Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Confounding of Big Five Personality Assessments in Emotional Disorders by Comorbidity and Current Disorder

Foremost cross–sectional studies of personality in common mental disorders show similar Big Five trait profiles [i.e. high neuroticism (N), low conscientiousness (C) and low extraversion (E)]. It remains undecided whether this lack of distinct personality profiles is partly due to comorbidity among disorders or contamination by current state. Using data from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, we investigated 1046 participants with panic disorder (PD), social anxiety disorder (SAD) and/or major depressive disorder (MDD) and 474 healthy controls. Personality traits at baseline and two–year follow–up were assessed with the NEO–Five Factor Inventory. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to determine the presence of emotional disorders at baseline and at two–year follow–up; the Life Chart Interview determined symptom severity in the month prior to baseline and during follow–up. By analysing pure cases and investigating the effects in remitted cases, PD participants were found to be higher in N, but not lower in E and C than controls. Pure PD participants were also lower in N and higher in E than SAD and MDD participants. Both SAD and MDD participants were characterized by high levels of N and low levels of E, irrespective of comorbidity or current disorder state. Future studies should be more attentive to confounding of personality profiles by comorbidity and state effects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
MT-BTRIMER: A Master-Slave Multi-threaded Dynamic Binary Translator

Most of the current dynamic binary translation (DBT) systems are single-threaded and many orders of magnitude slower than native execution. Although multi-core processors are becoming more and more prevalent, the single-threaded architecture prevents these DBT systems from improving their performance by making full use of the parallel execution advantage. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a multi-threaded DBT system, named MT-BTRIMER. MT-BTRIMER employs a master-slave multi-threaded architecture. We evaluate the MT-BTRIMER system across SPEC CINT 2000 and BYTEmark test suite. The results demonstrate that MT-BTRIMER can speculatively translate on average 60% of useful target code, and reduce the total runtime by nearly 30% compared with ST-BTRIMER which is a single-threaded DBT system.
Solving Ebola, HIV, Antibiotic Resistance And Other Challenges: The New Paradigm Of Probabilistic Innovation

The global innovation pipeline that provides new drugs to counter threats like Ebola or totally drug resistant tuberculosis and bacteria has slowed; fewer drugs are being produced and higher levels of investment are yielding lower outputs. This paper argues that the innovation process that underlies proprietary, or profit-seeking, innovation faces an S-curve effect, which is reflected in diminishing returns to investment. A new S-curve is identified, in the form of second generation innovation (SGI) and second generation research and development (SGR). What SGI and SGR have in common is their use of probabilistic mechanisms of knowledge creation. Probabilistic mechanisms refer to the exposure of problem solving processes to very large numbers of problem solvers. An example of this is crowdsourced R&D and crowdsourced innovation contests. The overarching argument made in this paper is that many of the medical and social problems faced today can be solved by a more extensive use of processes associated with this new paradigm in innovation. Chris William Callaghan
Expression of a sterol carrier protein‐x gene in the Yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti

The sterol carrier protein‐x (SCP‐x), a peroxisomal thiolase/nonspecific lipid binding protein, was characterized in the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. The Aedes aegypti SCP‐x (AeSCP‐x) has 83% and 75% similarities to Drosophila and mammalian SCP‐x, respectively. However, the AeSCP‐x gene did not produce multiple transcripts, which is characteristic of the vertebrate SCP‐x gene. Levels of AeSCP‐x transcription were higher in larvae and pupae. Gut tissue showed the highest level of AeSCP‐x mRNA in larvae. In adults, low levels of AeSCP‐x transcription were detected in both sexes. Polyclonal antibodies against the sterol carrier protein‐2 (SCP‐2) domain of AeSCP‐x detected two proteins of 62 kDa and 13 kDa. The results indicate that AeSCP‐x is proteolytically cleaved after translation to produce a smaller protein that contains only the SCP‐2 domain, which is similar to post‐translational modification of the vertebrate's SCP‐x to produce multiple products.
Familial Non-VHL Clear Cell (Conventional) Renal Cell Carcinoma: Clinical Features, Segregation Analysis, and Mutation Analysis of FLCN

