Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Duration of peginterferon therapy in acute hepatitis C: A randomized trial

Spontaneous resolution of acute hepatitis C virus infection cannot be predicted, and chronic evolution of the disease occurs in a majority of cases. To assess the efficacy and safety of peginterferon alpha‐2b administered for 8, 12, or 24 weeks in patients with acute hepatitis C virus infection a total of 161 patients were identified with acute hepatitis C virus infection. Of these, 30 patients refused treatment but were retained in the study as a nonrandomized comparison group. Of the 131 patients who consented to treatment, 29 patients spontaneously resolved, leaving 102 patients randomly assigned to peginterferon alpha‐2b (1.5 μg/kg) for 8 weeks (group A; n = 34), 12 weeks (group B; n = 34), and 24 weeks (group C; n = 34). The primary end point was sustained virologic response. An intent‐to‐treat analysis was used for efficacy and safety end points. Sustained virologic response was achieved in 23/34 (67.6%), 28/34 (82.4%), and 31/34 (91.2%) of patients in groups A, B, and C, respectively; all had undetectable hepatitis C virus RNA 48 weeks after the end of therapy. Treatment for 8 or 12 weeks was effective in genotypes 2, 3, and 4, whereas genotype 1 required 24 weeks of therapy. The 8‐ and 12‐week regimens were associated with fewer adverse events compared with the 24‐week regimen. In conclusion, peginterferon alpha‐2b effectively induces high sustained virologic response rates in patients with acute hepatitis C virus infection, thus preventing development of chronic hepatitis C. Duration of treatment should be further optimized based on genotype and rapid virologic response at week 4. (HEPATOLOGY 2006;43:923–931.)
Brain Processing of Biologically Relevant Odors in the Awake Rat, as Revealed by Manganese-Enhanced MRI

Background So far, an overall view of olfactory structures activated by natural biologically relevant odors in the awake rat is not available. Manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) is appropriate for this purpose. While MEMRI has been used for anatomical labeling of olfactory pathways, functional imaging analyses have not yet been performed beyond the olfactory bulb. Here, we have used MEMRI for functional imaging of rat central olfactory structures and for comparing activation maps obtained with odors conveying different biological messages. Methodology/Principal Findings Odors of male fox feces and of chocolate flavored cereals were used to stimulate conscious rats previously treated by intranasal instillation of manganese (Mn). MEMRI activation maps showed Mn enhancement all along the primary olfactory cortex. Mn enhancement elicited by male fox feces odor and to a lesser extent that elicited by chocolate odor, differed from that elicited by deodorized air. This result was partly confirmed by c-Fos immunohistochemistry in the piriform cortex. Conclusion/Significance By providing an overall image of brain structures activated in awake rats by odorous stimulation, and by showing that Mn enhancement is differently sensitive to different stimulating odors, the present results demonstrate the interest of MEMRI for functional studies of olfaction in the primary olfactory cortex of laboratory small animals, under conditions close to natural perception. Finally, the factors that may cause the variability of the MEMRI signal in response to different odor are discussed.
FACTORS INFLUENCING TWO-DIMENSIONAL FORM PERCEPTION

The perceived shape of a circle and ellipse has been studied as influenced by the size of the figure, size of the reference frame, contrast and intensity. It was found that these factors have a systematic influence upon form perception. The data are considered within the context of the shape slant invariance hypothesis and are interpreted as providing evidence against this hypothesis as applied to the proximal form.
Contrast sensitivity function (CSF) and image discrimination

In a previous study the simulation of image appearance from different distances was shown to be effective. The simulated observation distance accurately predicted the distance at which the simulated image could be discriminated from the original image. Due to the 1/f nature of natural images spatial spectra, the individual CSF used was actually tested only at one retinal spatial frequency. To test the CSF relevant for the discrimination task over a wide range of frequencies, the same simulations and testing procedure were applied to 5 contrast versions of the images. The lower contrast imags probe the CSF at lower spatial frequencies, while higher contrast images test the CSF value at higher spatial frequencies. Images were individually processed for each of 4 observers using their individual CSF to represent the appearance of the images from 3 distances where they span 1, 2, and 4 deg of visual angle, respectively. Each of the 4 pictures at the 5 contrast levels and the 3 simulated distances was presented 10 times side-by-side with the corresponding original image. Images were observed from 9 different observation distances. Subject task was to determine which of the two was the original, unprocessed images. For each simulated distance the data was used to determine the discrimination distance threshold.
The Factors that Motivate and Hinder the Students with Hearing Impairment to Use Mobile Technology.

