Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and validation of a streamlined autism case confirmation approach for use in epidemiologic risk factor research in prospective cohorts

The cost associated with incorporating standardized observational assessments and diagnostic interviews in large‐scale epidemiologic studies of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) risk factors can be substantial. Streamlined approaches for confirming ASD case status would benefit these studies. We conducted a multi‐site, cross‐sectional criterion validity study in a convenience sample of 382 three‐year olds scheduled for neurodevelopmental evaluation. ASD case classification as determined by three novel assessment instruments (the Early Video‐guided Autism Screener E‐VAS; the Autism Symptom Interview, ASI; the Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers Expanded, STAT‐E) each designed to be administered in less than 30 minutes by lay staff, was compared to ADOS scores and DSM‐based diagnostic assessment from a qualified clinician. Sensitivity and specificity of each instrument alone and in combination were estimated. Alternative cutpoints were identified under different criteria and two‐stage cross validation was used to avoid overfitting. Findings were interpreted in the context of a large, prospective pregnancy cohort study utilizing a two‐stage approach to case identification. Under initial cutpoints, sensitivity ranged from 0.63 to 0.92 and specificity from 0.35 to 0.70. Cutpoints giving equal weight to sensitivity and specificity resulted in sensitivity estimates ranging from 0.45 to 0.83 and specificity ranging from 0.49 to 0.86. Several strategies were well‐suited for application as a second‐stage case‐confirmation. These included the STAT‐E alone and the parallel administration of both the E‐VAS and the ASI. Use of more streamlined methods of case‐confirmation in large‐scale prospective cohort epidemiologic investigations of ASD risk factors appears feasible. Autism Res 2017, 10: 485–501. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Human-oriented navigation for service providing in home environment

In this paper we proposed a novel navigation scheme and apply it to the home environment. Robot navigation in the presence of human is highly focused in the field of robotics these days. While the robot maneuvering in crowded space, like home and office environments, we should not only consider collision avoidance but also pay attention to human feelings. In order to deal with this issue, we present a Comfort Space concept to ensure that robot will avoid intruding the area that might disturb human beings. Based on this model, we propose a human-oriented navigation system so that human and robots can coexist in the same environment more harmoniously. On the other hand, it is quite important for a service robot to come autonomously when a person makes a request. Therefore, we present a Come-To-Me system which request the robot to reach human and provide services even the robot is at another place.
Human milk: maternal dietary lipids and infant development

Human milk provides all the dietary essential fatty acids, linoleic acid (LA; 18:2n-6) and α-linolenic acid (18:3n-3), as well as their longer-chain more-unsaturated metabolites, including arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) and DHA (22:6n-3) to support the growth and development of the breast-fed infant. Human milk levels of LA have increased in Westernized nations from mean levels (g/100 g total fatty acids) of 6 to 12–16 over the last century, paralleling the increase in dietary intake of LA-rich vegetable oils. DHA levels (g/100 g total milk fatty acids) vary from <0·1 to >1% and are lowest in countries in which the intake of DHA from fish and other animal tissue lipids is low. The role of DHA in infant nutrition is of particular importance because DHA is accumulated specifically in the membrane lipids of the brain and retina, where it is important to visual and neural function. An important question is the extent to which many human diets that contain low amounts of n-3 fatty acids may compromise human development. The present paper reviews current knowledge on maternal diet and human milk fatty acids, the implications of maternal diet as the only source of essential fatty acids for infant development both before and after birth, and recent studies addressing the maternal intakes and milk DHA levels associated with risk of low infant neural system maturation.
Designing the Expressive Point Lights to Enhance User's Situated Awareness of Smart Systems

Digital devices and intelligent systems are becoming popular in the world. However, they seldom provide sufficient communications to help users have situated awareness of the surrounding status. In this study, we explored the expressiveness designs with the point lights embedded on ubiquitous devices. Extending from related works, we demonstrated how could designers develop different light patterns and compose them with performative arrangements to convey informative clues about what is happening within the system. This could increase the user's situated awareness and guide them to decide how to respond without overburdening.
What can be learned from the levormeloxifene experience?

Levormeloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator that was developed as an alternative to estrogen replacement therapy for the treatment and prevention of postmenopausal bone loss. In animal models, levormeloxifene prevented increased bone turnover and vertebral bone loss following ovariectomy. Studies of healthy postmenopausal women showed that levormeloxifene 1.25–20 mg/day decreased bone turnover and increased bone mineral density to a comparable extent to that observed during conventional hormone replacement therapy. However, in the phase II and III studies, the effect on bone turnover and bone mineral density was similar for each dose of levormeloxifene and the minimal effective dose was never established. The development of levormeloxifene was discontinued during the phase III trial due to a significant incidence of gynecologic adverse events in the levormeloxifene‐treated groups. This article reviews the preclinical and clinical studies of levormeloxifene and the circumstances for the premature termination of the development of the drug. Other selective estrogen receptor modulators such as tamoxifen and raloxifene and the perspectives for selective estrogen receptor modulators in development are furthermore discussed.
Dynamic Assessment of Soil Erosion Risk Using Landsat TM and HJ Satellite Data in Danjiangkou Reservoir Area, China

