Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Motor and Cognitive Performance in Infants During the First Year of Life

Purpose: To compare motor and cognitive performance in infants with typical development in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th months after birth. Methods: This was a repeated-measures study with unequal sample sizes in the follow-up periods, comprising 94 infants born at term. Infants with genetic syndromes, malformations, congenital infections, or hospitalized in intensive care units were excluded. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development II were used for evaluation of cognitive and motor performance. Results: There were significant differences between motor and cognitive performance at 1, 2, and 3 months. However, at 6, 9, and 12 months, there was no difference between domains. Conclusion: This study suggests that during the first year, development can be synchronous in the 2 areas evaluated by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II, especially from the sixth month of age onward.
Computing likelihoods in the stochastic integrate-and-fire model: numerical methods

A boot jack is described which provides a step tread surface on the top thereof having a generally V-shaped opening arranged about a longitudinal axis for receiving the heel of a boot to be removed from one leg of the user. The opening is formed by a pair of downwardly extending surfaces which terminate in opposed boot heel engaging edges. Left and right foot rest areas are defined by the step tread surface for accommodating the heel and ball of the foot of the other leg. The foot rest areas are symmetrically arranged about the longitudinal axis with a line bisecting each area extending at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis. The boot heel engaging edges are positioned below the step tread surface a sufficient distance to require the knee of the other leg to be bent when the boot to be removed is within the boot heel opening so that primarily the larger muscles of the other leg may be used to remove the boot.
Monitoring of allograft vasculopathy by intravascular ultrasound one month and one year after heart transplantation: A single center study.

AIMS The aim of this trial was to use intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to determine whether cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) starts progressing during the first year after heart transplantation (HTx). METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 51 patients (11 women) who received heart transplants in our center between January 2010 and September 2013 and underwent coronary angiography as well as IVUS examination one month and one year after HTx. Patients with proven calcification and fibrotic plates in the IVUS examination one month after HTx constituted a group with defined donor-transmitted atherosclerosis (DTA). In patients without DTA, measurements of maximal intimal thickening (MIT) were made in two predetermined locations. RESULTS Eight of the 51 patients had DTA, while 43 did not. These were divided based on maximal intimal thickness (MIT) into a group with MIT < 0.5 mm (27) and MIT ≥ 0.5 mm (16). No patient with MIT < 0.5 mm developed allograft vasculopathy within one year after HTx. CAV developed in three patients (P = 0.045) out of the 16 patients with MIT ≥ 0.5. In patients with DTA, a statistically significant deterioration in percent area stenosis (PAS) occurred in both artery sections (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION Our trial showed that CAV progresses during the first year after HTx significantly more frequently in patients with DTA and MIT ≥ 0.5 mm. It is essential in these patients to implement an IVUS control examination one year after transplantation. The results can lead to a change in treatment strategy to prevent further progress of the disease.
An advanced InSAR algorithm for surface deformation monitoring: SqueeSARTM

Permanent Scatterer SAR Interferometry (PSInSAR) algorithm identifies coherent radar targets (PS) to detect and monitor surface deformation phenomena. PS typically correspond to point-wise, man-made objects widely available in urban areas. Sometimes, however, it is difficult to apply this technology for un-urban areas, due to a much lower spatial density of PS. To overcome the limit of PSInSAR and increase the spatial density of measurement points in un-urban areas, a new algorithm for processing interferometric data-stacks has been developed. It can measure the surface deformation not only from point-wise deterministic objects (i.e., PS), but also from distributed scatterers (DS) corresponding to areas of homogeneous pixels exhibiting good phase coherence in a subset of interferograms. In this paper we introduce a new approach, SqueeSARTM, to jointly process PS and DS, taking into account their different statistical behavior.
The Role of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Systematic Review

