Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Current complications and challenges in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis screening and diagnosis

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) can lead to complications such as liver failure, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The diagnostic gold standard for NASH is liver biopsy; however, other noninvasive methods have been developed. In this article, the authors evaluate current methods in NASH screening and diagnosis. Routine radiologic modalities were found to detect hepatic steatosis accurately, but were unable to establish the diagnosis of NASH or stage of fibrosis. Newly developed elastography based techniques seem promising to estimate liver fibrosis. Other noninvasive tests such as FibroTest, ELF, Hepascore, FIB-4, NFS, FLI and ION (biochemical panels) have AUROCs ranging between 0.80–0.98 for detecting advanced fibrosis but lack specificity for detecting mild fibrosis. Noninvasive tools, especially elastography, identify NASH associated advanced fibrosis potentially reducing liver biopsies. More research is needed to validate the clinical utility of these tests.
Burst-Aware Adaptive Forward Error Correction in Video Streaming over Wireless Networks

Video streaming over wireless networks have many challenges due to the high error rate and burst packet error characteristic. Forward error correction (FEC) is a method commonly used to handle losses in real-time communication. Conventional FEC mechanisms provide redundancy by an averaged packet loss rate and performance decreases by burst packet losses. However, the average packet loss rate cannot give any indication of burst packet loss. Hence, the conventional FEC mechanisms cannot recover original source data over wireless networks. In this paper, we propose a burst-aware adaptive FEC (BAFEC) control mechanism to overcome burst packet losses. We will therefore be able to take account of average burst packet loss length. The sender can rely on this information in order to adjust the FEC redundancy. The experimental result shows that compared to the conventional FEC mechanisms, our proposed mechanism achieved better recovery performance in terms of packet loss rate and PSNR.
The Relationship of Context-Use Skills to Reading: A Case for an Alternative Experimental Logic.

SINGER, MARTIN H. , and CnoUJS, JAMES. The Relationship of Context-Use Skills to Reading: A Case for an Alternative Experimental Logic. CHILD DEVELOPMENTr, 1981, 52, 1326-1329. DiVesta, Hayward, and Orlando reported that the ability to use context correlates with reading comprehension. They inferred a causal relationship between context use and comprehension, possibly overlooking other variables that predict both context use and comprehension. The present report demonstrates that a significant difference between groups of good and poor readers on some skill can therefore be very misleading. Specifically, the consideration of causally prior skills such as nonverbal IQ, vocabulary, and decoding reduces the independent effect of context-use skills on reading comprehension. The paper's primary purpose is to outline an experimental logic that considers these causally prior skills and that emphasizes the relative importance of component reading skills rather than simple differences between groups of good and poor readers.
Universal Networking Language: A Tool for Language Independent Semantics?

Given source text in several languages, can one answer queries in some other language, without translating any of the sources into the language of the questioner? While this task seems extremely difficult at first sight, it is pos- sible that the ongoing UN sponsored Universal Networking Language (UNL) proposal may hold some clues towards achieving this distant dream. In this pa- per we present a partially implemented solution which shows how UNL, though not designed with this as the primary objective, can be used as the predicate knowledge base on which inferences can be performed. Semantic processing is demonstrated by Question Answering. In our system as of now, both the text corpus and the questions are in English, but if UNL can deliver on its promise of a single homogeneous language-independent encoding, then it should be possible to achieve question answering and other semantic tasks in any lan- guage. 1 Semantics Models And UNL Many organizations worldwide are grappling with problems like the following: Given source text in several European languages, would it be possible to demonstrate se- mantic understanding in some other language (like Hindi) without explicitly translat- ing any of the sources into the language of the questioner? This is, of course, an ex- tremely difficult task, perhaps even an impossibly difficult task. We trust the reader will realize that this paper is merely a very preliminary investigation as indicated by the hesitant "? " at the end of the paper's title. The key insight driving this research is the realization that if there is a mechanism for mapping any language into a uniform language-independent predicate structure, then it would constitute an important tool in this direction. While no system worldwide is anywhere near succeeding in this effort, the ongoing work on Universal Networking Language (UNL) (2) appears to hold the highest promise in terms of delivering on this dream. UNL was developed as a universal knowledge-encoding mechanism, and is being primarily driven by the needs of the MT community. UNL provides for a uniform concept vocabulary (called "universal words" or UW's - the same concept in any lan- guage results in the same UW, which is written out using English orthography). These UW's are connected by a small set of about thirty-eight binary relations to obtain a set of predicate expressions that can encode the linguistic content of any sentence in any language of the world. One of the philosophical issues of course, is that the same con-
Tackling the instability of growth: A Kaleckian model with autonomous demand expenditures

