Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Candidate Region for Genetic Adaptation to High Altitude in Andean Populations

Humans living at high altitude (≥2,500 meters above sea level) have acquired unique abilities to survive the associated extreme environmental conditions, including hypoxia, cold temperature, limited food availability and high levels of free radicals and oxidants. Long-term inhabitants of the most elevated regions of the world have undergone extensive physiological and/or genetic changes, particularly in the regulation of respiration and circulation, when compared to lowland populations. Genome scans have identified candidate genes involved in altitude adaption in the Tibetan Plateau and the Ethiopian highlands, in contrast to populations from the Andes, which have not been as intensively investigated. In the present study, we focused on three indigenous populations from Bolivia: two groups of Andean natives, Aymara and Quechua, and the low-altitude control group of Guarani from the Gran Chaco lowlands. Using pooled samples, we identified a number of SNPs exhibiting large allele frequency differences over 900,000 genotyped SNPs. A region in chromosome 10 (within the cytogenetic bands q22.3 and q23.1) was significantly differentiated between highland and lowland groups. We resequenced ~1.5 Mb surrounding the candidate region and identified strong signals of positive selection in the highland populations. A composite of multiple signals like test localized the signal to FAM213A and a related enhancer; the product of this gene acts as an antioxidant to lower oxidative stress and may help to maintain bone mass. The results suggest that positive selection on the enhancer might increase the expression of this antioxidant, and thereby prevent oxidative damage. In addition, the most significant signal in a relative extended haplotype homozygosity analysis was localized to the SFTPD gene, which encodes a surfactant pulmonary-associated protein involved in normal respiration and innate host defense. Our study thus identifies two novel candidate genes and associated pathways that may be involved in high-altitude adaptation in Andean populations.
Some Interesting Perturbations of the Self in Neurology

In this review I discuss four neurological disorders that involve alterations of the self or self-awareness. These include the allen hand syndrome, asomatognosia, misidentification of the self in the mirror, and personal confabulation. In one way or another all of these inform us about the neurobiological basis of the self. It is suggested that mirror self-misidentification, asomatognosia, and personal confabulation are related syndromes. They are interpreted as examples of a perturbation in relatedness between the self and the environment related to delusional misidentification syndromes. The particular role of bilateral frontolimbic damage in producing disturbances of the self is discussed.
The Growing Concept and Uses of Training Needs Assessment: A Review with Proposed Model

Purpose – This paper aims to review the relevant literature on training needs assessment (TNA) with an objective to provide users/beneficiaries of TNA with the understanding of its growing concept, multiple uses (outcomes), and valuing these uses (antecedents). Design/methodology/approach – To conduct the literature review on uses of TNA, the authors used the systematic search comprising four stages: selection of appropriate search terms such as training, needs assessment, needs analysis, training needs assessment, and training needs analysis; carrying out search in established databases such as EBSCOhost, Emerald, JSTOR, SpringerLink, and Wiley‐Blackwell; initial sample filtering (relevance‐based); and further sample filtering (access‐based). Based on this review, a conceptual framework for examining the forward and backward linkages between TNA and nine human resource management and development areas is proposed for further examination.Findings – This paper highlights training plans, goal setting, employ.
Female appearance: facial and bodily attractiveness as shape

Human physical attractiveness is supposed to reflect developmental stability (i.e. the ability of individuals to maintain stable development of their morphology under a given environmental condition) and physiological status. Hence, evolutionary psychologists have suggested that appearance may not only reveal so called 'honest signals' but even comprise a single ornament of mate value. However, it is still a matter of debate which physical features affect the ratings of female beauty, and whether these features are truly associated with as- pects of developmental and physiological status. Here we present morphometric data of images of faces and bodies from 92 women together with ratings of attractiveness by 60 men. A total of 101 somatometric landmarks were digitized as two-dimensional coordinates from three views: facial, front and back full-body view. These image sets were analyzed separately by means of geometric morphometric methodology (GMM). Attractiveness rat- ings of the face and body were significantly associated with both (i) the amount of fluctuat- ing asymmetry (as a measure of developmental stability), and (ii) specific localized shape differences in regions of known estrogen sensitivity. The results support the notion that ratings of women's physical attractiveness are indeed based on indicators of developmental stability and physiological status.
MTF: A Scalable Exchange Format for Traces of High Performance Computing Systems

