Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Convergence between parent report and direct assessment of language and attention in culturally and linguistically diverse children

Parent report is commonly used to assess language and attention in children for research and clinical purposes. It is therefore important to understand the convergent validity of parent-report tools in comparison to direct assessments of language and attention. In particular, cultural and linguistic background may influence this convergence. In this study a group of six- to eight-year old children (N = 110) completed direct assessments of language and attention and their parents reported on the same areas. Convergence between assessment types was explored using correlations. Possible influences of ethnicity (Hispanic or non-Hispanic) and of parent report language (English or Spanish) were explored using hierarchical linear regression. Correlations between parent report and direct child assessments were significant for both language and attention, suggesting convergence between assessment types. Ethnicity and parent report language did not moderate the relationships between direct child assessments and parent report tools for either attention or language.
Physiological genomics analysis for Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is a common kind of dementia. This disorder can be detected in all countries around the world. This neurological disorder affects millions of population and becomes an important concern in modern neurology. There are many researches on the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Although it has been determined for a long time, there is no clear-cut that this is a case with genetic disorder or not. A physiological genomics is a new application that is useful for track function to genes within the human genome and can be applied for answering the problem of underlying pathobiology of complex diseases. The physiogenomics can be helpful for study of systemic approach on the pathophysiology, and genomics might provide useful information to better understand the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. The present advent in genomics technique makes it possible to trace for the underlying genomics of disease. In this work, physiological genomics analysis for Alzheimer's disease was performed. The standard published technique is used for assessment. According to this work, there are 20 identified physiogenomics relationship on several chromosomes. Considering the results, the HADH2 gene on chromosome X, APBA1 gene on chromosome 9, AGER gene on chromosome 6, GSK3B gene on chromosome 3, CDKHR1 gene on chromosome 17, APPBP1 gene on chromosome 16, APBA2 gene on chromosome 15, GAL gene on chromosome 11, and APLP2 gene on chromosome 11 have the highest physiogenomics score (9.26) while the CASP3 gene on chromosome 4 and the SNCA gene on chromosome 4 have the lowest physiogenomics score (7.44). The results from this study confirm that Alzheimer's disease has a polygenomic origin.
Oxidative stress in autism.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE Indirect markers are consistent with greater oxidative stress in autism. They include greater free-radical production, impaired energetics and cholinergics, and higher excitotoxic markers. Brain and gut, both abnormal in autism, are particularly sensitive to oxidative injury. Higher red-cell lipid peroxides and urinary isoprostanes in autism signify greater oxidative damage to biomolecules. A preliminary study found accelerated lipofuscin deposition--consistent with oxidative injury to autistic brain in cortical areas serving language and communication. Double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of potent antioxidants--vitamin C or carnosine--significantly improved autistic behavior. Benefits from these and other nutritional interventions may be due to reduction of oxidative stress. Understanding the role of oxidative stress may help illuminate the pathophysiology of autism, its environmental and genetic influences, new treatments, and prevention. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this article, participants should be able to: 1. Be aware of laboratory and clinical evidence of greater oxidative stress in autism. 2. Understand how gut, brain, nutritional, and toxic status in autism are consistent with greater oxidative stress. 3. Describe how anti-oxidant nutrients are used in the contemporary treatment of autism.
POSTURAL RESPONSES TO SUDDEN CHANGES IN SENSORY INPUT WHILE VIEWING OPTIC FLOW