Danjiangkou reservoir area is the main water source and the submerged area of the Middle Route South-to-North Water Transfer Project of China. Soil erosion is a factor that significantly influences the quality and transfer of water from the Danjiangkou reservoir. The objective of this study is to assess the water erosion (rill and sheet erosion) risk and dynamic change trend of spatial distribution in erosion status and intensity between 2004 and 2010 in the Danjiangkou reservoir area using a multicriteria evaluation method.The multicriteria evaluation method synthesizes the vegetation fraction cover, slope gradient, and land use. Based on the rules and erosion risk assessment results of the study area in 2004 and 2010, the research obtained the conservation priority map. This study result shows an improvement in erosion status of the study area, the eroded area decreased from 32.1% in 2004 to 25.43% in 2010. The unchanged regions dominated the study area and that the total area of improvement grade erosion was larger than that of deterioration grade erosion. The severe, more severe, and extremely severe areas decreased by 4.71%, 2.28%, and 0.61% of the total study area, respectively. The percentages of regions where erosion grade transformed from extremely severe to slight, light and moderate were 0.18%, 0.02%, and 0.30%, respectively. However, a deteriorated region with a 2,897.60 km2 area was still observed. This area cannot be ignored in the determination of a general governance scheme. The top two conservation priority levels cover almost all regions with severe erosion and prominent increase in erosion risk, accounting for 7.31% of the study area. The study results can assist government agencies in decision making for determining erosion control areas, starting regulation projects, and making soil conservation measures.
Co‐evolution of human immunodeficiency virus and cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte responses

After more than a decade of intensive research, the precise of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in determining the course of the infection remains open to argument. It is established that HIV‐specific CTL appear early in the infection and are temporally associated with the clearance of culturable virus from the blood; that CTL are generally detectable at very high levels throughout the asymptomatic phase and decline at the time of progression to AIDS; and that CTL‐mediated killing is sufficiently fast to prevent production of new virus by HIV‐infected cells. However, viral turnover is throughout the course of the infection, and –infected individuals progress inexorably to disease in spite of the CTL response. In order Co address the question of whether CTL play an active part in influencing the course of HIV infection, one approach has been to seek evidence for CTL‐mediated selection pressure on the virus. Several clear examples of CTL epitope‐specific mutations selected to fixation are described. We argue that CTL escape is a common event which occurs at all stages of the Infection. Detailed longitudinal studies are required to detect CTL escape and to nd the complexities contributed by factors SUC h as a polyvalent CTL response and the presence of epitope variants which antagonise the CTL response. In conclusion, there is strong evidence of a dynamic process in which CTL impose important selection constraints upon HIV fro m which the virus attempts to escape; ultimately, at the time of disease progression, the tenuous control of CTL over the virus is lost.
Boron nanoparticles inhibit tumour growth by boron neutron capture therapy in the murine B16-OVA model.

BACKGROUND Boron neutron capture therapy usually relies on soluble, rather than particulate, boron compounds. This study evaluated the use of a novel boron nanoparticle for boron neutron capture therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and fifty thousand B16-OVA tumour cells, pre-incubated with boron nanoparticles for 12 hours, were injected subcutaneously into C57BL/6J mice. The tumour sites were exposed to different doses of neutron radiation one, four, or eight days after tumour cell inoculation. RESULTS When the tumour site was irradiated with thermal neutrons one day after injection, tumour growth was delayed and the treated mice survived longer than untreated controls (median survival time 20 days (N = 8) compared with 10 days (N = 7) for untreated mice). CONCLUSION Boron nanoparticles significantly delay the growth of an aggressive B16-OVA tumour in vivo by boron neutron capture therapy.
Viscous versus nonviscous soluble fiber supplements: Mechanisms and evidence for fiber‐specific health benefits

Purpose: This review focuses on the health benefits of viscous versus nonviscous soluble fibers, why symptoms can occur with increased fiber consumption, and how to avoid symptoms to improve adherence with a high‐fiber diet. Data sources: Review of scientific literature as well as evidence‐based guidelines and resources. Conclusions: While it is generally known that “fiber is good for you,” it is less well known that specific health benefits are associated with specific fiber characteristics. Many of the health benefits of fiber can be directly correlated with the viscosity of soluble fibers when hydrated (i.e., gel‐forming). A reduction in viscosity of a given fiber will attenuate these health benefits, and a nonviscous fiber does not exhibit these health benefits. Implications for practice: Increasing the viscosity of chyme with a viscous soluble fiber has been shown clinically to lower cholesterol for cardiovascular health, improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetes, normalize stool form in both constipation (softens hard stool) and diarrhea (firms loose/liquid stool), and improve the objective clinical measures of metabolic syndrome (glycemic control, lipoprotein profile, body mass index/weight loss, and blood pressure).
Design of an all-digital variable length ring oscillator (VLRO) for clock synthesis