Purpose: Familial renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is genetically heterogeneous. The most common histopathologic subtype of sporadic and familial RCC is clear cell (cRCC) and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is the most common cause of inherited cRCC. Familial cRCC may also be associated with chromosome 3 translocations and has recently been described in patients with Birt-Hogg-Dube (BHD) syndrome, caused by germline FLCN mutation. Fewer than 20 kindreds with familial cRCC without VHL disease or a constitutional translocation have been described. The purpose of this investigation was to define the clinical and genetic features of familial non-VHL cRCC (FcRCC) and to evaluate whether unrecognized BHD syndrome might be present in patients with apparent nonsyndromic RCC susceptibility. Experimental Design: We analyzed the clinical features of, and undertook segregation analysis in, 60 kindreds containing two or more cases of RCC (at least one confirmed case of cRCC) and no evidence of an RCC susceptibility syndrome. We also undertook FLCN analysis to evaluate whether unrecognized BHD syndrome might be present in 69 patients with apparent nonsyndromic RCC susceptibility. Results: FcRCC was characterized by an earlier age at onset than sporadic cases and more frequent occurrence of bilateral or multicentric tumors. Segregation analysis showed autosomal dominant inheritance with sex- and age-dependent penetrance. A germline FLCN mutation was detected in 3 of 69 (4.3%) patients with apparent nonsyndromic RCC susceptibility. Conclusions: We describe the clinical and genetic features of the largest series of FcRCC and recommend these patients be offered FLCN analysis, in addition to constitutional cytogenetic and VHL analysis.
Primate photopic sine-wave flicker ERG: vector modeling analysis of component origins using glutamate analogs.

PURPOSE To study how the photoreceptoral and postreceptoral ON- and OFF-components contribute to the photopic sine-wave flicker ERG in the monkey by isolating the components with glutamate analogs. METHODS Monkey photopic flicker ERGs were elicited with sine wave stimuli (mean luminance, 2.66 log cd/m(2); 80% modulation depth, on a 40 cd/m(2) white background) and were recorded for stimulus frequencies of 4 Hz to 64 Hz, before and after intravitreal injection of DL-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (APB) and cis-2, 3-piperidinedicarboxylic acid (PDA) that block ON- and OFF-bipolar activity, respectively. The amplitude and phase of the fundamental component were analyzed. RESULTS The flicker response amplitudes increased after APB, for frequencies of 6 Hz to 32 Hz. The further addition of PDA to isolate the photoreceptor component resulted in a relatively small residual response that decreased monotonically from 4 Hz to 32 Hz. The postsynaptic APB (ON-) and PDA (OFF-) sensitive components were isolated by subtraction and were characterized by amplitude and phase vectors. The ON- and OFF-components were larger than the initial control responses for stimuli of 8 Hz to 40 Hz. These two components had a frequency-dependent phase difference of 160 degrees to 230 degrees; normally, they interfere with each other and reduce their net contribution. The phase difference between ON- and OFF-components was nearly 180 degrees for a 10-Hz stimulus, and the phase cancellation caused a prominent dip in amplitude at this frequency. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that postreceptoral ON- and OFF-components contribute substantially to the sine-wave flicker ERG, especially at higher stimulus frequencies. Because of phase cancellation, they mask each other in the net response in a frequency dependent fashion. The photoreceptor contribution is greater than the net postsynaptic component only for frequencies of approximately less than or equal to 10 Hz. These results can be summarized by a vector model that may be useful for interpreting changes resulting from retinal disease.
Potent VEGF blockade causes regression of coopted vessels in a model of neuroblastoma

