Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ACCURACY AND PRECISION OF SPATIAL LOCALIZATION WITH AND WITHOUT SACCADIC EYE MOVEMENTS: A TEST OF THE TWO-PROCESS MODEL

We tested the two-process model of spatial localization (Adam, Ketelaars, Kingma, & Hoek, 1993) by measuring accuracy and precision of localization performance in three stimulus conditions: (i) no-saccade — observers were to maintain gaze on the fixation mark while target appeared for 1 s, (ii) saccade to on-target — they had to quickly saccade to and fixate on target remaining on for 1 s, and (iii) saccade to off-target — they had to quickly saccade to the target appeared for 150 ms. Observers’ task was to adjust position of a mouse cursor manually so that its position corresponds to the perceived position of the target. Results with six observers are consistent with the model suggesting localization performance to be mediated by memory-guided saccade for brief target and visually guided saccade for long duration target. The results further suggest that the memory-guided saccade provides relatively less accurate and precise information for localization and is a function of target eccentricity.
Expressive Completeness for Metric Temporal Logic

Metric Temporal Logic (MTL) is a generalisation of Linear Temporal Logic in which the Until and Since modalities are annotated with intervals that express metric constraints. Hirshfeld and Rabinovich have shown that over the reals, firstorder logic with binary order relation <; and unary function +1 is strictly more expressive than MTL with integer constants. Indeed they prove that no temporal logic whose modalities are definable by formulas of bounded quantifier depth can be expressively complete for FO(<;, +1). In this paper we show that if we allow unary functions +q, q ∈ Q, in first-order logic and correspondingly allow rational constants in MTL, then the two logics have the same expressive power. This gives the first generalisation of Kamp's theorem on the expressive completeness of LTL for FO(<;) to the quantitative setting. The proof of this result involves a generalisation of Gabbay's notion of separation to the metric setting.
Stroke genomics in people of African ancestry: charting new paths

Abstract One in six people worldwide will experience a stroke in his/her lifetime. While people in Africa carry a disproportionately higher burden of poor stroke outcomes, compared to the rest of the world, the exact contribution of genomic factors to this disparity is unknown. Despite noteworthy research into stroke genomics, studies exploring the genetic contribution to stroke among populations of African ancestry in the United States are few. Furthermore, genomics data in populations living in Africa are lacking. The wide genomic variation of African populations offers a unique opportunity to identify genomic variants with causal relationships to stroke across different ethnic groups. The Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network (SIREN), a component of the Human Health and Heredity in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium, aims to explore genomic and environmental risk factors for stroke in populations of African ancestry in West Africa and the United States. In this article, we review the literature on the genomics of stroke with particular emphasis on populations of African origin.
IRES-Dependent Translational Control during Virus-Induced Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Apoptosis

Many virus infections and stresses can induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, a host self-defense mechanism against viral invasion and stress. During this event, viral and cellular gene expression is actively regulated and often encounters a switching of the translation initiation from cap-dependent to internal ribosome-entry sites (IRES)-dependent. This switching is largely dependent on the mRNA structure of the 5′ untranslated region (5′ UTR) and on the particular stress stimuli. Picornaviruses and some other viruses contain IRESs within their 5′ UTR of viral genome and employ an IRES-driven mechanism for translation initiation. Recently, a growing number of cellular genes involved in growth control, cell cycle progression and apoptosis were also found to contain one or more IRES within their long highly structured 5′ UTRs. These genes initiate translation usually by a cap-dependent mechanism under normal physiological conditions; however, in certain environments, such as infection, starvation, and heat shock they shift translation initiation to an IRES-dependent modality. Although the molecular mechanism is not entirely understood, a number of studies have revealed that several cellular biochemical processes are responsible for the switching of translation initiation to IRES-dependent. These include the cleavage of translation initiation factors by viral and/or host proteases, phosphorylation (inactivation) of host factors for translation initiation, overproduction of homologous proteins of cap-binding protein eukaryotic initiation factors (eIF)4E, suppression of cap-binding protein eIF4E expression by specific microRNA, activation of enzymes for mRNA decapping, as well as others. Here, we summarize the recent advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms for the switching of translation initiation, particularly for the proteins involved in cell survival and apoptosis in the ER stress pathways during viral infections.
Full Waveform Acoustic Logging - From Theory To Applications

This report contains results from the third year of the Full Waveform Acoustic Logging Consortium and rock physics studies at M.J.T. This year marks the compietion of the first phase of the project which has been directed primarily to the understanding of the basic theoretical aspects of acoustic waves in a borehole. With such a background we are ready to emphasize applications as well as to undertake special problems which require new and different theoreticai approaches. As examples of the latter, we can mention uncentered tools, vertical fractures around borehoies, thinly bedded formations and anisotropy.
Second language acquisition: Theoretical and experimental issues in contemporary research

