Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Störungen von Affekt und Kognition bei Patienten mit Multipler Sklerose

Zusammenfassung Depression, Fatigue und Kognitionsstörungen sind Symptome der Multiplen Sklerose (MS), die oft bereits zu Beginn der Erkrankung auftreten und die Lebensqualität der MS-Patienten erheblich beeinträchtigen können. Während die Pathogenese von Depression und Fatigue weiterhin ungeklärt ist, zeigen die Kognitionsstörungen eine gute Korrelation mit der zerebralen Atrophie. Mehrere Studien und die klinische Erfahrung belegen die Wirksamkeit von Antidepressiva bei MS-Patienten mit Depression sowie von Amantadin und Modafinil bei Fatigue. Die immunmodulatorische Therapie mit Interferon-ß (IFN-ß) kann die Progredienz der zerebralen Atrophie und der kognitiven Defizite verlangsamen. Weiterhin weist eine Studie darauf hin, dass auch Acetylcholinesterasehemmer wirksam sein könnten. Entsprechend ihrer Bedeutung für die Lebensqualität der Patienten sollten Depression, Fatigue und kognitive Störungen bei der Behandlung und Erforschung der MS stärkere Berücksichtigung finden.
Population differentiation in randomly amplified polymorphic DNA of red‐cockaded woodpeckers Picoides borealis

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) phenotypes generated by 13 primers were scored for 101 individuals in 14 populations of the endangered red‐cockaded woodpecker Picoides borealis. Although no population‐specific markers were found, the frequencies of several markers differed significantly among populations. Application of the recently developedamova method (analysis of molecular variance; Excoffier, Smouse & Quattro 1992) showed that more than 90% of phenotypic variance occurred among individuals within populations; of the remaining variance, half was attributed among groups of geographically adjacent populations and half among populations within those groups. The statistical significance of these patterns was supported by Monte Carlo sampling simulations and permutation tests. Estimation of allele frequencies from phenotypes provided somewhat weaker evidence for population structure, although among‐population variance in allele frequencies was detectable (Fst= 0.19; x2169= 509.3, P < 0.0001). Upgma cluster analyses based on Rogers' (1972) genetic distance revealed grouping of some geographically proximate populations. A Mantel test indicated a positive (r = 0.16), although not significant, correlation between geographic and genetic distances. We compared a subset of our RAPD data with data from a previous study that used allozymes (Stangel, Lennartz & Smith 1992). RAPD (n= 75) and allozyme (n= 245) results based on samples from the same ten populations showed similar patterns. Our study indicates that RAPDs can be helpful in differentiating populations at the phenotypic level even when small sample sizes, estimation bias, and inability to test for Hardy‐Weinberg equilibrium complicate the genotypic interpretation. Lack of large differences among populations of red‐cockaded woodpeckers may allow flexibility in overpopulation translocations, provided factors such as habitat preference, latitudinal direction of translocation, and status of donor populations are considered.
Spatial analysis of growing season peak control over gross primary production in northern ecosystems using modis-GPP dataset

The Northern Hemisphere terrestrial ecosystems play a key role in the global carbon cycle and climate change. Satellite-derived dataset makes it be available of continuous estimates of Gross Primary Production (GPP) across Earth's entire vegetated land surface. The extended growing season length (GSL) and its impacts on carbon uptake is well documented in the literature, but how the amplitude of GPP (i.e., GPPmax) occurring in the vegetation growing peak contribute to the annual GPP is not understood well. Here we used Modis GPP dataset to explore the impacts of GSL and GPPmax on the developing trend of annual GPP. Our results indicate that GPPmax is more strongly correlated with annual GPP than GSL. These findings highlight the important contribution of maximum GPP to the annual GPP and suggest further studies are needed on the carbon uptake in the favorable growing season.
Becoming Critical Thinkers: The Impact of Treatments on Student Reflective Practice in the College Classroom.

Rachel A. Reinhart, Advisor The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of instructional treatments on reflective practice and critical thinking in the college classroom at Bowling Green State University in the College of Business. The study employed a quasi-experimental pretest posttest control group design to examine student reflective practice among three treatment groups (T1students receiving feedback only; T2-students viewing PowerPoint and receiving handout only, T3-students receiving feedback, viewing PowerPoint, and receiving handout) and one control group, which did not receive any instruction or feedback on reflective practice. The pretest and posttest were used to evaluate reflective practice and critical thinking skills among freshmen students (n=253). The study sought to identify the level of reflective practice for incoming freshmen, examine which treatment was most effective in increasing overall reflective practice growth, and which specific thinking skills were most effected by which treatments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine group differences in reflective practice growth. growth. The results indicate that the majority of participants were categorized in beginner status for 5 of the 7 categories presented. Deep thinking, analysis, and synthesis were noted as the categories of thinking skills with the greatest proportion in beginner status and ultimately require the most attention and improvement. The results indicate that freshmen students enter college with low level thinking skills. Research question 2 examined group differences in Growth scores of Reflective Practice. Overall reflective scores were calculated as the sum of all thinking skill category scores. ANOVA results revealed significant treatment group differences in overall Reflective Practice
RED BLOOD CELL COUNTING ANALYSIS BY CONSIDERING AN OVERLAPPING CONSTRAINT