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in human tumor angiogenesis. We compared the effects of inhibitors of VEGF with different specificities in a xenograft model of neuroblastoma. Cultured human neuroblastoma NGP-GFP cells were implanted intrarenally in nude mice. Three anti-VEGF agents were tested: an anti-human VEGF165 RNA-based fluoropyrimidine aptamer; a monoclonal anti-human VEGF antibody; and VEGF-Trap, a composite decoy receptor based on VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 fused to an Fc segment of IgG1. A wide range of efficacy was observed, with high-dose VEGF-Trap causing the greatest inhibition of tumor growth (81% compared with controls). We examined tumor angiogenesis and found that early in tumor formation, cooption of host vasculature occurs. We postulate that this coopted vasculature serves as a source of blood supply during the initial phase of tumor growth. Subsequently, control tumors undergo vigorous growth and remodeling of vascular networks, which results in disappearance of the coopted vessels. However, if VEGF function is blocked, cooption of host vessels may persist. Persistent cooption, therefore, may represent a novel mechanism by which neuroblastoma can partly evade antiangiogenic therapy and may explain why experimental neuroblastoma is less susceptible to VEGF blockade than a parallel model of Wilms tumor. However, more effective VEGF blockade, as achieved by high doses of VEGF-Trap, can lead to regression of coopted vascular structures. These results demonstrate that cooption of host vasculature is an early event in tumor formation, and that persistence of this effect is related to the degree of blockade of VEGF activity.
Students Motivation in Asynchronous Online Discussions with MOOC Mode

This paper investigates on MOOC, and analyzes issues in current Extension programs, addresses the attributes of MOOC for advancing Extension, and gives current MOOC programs and future directions. The findings continue to indicate that students motivation has a significant relationship with their participation in online discussion activities at time two and time three. Students perceived process, autonomy, competence, and relatedness have different levels of impact on their online discussion behavior. The motivation for participating in online discussions was self-reported three times throughout the semester. This discussion also found that students’ intrinsic motivation and their perceived value of online discussions remained at a moderate-high level over time, although the perceived value had a significant drop from the mid-point to the end of the semester.
Groupie - An Environment supporting Group-Oriented Architecture Development

The paper presents an architecture deenition language and various mappings to diier-ent programming languages. In addition, a major new idea is that the language contains features which are exploited to deene a concept to support cooperative distributed development of architectural descriptions. Besides the language and group-ware concepts the paper sketches functionality and implementation of the corresponding support environment called Groupie. The section describing the implementation of Groupie illustrates the suitability of an object database to build software engineering environments supporting multiple users.
The Cornell High-Order Adaptive Optics Survey for Brown Dwarfs in Stellar Systems. I. Observations, Data Reduction, and Detection Analyses

In this first of a two-paper sequence, we report techniques and results of the Cornell High-Order Adaptive Optics Survey (CHAOS) for brown dwarf companions. At the time of this writing, this study represents the most sensitive published population survey of brown dwarf companions to main-sequence stars for separations akin to our own outer solar system. The survey, conducted using the Palomar 200 inch (5 m) Hale Telescope, consists of Ks coronagraphic observations of 80 main-sequence stars out to 22 pc. At 1″ separation from a typical target system, the survey achieves median sensitivities 10 mag fainter than the parent star. In terms of companion mass, the survey achieves typical sensitivities of 25MJ (1 Gyr), 50MJ (solar age), and 60MJ (10 Gyr), using the evolutionary models of Baraffe and coworkers. Using common proper motion to distinguish companions from field stars, we find that no systems show positive evidence of a substellar companion (searchable separation ∼1″–15″; projected separation ∼10–155 AU at the median target distance). In the second paper of the series we will present our Monte Carlo population simulations.
CHST1 and CHST2 sulfotransferase expression by vascular endothelial cells regulates shear‐resistant leukocyte rolling via l‐selectin