It has been established that information from the visual, somatosensory, and vestibular systems contributes to balance, but how this information is integrated remains unclear. Sensory integration is a temporally dynamic process in which the sources for sensory information are dynamically regulated and change as environmental conditions change. Significant differences in this dynamic regulation have been found among healthy young and old subjects, as well as subjects with vestibular disease.The present research was designed to examine the impact of aging and unilateral vestibular disease on balance as subjects responded to rapid changes in visual and somatosensory input. The postural sway of 25 healthy young controls, 24 healthy older controls, and 7 older subjects with unilateral vestibular hypofunction (UVH) was measured while visual and proprioceptive transitions were induced. To produce a sudden change in the visual environment, the amplitude of a sinusoidally moving visual scene was rapidly increased. Somatosensory information was altered through the use of a support platform that rotated in proportion to body sway, thereby reducing information from the somatosensory system.The power of anterior-posterior head velocity was calculated for the 20 s surrounding each transition. This segment was then broken into 5 s periods in order to investigate adaptation, i.e. within-trial time-varying characteristics of postural sway. Habituation was studied by investigating the changes in postural sway over repeated trials. A mixed factor repeated measures ANOVA was conducted with the power of postural sway velocity (dB) as the dependent variable. The independent variables were trial repetition and the time period in relation to the stimulus transition. Subject type was the between-subjects factor.Both healthy and vestibularly impaired older subjects were observed to sway more than healthy younger subjects during all experimental conditions. Following a decrease in reliable somatosensory input, all subjects showed an increase in postural sway power. This increase was greatest in older subjects with UVH. Though adaptation following the perturbation was seen in all subject groups, this process was slower in the patient group. Habituation was seen in most trial conditions, especially between the first and second presentations of a stimulus.
A two phase RAT selection strategy based on network load and SIR for CDMA-OFDMA heterogeneous networks

In this paper, we present a two phase RAT selection strategy based on network load and SIR for CDMA-OFDMA heterogeneous networks. The strategy divides the RAT selection into two phases. The functionality of the first phase is to balance the network load while the second phase aims to improve the downlink SIR. The analytical expressions of the parameters used in the proposed strategy are derived and the performance is evaluated by numerical simulation. The results are presented in terms of downlink SIR outage probability. It is shown that this strategy can not only balance the network load, but also improve the SIR significantly.
Semiparametric curve alignment and shift density estimation with application to neuronal data

Suppose we observe a large number of curves, all with identical, although unknown, shape, but with a different random shift. The objective is to estimate the individual time shifts and their distribution. Such an objective appears in several biological applications, in which the interest is in the estimation of the distribution of the elapsed time between repetitive pulses with a possibly low signal- noise ratio, and without a knowledge of the pulse shape. We suggest an M-estimator leading to a three- stage algorithm: we split our data set in blocks, on which the estimation of the shifts is done by minimizing a cost criterion based on a functional of the periodogram; the estimated shifts are then plugged into a standard density estimator. We show that under mild regularity assumptions the density estimate converges weakly to the true shift distribu- tion. The theory is applied both to simulations, as well as to alignment of real ECG signals. The estimator of the shift distribution performs well, even in the case of low signal-to-noise ratio, and it outperforms the standard methods for curve alignment.
Sex-Role Identity in the Aged

This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact ecommons@luc.edu. I I ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my appreciation to the Senior Citizens of the Rogers Park area and other urban neighborhoods in Chicago for their interest , cooperation, and encouragement in this project. I would also like to thank the parents and friends of my husband's relatives who also cooperated ~n this study. A very special debt of gratitude goes to Miss Anna Burke who was not only a very interesting subject in this study, but who, on her own initiative, recruited numerous other subjects, assisted in interviews, and most importantly, displayed faith in this author's ability to complete this ambitious task. I would also like to thank Miss Mildred Murphy for her recruitment of volunteers and for her assistance ~n my work. Thanks also go to Mrs. Ruth McGee for her cooperation in recruiting Senior Citizens from St. Ignatius parish. Thanks also go to my husband, Dan, and my friends and relatives who took care of my young son while this investigation was in progress. and Ron Szoc for their assistance in data analysis.
Lived Experiences From the Perspective of Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes deficits in social communication and repetitive behavior. Secondhand accounts from parents suggest that ASD affects many aspects of life. However, little is known about this disorder from first-person perspective. This meta-synthesis examines children, adolescents, and adults with ASD to understand their experiences across multiple areas of life and how these experiences vary according to their developmental stage. A thematic synthesis integrating qualitative evidence was undertaken where 10 electronic databases were searched. Thirty-three articles met the inclusion criteria (n = 318 individuals) and were examined by two reviewers using a constant comparative approach. Four themes emerged: perception of self, interactions with others, experiences at school, and factors related to employment. Our findings can inform client-centered policies and practices involving individuals with ASD. Our findings can also help to identify gaps in research with first-person narratives from children and adolescents with ASD under-represented in the current literature.
Autophagy Regulates IL-23 Secretion and Innate T Cell Responses through Effects on IL-1 Secretion