This research which aims to find out the factors that motivate students with hearing impairment to use PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a product of mobile technology, in instructional activities, interactions with their peers and instructors, and in their daily lives, and the factors that hinder these individuals from using PDA was designed as an action research. The research was conducted with 12 students with hearing impairment taking “BIL151Fundamentals of Information Technology-I” course in School for the Handicapped, Department of Applied Fine Arts at Anadolu University. The participants used the HP IPAO hw6915 modeled PDAs for education and social interaction purposes in the activities carried out in the scope of the research for 16 weeks. For data collection, reflections gathered with questionnaire and critic event method were employed. The quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics while the qualitative data obtained from one sample ttest were analyzed with content analysis done in an inductive approach. The research was supported by TUBITAK, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Project Number: 107K022). This article presents the findings of the project that show the situations that motivate and hinder students with hearing impairment to use PDA.
Tissue P Systems with Cell Division

In tissue P systems several cells (elementary membranes) communicate through symport/antiport rules, thus carrying out a computation. We add to such systems the basic feature of (cell–like) P systems with active membranes – the possibility to divide cells. As expected (as it is the case for P systems with active membranes), in this way we get the possibility to solve computationally hard problems in polynomial time; we illustrate this possibility with SAT problem.
Complete and fast unknown tag identification in large RFID systems

The RFID technology greatly improves efficiency of many applications including inventory control, object tracking, and supply chain management. In such applications, it is common that new objects are added into the system or existing objects are misplaced in wrong regions. When this happens, fast and complete identification of such tags is very important. We name this problem unknown tag identification, as these tags appear to be unknown by the reader(s) currently covering them. In this paper, we propose a series of protocols to identify unknown tags completely and fast. In these protocols, we develop several novel techniques to efficiently resolve collisions caused by known tags when identifying unknown tags, which greatly improve the time efficiency. To our knowledge, this is the first work that completely identify all the unknown tags with deterministic approaches. Simulation results show the superior performance of the proposed protocols: Compared with a baseline method which collects IDs of all the tags in the system, our best protocol reduces the execution time by 63% in average and by 85% at most.
Experimental Evaluation of Near- and Far-Transfer Effects of an Adaptive Multicomponent Working Memory Training

Summary An important question in cognitive science today is whether working memory training leads to transfer effects. Training studies reported no transfer as well as far transfer to untrained abilities (e.g., reasoning), but different methodological problems have not allowed reliable conclusions to be drawn. Furthermore, most samples have consisted of young adults, whereas older adults have rarely been included. This study attempted to address these limitations. Ninety-one older adults were randomly assigned to a training group or an active or passive control group. Short-term memory, speed, and reasoning were assessed as far-transfer criteria. In addition, transfer to everyday life was investigated using an ambulatory assessment method. Although there were significant training effects, no transfer effects were found. Instead, the active control group showed the same increase in the near-transfer tasks (i.e., working memory) as the experimental group indicating that unspecific factors explain the training gains of older adults. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Case–Control Study of Aspirin Use and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer

Background: Pancreas-cancer prognosis is dismal, with 5-year survival less than 5%. Significant relationships between aspirin use and decreased pancreas-cancer incidence and mortality have been shown in four of 13 studies. Methods: To evaluate further a possible association between aspirin use and risk of pancreatic cancer, we used data from a population-based Connecticut study conducted from January 2005 to August 2009, of 362 pancreas-cancer cases frequency matched to 690 randomly sampled controls. Results: Overall, regular use of aspirin was associated with reduced risk of pancreatic cancer [odds ratio (OR), 0.52; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.39–0.69]. Increments of decreasing risk of pancreatic cancer were observed for each year of low-dose or regular-dose aspirin use (OR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.91–0.98 and OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96–1.01, respectively) and for increasing years in the past that low-dose or regular-dose aspirin use had started (OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92–0.99 and OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96–1.00, respectively). Reduced risk of pancreatic cancer was seen in most categories of calendar time period of aspirin use, for both low-dose aspirin and regular-dose aspirin use. Relative to continuing use at the time of interview, termination of aspirin use within 2 years of interview was associated with increased risk of pancreatic cancer (OR, 3.24; 95% CI, 1.58–6.65). Conclusions: Our results provide some support that a daily aspirin regimen may reduce risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Impact: Long-term aspirin use has benefits for both cardiovascular disease and cancer, but appreciable bleeding complications that necessitate risk–benefit analysis for individual applications. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(7); 1254–63. ©2014 AACR.
An evidential sensor model for Velodyne scan grids