Sulfation is an essential component of the selectin ligands, potentially mediated by members of a new family of carbohydrate sulfotransferases. In this study, we assessed the contributions of CHST1, CHST2, CHST3, and CHST4 in producing functional l‐selectin ligands. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells predominantly expressed CHST1 and CHST2 transcripts with low levels of CHST3 mRNA, while cytokine activation up‐regulated CHST2 expression and induced low‐level CHST4 expression. A human umbilical vein endothelial cell line, EA.hy926, displayed functional l‐selectin ligands that correlated with CHST1 and CHST2 expression in the absence of CHST4 expression. Increased CHST1 or CHST2 expression by a cell line expressing low‐level l‐selectin ligand activity during in vitro flow chamber assays increased rolling leukocyte numbers, reduced rolling velocities, and enhanced leukocyte rolling under higher shear stresses. These results suggest that CHST1 and CHST2 contribute to the generation of optimal l‐selectin ligands in vascular endothelial cells at sites of inflammation.
Amplifying human cognition: bridging the cognitive gap between human and machine

Evolution has always been the main driving force of change for both the human body and brain. Presently, in the Information era, our cognitive capacities cannot simply rely on natural evolution to keep up with the immense advancements in the field of Ubiquitous technologies, which remain largely uninformed about our cognitive states. As a result, a so-called "cognitive gap" is forming between the human (users) and the machine (systems) preventing us from fully harnessing the benefits of modern technologies. We argue that a "cognitive information layer", placed in-between human and machine, could bridge that gap, informing the machine side about aspects of our cognition in real time (e.g., attention levels). In this position paper, we present our vision for such a software architecture, we describe how it could serve as a framework for designing and developing cognition-aware applications, and we showcase some application scenarios as a roadmap towards human-machine convergence and symbiosis.
Olanzapine-induced weight gain in patients with bipolar I disorder: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE The weight impact produced by the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine has been explored in meta-analyses focusing on patients with schizophrenia. However, outcomes identified for schizophrenia patients cannot always be generalized to patients with bipolar disorder. This study aims to quantitatively estimate the impact of olanzapine on the weight of patients with bipolar disorder. DATA SOURCES EMBASE, Medline, and PsycINFO were searched using the keywords olanzapine AND (bipolar OR acute mania) in conjunction with (weight gain OR weight increase) (last search: October 2010, with no restrictions on dates of publication). English language was used as a restriction. STUDY SELECTION The search identified 110 articles for review. The inclusion criteria for the chosen studies were a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, the presence of an olanzapine monotherapy group, a comparator placebo or monotherapy group, and mean weight gain and/or incidences of weight gain data. This process identified 13 studies for inclusion. DATA EXTRACTION The primary outcome measure was the mean weight change between olanzapine monotherapy and comparator monotherapy, reported in kilograms. Standard deviation was extracted directly from studies when possible and imputed for 3 studies. The secondary outcome measure was the reported incidences of ≥ 7% weight gain. DATA SYNTHESIS The mean difference in weight gain was calculated for the continuous data of the primary outcome. Olanzapine monotherapy was associated with more weight gain when compared to placebo (mean difference = 2.10 kg; 95% CI, 1.16-3.05; P < .001) and other bipolar monotherapy (mean difference = 1.34 kg; 95% CI, 0.95-1.72; P < .001). Odds ratio analysis of the dichotomous secondary outcome also showed more weight gain with olanzapine monotherapy compared to placebo (odds ratio [OR] = 10.12; 95% CI, 1.93-53.14; P = .006) and other bipolar monotherapy (OR = 2.09; 95% CI, 1.27-3.44; P = .004). CONCLUSIONS Currently available data suggest that olanzapine is associated with significant weight gain in bipolar patients. Issues related to side effect profiles and their impact on treatment compliance and physical health outcomes need to be considered when selecting pharmacotherapy.
Preventing Early Reading Failure

Across the pendulum-like changes in beginning reading instruction over the past 30 years, three interrelated ideas emerge as the key to preventing reading failure in kindergarten and first grade: (1) an interesting, carefully-leveled book curriculum; (2) a leveled phonics curriculum; and (3) a well-trained teacher who knows how to integrate guided reading and phonics to meet the changing needs of struggling readers. A practicum (i.e., teachers tutoring one-on-one under the supervision of an expert coach) is deemed the best way to develop needed teacher expertise. Although investing in teacher knowledge and skill presents challenges (e.g., finding time, finding a coach, funding the training), it represents a school's best chance of breaking the cycle of early reading failure.
Parzen-window network intrusion detectors

