well-formed clusters but also clusters that can mapped to different kinds of alert behavior with a high degree of confidence. These results provide evidence that clusters produced by the proposed method characterize the different behaviors of the system and hence capture information about internal state. Hence they have value for the enhancement of self-awareness. The ability to differentiate among types of behavior (both normal and abnormal) is also valuable for self-monitoring and fault detection as deviations from types of normal behavior could be indicative of a fault.
3DANN-R: A tera-op convolution engine for image processing

A commercial version of the 3D Artificial Neural Network has been developed under a collaborative effort between JPL and Irvine Sensors, sponsored by BMDO and the U.S. Air Force. It is capable of continuous trillion eight bit multiply and add operations per second while consuming under ten watts. Its architecture, input-output characteristics, and performance data will be presented.
Ovarian LGR5 is critical for successful pregnancy

Leucine‐rich repeat‐containing G‐protein‐coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) is expressed in many organs, including female reproductive organs, and is a stem cell marker in the stomach and intestinal epithelium, hair follicles, and ovarian surface epithelium. Despite ongoing studies, the definitive physiological functions of Lgr5 remain unclear. We utilized mice with conditional deletion of Lgr5 (Lgr5d/d) in the female reproductive organs by progesterone receptor‐Cre (PgrCre) to determine Lgr5's functions during pregnancy. Only 30% of plugged Lgr5d/d females delivered live pups, and their litter sizes were lower. We found that pregnancy failure in Lgr5d/d females was due to insufficient ovarian progesterone (P4) secretion that compromised decidualization, terminating pregnancy. The drop in P4 levels was reflected in elevated levels of P4‐metabolizing enzyme 20α‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase in corpora lutea (CL) inactivated of Lgr5. Of interest, P4 supplementation rescued decidualization failure and supported pregnancy to full term in Lgr5d/d females. These results provide strong evidence that Lgr5 is critical to normal CL function, unveiling a new role of LGR5 in the ovary. —Sun, X. , Terakawa, J., Clevers, H. , Barker, N. , Daikoku, T. , Dey, S. K. Ovarian LGR5 is critical for successful pregnancy. FASEB J. 28, 2380–2389 (2014). www.fasebj. org
The Development of Systems Engineering

Systems engineering is described as the design of the whole as distinguished from the design of the parts. Systems engineers create the architecture of the system, define the criteria for its evaluation, and perform tradeoff studies for optimization of the subsystem characteristics. In addition to their own brains, the principal tool of systems engineers is the computer. Systems engineering has evolved during a long series of major developments, in particular the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program. The major growth of systems engineering is expected to be in the improvement of its tools and in the enlargement of the range of problems to which it is applied.
A 3-year prospective study of parent-child communication in early adolescents with type 1 diabetes: relationship to adherence and glycemic control.

OBJECTIVE To examine changes in parent-child communication patterns and their relation to glycemic control and treatment adherence using observational data in a 3-year prospective multisite study of youth with type 1 diabetes aged 9-11 years at baseline and their families (n = 217). METHODS Adolescents and caregivers participated in a diabetes problem-solving discussion. Families were rated on negative and positive communication and interactions using the Interaction Behavior Code. RESULTS Maternal and paternal negative communication decreased over time, whereas adolescent and maternal positive communication and positive reciprocity increased. Baseline preadolescent youth and maternal positive communication predicted adherence 3 years later. Changes in family communication did not predict changes in glycemic control or adherence. CONCLUSIONS During the transition to adolescence, family communication changed in unexpected and positive ways. Additionally, the relationship of baseline family communication to subsequent adherence suggests the need to assess family communication concerning diabetes-related management during preadolescence.
American Thoracic Societv Guidelines for Methacholine and Exercise Challenge