In this paper, we propose a new architecture for a variable length ring oscillator (VLRO) used in applications such as clock synthesis. With previously proposed VLROs, it was found that a change in length leaves the internal nodes in an unknown state which can cause undesirable behavior. The newly proposed design resolves this problem and guarantees a glitch-free length-change within a single clock cycle. These features have been validated in simulations using 180 nm CMOS technology where a seven-stage VLRO was able to switch between 476 MHz, 595 MHz and 1.05 GHz. The proposed architecture was also validated experimentally on Altera's Cyclone II FPGA.
Musculoskeletal pain in the community.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal (MSK) pain in Al-Qaseem province in central Saudi Arabia. METHODS Over a period of 18 months extending from September 1993 through to the end of February 1995, a house-to-house survey was conducted in Al-Qaseem province and included 5,894 adults asking regarding musculoskeletal pain. RESULTS We obtained a response from 5,823 (98.8%), 2,667 (45.8%) men, and 3,156 (54.2%) women. The mean age was 34.14 +/- 15.16 years. Musculoskeletal pain was reported by 1,477 (25.4%), 762 (13.1%) men and 715 (12.3%) women. Musculoskeletal pain was significantly correlated with age (r =0.454), married status (r=0.238), unemployment (r=0.122), lower educational attainment (r=0.347), frequent attendance at local doctor (r=0.703), consumption of medications for pain (r =0.551), and change in ability to work (r=0.492). We found no association with sex or body mass index. CONCLUSION Musculoskeletal pain, although common in the community, is less prevalent than reported from Western countries, but has similar socio-medical consequences.
Scalable Computing: Practice and Experience

The Grid community has made an important effort in developing middleware to provide different functionalities, such as resource discovery, resource management, job submission or execution monitoring. As part of this effort this paper addresses the design and implementation of an architecture (CPPC-G) based on services to manage the execution of fault tolerant applications on Grids. The CPPC (Controller/Precompiler for Portable Checkpointing) framework is used to insert checkpoint instrumentation into the code of sequential and MPI applications. Designed services will be in charge of submission and monitoring of the execution of CPPC-instrumented applications, management of checkpoint files generated by the fault-tolerant applications, and detection and automatic restart of failed executions.
Reducing Motion Blur Artifact of Foveal Projection for a Dynamic Focus-Plus-Context Display

This paper presents a novel technique to reduce the motion blur artifacts of foveal projection in a dynamic focus-plus-context (DF+C) display. The DF+C display is generally configured with multiple projectors and provides a nonuniform spatial resolution that consists of high-resolution (hi-res) regions (foveal projection) and low-resolution regions (peripheral projection). A serious problem of the DF+C display is motion blur, which inevitably occurs when a foveal projection is moved by a pan-tilt mirror or gantry. We propose a solution that reduces the motion blur artifacts, and evaluate how this solution improves the image quality using both qualitative and quantitative experiments. Our proposed method defines an error function to assess the displayed image quality as the difference between an original hi-res image and the displayed image by considering the nonuniform spatial property of human visual acuity. Then, it decides the set of positions and moving techniques of foveal projections so that the sum of errors during a video sequence is minimized. Through experiment, we confirmed that the proposed method can provide a better image quality and significantly improve the motion blur artifacts when compared with a conventional DF+C display.
Power Control Techniques for Two-Stream MIMO System With Maximum Likelihood Receiver

In this letter, simple power control techniques are proposed to minimize error probability of a two-stream multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system with two transmit antennas and a maximum likelihood (ML) receiver, which is known as an optimal receiver but has a high computational complexity problem. The proposed techniques using Euclidean distances of a few error vectors have the advantages of exactly same error performance and very low computational complexity, compared with an optimal power control technique.
T lymphocytes are not required for the development of fatty degeneration after rotator cuff tear