Network intrusion detection is the problem of detecting anomalous network connections caused by intrusive activities. Many intrusion detection systems proposed before use both normal and intrusion data to build their classifiers. However, intrusion data are usually scarce and difficult to collect. We propose to solve this problem using a novelty detection approach. In particular, we propose to take a nonparametric density estimation approach based on Parzen-window estimators with Gaussian kernels to build an intrusion detection system using normal data only. To facilitate comparison, we have tested our system on the KDD Cup 1999 dataset. Our system compares favorably with the KDD Cup winner which is based on an ensemble of decision trees with bagged boosting, as our system uses no intrusion data at all and much less normal data for training.
The 4+1 View Model of Architecture

The 4+1 View Model organizes a description of a software architecture using five concurrent views, each of which addresses a specific set of concerns. Architects capture their design decisions in four views and use the fifth view to illustrate and validate them. The logical view describes the design's object model when an object-oriented design method is used. To design an application that is very data driven, you can use an alternative approach to develop some other form of logical view, such as an entity-relationship diagram. The process view describes the design's concurrency and synchronization aspects. The physical view describes the mapping of the software onto the hardware and reflects its distributed aspect. The development view describes the software's static organization in its development environment. >
MANTICORE: Masking All Network Traffic via IP Concealment with OpenVPN Relaying to EC2

Malware and computer forensic researchers often communicate with malicious servers, either directly or indirectly, through the web browser or other ports utilized by malicious software. Communication with this form of adversary can sometimes necessitate the use of a proxy server in order to conceal the true origin of the researcher's traffic. Open source projects such as OpenVPN currently offer a structured method for establishing software based virtual private networks (VPNs) between arbitrary clients and servers. Likewise, paradigms exist which allow a user to proxy traffic from one end of a VPN to another, effectively masking the origin of traffic being sent to and from the client system. In this paper, we present MANTICORE - a system that combines ideas from VPN with the instancing functionality of a cloud computing system in order to dynamically mask and reassign the apparent IP address of a researcher's system. We also present experimental evaluation of our system on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2).
Role of presynaptic L-type Ca2+ channels in GABAergic synaptic transmission in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Using dual whole cell patch-clamp recordings of monosynaptic GABAergic inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons, we have previously demonstrated posttetanic potentiation (PTP) of IPSCs. Tetanic stimulation of the GABAergic neuron leads to accumulation of Ca2+ in the presynaptic terminals. This enhances the probability of GABA-vesicle release for up to 1 min, which underlies PTP. In the present study, we have examined the effect of altering the probability of release on PTP of IPSCs. Baclofen (10 microM), which depresses presynaptic Ca2+ entry through N- and P/Q-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs), caused a threefold greater enhancement of PTP than did reducing [Ca2+]o to 1.2 mM, which causes a nonspecific reduction in Ca2+ entry. This finding prompted us to investigate whether presynaptic L-type VDCCs contribute to the Ca2+ accumulation in the boutons during spike activity. The L-type VDCC antagonist, nifedipine (10 microM), had no effect on single IPSCs evoked at 0.2 Hz but reduced the PTP evoked by a train of 40 Hz for 2 s by 60%. Another L-type VDCC antagonist, isradipine (5 microM), similarly inhibited PTP by 65%. Both L-type VDCC blockers also depressed IPSCs during the stimulation (i.e., they increased tetanic depression). The L-type VDCC "agonist" (-)BayK 8644 (4 microM) had no effect on PTP evoked by a train of 40 Hz for 2 s, which probably saturated the PTP process, but enhanced PTP evoked by a train of 1 s by 91%. In conclusion, the results indicate that L-type VDCCs do not participate in low-frequency synchronous transmitter release, but contribute to presynaptic Ca2+ accumulation during high-frequency activity. This helps maintain vesicle release during tetanic stimulation and also enhances the probability of transmitter release during the posttetanic period, which is manifest as PTP. Involvement of L-type channels in these processes represents a novel presynaptic regulatory mechanism at fast CNS synapses.