Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The influence of onsets and offsets on saccade programming

When making a saccadic eye movement to a peripheral target, a simultaneous stimulus onset at central fixation generally increases saccadic latency, while offsets reduce latency (‘gap effect’). Visual onsets remote from fixation also increase latency (‘remote distractor effect’); however, the influence of remote visual offsets is less clear. Previous studies, which used a search task, found that remote offsets either facilitated, inhibited, or did nothing to saccade latencies towards a peripheral target. It cannot be excluded, however, that the target selection process in such search tasks influenced the results. We therefore simplified the task and asked participants to make eye movements to a predictable target. Simultaneously with target onset, either one or multiple remote stimulus onsets and offsets were presented. It was found that peripheral onsets increased saccade latencies, but offsets did not influence the initiation of a saccade to the target. Moreover, the number of onsets and offsets did not affect the results. These results suggest that earlier effects of remote stimulus offsets and of the number of remote distractor onsets reside in the target identification process of the visual search task rather than the competition between possible saccade goals. The results are discussed in the context of models of saccade target selection.
Intermediate CAG Repeats in Huntington's Disease: Analysis of COHORT

Background There is emerging evidence that clinical and neuro-pathological manifestations of Huntington's disease (HD) may occur in individuals with intermediate length cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) repeats (27–35 CAG repeats) in the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. We aim to further define the clinical characteristics of individuals who possess CAG repeat lengths in this range. Methods Data from the Cooperative Huntington's Observational Research Trial (COHORT) were analyzed. Participants were categorized according to the number of CAG repeats into normal (≤26), intermediate (27–35) and HD (≥36) groups. The motor, cognitive and behavioral scores on the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) were compared between the intermediate and normal groups. Results Of 1985 individuals affected by HD or with a family history of HD who were genotyped, 50 (2.5%) had their larger CAG repeat in the intermediate range. There were statistically significant differences in scores of some motor, cognitive, and behavioral domains of UHDRS at baseline between normal and intermediate length CAG repeats. Furthermore, a significantly greater number of subjects with CAG repeats in the intermediate range reported at least one suicide attempt compared to the normal group. Discussion Our findings of motor, cognitive and behavioral abnormalities in individuals with intermediate CAG repeats suggest the presence of subtle, but relevant, disease manifestations in patients with intermediate CAG repeats. These results have important implications for the pathogenesis of the disease and genetic counseling.
Identifying Structural Vector Autoregressions Via Changes in Volatility

Identification of shocks of interest is a central problem in structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) modelling. Identification is often achieved by imposing restrictions on the impact or long-run effects of shocks or by considering sign restrictions for the impulse responses. In a number of articles changes in the volatility of the shocks have also been used for identification. The present study focusses on the latter device. Some possible setups for identification via heteroskedasticity are reviewed and their potential and limitations are discussed. Two detailed examples are considered to illustrate the approach.
A phonetic framework for the cross-linguistic analysis of cleft palate speech

The Eurocleft Speech Group was formed in 1989. The group is made up of eight speech and language therapists/logopedists from the six centres involved in the Eurocleft Orthodontic study, (Amsterdam/Rotterdam, Copenhagen, London, Manchester, Oslo, Stockholm) a clinical phonetician/speech and language therapist, (advisor on statistical analytical techniques) and a professor of clinical linguistics (director of the group). This six-centre international study of cleft palate speech presented major methodological problems, which appeared to be unprecedented in this area of speech pathology research. A research protocol had to be devised that would provide comparable information about the speech of children from five different language backgrounds. This paper describes the analytical framework developed for this purpose. This framework takes account of the common phonetic characteristics of the five target languages and the possible effects of the cleft palate condition on the realization of these phonetic targe.
Altruism and Economic Behavior, I Developments in the Theory of Public and Private Redistribution

The principal recent contributions from economics toward the understanding of behavior that is, or seems to be, altruistic, are discussed. Relevant developments in anthropology, biology and psychology are also introduced. Most of these models rely on some form of sophisticated goal maximization (attainment of power, genetic propagation, long-term influence or even material benefit by means of a complex dynamic game strategy) and hence describe quasialtruistic behavior which is, in fact, consistent with individual welfare maximization. When looking at the public sector, government redistributive programs are considered by some to be expressions of collective altruism but these in fact have their roots in an implicit social contract enforced by the coercive power of the State. Genuine altruism must be action taken without expectation of reward or coercion and it is not to be found in models of concealed requirement or in forcible redistribution. A subsequent article discusses the area in which private activity can achieve more efficiently the redistributive objective.
1-Pamitoyl-2-Linoleoyl-3-Acetyl-rac-Glycerol May Reduce Incidence of Gemcitabine-Induced Neutropenia: A Pilot Case-Controlled Study