Abstract To what extent, if any, does Universal Grammar (UG) constrain second language (L2) acquisition? This is not only an empirical question, but one which is currently investigable. In this context, L2 acquisition is emerging as an important new domain of psycholinguistic research. Three logical possibilities have been articulated regarding the role of UG in L2 acquisition: The first is the “no access” hypothesis that claims that no aspect of UG is available to the L2 learner. The second is the “partial access” hypothesis that claims that only LI instantiated principles and LI instantiated parameter-values of UG are available to the learner. The third, called the “full access” hypothesis, asserts that UG in its entirety constrains L2 acquisition. In this paper we argue that there is no compelling evidence to support either of the first two hypotheses. Moreover, we provide evidence concerning functional categories in L2 acquisition consistent with the claim that UG is fully available to the L2 learner (see also Flynn 1987; Li 1993; Martohardjono 1992; Schwartz & Sprouse 1991; Thomas 1991; White 1989). In addition, we will attempt to clarify some of currently unclear theoretical issues that arise with respect to positing UG as an explanatory theory of L2 acquisition. We will also investigate in some detail certain crucial methodological questions involved in experimentally testing the role of UG in L2 acquisition and finally, we will present a set of experimental results of our own supporting the “Full Access” hypothesis.
Cluster and Principal Components Analyses of the Group Embedded-Figures Test

The structure of the Group Embedded-figures Test was examined. Data from 173 females and 93 males were subjected to Johnson's complete-linkage cluster analysis and principal components analysis. The results showed the importance of simple form type especially Form E, the cube, and of item position. Recommendations for the future study of the structure of embedded-figures tests were presented.
Automatic test knowledge extraction from VHDL (ATKET)

The authors describe ATKET (automatic test knowledge extraction tool), which synthesizes test knowledge using structural and behavioral information available in the very high-speed IC description language (VHDL) description of a design. A VHDL analyzer produces an intermediate representation of the information contained in a VHDL design. ATKET interfaces to this intermediate representation to access structural and behavioral information in the design and stores it in suitable data structures. A convenient representation called the module operation tree (MOT) is used to capture the behavior of modules in the design. Information stored in the MOT along with structural information describing connections between modules in the design is used to generate test knowledge. Results obtained from ATKET for a circuit which was difficult to test are presented. <<ETX>>
The Arabidopsis cax1 Mutant Exhibits Impaired Ion Homeostasis, Development, and Hormonal Responses and Reveals Interplay among Vacuolar Transporters Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.007385.

The Arabidopsis Ca2+/H+ transporter CAX1 (Cation Exchanger1) may be an important regulator of intracellular Ca2+ levels. Here, we describe the preliminary localization of CAX1 to the tonoplast and the molecular and biochemical characterization of cax1 mutants. We show that these mutants exhibit a 50% reduction in tonoplast Ca2+/H+ antiport activity, a 40% reduction in tonoplast V-type H+-translocating ATPase activity, a 36% increase in tonoplast Ca2+-ATPase activity, and increased expression of the putative vacuolar Ca2+/H+ antiporters CAX3 and CAX4. Enhanced growth was displayed by the cax1 lines under Mn2+ and Mg2+ stress conditions. The mutants exhibited altered plant development, perturbed hormone sensitivities, and altered expression of an auxin-regulated promoter-reporter gene fusion. We propose that CAX1 regulates myriad plant processes and discuss the observed phenotypes with regard to the compensatory alterations in other transporters.
Scoliosis Induced by Medullary Damage: An Experimental Study in Rabbits

To date, there have been no reports of experiments designed to induce scoliosis by direct damage of different areas of the spinal cord. In a series of rabbits with medullary damage, the authors attempted selectively to interrupt the pathways that mediate proprioceptive input. Unilateral lesion of the dorsal column and posterior horn of the spinal cord was performed using three different techniques: coagulation with laser, stereotaxic microcoagulation, and longitudinal electrocoagulation. Of 32 operated rabbits, 17 developed scoliosis, exhibiting clear pathologic damage of the spinal cord. Electrophysiologic study, including EMG and analysis of the tonic-vibratory reflex, was performed on 10 rabbits with medullary damage (scoliotic and nonscoliotic) and 12 matched controls. The data suggest disturbance of the sensory afferences that control the postural tone and consequent muscular imbalance, expressed as reduced activity in the muscles of the convex side. This work supports the view that loss of proprioceptive neural impulses caused by medullary damage can induce scoliosis.
A comprehensive examination of the influence of state tobacco control programs and policies on youth smoking.