Objectives Rotator cuff tears are among the most common and debilitating upper extremity injuries. Chronic cuff tears result in atrophy and an infiltration of fat into the muscle, a condition commonly referred to as ‘fatty degeneration’. While stem cell therapies hold promise for the treatment of cuff tears, a suitable immunodeficient animal model that could be used to study human or other xenograft-based therapies for the treatment of rotator cuff injuries had not previously been identified. Methods A full-thickness, massive supraspinatus and infraspinatus tear was induced in adult T-cell deficient rats. We hypothesised that, compared with controls, 28 days after inducing a tear we would observe a decrease in muscle force production, an accumulation of type IIB fibres, and an upregulation in the expression of genes involved with muscle atrophy, fibrosis and inflammation. Results Chronic cuff tears in nude rats resulted in a 30% to 40% decrease in muscle mass, a 23% reduction in production of muscle force, and an induction of genes that regulate atrophy, fibrosis, lipid accumulation, inflammation and macrophage recruitment. Marked large lipid droplet accumulation was also present. Conclusions The extent of degenerative changes in nude rats was similar to what was observed in T-cell competent rats. T cells may not play an important role in regulating muscle degeneration following chronic muscle unloading. The general similarities between nude and T-cell competent rats suggest the nude rat is likely an appropriate preclinical model for the study of xenografts that have the potential to enhance the treatment of chronically torn rotator cuff muscles. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2014;3:262–72.
The CHiME corpus: a resource and a challenge for computational hearing in multisource environments

We present a new corpus designed for noise-robust speech processing research, CHiME. Our goal was to produce material which is both natural (derived from reverberant domestic environments with many simultaneous and unpredictable sound sources) and controlled (providing an enumerated range of SNRs spanning 20 dB). The corpus includes around 40 hours of background recordings from a head and torso simulator positioned in a domestic setting, and a comprehensive set of binaural impulse responses collected in the same environment. These have been used to add target utterances from the Grid speech recognition corpus into the CHiME domestic setting. Data has been mixed in a manner that produces a controlled and yet natural range of SNRs over which speech separation, enhancement and recognition algorithms can be evaluated. The paper motivates the design of the corpus, and describes the collection and post-processing of the data. We also present a set of baseline recognition results. Index Terms: Data collection, Binaural, Spatialisation
Analysis of correlation coefficient filtering in elasticity imaging

Correlation-based speckle tracking methods are commonly used in elasticity imaging to estimate displacements. In the presence of local strain, a larger window size results in larger displacement error. To reduce tracking error, we proposed a short correlation window followed by a correlation coefficient filter. Although simulation and experimental results demonstrated the efficacy of the method, it was not clear why correlation coefficient filtering reduces tracking error since tracking error increases if normalization before filtering is not applied. In this paper, we analyzed tracking errors by estimating phase variances of the cross-correlation function and the correlation coefficient at the true time lag based on statistical properties of these functions' real and imaginary parts. The role of normalization is clarified by identifying the effect of the cross-correlation function's amplitude fluctuation on the function's imaginary part. Furthermore, we present analytic forms for predicting axial displacement error as a function of strain, system parameters (signal-to-noise ratio, center frequency, and signal and noise bandwidths), and tracking parameters (window and filter sizes) for cases with and without normalization before filtering. Simulation results correspond to theory well for both noise-free cases and general cases with an empirical correction term included for strains up to 4%.
Validation of the differential correlates of Dutch Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ): Reactive and proactive aggression from childhood to adulthood

This study reports reliability and validity of the Dutch Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ). In total, 845 participants completed the RPQ along with other measures of aggression. Groups consisted of non-offender participants, criminal offenders, youngsters (age 6-18), and adults (age above 18). Test-retest stability in a subsample of 324 childhood arrestees was good (all ICC's > 0.41). A confirmatory factor analysis supported the same two-factor structure as in the original RPQ. Convergent validity was adequate (all r's > 0.16). Moreover, results demonstrated that the proactive and reactive subscales were differentially related to measurements of callousness and impulsiveness, respectively. Criterion validity was shown in that non-offender subjects demonstrated significantly lower RPQ scores than offender samples. Finally, construct validity was demonstrated in that violent offenders showed higher aggression scores than non-violent offenders. Proactive aggression showed different developmental trajectories within non-offender versus criminal samples, indicating that this form of aggression may be more pathological. Aggr. Behav. 9999: XX-XX, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Language: en
Behavioral and neural responses of juvenile crayfish to moving shadows

SUMMARY One of the most important decisions any animal has to make is how to respond to sensory cues that suggest an imminent attack by a predator. We measured behavioral and neural responses of juvenile crayfish to moving shadows of different velocities while the animals were searching for food. In all experiments, and independent of shadow velocity, each crayfish produced one of two discrete behavioral outputs: it either tail-flipped backwards by rapid flexion of its abdomen or it immediately stopped its forward locomotion. The probability of each behavioral response was dependent on the velocity of the shadows that were presented. While most animals responded with tail-flips to slow-moving shadows and stops were rarely observed, the number of tail-flips decreased as shadow velocity increased. Tail-flips were almost absent for very fast-moving shadows and stopping behavior became the dominating response. By using a non-invasive technique to record neural activity, we were able to identify the underlying neural circuit that controlled the observed tail-flips. All tail-flips were mediated by activation of the medial giant neurons, which are part of a hardwired neural circuit previously described to produce reflexive responses to tactile stimulation.