Red blood cells (RBCs) counting in blood smear image is very important to diagnose blood related diseases such as malaria and anemia before a proper treatment can be proposed. The conventional practice for such procedure is executed manually by pathologist under light microscope. However, manual visual inspection is laborious task and depends on subjective assessment which leads to variation in the RBC counting especially when there are many clumped RBC areas. In this paper a computer-aided systems is proposed to automate the process of counting the RBC from the blood smear image by considering an overlapping constraint. Initially RBCs region are extracted from the background by using global threshold method applied on green channel color image. Next, noise and holes in the RBCs are abolished by utilizing morphological filter and connected component labeling. Following that, information from the RBCs’ area is extracted to determine single and overlapping RBC region. The former region can be counted directly while the latter need to be process further to estimate the number of individual cells. In this paper, two estimators which are Distance transform and Hough transform are utilized to count cells in the clumped regions. Eventually, the total RBCs is found by summing up information from the single cell number and from the estimator. The proposed method has been tested on blood cell images and it demonstrates that Hough transform is more reliable to predict number of total RBCs.
Belfast intonation and the myth of the fall

The type of analysis best suited to intonation (what Stockwell, 1972, calls the ‘representation’ question) is not under discussion in this article. In order to save taking up space with such analytical preliminaries, Belfast intonation is described in this article largely in a framework similar to that of Halliday (1967). We describe firstly the forms of intonation in that dialect; then the use of such forms; and end with some implications for linguistics in general. The analysis is based on recordings of the speech of an educated speaker of an urban Anglo-Irish dialect of Belfast. The main findings were checked by reference to a second speaker of the same dialect.
Analysis/Synthesis filter bank design based on time domain aliasing cancellation

A single-sideband analysis/synthesis system is proposed which provides perfect reconstruction of a signal from a set of critically sampled analysis signals. The technique is developed in terms of a weighted overlap-add method of analysis/synthesis and allows overlap between adjacent time windows. This implies that time domain aliasing is introduced in the analysis; however, this aliasing is cancelled in the synthesis process, and the system can provide perfect reconstruction. Achieving perfect reconstruction places constraints on the time domain window shape which are equivalent to those placed on the frequency domain shape of analysis/synthesis channels used in recently proposed critically sampled systems based on frequency domain aliasing cancellation [7], [8]. In fact, a duality exists between the new technique and the frequency domain techniques of [7] and [8], The proposed technique is more efficient than frequency domain designs for a given number of analysis/synthesis channels, and can provide reasonably band-limited channel responses. The technique could be particularly useful in applications where critically sampled analysis/synthesis is desirable, e.g., coding.
Flexible Caching Algorithms for Video Content Distribution Networks

Global video content distribution networks (CDNs) serve a significant fraction of the entire Internet traffic. Effective caching at the edge is vital for the feasibility of these CDNs, which can otherwise incur substantial costs and overloads in the Internet. We analyze the challenges and requirements for content caching on the servers of these CDNs which cannot be addressed by standard solutions. We design multiple algorithms for this problem: a LRU-based baseline to address the requirements; a flexible ingress-efficient algorithm; an offline cache aware of future requests (greedy) to estimate the maximum efficiency we can expect from any online algorithm; an optimal offline cache (for limited scales); and an adaptive ingress control algorithm for reducing the server’s peak upstream traffic. We use anonymized actual data from a global video CDN to evaluate the algorithms and draw conclusions on their suitability for different settings.
A pseudo-savant: A case of exceptional musical splinter skills

A single case study of a musically untrained autistic child is presented. This individual demonstrates absolute pitch ability and outstanding analytical capacities within the musical domain. It is argued that his musical information processing style might be accounted for by a tendency to focus on local rather than global aspects of musical stimuli, and in addition illustrates a case study of exceptional ability in the absence of 'musical talent'.
Can the ABCD Score be dichotomised to identify high-risk patients with transient ischaemic attack in the emergency department?