OBJECTIVES We examined the influence of tobacco control policies (tobacco control program expenditures, smoke-free air laws, youth access law compliance, and cigarette prices) on youth smoking outcomes (smoking susceptibility, past-year initiation, current smoking, and established smoking). METHODS We combined data from the 2002 to 2008 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health with state and municipality population data from the US Census Bureau to assess the associations between state tobacco control policy variables and youth smoking outcomes, focusing on youths aged 12 to 17 years. We also examined the influence of policy variables on youth access when these variables were held at 2002 levels. RESULTS Per capita funding for state tobacco control programs was negatively associated with all 4 smoking outcomes. Smoke-free air laws were negatively associated with all outcomes except past-year initiation, and cigarette prices were associated only with current smoking. We found no association between these outcomes and retailer compliance with youth access laws. CONCLUSIONS Smoke-free air laws and state tobacco control programs are effective strategies for curbing youth smoking.
Influence of Image and Familiarity on Consumer Response to Negative Word-of-Mouth Communication About Retail Entities

This study examines the impact of retailer equity (specifically image and familiarity dimensions) on the cognitive processes employed by consumers receiving varying levels of strength of negative word of mouth (WOM) about retail entities. The main thesis is that retailer equity and the type of negative WOM received will interact to affect receivers' attributional processing and attitudes. Results support these contentions: the image and familiarity dimensions of retailer equity have interactive effects on consumers' processing of negative WOM. These findings suggest that when consumers formulate communicator attributions for the negativity of the WOM, retail store image plays a more significant role than familiarity. However, these effects are not found for store attributions. Managerial implications are discussed.
Marketing Sport Tourism: Creating Synergy between Sport and Destination

Marketing sport tourism requires sport and the host destination to be cross-leveraged to optimize the quality of experiences that the sport tourist obtains. Different forms of sport tourism (spectating, participating, venerating sport sites) are therefore potential complements, and the quality of infrastructure and services at the destination provide essential support for the overall sport tourism experience. Opportunities to socialize with tourists who share a sport interest can also enhance sport tourists' experience. Cross-leveraging of sport and destinations is facilitated when vertical and horizontal alliances are formed among sport and tourism providers. Further research is needed to explore the social and psychological worlds of sport tourists, and to identify effective leveraging tactics.
Preserved imitation in contrast to limited free application of comfortable hand actions in intellectually able young adults with an autism spectrum disorder

Imitation problems are commonly reported in children with an autism spectrum disorder. However, it has not yet been determined whether imitation problems persist into young adulthood. In this study, we investigated imitation skills of 20 intellectually able young adults with autism spectrum disorder relative to 19 age-matched neurotypical adults. For this purpose, we used a bar-transport task, which evokes the application of the end-state comfort principle. Specifically, we examined whether young adults with autism spectrum disorder imitated the means-end structure of a demonstrator’s bar-transport action with and without application of the end-state comfort principle (imitation task). In addition, we examined whether participants spontaneously applied the end-state comfort principle during a similar bar-transport task (free execution task). Results revealed that young adults with autism spectrum disorder imitated the means-end structure of observed actions to the same degree as neurotypical adults (p = 0.428). In contrast, they applied the end-state comfort principle less often during free executed actions (p = 0.035). Moreover, during these actions, they were slower to place the bar into the penholder (p = 0.023), which contributed to the reduced efficiency of their performance. Findings suggest that imitation abilities of young adults with autism spectrum disorder are preserved and that observing others’ actions might promote more efficient action planning in this population.
Does Left Atrial Volume and Pulmonary Venous Anatomy Predict the Outcome of Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation?

Introduction: Preprocedural factors may be helpful in selecting patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) for treatment with catheter ablation and in making an assumption regarding their prognosis. The aims of this study were to investigate whether left atrial (LA) volume and pulmonary venous (PV) anatomy, evaluated by computed tomography (CT) prior to ablation, will predict AF recurrence following catheter ablation.
Emerging drugs and alternative possibilities in the treatment of tuberculosis