For the development of driving assistance systems and autonomous vehicles, a reference perception equipment including navigable space determination and obstacles detection is a key issue. The Velodyne sensor which provides high definition and omnidirectional information can be used for this purpose. Nevertheless, when scanning around the vehicle, uncertainty necessarily arises due to unperceived areas and noisy measurements. This paper proposes an inverse evidential model for the Velodyne in order to exploit its measurements in a 2D occupancy grid mapping framework. The evidential sensor model interprets the data acquired from the Velodyne and successively maps it to a Carthesian evidential grid using a fusion process based on the least commitment principle to guarantee information integrity. Experimental results prove that this approach can handle efficiently the uncertainties of the sensor and thus a highly reliable local reference map near the vehicle can be built for every timestamped perception system that needs evaluation or calibration.
Brain evolution: How constrained is it?

Allometric analyses suggest that there are some developmental constraints on brain evolution. However, when one compares animals of similar body size, these constraints do not appear to be very tight. Moreover, the constraints often differ between taxonomic groups. Therefore, one may ask not only what causes developmental constraints but also how (and why) these constraints might be altered (or circumvented) during the course of evolution.
Conceptualising Work Engagement: An Individual, Collective and Organisational Efficacy Perspective.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of multi-level forms of efficacy and organisational interactions necessary for promoting effective work engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Work engagement is explored from a multi-level efficacy perspective (self, collective and organisational). Based on the ideas of Bandura, workplace interactions are investigated through the theoretical lens of social cognitive theory (SCT). Findings – The ability to conceptualise engagement from individual, group and organisational perspectives, helps researchers and HR practitioners appreciate the complexities involved. The paper also highlights a need for developing new organisational interactions that promote engagement, as opposed to reinforcing stale managerial policies, or one-sided strategies for short term productivity gains. Organisational interactions should respond to job demands at both individual and collective levels. The paper also suggests that new interactions and stronger communication .
Cross-modal links in spatial attention.

A great deal is now known about the effects of spatial attention within individual sensory modalities, especially for vision and audition. However, there has been little previous study of possible cross-modal links in attention. Here, we review recent findings from our own experiments on this topic, which reveal extensive spatial links between the modalities. An irrelevant but salient event presented within touch, audition, or vision, can attract covert spatial attention in the other modalities (with the one exception that visual events do not attract auditory attention when saccades are prevented). By shifting receptors in one modality relative to another, the spatial coordinates of these cross-modal interactions can be examined. For instance, when a hand is placed in a new position, stimulation of it now draws visual attention to a correspondingly different location, although some aspects of attention do not spatially remap in this way. Cross-modal links are also evident in voluntary shifts of attention. When a person strongly expects a target in one modality (e.g. audition) to appear in a particular location, their judgements improve at that location not only for the expected modality but also for other modalities (e.g. vision), even if events in the latter modality are somewhat more likely elsewhere. Finally, some of our experiments suggest that information from different sensory modalities may be integrated preattentively, to produce the multimodal internal spatial representations in which attention can be directed. Such preattentive cross-modal integration can, in some cases, produce helpful illusions that increase the efficiency of selective attention in complex scenes.
Self-Harm in Prison

This study sought to determine whether self-harm incidents classified as manipulative would also be classified as low suicidal intent and low risk to life. Seventy-four prisoners who had self-harmed were interviewed within 3 days of the incident. Measures were obtained of the degree of suicidal intent (Suicide Intent Scale), the degree to which the incident posed a risk to life (assessed by medical staff), and the principal motive for self-harming (open-ended question). The data did not support the notion that manipulators and suicide attempters are mutually exclusive groups. Only 6 of the 18 participants who reported manipulative motives displayed low suicidal intent, and 3 of the 18 enacted self-harm that posed at least a moderate risk to life. Prison staff cannot assume that prisoners who appear manipulative or report manipulative motives were not suicidal at the time of self-harming.
Integrating a Need Module into a Task-independent Framework for Modeling Emotion : A Theoretical Approach

This paper concerns emotion modeling for a taskindependent agent by integrating a module of needs. Inspired by theoretical views with regards to human needs, we suggest that appraisals can be confined within various scopes of needs, and to demonstrate this, we propose an emotion framework which allows control over appraisals via pre-defined levels of needs, urgency or priorities.
Acute Inflammatory Response Following Increased Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Induced by Focused Ultrasound is Dependent on Microbubble Dose