Background: Recent evidence shows a substantial short-term risk of ischaemic stroke after transient ischaemic attack (TIA). Identification of patients with TIA with a high short-term risk of stroke is now possible through the use of the “ABCD Score”, which considers age, blood pressure, clinical features and duration of symptoms predictive of stroke. Aim: To evaluate the ability of dichotomising the ABCD Score to predict stroke at 7 and 90 days in a population with TIA presenting to an emergency department. Methods: A retrospective audit was conducted on all probable or definite TIAs presenting to the emergency department of a metropolitan hospital from July to December 2004. The ABCD Score was applied to 98 consecutive patients with TIA who were reviewed for subsequent strokes within 90 days. Patients obtaining an ABCD Score ⩾5 were considered to be at high risk for stroke. Results: Dichotomising the ABCD Score categorised 48 (49%) patients with TIA at high risk for stroke (ABCD Score ⩾5). This high-risk group contained all four strokes that occurred within 7 days (sensitivity 100% (95% confidence interval (CI) 40% to 100%), specificity 53% (95% CI 43% to 63%), positive predictive value 8% (95% CI 3% to 21%) and negative predictive value 100% (95% CI 91% to 100%)), and six of seven occurring within 90 days (sensitivity 86% (95% CI 42% to 99%), specificity 54% (95% CI 43% to 64%), positive predictive value 12.5% (95% CI 5% to 26%) and negative predictive value 98% (95% CI 88% to 100%)). Removal of the “age” item from the ABCD Score halved the number of false-positive cases without changing its predictive value for stroke. Conclusion: In this retrospective analysis, dichotomising the ABCD Score was overinclusive but highly predictive in identifying patients with TIA at a high short-term risk of stroke. Use of the ABCD Score in the emergency care of patients with TIA is simple, efficient and provides a unique opportunity to prevent stroke in this population of patients.
Magadi tilapia ecological specialization: filling the early gap in the speciation continuum

Cichlid fish are well known for their high speciation rates, which are usually accompanied by spectacular and rapid diversification in eco‐morphological and secondary sexual traits. This is best illustrated by the famous repeated explosive radiations in the African Great Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi and Victoria, each lake harbouring several hundreds of mostly endemic species. Correspondingly, cichlids diversified very rapidly in many other lakes across their range. Although the larger radiations, unparalleled in vertebrates, are certainly the most intriguing, they are also the most intricate and difficult to address because of their complex nature. This is where smaller, simpler systems may prove to be the most useful. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Kavembe et al. ( ) report very recent genetic diversification accompanied by ecological specialization in cichlids of the small and ecologically extreme Lake Magadi, in Kenya. Combining geometric morphometrics, stable isotope analysis, population genomics using RADSeq data and coalescent‐based modelling techniques, the authors characterize the eco‐morphological differences between genetically distinct populations of Magadi tilapia (Alcolapia grahami), which are consistent with the different environmental conditions they experience, and infer their history of divergence. The simplicity of the focal system and the use of a multidisciplinary approach make this work particularly important for our understanding of the early stages of speciation, in both cichlids and other organisms.
An image quality assessment method based on fuzzy inference rules

In this paper, a new fuzzy logic-based image quality assessment approach is presented. The proposed method assumes that an image is composed of edge, texture and smooth regions. Then three different quality measures are defined and applied to their respective regions according to several fuzzy inference rules. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs better than some other methods, such as MSE, traditional block distortion measure.
Face detection by cascade of Gaussian derivates classifiers calculated with a half-octave pyramid

This paper presents a method for object detection based on a cascade of scale and orientation normalized Gaussian derivative classifiers learnt with Adaboost. Normalized Gaussian derivatives provide a small but powerful feature set for rapid learning using Adaboost. Real time detection is made possible by use of a fast integer coefficient algorithm that computes a half-octave Gaussian pyramid with linear algorithmic complexity using a cascade of binomial kernel filters. The method is demonstrated by training a boosted classifier for frontal face detection using standard data sets. Experiments demonstrate that this approach can provide detection rates that are comparable or superior to those obtained with integral images while dramatically reducing the required training effort.
Alcohol and Aggression: Perspectives on Controlled and Uncontrolled Social Information Processing

This paper reviews the main current social cognitive explanations of the effects of acute alcohol consumption on aggression: the cognitive disruption model, the attributional model, and model of automaticity. The cognitive disruption model posits that intoxication affects controlled processing arising from the impairment of executive cognitive functions by alcohol's pharmacological properties. The individual consequently focuses on the most salient and proximal situational factors, thereby spoiling self-regulatory processes. According to the attributional model, drinkers expect alcohol to mitigate social sanctions following aggression by shifting blame to alcohol. These explicit expectations represent an extrapharmacological cause of the alcohol–aggression link. Finally, the model of automaticity implies that alcohol meanings stored in long-term memory and activated in drinking contexts automatically trigger aggressive thoughts and behavior without the individual's awareness. The explanation of intoxicated aggression should integrate these co-etiological social cognitive models that take into account pharmacological as well as extrapharmacological consequences of alcohol consumption.
Horizontal cell axons and axon terminals in goldfish retina