Execution traces generated from running high performance computing applications (HPC) may reach tens or hundreds of gigabytes. The trace data can be used for visualization, analysis of profiling information about the target system. However, in order to make the utilization of this data efficient, the trace needs to be represented in a structure that facilitates the access to its data. One important factor that should be considered when representing trace data is scalability; the trace met model should be able to represent the trace in a compact form that enables scalability of the analysis tools. Additionally, a trace file needs to be available in a format that is well-known in the software engineering area by making it open. In this paper, we propose a metamodel for representing dynamic information generated from HPC that use the MPI standard as the inter-process communication model. MPI Trace Format (MTF) is meant to meet the aforementioned requirements and is intended to facilitate the interoperability among different trace analysis tools.
Turmeric and curcumin: Biological actions and medicinal applications

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is extensively used as a spice, food preservative and colouring material in India, China and South East Asia. It has been used in traditional medicine as a household remedy for various diseases, including biliary disorders, anorexia, cough, diabetic wounds, hepatic disorders, rheumatism and sinusitis. For the last few decades, extensive work has been done to establish the biological activities and pharmacological actions of turmeric and its extracts. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), the main yellow bioactive component of turmeric has been shown to have a wide spectrum of biological actions. These include its antiinflammatory, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antimutagenic, anticoagulant, antifertility, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, antiviral, antifibrotic, antivenom, antiulcer, hypotensive and hypocholesteremic activities. Its anticancer effect is mainly mediated through induction of apoptosis. Its antiinflammatory, anticancer and antioxidant roles may be clinically exploited to control rheumatism, carcinogenesis and oxidative stress-related pathogenesis. Clinically, curcumin has already been used to reduce post-operative inflammation. Safety evaluation studies indicate that both turmeric and curcumin are well tolerated at a very high dose without any toxic effects. Thus, both turmeric and curcumin have the potential for the development of modern medicine for the treatment of various diseases.
Social Cartography for Social Innovation: A Design Approach

In this paper I describe the use of social cartographies as a tool for design students in a social innovation process with communities. I show the process since the first approach to the communities until the end of the cartographic process and its outcomes. I present the advantages of using social cartographies when facilitating social innovation processes: the high involvement of the participants, how it helps to construct a common language, how it allows to understand the community and how it helped the design students to apprehend the tool for their design practice.
Fast read-only transactions in replicated databases

The authors present a propagation mechanism, called the commit propagation mechanism (CPM), which increases the availability of data for read-only transactions. The proposed mechanism is piggy-backed on the messages used in the two-phase commit protocol. The CPM was combined with the standard quorum protocol in two different replicated database systems. In a fully replicated database, CPM allows any read-only transaction to execute locally at a single site without the need for any communication overhead. In a partially replicated database, CPM either ensures that the set of copies residing at a site are mutually consistent, or indicates which copies violate such consistency. <<ETX>>
Skin Irritation and Sensitization Potential of Fixed-Dose Combination of Diclofenac 1% and Menthol 3% Topical Gel: Results of Two Phase I Patch Studies

Abstract Background: Phase I, randomized, controlled patch studies were conducted to evaluate skin sensitization and irritation potential of a new gel formulation containing 1% diclofenac and 3% menthol as a fixed-combination product. Methods: In study A, healthy volunteers were exposed to 4 test patches containing 1% diclofenac+3% menthol, diclofenac, menthol, or placebo gels during an induction (nine 48 to 72-h applications) and challenge phase (one 48-h application). Some subjects were re-challenged to evaluate suspected sensitization. Study B participants underwent 21 consecutive 24-h patch applications of the 4 treatments from study A, 0.2% sodium lauryl sulfate (positive control), 0.9% saline, and a marketed gel (1% diclofenac, Voltaren). Application sites were visually scored by blinded observers for skin sensitization/irritation. Results: In study A, 77% of participants showed minimal erythema and signs of glazing and peeling with 1% diclofenac+3% menthol by the end of the induction phase, which diminished during the challenge phase. Similar patterns were seen with menthol gel. Only 1 subject exhibited possible sensitization to 1% diclofenac+3% menthol. In study B, mean cumulative irritation score with 1% diclofenac+3% menthol was significantly higher (P<0.0001) vs. reference treatments; however, the positive control failed to produce the expected level of irritation. No treatment-related adverse events were reported. Conclusions: The sensitization and irritation potential of 1% diclofenac+3% menthol was greater than with the reference treatments. Comparison with positive control was not possible because it did not produce irritation under semiocclusive patch conditions.
Evaluating Obselete Inventory Policies in a Hospital's Supply Chain