This article presents a Kaleckian model enriched by introducing autonomous public expenditure which grows at an exogenous rate. It shows that the usual properties are not affected in the short run: growth is wage-led. But long run properties are strongly affected: public expenditure plays a role as an automatic stabilizer so that the accumulation rate converges on the growth rate of public expenditure. The effect of a change in income distribution on the growth rate is then only transient. However, the impacts on the level of variables (output, capital stock, labor, etc.) remain permanent. The research here also shows that this theoretical framework can provide a solution (depending on the parameters) to the 'second' Harrod knife-edge problem. In this case, Kaleckian outcomes are consistent with the convergence of the current utilization rate on the 'normal' rate, a result which has not been found in the existing literature.
Inhibition of cellular respiration by endogenously produced carbon monoxide

Endogenously produced nitric oxide (NO) interacts with mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase, leading to inhibition of cellular respiration. This interaction has been shown to have important physiological and pathophysiological consequences. Exogenous carbon monoxide (CO) is also known to inhibit cytochrome c oxidase in vitro; however, it is not clear whether endogenously produced CO can inhibit cellular respiration and, if so, what the significance of this might be. In this study, we show that exogenous CO inhibits respiration in a moderate but persistent manner in HEK293 cells under ambient (21%) oxygen concentrations (Ki=1.44 μM). This effect of CO was increased (Ki=0.35 μM) by incubation in hypoxic conditions (1% oxygen). Endogenous CO, generated by HEK293 cells transfected with the inducible isoform of haem oxygenase (haem oxygenase-1; HO-1), also inhibited cellular respiration moderately (by 12%) and this was accompanied by inhibition (23%) of cytochrome c oxidase activity. When the cells were incubated in hypoxic conditions during HO-1 induction, the inhibitory effect of CO on cell respiration was markedly increased to 70%. Furthermore, endogenously produced CO was found to be responsible for the respiratory inhibition that occurs in RAW264.7 cells activated in hypoxic conditions with lipopolysaccharide and interferon-γ, in the presence of N-(iminoethyl)-L-ornithine to prevent the synthesis of NO. Our results indicate that CO contributes significantly to the respiratory inhibition in activated cells, particularly under hypoxic conditions. Inhibition of cell respiration by endogenous CO through its interaction with cytochrome c oxidase might have an important role in inflammatory and hypoxic conditions.
Reactivity to Cannabis Cues in Virtual Reality Environments

Abstract Virtual reality (VR) cue environments have been developed and successfully tested in nicotine, cocaine, and alcohol abusers. Aims in the current article include the development and testing of a novel VR cannabis cue reactivity assessment system. It was hypothesized that subjective craving levels and attention to cannabis cues would be higher in VR environments with cannabis cues compared to VR neutral environments. Twenty nontreatment-seeking current cannabis smokers participated in the VR cue trial. During the VR cue trial, participants were exposed to four virtual environments that contained audio, visual, olfactory, and vibrotactile sensory stimuli. Two VR environments contained cannabis cues that consisted of a party room in which people were smoking cannabis and a room containing cannabis paraphernalia without people. Two VR neutral rooms without cannabis cues consisted of a digital art gallery with nature videos. Subjective craving and attention to cues were significantly higher in the VR cannabis environments compared to the VR neutral environments. These findings indicate that VR cannabis cue reactivity may offer a new technology-based method to advance addiction research and treatment.
A stochastic gamer's model for on-line games

Online games are interactive competitions by players who challenge in a virtual environment. “Gamers Private Network (GPN®)”, developed by WTFast is a game network that provides client/server solutions to makes online games faster despite wide-area networks. “Response time, low latency and predictability are key features to GPN® success” [1]. To analyze the experiments we use stochastic models to investigate latencies, jittering and other delay behaviours in delivering packets between clients and game servers. Our previous analytical work used simple statistics and some Markov-models of the latency time-series [1]. They gave us black-box indications on the interaction between game parameters and latency in GPN® or non-GPN® setups. In this research paper we describe a more advanced stochastic model to connect internal random effects in the system (client, network, server) to its latency time-series. The mathematical description has previously been applied to bioelectrical signal processing in biological experiments, a happy but also realistic metaphor for game networks where players' reflexes are a key ingredient. This is another small step towards rational, quantified and service-oriented minimization/stabilization of GPN® latency.
Comparative Trial of Effectiveness of Pyrethroid Insecticides Against Peridomestic Populations of Triatoma infestans in Northwestern Argentina