Retinas of ordinary and black moor varieties of goldfish (Carassius auratus) were prepared by the Golgi method, mounted flat or sectioned vertically, and studied in the light microscope. Three types of horizontal cells whose dendrites contact only cones, and one type whose dendrites contact only rods, were observed. The cone horizontal cells (Cajal's “external horizontal cells”) all have slender axons which descend gradually to the inner nuclear layer and terminate there in long, fusiform expansions (Cajal's “internal horizontal cells”). The thin and thick portions of the axons, as well as the perikarya of the horizontal cells, bear small numbers of straight, horizontally‐directed, knobby filamentous appendages which may be sites of synaptic contact. The cone horizontal cell axons in goldfish, unlike those in higher vertebrates, do not terminate in contact with synaptic endings of photoreceptor cells, but in proximity to cells and processes deep in the inner nuclear layer. Axons have not yet been demonstrated on rod horizontal cells in goldfish.
Aggregate Worker Reallocation and Occupational Mobility in the U . S . : 1971-2000 ¤

We investigate the evolution and the sources of aggregate employment reallocation in the United States in the 1971-2000 March ̄les of the Current Population Survey. We focus on the annual °ows of male workers across occupations at the Census 3-digit level, the ̄nest disaggregation at which a moving worker changes career and reallocates his skills to an observationally di®erent technology. We ̄nd that total employment reallocation across occupations has been strongly procyclical and sharply declining until the early 1990s, before remaining relatively constant in the last decade. To reveal the sources of these patterns, while correcting for possible worker selection into employment, we construct a synthetic panel based on birth cohorts, and estimate various models of worker occupational mobility. We ̄nd that: (i) The cross¡occupation dispersion in labor demand, as measured by the standard deviation of occupation employment growth rates (Net Reallocation), has a strong association with average worker mobility. (ii) The demographic composition of employment, speci ̄cally the rising age and College education of the employment pool over time and the declining mobility of College graduates in expansions, explains some of the vanishing size and procyclicality ofworker °ows. (iii) High unemployment weakens the e®ects of individual worker characteristics on their occupational mobility, suggesting that recessions are times of relatively low but also \noisy" reallocation. (iv) Worker mobility has signi ̄cant residual persistence through the years, as predicted by job-matching theory. Finally, we detect important unobserved cohort-speci ̄c e®ects; in particular, cohorts born after the mid-1950s have increasingly low unexplained occupational mobility, which contributes considerably to the downward trend in total employment reallocation over the last three decades. ¤Moscarini thanks Yale University and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for ̄nancial support, and the hospitality of the European University Institute when working on this project. yYale University, Department of Economics, PO Box 208268, New Haven, CT 06520-8268, USA. Phone (203) 432-3596. Fax (203) 432-5779. E-mail: giuseppe.moscarini@yale.edu, URL: www.econ.yale.edu/faculty1/moscarini.htm zEuropean University Institute, Department of Economics, Badia Fiesolana Via dei Roccettini, 9, 50016 S. Domenico di Fiesole (Firenze), Italy. frank.vella@iue.it
New psychological treatments in schizophrenia

The first line of treatment for patients with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia is neuroleptic medication. Neuroleptics have provid ed substantial benefits to patients with this type of severe mental illness since their discovery as a treatment for psychosis in the 1950s. Despite this, there are still a large number of patients who do not respond fully to neuroleptic medication or who are not able to tolerate it. For example, although as many as 70% of patients are substantially improved following drug treatment, a considerable propor tion continue to experience persistent, distressing and recurrent symptoms. In a survey of patients in a London psychiatric hospital, Curson et ai (1988) found that just under half of the patients continued to experience hallucinations and delusions despite the prescription of medication. In addition, many patients experience intolerable side-effects or do not wish to comply with neuroleptic medication, yet look for some effective alternative. Depression, anxiety and a high rate of suicide are additional problems faced by patients with schizophrenia. As a result of this, psychological treatments for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders have been developing over the last decade, particularly in the area of cognitive-behavioural interventions. Recent research has focused on the following areas: (i) family interventions aimed at improving patient and carer functioning and reducing relapse; (ii) individual cognitive-behavioural interventions aimed at reducing the severity of drug-resistant psychotic symptoms; (iii) attempting to teach patients and their carers to monitor prodromal signs to facilitate early intervention, and (iv) strategies aimed at increasing compliance to medication. This paper will briefly review each of these areas and the implications for training and service provision will be discussed. It will not attempt to cover more traditional psychological approaches such as social skills training or token economy approaches for negative symptoms (see Kavanagh, 1992/7for a review of these areas).