I. Purpose and Scope II. Methacholine Challenge Testing A. Indications B. Contraindications C. Technician Training/Qualifications D. Safety E. Patient Preparation F. Choice and Preparation of Methacholine G. Dosing Protocols 1. Two-Minute Tidal Breathing Dosing Protocol 2. Five-Breath Dosimeter Protocol H. Nebulizers and Dosimeters I. Spirometry and Other End-point Measures J. Data Presentation K. Interpretation III. Exercise Challenge A. Indications B. Contraindications and Patient Preparation C. Exercise Challenge Testing D. Assessing the Response References Appendix A: Sample Methacholine Challenge Test Consent Form Appendix B: Sample Methacholine Challenge Pretest Questionnaire Appendix C: Sample Report Format Appendix D: Equipment Sources
A linear time-varying MPC method for vehicle path-following assistance based on steering torque

Lane keeping assistance is an important lateral control technology of autonomous driving system. A large number of autonomous steering control methods were given to deal with path-following and lane keeping problems by controlling steering wheel angle directly. In this paper, however, a linear time-varying model predictive control (LTV-MPC) method for path-following manipulating is proposed based on steering torque input. The electric power steering (EPS) system is integrated with vehicle dynamics system in order that the vehicle lateral motion is controlled autonomously through steering motor torque rather than road wheel angle. Local linearization approach is adopted to handle tire nonlinearity and the optimal control problem with constraints is then solved by quadratic programming. Finally, the control scheme is validated in Carsim/Simulink numerical simulation. The maneuver simulation results on different road surface reveals that the proposed path-following control scheme approach is effective. Due to the proposed steering torque control algorithm, path-following is realized by controlling steering torque rather than steering angle, which may be possibly conductive to design haptic feedback steering system for interactive lane keeping control in the future co-driving intelligent vehicle.
An Anthropology of Services: Toward a Practice Approach to Designing Services

This book explores the possibility for an anthropology of services and outlines a practice approach to designing services. The reader is taken on a journey that Blomberg and Darrah have been on for the better part of a decade from their respective positions helping to establish a services research group within a large global enterprise and an applied anthropology master's program at a Silicon Valley university. They delve into the world of services to understand both how services are being conceptualized today and the possible benefits that might result from taking an anthropological view on services and their design. The authors argue that the anthropological gaze can be useful precisely because it combines attention to details of everyday life with consideration of the larger milieu in which those details make sense. Furthermore, it asks us to reflect upon and assess our own perspectives on that which we hope to understand and change. Central to their exploration is the question of how to conceptualize and engage with the world of services given their heterogeneity, the increasing global importance of the service economy, and the possibilities introduced for an engaged scholarship on service design. While discourse on services and service design can imply something distinctively new, the authors point to parallels with what is known about how humans have engaged with each other and the material world over millennia. Establishing the ubiquity of services as a starting point, the authors go on to consider the limits of design when the boundaries and connections between what can be designed and what can only be performed are complex and deeply mediated. In this regard the authors outline a practice approach to designing that acknowledges that designing involves participating in a social context, that design and use occur in concert, that people populate a world that has been largely built by and with others, and that formal models of services are impoverished repre entations of human performance. An Anthropology of Services draws attention to the conceptual and methodological messiness of service worlds while providing the reader with strategies for intervening in these worlds for human betterment as complex and challenging as that may be.
Changes in the Global Vegetal Cover Through a Phenological Analysis of GIMMS Data

This study uses the 22 years of GIMMS (Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies) NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) data for the determination of land surface phenology in order to characterize changes in the global vegetal cover. This dataset has a global bi-monthly coverage since mid-1981 to 2003 with a spatial resolution of 8 km at the equator. The applied methodology involves, for each pixel, a fitting procedure of yearly NDVI data to a double logistic function, describing most of the NDVI behaviours of the biomes of our planet. This fitting procedure summarizes in seven parameters the NDVI yearly cycle, two of them dealing with land surface phenology, namely spring and autumn dates from which growing season length is retrieved. The accuracy of this method for land surface phenology estimation is of 5.5 days. To validate the results, trends are retrieved pixel by pixel, then averaged on geographical ensembles and confronted with their confidence intervals. The resulting trends compare well with previous studies, and give a supplementary insight of the changes that the global vegetation has suffered since the early eighties.