Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cortical activations during auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia: a coordinate-based meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) constitute severe, incapacitating symptoms of schizophrenia. Despite increasing interest in the functional exploration of AVHs, the available findings remain difficult to integrate because of their considerable variability. The authors' aim was to perform a robust quantitative review of existing functional data in order to elucidate consistent patterns observed during the emergence of AVHs and to orient new pathophysiological models of hallucinations. METHOD Ten positron emission tomography or functional magnetic resonance imaging studies were selected for the meta-analysis after systematic review. A total of 68 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders experiencing AVHs during scanning were included. According to a random-effects activation likelihood estimation algorithm, stereotaxic coordinates of 129 foci, reported as significant in the source studies, were extracted and computed to estimate the brain locations most consistently associated with AVHs across studies (cluster-extent threshold: 200 mm³). RESULTS Patients experiencing AVHs demonstrated significantly increased activation likelihoods in a bilateral neural network, including the Broca's area (activation likelihood estimation=1.84×10⁻³), anterior insula (1.78×10⁻³), precentral gyrus (1.46×10⁻³), frontal operculum (1.29×10⁻³), middle and superior temporal gyri (1.59×10⁻³), inferior parietal lobule (1.33×10⁻³), and hippocampus/parahippocampal region (1.90×10⁻³). CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis demonstrated that experiencing AVHs is associated with increased activity in fronto-temporal areas involved in speech generation and speech perception, but also within the medial temporal lobe, a structure notably involved in verbal memory. Such findings support a model for AVHs in which aberrant cortical activations emerge within a distributed network involved at different levels of complexity in the brain architecture. Critical future directions are considered.
EEG arousal norms by age.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Brief arousals have been systematically scored during sleep for more than 20 years. Despite significant knowledge concerning the importance of arousals for the sleep process in normal subjects and patients, comprehensive age norms have not been published. METHODS Seventy-six normal subjects (40 men) without sleep apnea or periodic limb movements of sleep, aged 18 to 70 years, slept in the sleep laboratory for 1 or more nights. Sleep and arousal data were scored by the same scorer for the first night (comparable to clinical polysomnograms) and summarized by age decade. RESULTS There were no statistically significant differences for sex or interaction of sex by age (p > .5 for both). The mean arousal index increased as a function of age. Newman-Keuls comparisons (.05) showed arousal index in the 18- to 20-year and 21- to 30-year age groups to be significantly less than the arousal index in the other 4 age groups. Arousal index in the 31-to 40-year and 41-to 50-year groups was significantly less than the arousal index in the older groups. The arousal index was significantly negatively correlated with total sleep time and all sleep stages (positive correlation with stage 1 and wake). CONCLUSIONS Brief arousals are an integral component of the sleep process. They increase with other electroencephalographic markers as a function of age. They are highly correlated with traditional sleep-stage amounts and are related to major demographic variables. Age-related norms may make identification of pathologic arousal easier.
Independent Effect of EBV and Cigarette Smoking on Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A 20-Year Follow-Up Study on 9,622 Males without Family History in Taiwan

This study aimed to assess independent effects of EBV and cigarette smoking on nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which have never been assessed in long-term follow-up studies. A cohort of 9,622 men was enrolled from 1984 to 1986. Blood samples collected at study entry were tested for antibodies against EBV antigens (anti-EBV) viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin A and DNase. The cigarette smoking habit was inquired through questionnaire interview. Newly developed nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases were ascertained through computerized linkage with national cancer registry profile. Cox's proportional hazard regression analysis was used to estimate multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio with its 95% confidence interval (95% CI). During the follow-up of 173,706 person-years, 32 pathologically confirmed nasopharyngeal carcinoma cases were identified >1 year after recruitment. Increasing serum levels of anti–EBV viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin A and DNase were significantly associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk in a dose-response relationship. The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) of developing nasopharyngeal carcinoma for low and high antibody levels compared with seronegatives was 9.5 (2.2-40.1) and 21.4 (2.8-161.7), respectively, for anti–EBV viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin A (P < 0.001 for trend), and 1.6 (0.5-4.6) and 16.0 (5.4-47.1), respectively, for anti–EBV DNase (P < 0.001 for trend). The shorter the time interval between study entry and nasopharyngeal carcinoma diagnosis, the higher was the proportion of anti–EBV viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin A among nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. The multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (95% CI) was 3.0 (1.3-7.2) for ≥30 pack-years of cumulative cigarette smoking compared with <30 pack-years as the reference. The longer and heavier the cigarette smoking habit, the higher was the nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk. Anti–EBV viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin A, anti–EBV DNase, and long-term heavy cigarette smoking are independent nasopharyngeal carcinoma risk predictors. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(4):1218–26)
Factors that Influence Assistive Technology Decision Making