Background: At least 10-20% of the patients suffering from depression meet criteria for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In the last decades, an important role of glutamate in mood modulation has been hypothesized and ketamine, a non noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, has been demonstrated to be effective in both MDD and TRD. However, concerns emerged about the optimal dosage, and frequency of administration of this treatment. Methods: aiming to systematically review the current literature focusing on the main pharmacological properties and impact of ketamine in TRD, a detailed literature search in PubMed/Medline and ScienceDirect databases was conducted. Twenty-four manuscripts including a total of 416 patients fulfilled inclusion criteria. Results: Most studies demonstrated that the NMDA antagonist ketamine has rapid antidepressant effects in TRD patients, confirming the active role of glutamate in the pathophysiology of this complex condition. Ketamine has been demonstrated to be rapidly effective and was associated with a significant clinical improvement in depressive symptoms within hours after administration. Also, ketamine was also found to be effective in reducing suicidality in TRD samples. Limitations: The long-term efficacy of ketamine has not been investigated by most studies. The psychotomimetic properties may complicate the application of this pharmacological agent. Conclusions: Ketamine may be considered a valid and intriguing antidepressant option for the treatment of TRD. Further studies are needed to evaluate its long-term antidepressant efficacy in patients with TRD.
Purification of a cytochrome bd terminal oxidase encoded by the Escherichia coli app locus from a delta cyo delta cyd strain complemented by genes from Bacillus firmus OF4

Escherichia coli GK100, with deletions in the operons encoding its two terminal oxidases, cytochrome bo and ctyochrome bd, was complemented for growth on succinate by a recombinant plasmid (pMS100) containing a 3.4-kb region of DNA from alkaliphilic Bacillus firmus OF4. The complementing DNA was predicted to encode five proteins, but neither sequence analysis nor complementation experiments with subclones provided insight into the basis for the complementation. Cytochrome difference spectra of everted membrane vesicles from the transformed strain had characteristics of a cytochrome bd spectrum but with features different from those observed for alkaliphile membranes. To determine the bacterial source and identity of the structural genes for the cytochrome bd in the transformed mutant, the complex was extracted and partially purified. On sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, two polypeptides were resolved from the preparation, 43 (subunit I) and 27 (subunit II) kDa. An internal peptide from subunit I was sequenced, and it yielded the same primary sequence as is found in positions 496 to 510 of E. coli appC. Consistent with the microsequencing results pMS100 failed to complement a triple mutant of E. coli carrying a deletion in appB as well as in the cyo and cyd loci. The deduced sequence of AppBC had been predicted to be very similar to the sequence of CydAB (J. Dassa et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 229:341-352, 1991) but this is the first demonstration that the former is indeed a cytochrome bd terminal oxidase. The enzyme catalyzed oxygen uptake coupled to quinol or N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine oxidation, and the activity was sensitive to cyanide. No cross-reactivity to subunit-specific polyclonal antibodies directed against the two individual subunits of cyd-encoded cytochrome bd was detected. Since this is the second cytochrome bd discovered in E. coli, it is proposed that the two complexes be designated cytochrome bd-I (cydAB-encoded enzyme) and cytochrome bd-II (appBC-encoded enzyme). In addition, cbdAB is suggested as a more appropriate gene designation for cytochrome bd than either appBC or cyxAB.
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Graft Failure after Heart Transplantation: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Maximize Weaning Rate