Numerous organizations are currently facing inventory management problems including distributing inventory on time and maintaining the appropriate inventory level to satisfy the end user. Organizations understand the importance of inventory accuracy as any error will increase the purchasing and holding costs affecting investment decisions. Lack of information about effective measures that will allow management to make important business decisions motivated this research to identify a decision criterion for warehouse management. A feasible solution of calculating the carrying cost ratio from purchasing and holding cost is the main objective of this thesis. The carrying cost ratio will allow managers to make critical decisions on supply-chain management. Similar to the carrying cost ration, this thesis also provides a methodology for warehouse management using inventory turns that can be used to identify obsolete inventory. Friedman's Rank test was performed to validate the decision using primary turns for the dataset obtained from a local hospital. Recommendations have been made to the hospital to facilitate their supply chain that will result in the reduction of excessive inventory. A reduced carrying cost ratio demonstrates consolidating commodities into fewer facilities. The future benefits for the current organization include a reduce building and facility costs, decrease in annual operating budgets, reduction in warehouse operational cost, improvement in labor productivity, warehouse space utilization, and establish performance measures. In conclusion, findings from this research will allow organization to move towards the one-echelon model known as Just-In-Time (JIT) system. iv To My Grandfather, Donald " Buddy " Cavitt (In Memoriam) v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to give thanks to God for allowing me to continue my education as I stay on track to accomplish my educational endeavors. Without him instilled in me, this thesis would have not been possible. Many professors and educators have crossed my path through my academic journey. Although it would be impossible to thank each professor individually, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to each one that in some way assisted in molding me intellectually. I would like to express my thanks to Dr. Supply Chain Logistics Lab has allowed me to grow and challenge myself in ways I could never imagine, for that I am thankful. I am also thankful to my Master Thesis Jones for serving on my committee and sharing valuable information to make this work possible. To my mother, Delinda Denise Hopkins thanks for all your support as I challenged …
A Novel Gene Ranking Algorithm Based on Random Subspace Method

Gene selection is to select the most informative genes from the whole gene set. It's an important preprocessing procedure for the discriminant analysis of microarray data, because many of the genes are irrelevant or redundant to the discriminant problem. In this paper, the gene selection problem is considered as a gene ranking problem and a random subspace method based gene ranking (RSM-GR) algorithm is proposed. In RSM-GR, firstly subsets of the genes are randomly generated; then Support Vector Machines are respectively trained on each subset and thus produce the importance factor of each gene; finally, the importance of each gene obtained from these randomly selected subsets is combined to constitute its final importance. Experiments on two public datasets show that RSM-GR obtains gene sets leading to more accurate classification results than other gene selection methods, and it demands less computational time. RSM-GR can also better deal with datasets with a large number of genes and a big number of genes to be selected.
Survey of Stochastic Computation on Factor Graphs

Stochastic computation is a new alternative approach for iterative computation on factor graphs. In this approach, the information is represented by the statistics of the bit stream which results in simple high-speed hardware implementation of graph-based algorithms. Despite the first purpose of its invention (i.e., low-precision digital circuits), the stochastic representation has recently been shown to be able to provide near-optimal decoding performance for practical Low-Density Parity- Check (LDPC) codes, with respect to Sum-Product Algorithm (SPA). This paper provides a survey of stochastic methods for graph-based iterative decoding, the state-of-the-art and, their possible new applications.
Atopische Erkrankungen - Neurodermitis in der Praxis