With technological advances and growth in availability of assistive technology, infants and toddlers with disabilities have many more options than they had previously. Professionals that serve this population are required by law to consider assistive technology for each child with a disability that they serve. This study examines the factors that impact the decisions made about assistive technology by the professionals that serve them through the Kentucky First Steps Program. Fifteen of 16 professionals approved to provide assistive technology services in Kentucky were interviewed. An analysis of the differences in experience, philosophy, and beliefs of the participants by discipline provide insight into the process of decision making and the implications they have on the implementation of assistive technology. The analysis revealed several contradictions. While appearing to be philosophically aligned, the participants delivered assistive technology services in many different ways. Teaming was espoused as an important component of service delivery but was frequently not implemented. Family members were not seen as important members of these teams but client goals were rated as extremely important factors in making decisions about assistive technology. Parents and professionals need to be aware of the differences between disciplines and delivery strategies to assure a complete and balanced look at the whole child.
The crossing number of Cm × Cn is as conjectured for n ≥ m(m + 1)

It has been long conjectured that the crossing number of Cm × Cn is (m−2)n, for all m, n such that n ≥ m ≥ 3. In this paper, it is shown that if n ≥ m(m + 1) and m ≥ 3, then this conjecture holds. That is, the crossing number of Cm × Cn is as conjectured for all but finitely many n, for each m. The proof is largely based on techniques from the theory of arrangements, introduced by Adamsson and further developed by Adamsson and Richter. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 47: 53–72, 2004
Influence of Pinch Point Temperature on the Performance of Integrated Solar Combined Cycle

This paper studies the influence of the pinch point temperature (PPT) on the performance of integrated solar combined cycle. The pinch point temperature has put some constraints on the cycle where at a certain point the heat transfer process would be reversed and won’t be effective. There are two modes of operation; power boosting and fuel saving. This paper concerns the fuel saving mode, where the output power of the power plant is constant all over the day and the solar heat absorbed is used to improve the percentage of the fuel saved. A PID controller is used to control two main parameters which are the water flow rate (m7) and the gas flow rate (mg). The results showed that the solar heat absorbed is inversely proportional to the PPT. Increasing the solar heat absorbed by the collector increases the water flow rate and decreases the gas flow rate, which lead to decrease the amount of fuel burnt in the combustion chamber.
Respiratory Symptoms in Children and Parental Smoking and Phlegm Production

A study of respiratory symptoms in 2,426 schoolchildren aged 6-14 years was carried out in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1971. The prevalence of cough in the children was associated with the parents' smoking habits; prevalence was lowest where both parents were non-smokers, highest where both parents smoked, and lay between these two levels where only one parent smoked. A close association was found between parents' and children's respiratory symptoms that was independent of parents' smoking habits. There was no suggestion that exposure to the cigarette smoke generated when parents smoked had any more than a small effect upon the child's respiratory symptoms. While the sharing of genetic susceptibility between parents and children is a factor, therefore, cross infection, particularly in the families where parents smoke, is an important element in the association.
Stock and Bond Returns with Moody Investors

We present a tractable, linear model for the simultaneous pricing of stock and bond returns that incorporates stochastic risk aversion. In this model, analytic solutions for endogenous stock and bond prices and returns are readily calculated. After estimating the parameters of the model by the general method of moments, we investigate a series of classic puzzles of the empirical asset pricing literature. In particular, our model is shown to jointly accommodate the mean and volatility of equity and long term bond risk premia as well as salient features of the nominal short rate, the dividend yield, and the term spread. Also, the model matches the evidence for predictability of excess stock and bond returns. However, the stock-bond return correlation implied by the model is somewhat higher than in the data.
Spirocyclic Acylphloroglucinol Derivatives from Hypericum pyramidatum