Background Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia (CIN) may compromise planned chemotherapy, resulting in severe infection, dose reduction or delayed treatment. Orally administered 1-pamitoyl-2-linoleoyl-3-acetyl-rac-glycerol (PLAG) is a synthetic monoacetyldiglyceride, a product found in the antlers of sika deer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of PLAG for the prevention of CIN. Methods A total of 48 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer received gemcitabine-based palliative chemotherapy. Among those patients, 16 patients received PLAG (500 mg) twice daily from the start of chemotherapy to the completion. Results The PLAG group showed a significantly lower incidence of neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count < 1,500 cells/mm3, grade 2-4), as compared to the control group (37.5% vs. 81.3%, P < 0.05). The absolute neutrophil counts (ANCs) of the PLAG group significantly less decreased from the baseline level compared to those of the control group (P < 0.05) and this significant difference in the reduction percentage of ANCs between the two groups was sustained throughout the courses of chemotherapy. No adverse events related to PLAG were observed. Conclusions PLAG was shown to be clinically effective and safe in reducing the incidence of CIN in pancreatic cancer patients receiving gemcitabine-based chemotherapy.
Self-reported upper extremity health status correlates with depression.

BACKGROUND The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire is the most widely used upper extremity-specific health-status measure. The DASH score often demonstrates greater variability than would be expected on the basis of objective pathology. This variability may be related to psychosocial factors. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the correlation between the DASH score and psychological factors for specific diagnoses with relatively limited variation in objective pathology. METHODS Two hundred and thirty-five patients with a single, common, discrete hand problem known to have limited variations in objective pathology completed the DASH questionnaire, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R) to assess neuroticism, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale to quantify depressive symptoms, and the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS). Forty-five patients had carpal tunnel syndrome, forty-four had de Quervain tenosynovitis, forty-eight had lateral elbow pain, and seventy-one had a single trigger finger. In addition, twenty-seven patients were evaluated six weeks after a nonoperatively treated fracture of the distal part of the radius. Relationships between psychosocial factors and the DASH score were determined. RESULTS A significant positive correlation between the DASH score and depression was noted for all diagnoses (r = 0.38 to 0.52; p < 0.01 for all). The DASH score also correlated with pain anxiety for four of the five diagnoses (carpal tunnel syndrome, r = 0.40; de Quervain tendinitis, r = 0.46; lateral elbow pain, r = 0.42; and trigger finger, r = 0.24) (p < 0.05 for all). The DASH score was not correlated with neuroticism for any diagnosis. There was a highly significant effect of depression (as measured with the CES-D score) on the DASH score for all diagnoses. Both the CES-D score (F = 62.68, p < 0.0001) and gender (F = 11.36, p < 0.001) were independent predictors of the DASH score. CONCLUSIONS Self-reported upper extremity-specific health status as measured with the DASH score correlates with depression and pain anxiety but not neuroticism. These data support the contention that psychosocial factors have a strong influence on health-status measures.
Implementing Atomic Objects with the RelaX Transaction Facility

This paper presents an object-oriented model for distributed transaction processing and discusses the issues which had to be explored in the implementation of this model. The functionality of this transaction model meets the requirements of a range of concurrent, distributed applications. We show that transaction functionality can be implemented in a language independent manner allowing the model to be provided through multiple languages. In particular, this paper presents the design and implementation of the Amadeus/RelaX system. We describe the architecture of the RelaX extensible transaction facility and its integration with the Amadeus distributed, persistent object system. The resulting transaction system can support different languages and allows the use of resource types such as files and database relations as well as objects, and is portable to various UNIXlike platforms.
Morphology, Physiological Characteristics, and Complete Sequence of Marine Bacteriophage ϕRIO-1 Infecting Pseudoalteromonas marina

ABSTRACT Bacteria of the genus Pseudoalteromonas are ubiquitous in the world's oceans. Marine bacteria have been posited to be associated with a major ancient branch of podoviruses related to T7. Yet, although Pseudoalteromonas phages belonging to the Corticoviridae and the Siphoviridae and prophages belonging to the Myoviridae have been reported, no Pseudoalteromonas podovirus was previously known. Here, a new lytic Pseudoalteromonas marina phage, ϕRIO-1, belonging to the Podoviridae was isolated and characterized with respect to morphology, genomic sequence, and biological properties. Its major encoded proteins were distantly similar to those of T7. The most similar previously sequenced viruses were Pseudomonas phage PA11 and Salinivibrio phage CW02. Whereas many elements of the morphology and gene organization of ϕRIO-1 are similar to those of podoviruses broadly related to T7, ϕRIO-1 conspicuously lacked an RNA polymerase gene. Since definitions of a T7 supergroup have included similarity in the DNA polymerase gene, a detailed phylogenetic analysis was conducted, and two major DNA polymerase clades in Autographivirinae and several structural variants of the polA family represented in podoviruses were found. ϕRIO-1 carries an operon similar to that in a few other podoviruses predicted to specify activities related to γ-glutamyl amide linkages and/or unusual peptide bonds. Most growth properties of ϕRIO-1 were typical of T7-like phages, except for a long latent period.
Bacillus cereus var. toyoii and Saccharomyces boulardii increased feed efficiency in broilers infected with Salmonella enteritidis