Notfallmedizin 2003; 29 (6) 238 Diagnose Um eine Neurodermitis festzustellen wird eine ausführliche Eigenund Familienanamnese (in 60–70% positiv) erhoben. Bei der Hautinspektion sollten insbesondere die Prädilektionsstellen (Ellenbeugen, Kniebeugen, Handgelenke, Augenlider) genau untersucht werden. Man findet häufig einen weißen Dermographismus, einen tiefen Haaransatz, eine Atopiefalte im Bereich der Unterlider (Dennie-Morgan-Falte), ein Fehlen der lateralen Augenbraue (Hertoghe-Zeichen), Lippen mit Pseudo-Parrot-Furchen und eine Hyperlinearität palmar und plantar. Mit standardisierten Intrakutantestungen werden die häufigsten inhalativen Allergene wie Hausstaubmilben, Katzenhaare und Gräserpollen ermittelt. In Epikutantestungen können Allergien vom Spättyp diagnostiziert werden. Wegweisend sind weiterhin ein erhöhtes Gesamt-IgE im Serum und eine Eosinophilie. Bei einer akuten Exazerbation sollte nach einem Auslöser gesucht werden. Insbesondere bei erhöhten Antistreptolysintitern muss ein entzündlicher Fokus im HNOund Zahnbereich ausgeschlossen werden (11). Etabliert hat sich eine Orientierung an diagnostischen Hauptund Nebenkriterien nach Hanifin und Rajka (7, Tab. 2). Differentialdiagnostisch sollte an eine seborrhoische Dermatitis im Säuglingsalter, ein Arzneimittelexanthem, ein Virusexanthem, eine Kontaktallergie, eine Tinea corporis und eine Scabieserkrankung gedacht werden. Bei erythrodermischen Verlaufsformen muss zusätzlich ein Die Neurodermitis (synonym: atopische Dermatitis, atopisches Ekzem, endogenes Ekzem, Prurigo Besnier) gehört zum Formenkreis der atopischen Erkrankungen. Sie ist gekennzeichnet durch chronische oder chronisch rezidivierende entzündliche Hautveränderungen, die mit starkem Juckreiz verbunden sind. Je nach Lebensalter manifestiert sich das atopische Ekzem in unterschiedlicher Ausprägung, im Kleinkindalter mehr generalisiert und nässend, im Schulkinderalter eher als Beugeekzem, im Erwachsenenalter mehr umschrieben als Lidoder Handekzem. Zusätzlich zu den Hautveränderungen werden häufig ein allergisches Asthma bronchiale, eine Rhinokonjunktivitis und multiple Sensibilisierungen vom Frühund Spättyp diagnostiziert (2). Erbliche Disposition und verschiedene Manifestationsfaktoren (Tab. 1) wie Allergenbelastung, Infektionen, Klima und Stress führen zum Ausbruch der Erkrankung (3). Atopische Erkrankungen
Mixed-Reality Interfaces to Immersive Projection Systems

In our everyday presentations of an immersive projection technology (IPT) system we have noted some problems and issues that can detract from the overall experience. In this paper we take the view that in order to make a successful demonstration of an IPT system, it is important to consider the complete experience, from preparation to enter, to retirement from the place of the demonstration. This view is grounded in previous work on the sense of presence in virtual environments. We discuss some possible solutions to some of the problems we have found in our IPT presentations and illustrate a few of these by presenting some observations from a recent workshop where we implemented some of these solutions.
Influence of Platelets and Platelet Microbicidal Protein Susceptibility on the Fate of Staphylococcus aureusin an In Vitro Model of Infective Endocarditis