Autophagy controls IL-1β secretion by regulating inflammasome activation and by targeting pro–IL-1β for degradation. In this article, we show that inhibition of autophagy, either with the PI3K inhibitors 3-methyladenine, wortmannin, and LY294002 or with small interfering RNA against autophagy proteins augmented the secretion of IL-23 by human and mouse macrophages and dendritic cells in response to specific TLR agonists. This process occurred at the transcriptional level and was dependent on reactive oxygen species and IL-1R signaling; it was abrogated with an IL-1R antagonist or with IL-1–neutralizing Abs, whereas treatment with either rIL-1α or IL-1β induced IL-23 secretion. Dendritic cells treated with LPS and 3-methyladenine secreted enhanced levels of both IL-1β and IL-23, and supernatants from these cells stimulated the innate secretion of IL-17, IFN-γ, and IL-22 by γδ T cells. These data demonstrate that autophagy has a potentially pivotal role to play in the induction and regulation of inflammatory responses by innate immune cells, largely driven by IL-1 and its consequential effects on IL-23 secretion.
Periodontal ligament remodeling and alveolar bone resorption during orthodontic tooth movement in rats with diabetes.

BACKGROUND Pathological displacement of teeth caused by periodontitis-related bone loss in patients with diabetes is often corrected with orthodontic treatments. However, recovery from orthodontic therapy is often delayed for unclear reasons. This study explored effects of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats on protein expression involved in remodeling of the periodontal ligament (PDL) and alveolar bone during orthodontic tooth movement. METHODS Forty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two experimental groups: "normal" and "diabetes" (n = 24 each). Diabetes was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg). Animals were euthanized at 3, 7, and 14 days after orthodontic induction. Changes in expression of collagen type I (Col-I), matrix metalloproteinase type 1 (MMP-1), and tissue inhibitor of MMP-1 (TIMP-1) were measured immunohistochemically in the pressure side. Col-I and collagen type III (Col-III) fibers were assessed by picrosirius red staining in the tension side. Osteoclasts were observed on the surface of the alveolar bone. RESULTS Diabetes increased expression of MMP-1 and Col-III and decreased expression of Col-I in PDL. After the orthodontic induction, osteoclast action was delayed, and higher Col-III/Col-I and MMP-1/TIMP-1 ratios persisted in the diabetes group compared with the normal group. The ratio of MMP-1/TIMP-1 in the diabetes group reached a peak on Day 7, whereas the ratio remained at near control levels in the normal group. The diabetes group appeared to have worse recovery from damage caused by orthodontic movement. CONCLUSIONS Under mechanical forces, diabetes prolonged duration of degradation of PDL and remodeling of PDL and resorption of alveolar bone.
Epigenetic Modulation as a Therapeutic Prospect for Treatment of Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases

Systemic inflammatory rheumatic diseases are considered as autoimmune diseases, meaning that the balance between recognition of pathogens and avoidance of self-attack is impaired and the immune system attacks and destroys its own healthy tissue. Treatment with conventional Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) and/or Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) is often associated with various adverse reactions due to unspecific and toxic properties of those drugs. Although biologic drugs have largely improved the outcome in many patients, such drugs still pose significant problems and fail to provide a solution to all patients. Therefore, development of more effective treatments and improvements in early diagnosis of rheumatic diseases are badly needed in order to increase patient's functioning and quality of life. The reversible nature of epigenetic mechanisms offers a new class of drugs that modulate the immune system and inflammation. In fact, epigenetic drugs are already in use in some types of cancer or cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, epigenetic-based therapeutics that control autoimmunity and chronic inflammatory process have broad implications for the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of rheumatic diseases. This review summarises the latest information about potential therapeutic application of epigenetic modification in targeting immune abnormalities and inflammation of rheumatic diseases.
Algorithms on Elliptic Curves over Fields of Characteristic Two with Non-adjacent Forms