1. The effect on feed efficiency of two probiotics, one prepared with Saccharomyces boulardii and the other with Bacillus cereus var. toyoii, was tested in broilers infected with Salmonella enteritidis. 2. One-day-old chicks were divided at random into three groups and fed commercial feed devoid of antibiotics: group 1 was fed with non-supplemented feed, group 2 was supplemented with S. boulardii and group 3 with B. cereus. At 14 d of age the animals were challenged by the oral route with 1 × 107 viable S. enteritidis. 3. At d 47, average live weights were: group 1, 1·77 kg, group 2, 1·89 kg and group 3, 2·06 kg, and were significantly different. Feed conversion rates were 2·61 for group 1, 2·35 for group 2 and 2·30 for group 3. 4. We conclude that both probiotics improved feed efficiency in broilers.
Assessing Change in Psychosocial Functioning of Incarcerated Girls with a Substance Use Disorder: Gender Sensitive Substance Abuse Intervention

The objective of this preliminary study was to determine the effectiveness of a female gender-specific substance abuse treatment intervention (Holistic Enrichment for At-Risk Teens, or HEART) in improving problems related to personal and social functioning. A quasi-experimental, 2-group pretest and posttest repeated measures design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment intervention with 101 incarcerated girls who met DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence. A repeated measures MANCOVA revealed that the HEART program appeared to be more effective in reducing problems related to social functioning than the standard treatment substance abuse intervention. At posttest, significant differences were found between the treatment and comparison groups on three of the four measures of social functioning: problems with family, problems with friends, and problems with school. No significant differences were found between the 2 groups on 3 posttest measures of personal functioning. A critical need exists for gender-sensitive substance abuse interventions in female juvenile correctional facilities. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.
Distributed Leadership for ICT Reform in Singapore

This study examines distributed leadership in Information Communication Technology reform in a government school in Singapore. The study adopts a naturalistic inquiry approach, drawing upon a case study of the aforementioned school for much of its data. The study found that leadership for Information Communication Technology reform is distributed according to functions of transformational leadership, instructional leadership, emotional leadership, and the strategic management of resources. The key enabling factors are an official leadership position, access to expertise, support by senior management, and interpersonal synergies among the leaders. Senior management consistently performs transformational leadership, whereas middle management generally performs instructional leadership. Both senior and middle management provide emotional leadership.
An australian adolescent sex offender treatment program: Program and client description

Abstract The following paper outlines the key components of the Adolescent Sex Offender Treatment Program (ASOTP), an Australian program that provides assessment and therapeutic services to children and adolescents with sexually abusive behaviours. The ASOTP is auspiced by the Children's Protection Society (CPS), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. If is committed to an integrated program model, which focuses on the parallel process of work with child and adolescent victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse. Specific attention is paid to describing the main modules of the formal group therapy program, which most clients enter following risk assessment. Criteria for assessing positive outcomes are also outlined. The characteristics of children and young people who have attended the ASOTP are described, including prior history of victimisation and self-reported problem behaviours as assessed by the Achenbach Youth Self-Report Form. A summary of sexually abusive behaviour and victim characteristics is also provided. Findings are discussed in light of relevant practice and systems issues.
Transformations in Sub-Saharan African Marriage and Fertility

Among populations that value high fertility, marital practices often play important roles in regulating fertility. This article interprets ethnographic and demographic data to examine changes in contemporary African marriage. It shows that female education exacerbates inequities between de facto polygynous women who previously would have lived together, shared household resources, and acknowledged each other as cowives. These new forms of polygyny, however, hold an important key to explaining why polygyny and high fertility still proliferate. Men sustain the costs of polygyny and of high fertility in large part by marginalizing low-status women, usually those with the least education, as outside wives and their children as outside children.
1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Has a Direct Effect on Naive CD4+ T Cells to Enhance the Development of Th2 Cells1