Objectives Primary graft failure (PGF) after heart transplantation is a detrimental complication, and carries high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to analyze the results of our multidisciplinary approach in supporting patients affected with PGF after heart transplantation. Methods Out of 114 consecutive patients receiving orthotopic heart transplantation between January 2006 and July 2013, 18 (15.7%) developed PGF requiring veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenator (VA-ECMO) support. Fourteen patients were male and the mean age was 49 ± 11 years. General principles in treating the patients were based on a low dose of adrenaline (0.05 mic/kg per min) infusion; femoral intra-aortic balloon pump (13 of the 18 patients); low dose of vasoconstrictors; careful fluid balance; daily echocardiographic transesophageal monitoring. Results Mean graft recipient pulmonary vascular resistance was 3.6 ± 3.2 WU. Five patients had absolute contraindication to IABP placement. The mean left ventricle ejection fraction pre-VA-ECMO was 18.4% ± 10.2%. The mean VA-ECMO and IABP support times were 6.7 ± 3.2 and 9.2 ± 7.6 days, respectively. Mean VA-ECMO flow was 4164 ± 679 l/min. The mean left ventricle ejection fraction increased to 43.4% ± 17.7% at the end of support. Weaning and discharge rates in patients treated with VA-ECMO+IABP were 84% and 53%, respectively. Causes of death were primarily end-stage organ failure. Conclusions A multidisciplinary evaluation of ECMO patients done by intensivists, cardiologists, and surgeons may influence weaning and survival rate. Our approach seems to be a safe and reproducible strategy for avoiding left ventricle distension and fluid overload, and for detecting complications that negatively affect outcomes.
Cross-Layer Performance Study of Cooperative Diversity System With ARQ

In this paper, a cross-layer design of a wireless communication system is proposed by considering a quadrature signaling (QS)-based cooperative diversity (CD) system employing truncated stop-and-wait automatic repeat request (ARQ) for error control. The proposed CD-ARQ scheme employs selection relaying at the partner, and all the transmission channels are assumed to exhibit Nakagami-m fading. To analyze the cross-layer performance of the proposed scheme, a Markov model is developed by capturing the effects of correlated transmission errors of the Nakagami-m fading cooperative channels. Based on the analysis, the effective cooperative channel of QS-CD-ARQ is uncorrelated when the normalized Doppler shift of at least one of the user-to-destination channels is higher than 0.2. Performance metrics (e.g., channel efficiency, packet loss rate, throughput, average delay, and jitter) are taken into account in the study. Our numerical results show that the QS-CD-ARQ scheme outperforms both an incremental-relaying-based CD system and a non-cooperative system if the average of the received signal is higher than the receiver sensitivity and if the channel between users is better than the direct transmission channel. In addition, QS-CD-ARQ provides the lowest packet loss rate with the lowest delay among all the schemes for any number of maximum retry limits. Moreover, compared with a scheme that employs incremental relaying, the proposed QS-CD-ARQ scheme is less complex to implement.
eview onoclonal antibodies for prophylactic and therapeutic use against viral

Neutralizing antibodies play an essential part in antiviral immunity and are instrumental in preventing or modulating viral diseases. Polyclonal antibody preparations are increasingly being replaced by highly potent monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Cocktails of mAbs and bispecific constructs can be used to simultaneously target multiple viral epitopes and to overcome issues of neutralization escape. Advances vailable online 29 January 2013
Effect of Ketamine on Apoptosis by Energy Deprivation in Astroglioma Cells using Flow Cytometry System

Apoptosis is a programmed, physiologic mode of cell death that plays an important role in tissue homeostasis. As for the central nervous system, ischemic insults can induce pathophysiologic cascade of apoptosis in neurophils. Impairment of astroctye functions during brain ischemia can critically influence neuron survival by neuronglia interactions. We aimed to elucidate the protective effect of ketamine on apoptosis by energy deprivation in astrocytes. Ischemic insults was induced with iodoacetate/carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (IAA/CCCP) 1.5 mM/20 µM or 150 µM/2 µM for 1 hr in the HTB-15 and CRL-1690 astrocytoma cells. Then these cells were reperfused with normal media or ketamine (0.1 mM) containing media for 1 hr or 24 hr. FITC-annexin-V staining and propidium iodide binding were determined by using flow cytometry. Cell size and granularity were measured by forward and side light scattering properties of flow cytometry system, respectively. An addition of ketamine during reperfusion increased the proportion of viable cells. Ketamine alleviated cell shrinkage and increased granularity during the early period, and ameliorated cell swelling during the late reperfusion period. Ketamine may have a valuable effect on amelioration of early and late apoptosis in the astrocytoma cells, even though the exact mechanism remains to be verified.
On the impact of alignment on voice conversion performance