Rationale: Focused ultrasound (FUS), in conjunction with circulating microbubbles (MBs), can be used to transiently increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in a targeted manner, allowing therapeutic agents to enter the brain from systemic circulation. While promising preclinical work has paved the way for the initiation of 3 human trials, there remains concern regarding neuroinflammation following treatment. The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of this response following sonication and explore the influence of MB dose. Methods: Differential expression of NFκB signaling pathway genes was assessed in rats at 6 h and 4 days following a FUS-mediated increase in BBB permeability. Three sonication schemes were tested: (1) a clinical imaging dose of MBs + peak negative pressure (PNP) controlled by acoustic feedback, (2) 10x clinical imaging dose of MBs + constant PNP of 0.290 MPa, and (3) 10x clinical imaging dose of MBs + PNP controlled by acoustic feedback. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed to assess edema and hemorrhage. Hematoxylin and eosin histology was used to evaluate general tissue health. Results: MB dose has a significant impact on the expression of several key genes involved in acute inflammation and immune activation, including Tnf, Birc3, and Ccl2. At a clinical imaging dose of MBs, there were no significant changes detected in the expression of any NFκB signaling pathway genes. Conversely, a high MB dose resulted in a clear activation of the NFκB signaling pathway, accompanied by edema, neuronal degeneration, neutrophil infiltration, and microhemorrhage. Results also suggest that post-FUS gadolinium enhancement may hold predictive value in assessing the magnitude of inflammatory response. Conclusion: While a significant and damaging inflammatory response was observed at high MB doses, it was demonstrated that FUS can be used to induce increased BBB permeability without an associated upregulation of NFκB signaling pathway gene expression. This emphasizes the importance of employing optimized FUS parameters to mitigate the chances of causing injury to the brain at the targeted locations.
BIDIRECTIONAL PATH PLANNING FOR UNDERACTUATED MANIPULATORS USING A DISCRETE-TIME APPROACH

For more than a decade underactuated manipulators have been under investigation, cf. [1]. Investigation of underactuated manipulators is of interest because both path planning and control is possible only if the nonlinear dynamic couplings between the links are taken into account. From a practical point of view, major benefits of underactuated manipulation systems are reduction of weight, costs, and energy. The advantage of reducing energy is stated in most papers (cf. [1]) but has never been subject to investigation. However, comparing motions subject to minimal energy effort as presented in [2] with motions of underactuated manipulators shows a strong relationship between both motions. At least if a discrete-time path planning approach is used for the underactuated system. Underactuated manipulators operating in the horizontal plane are of particular interest. The dynamics of these manipulators are not affected by gravitational terms. Therefore, linearization about an equilibrium point leads to a system that can not be asymptotically stabilized by smooth linear state feedback controllers nor by smooth nonlinear state feedback controllers. In contrast to the commonly used continuous-time approach a discrete-time approach, for an underactuated manipulator is proposed in [3] for the first time. The discrete-time approach presented in [3] is also used for a highly underactuated manipulator in [4]. A manipulator is called a highly underactuated manipulator if the system is equipped with no braking mechanisms and has more passive than active joints. The manipulators considered in [3] and [4] are operating in the horizontal plane. In [4] we were pointing to the problem that the iteration process that is used to calculate a feedforward control sequence, jams up in some cases. This problem has been solved by a nonlinear regularization in [4]. However, the major drawback of the nonlinear regularization is that sometimes the iteration process jams up again because the iteration process tends to converge to a region that is close to the point, where the iteration process has stuck before. In order to overcome this problem we propose a bidirectional path planning in the following.
L2 ACQUISITION AND OBLIGATORY HEAD MOVEMENT

This paper presents results of a response-latency (RL) experiment with English-speaking learners of German that investigated to what extent—if any—two different groups of second language (L2) learners permit raising of the thematic verb. The framework under which the study was conducted involves varying theoretical predictions derived from the native-language (NL) transfer view of Schwartz and Sprouse (1994, 1996), the gradual-development view of Vainikka and Young-Scholten (1994, 1996), the underspecification view of Eubank (1993/1994), and a local-impairment view that presents a more parsimonious solution to the L2 developmental problem than standard “no access” views. The L2 results reported here show that learners respond in different ways to stimulus sentences with raised and unraised verbs depending on the subjects' level of development. Surprisingly, it is the less advanced learners who exhibit an RL preference for apparently raised-verb experimental stimuli; the more advanced learners do not differentiate between raised-verb and unraised-verb stimuli. Analysis of these findings reveals that the less advanced group may only project VPs, consistent with the gradual-development view of Vainikka and Young-Scholten. Crucially, however, the Local Impairment Hypothesis is the only view that is consistent with the results from the more advanced learners, especially when they are seen in developmental context.