Let IFq be a finite field of characteristic two and letbe the Frobenius endomorphism of an elliptic curve. To find or improve efficient algorithms for scalar multiplication sP of point P in the elliptic curve cryptography, it is al- ways an important subject. If IFq = IF2, Solinas (5) has developed an algorithm for computing the �-NAF. In this note, we extend Solinas' �-NAF algorithm to IFq, where q is a power of two, and give another efficient algorithms for �-NAF, thereby show that the length of �-NAF is at most two bits longer than the length of �-expansion.
SMAD-mediated modulation of YY1 activity regulates the BMP response and cardiac-specific expression of a GATA4/5/6-dependent chick Nkx2.5 enhancer

Prior work has indicated that BMP signals act in concert with FGF8, WNT11 and WNT antagonists to induce the formation of cardiac tissue in the vertebrate embryo. In an effort to understand how these signaling pathways control the expression of key cardiac regulators, we have characterized the cis-regulatory elements of the chick tinman homolog chick Nkx2.5. We find that at least three distinct cardiac activating regions (CARs) of chick Nkx2.5 cooperate to regulate early expression in the cardiac crescent and later segmental expression in the developing heart. In this report, we focus our attention on a 3′ BMP-responsive enhancer, termed CAR3, which directs robust cardiac transgene expression. By systematic mutagenesis and gel shift analysis of this enhancer, we demonstrate that GATA4/5/6, YY1 and SMAD1/4 are all necessary for BMP-mediated induction and heart-specific expression of CAR3. Adjacent YY1 and SMAD-binding sites within CAR3 constitute a minimal BMP response element, and interaction of SMAD1/4 with the N terminus of YY1 is required for BMP-mediated induction of CAR3. Our data suggest that BMP-mediated activation of this regulatory region reflects both the induction of GATA genes by BMP signals, as well as modulation of the transcriptional activity of YY1 by direct interaction of this transcription factor with BMP-activated SMADs.
BRS analysis from baroreflex sequences and baroreflex events compared using spontaneous and drug induced data

Spontaneous time domain BRS estimation is based on the SBP-RR slope, which can be computed from either baroreflex sequences (BS) or baroreflex events (BE). BRS analysis from BEs was recently shown be advantageous particularly in the cases of reduced BRS or when BS are not identified. Also, it offers a superior discrimination between lying and standing positions. In this work, the methods developed for spontaneous BRS analysis are further compared using spontaneous and drug induced data. The results corroborate that spontaneous and drug induced estimates are different although correlated. In particular, if BEs are used the differences and the correlation between the estimates is higher. No precision improvement is achieved if the BRS is estimated from drug induced data. In spontaneous, the higher number of beats in BEs in comparison with BSs (at the expense of a lower SBP-RR correlation) allows a higher BRS estimate precision using recordings of the same length.
Comments on “the law of demeter” and C++

A rule of good style for object-oriented programming has recently been put forward, actually in several flavours (class vs. object, weak vs. strong). Some possible problems in the original rule are discussed, and a modified formulation is proposed to overcome at least part of the them. Doubts still remain about how useful the rule is with Smalltalk and other untyped languages. Then the application of the rule to the C++ language is studied and shown not to be as straightforward as has been suggested. This is largely a consequence of the intertwining of the conventional and the object-oriented component in C++. On the other hand, being typed, it is a promising language for enforcing rules of this kind at compile time. A new language-specific formulation is finally presented, argumenting that it is better in class than object flavour.
Serotyping of 467 Cryptococcus neoformans Isolates from Clinical and Environmental Sources in Brazil: Analysis of Host and Regional Patterns