Most of the current voice conversion systems model the joint density of source and target features using a Gaussian mixture model. An inherent property of this approach is that the source and target features have to be properly aligned for the training. It is intuitively clear that the accuracy of the alignment has some effect on the conversion quality but this issue has not been thoroughly studied in the literature. Examples of alignment techniques include the usage of a speech recognizer with forced alignment or dynamic time warping (DTW). In this paper, we study the effect of alignment on voice conversion quality through extensive experiments and discuss issues that should be considered. The main outcome of the study is that alignment clearly matters but with simple voice activity detection, DTW and some constraints we can achieve the same quality as with hand-marked labels.
Controlling rectangular formations

We consider formation shape control of four point agents in the plane. Control laws based on specified interagent distances are used. For a complete graph, specification of all interagent distances determines the formation shape uniquely. Krick, Broucke and Francis showed that for a standard control law, there may exist equilibrium formations with incorrect interagent distances. This paper studies such equilibria and derives two main results. That each such incorrect equilibrium is attached to at most one desired formation. That all such equilibria are unstable if the desired formation is a rectangle.
Modulations physiologiques et comportementales de la douleur sociale

La douleur sociale est une forme de douleur non physique derivant de la perception de l'exclusion sociale. L'importance de la comprehension de ses modulations comportementales et neuronales est fondamentale, car ses consequences sur le long terme peuvent etre tres nefastes. Dans ce travail de these, j'ai explore ces aspects a travers une etude comportementale a l‟aide d‟enregistrements par SCR (Skin Conductance Recording), et trois etudes en iEEG (electro-encephalographie intracrânienne) chez des patients epileptiques. La premiere etude comportementale a explore la direction dans laquelle l'exclusion sociale est influencee par une recompense et ses reactions sur le long terme. Ainsi, la recompense monetaire altere l'equilibre social et augmente l‟activite electrodermale. La personne ayant ete exclue met alors en oeuvre des mecanismes de vengeance en defavorisant la personne qui l‟a exclue precedemment. Les etudes en iEEG ont ete une fenetre unique d'exploration du cerveau lors de differentes types de modulation de l'exclusion. Dans la premiere etude en iEEG, nous avons observe que la douleur sociale produit une activation des oscillations theta (3-7 Hz), lors de d'exclusion, dans l'insula, l'ACC, le cortex prefrontal et le gyrus fusiforme. La deuxieme etude iEEG s'est interessee aux modulations produites par la douleur sociale dans BA 19 et BA 17 presentant des P1 d'amplitude majeure lors de l'observation des photos du joueur qui exclut. La troisieme etude en iEEG a explore la reponse neuronale de l'influence d'une variable monetaire lors de l'exclusion. Nos resultats demontrent que l'insula posterieure presente une activation theta independante du fait que l'exclusion soit positive (exclusion et gain d'argent) ou encore negative (exclusion et perte d'argent), a la difference de l'insula anterieure, active seulement lors d'une exclusion negative
Dietary habits and dental health over the first 18 months of life.

OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study was to describe the dental health of infants and toddlers with special reference to their dietary habits and oral hygiene behaviour over the first 18 months of life. METHODS The longitudinal dietary data were obtained at 6, 12 and 18 months of age by using a 3-day weighed diet diary. Dental examinations were carried out at 12, and again at 18 months of age. The information on demographic factors and oral hygiene behaviours over the first 18 months of life was gathered by using a structured questionnaire at 12 and 18 months. RESULTS 163 children were studied. Visible dental plaque was present in 18% and 25% of children at 12 and 18 months of age, respectively. No child had dental caries at either 12 or 18 months of age. There was a statistically significant correlation between visible plaque measured as plaque index at 12 months and the mean daily eating/drinking episodes at 6 months (r=0.25, P=0.001) and 12 months (r=0.15, P=0.05). The correlations between plaque index at 18 months and the mean eating/drinking episodes at both 12 months (r=0.2, P=0.04) and 18 months (r=0.2, P=0.02) were low but statistically significant. Nevertheless, there was no significant correlation between accumulation of plaque at either 12 or 18 months and the mean daily frequency consumption of food and drink containing non-milk extrinsic sugars (NMES) at any age. Children who brushed their teeth themselves were more likely to have visible plaque compared with children whose teeth were cleaned by their parents. The partial correlation showed that positive relation between mean daily eating/drinking episodes and plaque was not influenced by tooth brushing.
Parent Education Program for Incarcerated Mothers in Colorado.