ABSTRACT Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health problem. Drug resistance, treatment duration, complexity, and adverse drug reactions associated with anti-TB regimens are associated with treatment failure, prolonged infectiousness and relapse. With the current set of anti-TB drugs the goal to end TB has not been met. New drugs and new treatment regimens are needed to eradicate TB. Areas covered: Literature was explored to select publications on drugs currently in phase II and phase III trials. These include new chemical entities, immunotherapy, established drugs in new treatment regimens and vaccines for the prophylaxis of TB. Expert opinion: Well designed trials, with detailed pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis, in which information on drug exposure and drug susceptibility of the entire anti-TB regimen is included, in combination with long-term follow-up will provide relevant data to optimize TB treatment. The new multi arm multistage trial design could be used to test new combinations of compounds, immunotherapy and therapeutic vaccines. This new approach will both reduce the number of patients exposed to inferior treatment and the financial burden. Moreover, it will speed up drug evaluation. Considering the investments involved in development of new drugs it is worthwhile to thoroughly investigate existing, non-TB drugs in new regimens.
Clinical and research issues in breast cancer genetics.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the U.S. The risk factors for developing breast cancer include increasing age, a family history of breast cancer, and the lack of a child by age 30. A substantial fraction of breast cancer, however, occurs in women who have no identifiable risk factors. The diagnosis, pathology, treatment, and presymptomatic testing of cancer susceptibility genes are reviewed. Syndromes with an associated risk of breast cancer are described, such as hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, ataxia telangiectasia, and Cowden's disease. With the localization of the BRCA1 gene to chromosome 17q21 and the BRCA2 gene to chromosome 13q12, issues surrounding breast cancer susceptibility genetic testing are assuming an ever greater measure of importance. The sensitivity and specificity for molecular testing of cancer susceptibility genes, however, have not been well defined. The progress in presymptomatic genetic testing is further hampered by various factors such as the technical difficulty in distinguishing mutations from polymorphisms, the number of different mutations identified thus far and the possibility of false positive and false negative results. Laboratory quality assurance/quality control issues are of paramount importance to avoid misleading interpretations. Many issues surrounding genetic screening and testing, such as insurance and employment discrimination, privacy, and informed consent, are under active debate, and guidelines and standards are under active development. It is therefore important to proceed with caution, so that irreversible harm resulting from data misinterpretation can be avoided.
Network-Decentralized Control Strategies for Stabilization

We consider the problem of stabilizing a class of systems formed by a set of decoupled subsystems (nodes) interconnected through a set of controllers (arcs). Controllers are network-decentralized, i.e., they use information exclusively from the nodes they interconnect. This condition requires a block-structured feedback matrix, having the same structure as the transpose of the overall input matrix of the system. If the subsystems do not have common unstable eigenvalues, we demonstrate that the problem is solvable. In the general case, we provide sufficient conditions for solvability. When subsystems are identical and each input agent controls a pair of subsystems with input matrices having opposite sign (flow networks), we prove that stabilization is possible if and only if the system is connected with the external environment. Our proofs are constructive and lead to structured linear matrix inequalities (LMIs).
Evaluation of power supply noise in CMOS and low noise logic cells

In digital designs, it becomes more and more important to reduce the supply current variations (di/dt noise) they induce in the supply lines. This is due to the fact that steep variations in supply current give rise to EM (Electro-Magnetic) radiation. In this paper, two new modified low-noise logic styles - Complementary-CBL (C-CBL) and Enhanced-CSL (E-CSL) are presented in which the di/dt noise due to the switching is reduced greatly with respect to standard CMOS (SCMOS) circuits. Furthermore, a comparison with existing alternative low noise techniques shows that, for the same supply voltage and the same power consumption, the Enhanced-CSL circuits have smaller area, higher noise margins and smaller propagation delay.
Conduction block in clinical practice

A t the meeting of the American Association of Electrodiagnostic Medicine in Chicago (Sept 6, 1990), we discussed the difficulties in recognizing partial conduction block in motor fibers using conventional electromyographic techniques. This meeting was stimulated by (1) a general interest in the physiology of demyelination, (2) the consensus that recognition of partial conduction block in motor fibers was clinically important,’ and (3) the large number of recent papers and abstracts purporting to show “conduction block’ in a variety of situations. In current clinical practice, the presence of partial motor conduction block is usually accepted when the amplitude andlor, area of an evoked muscle action potential (MAP), recorded through surface electrodes, is reduced with proximal stimulation, compared with the response to distal stimulation and in the absence of abnormal temporal dispersion. The extent of the reduction necessary to justify this conclusion has been put at 20% to 60% in published guide1ines.ls6 These figures either have been derived from studies of normal individuals or have been determined based on “experience. ”
Disorganized Attachment in Young Children: Manifestations, Etiology, and Implications for Child Custody

Disorganized attachment is a troubling relationship in which an infant or young child demonstrates extreme conflict, contradictory and disorganized behavior as they seek caretaking from a parent. When properly assessed and identified, behaviors associated with disorganized attachment suggest the presence of serious threats to healthy psychological development of the child, and serious shortcomings in the parent's ability to provide well-attuned and empathic caretaking and for the child's safety. Given the population and circumstances of families referred for child custody evaluations, we posit that there is a strong risk for disorganized attachment in these families, and that evaluators should understand better how to evaluate whether such a dynamic exists. Such understanding provides essential data in formulating constructive recommendations for the court that are based on a child's needs and a parent's caretaking capacity. The authors outline what makes disorganized attachment unique, discuss how the phenomenon can manifest in the context of conflicted divorce, and offer suggestions for how to assess disorganized attachment within the evaluation process.