1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (vitD3) is an immunoregulatory hormone with beneficial effects on Th1 mediated autoimmune diseases. Although the inhibitory effects of vitD3 on macrophages and dendritic cells are well documented, any direct effects of vitD3 on Th cell development are not clearly defined. Using CD4+Mel14+ T cells derived from mice on a BALB/c and a C57BL/6 genetic background we examined the effect of vitD3 on Th cell development. We demonstrated that vitD3 affects Th cell polarization by inhibiting Th1 (IFN-γ production) and augmenting Th2 cell development (IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 production). These effects were observed in cultures driven with splenic APC and Ag, as well as with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 alone, indicating that CD4+ cells can also be direct targets for vitD3. The enhanced Th2 development by vitD3 was found in both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. An increased expression of the Th2-specific transcription factors GATA-3 and c-maf correlated with the increased production of Th2 cytokines after vitD3 treatment. The vitD3-induced effects were largely mediated via IL-4, because neutralization of IL-4 almost completely abrogated the augmented Th2 cell development after vitD3 treatment. These findings suggest that vitD3 acts directly on Th cells and can, in the absence of APC, enhance the development of a Th2 phenotype and augment the expression of the transcription factors c-maf and GATA-3. Our findings suggest that the beneficial effects of vitD3 in autoimmune diseases and transplantation operate through prevention of strong Th1 responses via the action on the APC, while simultaneously directly acting on the T cell to enhance Th2 cell development.
Detecting hybridization using ancient DNA

It is well established that related species hybridize and that this can have varied but significant effects on speciation and environmental adaptation. It should therefore come as no surprise that hybridization is not limited to species that are alive today. In the last several decades, advances in technologies for recovering and sequencing DNA from fossil remains have enabled the assembly of high‐coverage genome sequences for a growing diversity of organisms, including many that are extinct. Thanks to the development of new statistical approaches for detecting and quantifying admixture from genomic data, genomes from extinct populations have proven useful both in revealing previously unknown hybridization events and informing the study of hybridization between living organisms. Here, we review some of the key recent statistical innovations for detecting ancient hybridization using genomewide sequence data and discuss how these innovations have revised our understanding of human evolutionary history.
Of Mods and Modders

This article is concerned with the role that fan-programmers (generally known as “modders”) play in the success of the PC digital game industry. The fan culture for digital games is deeply embedded in shared practices and experiences among fan communities, and their active consumption contributes economically and culturally to broader society. Using a survey of the most commercially successful PC games in the first-person shooter category from 2002 until 2004, this article answers a series of questions concerning fan-programmer produced content: (a) What is the value of the fan produced game add-ons in terms of labor costs? (b) What motivates fans to make add-ons for their favorite games? and (c) How does the fan-programmer phenomenon in PC gaming fit into broader trends in the high-tech economy?
Association of Overweight with Food Portion Size among Adults of São Paulo – Brazil

Background Although studies show that portion size affects energy intake, few have demonstrated a link between portion size and weight status, especially in free-living populations. The objective of the present study was to assess the relationship between food portion sizes and overweight in a representative population of adults of São Paulo, Brazil. Methods Cross-sectional population-based study with 1005 adults from São Paulo, Brazil. Dietary data were obtained from two 24-hour recalls. Reported foods were classified into groups and energy contribution, prevalence of consumers and portion sizes were calculated. Individuals were classified according to BMI in with and without overweight. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between food portion sizes and being overweight. Results The most consumed food groups were: beans, breads/rolls, coffee/tea, milk, rice, and sugar. Rice, red meat, breads/rolls, and white meat were the groups with the highest percentage of contribution to total energy intake. Butter/margarine, toasts/biscuits, sugar, and cakes were the groups with the highest energy density. After adjustment for confounding variables, overweight was associated with larger portions of pizza (OR = 1.052; p = 0.048), red meat (OR = 1.025; p = 0.043), rice (OR = 1.033; p<0.001), salted snacks (OR = 1.078; p = 0.022), and soft drinks (OR = 1.016; p = 0.007). Conclusions Larger portions of few food groups with different energy densities were associated with being overweight, suggesting that overweight may be related to the consumption of larger portion sizes of a series of food groups, not a food group alone. Additionally, we highlight the importance of considering underreporting as a confounding factor in these associations.
A Novel Time based Authentication Technique for Enhancing Grid Computing Security

Secure data communication is the most vital and crucial concern in Grid computing environment, where data flows across multiple components in different organizational domains that are not under control of the single data proprietor. An appropriate authentication mechanism is the very basic requisite for building a protected Grid environment. In this paper we have analyzed authentication related issues in Grid and proposed a novel Time Variant Authentication technique that will check the authenticity of remote user time to time throughout the accessing of the remote server which enhances Grid security.