Five spirocyclic acylphloroglucinol derivatives (1–5) have been isolated from a hexanes extract of the leaves of Hypericum pyramidatum. Pyramidatones A-D (1–3, 5) are new, and chipericumin C (4) has been previously reported. The acylphloroglucinols were characterized based on spectroscopic (NMR, IR, UV-VIS) and mass spectrometric data.
Scattered-Field Formulation for Stratified Dispersive Layers and the Near-Field Accuracy Assessment

A scattered-field formulation for finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) computation of stratified dispersive layers with a unified treatment of layers simply as any other scatterers is presented. We verified the resulting calculated local field values to the analytic solutions to assess the percentile error in the calculations. The near-field accuracy of less than 5% is achieved for an oblique incident angle at 45°.
Dietary Fiber and Availability of Nutrients: A Case Study on Yoghurt as a Food Model

© 2012 Dello Staffolo et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Dietary Fiber and Availability of Nutrients: A Case Study on Yoghurt as a Food Model
Melatonin and Its Relation to the Immune System and Inflammation

Abstract: Melatonin (N‐acetyl‐5‐methoxytryptamine) was initially thought to be produced exclusively in the pineal gland. Subsequently its synthesis was demonstrated in other organs, for example, the retinas, and very high concentrations of melatonin are found at other sites, for example, bone marrow cells and bile. The origin of the high level of melatonin in these locations has not been definitively established, but it is likely not exclusively of pineal origin. Melatonin has been shown to possess anti‐inflammatory effects, among a number of actions. Melatonin reduces tissue destruction during inflammatory reactions by a number of means. Thus melatonin, by virtue of its ability to directly scavenge toxic free radicals, reduces macromolecular damage in all organs. The free radicals and reactive oxygen and nitrogen species known to be scavenged by melatonin include the highly toxic hydroxyl radical (·OH), peroxynitrite anion (ONOO−), and hypochlorous acid (HOCl), among others. These agents all contribute to the inflammatory response and associated tissue destruction. Additionally, melatonin has other means to lower the damage resulting from inflammation. Thus, it prevents the translocation of nuclear factor‐kappa B (NF‐κB) to the nucleus and its binding to DNA, thereby reducing the upregulation of a variety of proinflammatory cytokines, for example, interleukins and tumor neurosis factor‐alpha. Finally, there is indirect evidence that melatonin inhibits the production of adhesion molecules that promote the sticking of leukocytes to endothelial cells. By this means melatonin attenuates transendothelial cell migration and edema, which contribute to tissue damage.
THE DELIBERATIVE CITIZEN: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

Should citizens be encouraged to deliberate about matters of politics? A review of several literatures about group discussion yields a mixed prognosis for citizen deliberation. Group discussion sometimes meets the expectations of deliberative theorists, other times falls short. Deliberators can, as theorists wish, conduct themselves with empathy for others, equality, and open-mindedness. But attempts to deliberate can also back­ fire. Social dynamics can often account for both discussions that appear deliberative and for those that clearly fail to meet deliberative criteria. In the beginning was the group. This is the fundamental truth about human nature and politics, and neither modem nor contemporary political theory has yet come to tenns with it (Alford. 1994, p. 1).
On Buffon ’ s Problem for a Lattice and its Deformations

We consider the Buffon’s problem for the lattice Rα,a which has the fundamental cell composed by the union of octagon, with all sides of lengths a and the angles (π − α) and ( 2 + α) with α ∈ ] 0, π 2 [ , and of the square with side of length a (see Fig. 1). We determine the probability of intersection of a body test needle of length l, l < a. For α = π 4 we also give the estimate of this probability for the cases, when the segment is non-small with respect to Rπ 4 ,a (see [1], [2]). MSC 2000: 60D05, 52A22
Understanding Sentiment of People from News Articles: Temporal Sentiment Analysis of Social Events

sentiment analysis that analyzes temporal trends of sentiments and topics from a text archive that has timestamps is proposed. The method accepts texts with timestamp such as Weblog and news articles, and produces two kinds of graphs, i.e., (1) topic graph that shows temporal change of topics associated with a sentiment, and (2) sentiment graph that shows temporal change of sentiments associated with a topic. Sample results obtained by applying the method to news articles are described.
Adaptation of Pseudomonas putida S12 to high concentrations of styrene and other organic solvents