Abstract The effects of different pyrethroid insecticides, formulations, and doses on peridomestic populations of Triatoma infestans (Klug) were evaluated in 128 houses with 148 identified infested peridomestic sites in northwestern Argentina between October 2003 and March 2005. Four treatments were randomly assigned within each community: two doses of 5% suspension concentrate &bgr;-cypermethrin in water applied with manual compression sprayers, the standard dose (S) at 50 mg and a double dose (2S) at 100 mg active ingredient (AI)/m2; and two emulsifiable concentrates diluted in diesel fuel and applied with power sprayers, 25% cypermethrin (100 mg [AI]/m2) (CF) and 10% permethrin (170 mg [AI]/m2) (DF). Infestation was assessed by timed manual collections with a dislodging agent at baseline, 5, 12, and 17 mo postspraying, and the sites found to be reinfested at 5 mo postspraying were selectively resprayed. Only 2S eliminated T. infestans from all peridomestic sites up to 12 mo postspraying, and it was significantly more effective than all other treatments. At 5 mo postspraying, more sites treated with CF or DF rather than S had bug colonies that probably represented residual foci, which they also failed in eliminating after a second spray. At 17 mo postspraying, the prevalence of reinfested peridomestic sites was 5% for 2S, 29% for S, 43% for CF, and 54% for DF. The application of suspension concentrate pyrethroids in dose twice as large as that currently in use in the attack phase produces a greater initial impact and may eliminate peridomestic populations of T. infestans.
Effects of Food Deprivation and Methamphetamine on Fixed-Ratio Schedules of Intracranial Self-Stimulation

Six rats were implanted with electrodes in the posterior medial forebrain area and trained to bar press for crf ICSS and then shifted to FR schedule of reinforcement. It was observed that Ss had to be “primed” on crf at the beginning of each session; FRs greater than 20 to 30 were not typical, but depriving S of food for 48 hr. increased the size of the terminal ratio; with injection of . 3 mgm. methamphetamine, S would hold FR-110; and the contributing influence of long exposure co FR, food starvation, and methamphetamine are consistently reversible. It was concluded that the properties of FR ICSS controlled responding are in many respects unlike the behavioral characteristics of the same response class modified and sustained by FR application of more conventional rewards.
Formal Evolution of XML Schemas with Inheritance

Today, web services are widely used for data exchange. The format of individual messages exchanged among them is usually described with XML schemas in WSDL documents. It is a common practice that there is not only one but a whole family of formats each, for example, tailored for a specific consumer. In such environments, the design and maintenance of the web service interfaces and, in particular, the XML schemas describing the structure of messages is not a simple task. In our previous work we developed a method based on the principles of Model-Driven Development for evolution of a family of XML schemas. It automated a portion of design and maintenance tasks to be done when a change in user requirements or surrounding environment of the system influences more XML schemas in the family. We provided a formal model of possible evolution changes and their propagation mechanism. In this paper, we extend our method with inheritance modeling. We formally extend our conceptual model and we introduce new evolution changes and update the current ones so that they keep the model in a consistent state.
The Cloze Test as an Integrative Measure of EFL Proficiency: A Substitute for Essays on College Entrance Examinations?*

Cloze tests have been the focus of considerable interest in recent years as easily constructed and scored measures of integrative proficiency. Although there has been debate as to whether all forms produced by the cloze procedure are equally reliable and valid, as well as controversy over what is actually measured, the balance of evidence favors a positive view of the cloze test as an effective testing instrument. These implications are especially significant in the EFL situation in which many English teachers are nonnative speakers who want to include an integrative measure of EFL proficiency within the English portion of their college entrance examinations. The study reported here presents the necessary steps in the development of a reliable and valid cloze test and uses the form produced to measure EFL proficiency in two groups of Japanese college students, English majors and nonmajors. Cloze test performance is correlated with essay scores and TOEFL scores to determine whether the cloze test can function as an alternative measure of integrative language ability. Issues regarding construct and predictive validity are addressed, and it is suggested that well-designed cloze tests are capable of assessing language skills ranging from basic to advanced. Use of cloze tests in their fixed-ratio deletion, exact-word scored format is recommended, with certain limiting considerations, as a substitute for essay tests on English proficiency examinations.
The impact of gender on parent-child sexuality communication: Has anything changed?

Abstract The sexual health of adolescents remains a concern for health professionals as the new millennium, draws near, despite some improvements as a result of sexuality education. One strategy to improve sexual health outcomes for adolescents is parent-child sexuality education in the home, which has been shown in several studies to promote a positive approach to sexuality. As part of a larger study, this paper discusses Australian research on the significance of gender in the teaching practices of parents engaged in sexuality communication in the home. The descriptive cross-sectional design involved a survey of 371 parents of pre-school and pre-adolescent children. Consistent with previous studies, results showed that mothers communicated more than fathers did with their children. Although both mothers and fathers communicated equally with pre-school sons and daughters, by pre-adolescence both discussed sexuality more with their sons than with their daughters. The findings also suggest that parents con.
Importance of Assessing Spatial Ability in Intellectually Talented Young Adolescents: A 20-Year Longitudinal Study.