ABSTRACT Several lines of evidence indicate that platelets protect against endovascular infections such as infective endocarditis (IE). It is highly likely that a principal mechanism of this platelet host defense role is the release of platelet microbicidal proteins (PMPs) in response to agonists generated at sites of endovascular infection. We studied the ability of platelets to limit the colonization and proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus in an in vitro model of IE. Three isogenic S. aureus strains, differing in their in vitro susceptibility to thrombin-induced platelet microbicidal protein-1 (tPMP), were used: ISP479C (parental strain; highly susceptible to tPMP [tPMPs]); ISP479R (transposon mutant derived from ISP479; tPMP resistant [tPMPr]); or 757-5 (tPMPr transductant of the ISP479R genotype in the ISP479 parental background). Time-kill assays and in vitro IE models were used to examine the temporal relationship between thrombin-induced platelet activation and S. aureus killing. In time-kill studies, early platelet activation (30 min prior to bacterial exposure) correlated with a significant bactericidal effect against tPMPs ISP479C (r2 > 0.90,P < 0.02) but not against tPMPr strains, ISP479R or 757-5. In the IE model, thrombin activation significantly inhibited proliferation of ISP479C within simulated vegetations compared to strains ISP479R or 757-5 (P < 0.05). The latter differences were observed despite there being no detectable differences among the three S. aureus strains in initial colonization of simulated vegetations. Collectively, these data indicate that platelets limit intravegetation proliferation of tPMPs but not tPMPrS. aureus. These findings underscore the likelihood that platelets play an important antimicrobial host defense role in preventing and/or limiting endovascular infections due to tPMPs pathogens.
On the Acceptability of Meta-arguments

In this paper we introduce a theory of meta-argumentation, by using Dung’s theory of abstract argumentation to reason about itself. Meta-arguments are generated from atomic arguments, and extensions of acceptable meta-arguments are based on Dung’s argumentation semantics. To illustrate our theory, we show how to represent Toulmin schemes in this theory by introducing meta-arguments using the Caminada labeling, and meta-arguments for support.
fMRI Evidence of Group Differences on the Word Memory Test in a Sample of Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

fMRI EVIDENCE OF GROUP DIFFERENCES ON THE WORD MEMORY TEST IN A SAMPLE OF TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY PATIENTS James D. Larsen Department of Psychology Master of Science The Word Memory Test (WMT) is a popular effort test that requires participants to memorize lists of paired words and repeat them back in a variety of different memory tasks. Four brain injured patients participated in two trials of the delayed recall (DR) portion of the WMT while undergoing fMRI scanning. In the first trial subjects put forth full effort, and during the second trial subjects were instructed to simulate increased memory impairment in order to represent poor effort. fMRI activation from both trials were compared in order to contrast full and simulated poor effort activation patterns during the WMT. Raw scores from full effort and simulated poor effort trials were compared to a control group to test the hypothesis that a brain injured population will score lower than a healthy population on the WMT while putting forth full effort. Raw score results showed lower WMT scores for TBI group. fMRI results showed larger between-group differences than between-condition differences, suggesting that the WMT is sensitive to TBI.
Análises de Desempenho em Tarefas de Metamemória e Memória: Estudo de Caso com Acidente Vascular Cerebral

INTRODUCAO Metamemoria e a capacidade de uma pessoa pensar sobre sua propria memoria. E a habilidade capaz de monitorar e controlar os processos de memoria (Nelson & Narens, 1990), sendo importantes na aprendizagem (Howard, et al., 2010). Ela subdivide-se em tres processos: monitoramento, controle e conhecimento. O monitoramento consiste no acesso e avaliacao de um processo ou estado atual de memoria. O controle refere-se a regulacao da atividade de memoria, seja no momento da aquisicao ou recuperacao da informacao. Ja o conhecimento refere-se a crencas e autoeficacia sobre a memoria (Dunlosky & Metcalfe, 2009). Pesquisas empiricas mostram que pessoas sem patologias neurologicas sao capazes de monitorar, em algum nivel, sua capacidade de memoria e controlar o processo de codificacao, para melhorar a probabilidade de recuperacao (Son & Metcalfe, 2000). No entanto, nao esta claro o impacto de determinadas patologias neurologicas, como o Acidente Vascular Cerebral (AVC) (Modirrousta & Fellows, 2008), sobre os processos de metamemoria. O AVC pode causar uma perda subita das funcoes mentais ocasionadas por interferencia do suprimento de sangue (Chaves et al., 2008), e que pode levar, na fase cronica, a deficits mnemonicos.