Pseudomonas putida S12 could adapt to grow on styrene in a two-phase styrene-water system. Acetate was toxic for P. putida S12, but cells were similarly able to adapt to higher acetate concentrations. Only by using these acetate-adapted cells was growth observed in the presence of supersaturating concentrations of toxic nonmetabolizable solvents such as toluene.
Selfish versus coordinated routing in network games

A common assumption in network optimization models is that a central authority controls the whole system. However, in some applications there are independent users, and assuming that they will follow directions given by an authority is not realistic. Individuals will only accept directives if they are in their own interest or if there are incentives that encourage them to do so. Actually, it would be much easier to let users make their own decisions hoping that the outcome will be close to the authority's goals. Our main contribution is to show that, in static networks subject to congestion, users' selfish decisions drive the system close to optimality with respect to various common objectives. This connection to individual decision making proves fruitful; not only does it provide us with insights and additional understanding of network problems, but it also allows us to design approximation algorithms for computationally difficult problems. More specifically, the conflicting objectives of the users prompt the definition of a network game in which they minimize their own latencies. We show that the so-called price of anarchy is small in a quite general setting. Namely, for networks with side constraints and non-convex, non-differentiable, and even discontinuous latency functions, we show that although an arbitrary equilibrium need not be efficient, the total latency of the best equilibrium is close to that of an optimal solution. In addition, when the measure of the solution quality is the maximum latency, equilibria in networks without constraints are also near-optimal. We provide the first analysis of the problem of minimizing that objective in static networks with congestion. As this problem is NP-hard, computing an equilibrium represents a constant-factor approximation algorithm. In some situations, the network authority might still want to do better than in equilibrium. We propose to use a solution that minimizes the total latency, subject to constraints designed to improve the solution's fairness. For several real-world instances, we compute traffic assignments of notably smaller total latency than an equilibrium, yet of similar fairness. Furthermore, we provide theoretical results that explain the conclusions derived from the computational study. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)
Sparsity-based dynamic hand gesture recognition using micro-Doppler signatures

In this paper, a sparsity-driven method of micro-Doppler analysis is proposed for dynamic hand gesture recognition with radar sensor. The sparse representation of the radar signal in the time-frequency domain is achieved through the Gabor dictionary, and then the micro-Doppler features are extracted by using the orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) algorithm and fed into classifiers for dynamic hand gesture recognition. The proposed method is validated with real data measured with a K-band radar. Experiment results show that the proposed method outperforms the principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm, with the recognition accuracy higher than 90%.
Assessing linkage on chromosome 5 using components of variance approach: Univariate versus multivariate

We report results when one disease related quantitative trait (Q1) is analyzed versus multiple related quantitative traits using a components of variance approach [Amos, 1994; de Andrade and Amos, 1996]. In both cases, we used age, sex and environmental factor (EF) as covariates. Analysis with ascertainment correction of samples selected through probands with extremely high trait values was also performed and is presented. Testing procedures to detect linkage using the components of variance approach are discussed. The univariate and multivariate analyses showed effects of locus 15 on chromosome 5 only for Q1. This result was confirmed when using ascertainment correction. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Psychosocial Differences in Post-Institutionalized, Internationally Adopted Children and Other Groups of Children Referred for Clinical Services

Thousands of children are adopted into the United States each year, many of whom have spent a significant portion of their pre adoptive lives in an institutional setting. Post-institutionalized (PI) children adopted into the United States are often referred for mental health services at higher rates than other groups of children. There is a lack of research examining differences in clinically referred PI children and other groups. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in knowledge. Results from multiple analysis of covariance and follow-up pairwise contrast analyses found significant differences only between PI and domestic adoptees (DA). Specifically, DA exhibited poorer functioning in the areas of attention problems and social problems. Mean scores were above the 85th percentile for all indicators for all groups, indicating the severity of psychosocial problems for the sampled group of clinical referrals. More research is needed that compares the psychosocial problems of PI children to other adopted youth.