At age 13, 393 boys and 170 girls scoring at the top 0.5% in general intelligence completed the Scholastic Assessment Test Mathematics (SAT-M) and Verbal (SAT-V) subtests and the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) Space Relations (SR) and Mechanical Reasoning (MR) subtests. Longitudinal data were collected through follow-up questionnaires completed at ages 18, 23, and 33. Multivariate statistical methods were employed using the SAT-M, SAT-V, and a DAT (SR + MR) composite to predict a series of developmentally sequenced educational-vocational outcomes: (a) favorite and least favorite high school class, (b) undergraduate degree field, (c) graduate degree field, and (d) occupation at age 33. Spatial ability added incremental validity to SAT-M and SAT-V assessments in predicting educational-vocational outcomes over these successive time frames. It appears that spatial ability assessments can complement contemporary talent search procedures. The amount of lost potential for artistic, scientific, and technical disciplines that results from neglecting this critical dimension of nonverbal ideation is discussed.
Reduced severity of strokes in patients with silent brain infarctions

Background: Silent brain infarctions (SBIs), leukoaraiosis (LA), and microbleeds (MBs) are ischaemic silent radiologic abnormalities that act as predictors of subsequent strokes. This study investigated the independent effect of silent radiologic abnormalities on initial stroke severity and short‐term outcome.
Influence of pharmacological manipulation of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitter systems on seizure behavior in the Mongolian gerbil.

The purpose of this paper was to study the relationship between different neurotransmitter systems and seizure susceptibility in Mongolian gerbils with genetically determined epilepsy. In these animals, generalized tonic-clonic seizures were induced by stimulation with a blast of compressed air. A variety of drugs that specifically manipulate inhibitory or excitatory neurotransmitter systems proved capable of dose dependently blocking these seizures, i.e., the anticholinergic drug biperiden (ED50 12 mg/kg i.p.), the excitatory amino acid antagonist (+/-)-2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid (120 mg/kg), the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonists muscimol (0.66 mg/kg), 4,5,6,7-tetrahydroisoxazolo(5,4-c) pyridine-3-ol (1.3 mg/kg), progabide (50 mg/kg) and its acidic metabolite SL 75102 (45 mg/kg), the GABA aminotransferase inhibitors aminooxyacetic acid (0.9 mg/kg), gamma-acetylenic GABA (2.1 mg/kg) and ethanolamine-O-sulfate (1000 mg/kg), the GABA uptake inhibitor (-)-nipecotic acid ethyl ester (21 mg/kg), the dopamine agonist apomorphine (approximately 5 mg/kg), the dopamine precursor 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (34 mg/kg), and the alpha-adrenoceptor agonists clonidine (0.38 mg/kg) and xylazine (approximately 10 mg/kg). The anticonvulsant effect of 3,4-dihydroxyl-L-phenylalanine was not significantly affected by pretreatment with the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase inhibitors disulfiram and diethyldithiocarbamate, thus strongly indicating that 3,4-dihydroxyl-L-phenylalanine was acting through increase in dopamine rather than noradrenaline levels in the brain. The (+)-isomer of nipecotic acid ethyl ester, the glycineamide derivative milacemide, the indirect 5-hydroxytryptamine agonist fenfluramine and the 5-hydroxytryptamine antagonist ketanserin exerted no anticonvulsant action. The 5-hydroxytryptamine precursor L-5-hydroxytryptophan and the dopamine agonist lisuride were only weakly active but exerted pronounced side effects in the animals. Weak anticonvulsant effects were also determined for atropine, the noradrenaline precursor DL-threo-3,4-dihydroxyphenylserine and the excitatory amino acid antagonist (+/-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid. Comparison of anticonvulsant potencies of the various drugs in gerbils with potencies reported in other genetic animal models of epilepsy, such as audiogenic seizure-susceptible mice, indicated that drugs that increase GABA and dopamine levels in the brain are strikingly more effective in gerbils than in other species in blocking generalized seizures. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
A computational intelligence optimization algorithm: Cloud drops algorithm

The stagnation phenomena regularly happen in solving complex optimization problems by a class of computational intelligence algorithms which lack theoretical guidance for their parameters setting. The search characteristics of these algorithms are analyzed in this paper, based on which an adaptive computational intelligence optimization algorithm called cloud drops algorithm is proposed by adopting a cloud model to express the randomness and fuzziness of its search process. The cloud drops algorithm is characterized by representing, mining and recreating the uncertain knowledge about its search process for the optimal solution. None of search parameters are predefined in the proposed algorithm and, whatever the initial solution set is, the whole system can adaptively approach to the global optimum. Based on the theory of stochastic processes, the almost sure convergence of the proposed algorithm is proved under certain conditions by introducing a martingale approach into traditional Markov Chain analysis. Two benchmark problems are tested with the proposed algorithm and the other two existing algorithms as a comparison. The results show that the proposed algorithm has faster convergence speed, better self-adaptability, and stronger ability to deal with stagnation phenomena effectively.