ABSTRACT Cryptococcus neoformans is an important zoopathogen, and it is one of the most prevalent lethal mycotic agents. Its polysaccharide capsule, synthesized in vivo and in vitro, is a virulence factor, contains predominantly glucuronoxylomannan, and is responsible for the antigenic differentiation of serotypes A, B, C, D, and AD. A total of 467 isolates of C. neoformans obtained from clinical and environmental sources from Brazilian regions were studied serologically by using the Crypto Check Iatron RM 304-K kit. Serotyping of the clinical isolates showed the following prevalences of the serotypes: A (77.95%), followed by B (18.2%), AD (1.3%), D (0.4%), C (0.2%), and untypeable (1.93%). The epidemiology of serotype A in the Brazilian southern and southeastern regions reproduces the picture observed worldwide. In contrast, serotype B was the most frequent agent of cryptococcosis in the northeastern region, occurring nearly equally in male and female healthy hosts. Among the isolates from environmental sources, serotypes A and B were found to occur in the hollows of tropical trees of the genera Cassia, Ficus, and Moquillea. The few isolates from Eucalyptus camaldulensis debris were serotypes A and B and untypeable. Overall, no association with a specific host tree was identified for these serotypes, denoting a distinct ecoepidemiological regional pattern. The one serotype C isolate was recovered from a human immunodeficiency virus-negative host. Serotype AD predominated over serotype D among both clinical and environmental isolates.
High Intraluminal Fluid Flow Increases Intestinal IgA Output

Background: Stool IgA output in normal stool or chronic diarrhoea is a fraction of that recorded in high-output watery diarrhoea due to cholera. We hypothesized that high intestinal fluid flow leads to increased IgA output, and this is not a consequence of reduced degradation/reabsorption. Methods: Daily intestinal outputs of IgA and other secretory and non-secretory proteins were measured in stool from 14 volunteers with ileostomies and compared with the output during whole-gut lavage, a whole-gut perfusion system. Results: Output into whole-gut lavage was significantly higher for all the proteins (P = 0.02 to 0.001). Median IgA output into ileostomy effluent (IE) was 3.6 mg/kg/day compared with 26 mg/kg/day into whole-gut lavage fluid (WGLF). Thus IgA recovery in stool was only 12.7% of the amount in corresponding WGLF. Similar results were found for other proteins: specific IgA and IgM antibodies (5.4%-20.3 %), IgM (42.4%), IgG (8.9%), and albumin (9.3%). Six subjects with IE water content >92% had increased recovery of IgA compared with eight with <92% water. In vitro, experiments predict that degradation of IgA within the small bowel results in 80% remaining compared with the 12.7% measured in vivo. Conclusions: Our data show that high intraluminal fluid flow increases the intestinal output of IgA and other proteins, and this is not a consequence of reduced degradation/reabsorption in the colon or small bowel. This increased protein output may be a non-specific response in the early stages of acute diarrhoea.
Magneto-motive ultrasound imaging using superparamagnetic ferrite nanoparticles with enhanced saturation magnetization synthesized by a simple copreciptation method

Detecting cancer at earlier stages is critical for effective therapeutic procedures and reduction of mortality. Molecular imaging plays a crucial role to improve the early diagnosis of cancer. Magneto-motive ultrasound (MMUS) imaging is a technique developed to improve the detection of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) by ultrasound. The advantage of using contrast agents with nanoscale dimensions is their ability to target biologic events at the molecular and cellular levels. In MMUS, MNPs are used to label a specific tissue and an induced displacement, due to the interaction of MNPs with an alternating magnetic field, is detected by ultrasound imaging. Therefore, it is desirable to use MNPs with high saturation magnetization to enhance the induced displacements, consequently, improving the visualization of the contrast agent at lower concentrations.