One of the primary goals of correctional education is to reduce recidivism by reintegrating inmates into society and family in a productive and positive manner and, in the case of parent education, become good and ective parents to their children. Research suggests that prison parent education programs provide inmates with measurable knowledge and affirmative parenting skills which can result in positive behavior changes, including a decrease in the recidivism rate. This current study examined the short term impact of the Partners in Parenting (PIP) curriculum, a skilled-based program focusing on strengthening family relationships and promoting positive behaviors. Participants were comprised of 219 mothers who agreed to take part in parent education classes while incarcerated in several women s correctional facilities throughout the state of Colorado. Results reveaied that mothers who took part in the parenting education curriculum demonstrated a marked increase in their sense of parenting proficiency, done by improving parenting skills and increasing their overall parenting knowledge. These results therefore, strongly suggest parenting education programs in correctional facilities are indeed ben^iciai to parents and thereby to the child, in turn leading to improved parent-child relationships and the ultimate goai of reduced recidivism. Parent Education Program for Incarcerated Mothers in Colorado The ongoing education of parents in prison is essential; not only does it impact the incarcerated inmate, but it also impacts and affects the other immediate family members, especially the children. For example, it is estimated that 65% of female prisoners are parents of minor children. It is also reported that more than one child in 50 has an incarcerated parent (Biichik, Seymour, 9 Kresher,
Contextual image search with keyword and image input

In this paper, we propose a novel image search scheme is contextual image search with keyword input. It is different from conventional image search schemes. it consist of three step process, first one is context extraction to distinguish the image entities of the same name, second step is conceptualization to convert context into a list of weighted concepts using wikification. Wikification is process, which links the noun phrases in plain text content to the corresponding articles third step is tri stage image clustering to process the conceptualized contexts. Those three stages are Tag context clustering, Text context clustering and Expansion clustering. Where Tag context clustering clusters with most reliable signal using HAC (Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering), Text context clustering uses the text content of all images to form the cluster using HAC algorithm and Expansion clustering using inverse document frequency. Finally the web images are clustered. The contextual image search based on keyword system presents a separate interface (e.g., text input box) to allow users to submit a query; this system enables users to find the images based on different name entity images. Though the keyword based contextual image search provides result it doesn't find the duplicate images. Thus the conceptual image search with image input concept is proposed to find the duplicate images. Contextual image search with input image, the users can select an clustered image as the search query from Web pages or other documents they are reading. Using MPEG-7 descriptors to “annotate” an image automatically. Finally it determine the duplicate images on search result.
Solar supergranulation revealed by granule tracking

Context. Supergranulation is a pattern of the velocity field at the surface of the Sun, which has been known about for more than fifty years, however, no satisfactory explanation of its origin has been proposed. Aims. New observational constraints are therefore needed to guide theoretical approaches which hesitate between scenarios that either invoke a large-scale instability of the surface turbulent convection or a direct forcing by buoyancy. Methods. Using the 14-Mpixel CALAS camera at the Pic-du-Midi observatory, we obtained a 7.5 h-long sequence of high resolution images with unprecedented field size. Tracking granules, we have determined the velocity field at the Sun’s surface in great detail from a scale of 2.5 Mm up to 250 Mm. Results. The kinetic energy density spectrum shows that supergranulation peaks at 36 Mm and spans on scales ranging between 20 Mm and 75 Mm. The decrease of supergranular flows in the small scales is close to a k −2 -power law, steeper than the equipartition Kolmogorov one. The probability distribution function of the divergence field shows the signature of intermittency of the supergranulation and thus its turbulent nature.