Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in intrinsic connectivity of the brain's reading network following intervention in children with autism

While task‐based neuroimaging studies have identified alterations in neural circuitry underlying language processing in children with autism spectrum disorders [ASD], resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging [rsfMRI] is a promising alternative to the constraints posed by task‐based fMRI. This study used rsfMRI, in a longitudinal design, to study the impact of a reading intervention on connectivity of the brain regions involved in reading comprehension in children with ASD. Functional connectivity was examined using group independent component analysis (GICA) and seed‐based correlation analysis of Broca's and Wernicke's areas, in three groups of participants: an experimental group of ASD children (ASD‐EXP), a wait list control group of ASD children (ASD‐WLC), and a group of typically developing (TD) control children. Both GICA and seed‐based analyses revealed stronger functional connectivity of Broca's and Wernicke's areas in the ASD‐EXP group postintervention. Additionally, improvement in reading comprehension in the ASD‐EXP group was correlated with greater connectivity in both Broca's and Wernicke's area in the GICA identified reading network component. In addition, increased connectivity between the Broca's area and right postcentral and right STG, and the Wernicke's area and LIFG, were also correlated with greater improvement in reading comprehension. Overall, this study revealed widespread changes in functional connectivity of the brain's reading network as a result of intervention in children with ASD. These novel findings provide valuable insights into the neuroplasticity of brain areas underlying reading and the impact of intensive intervention in modifying them in children with ASD. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2965–2979, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS): long-term effectiveness and safety outcomes.

CONTEXT The Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study evaluates the effectiveness of fluoxetine hydrochloride therapy, cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and their combination in adolescents with major depressive disorder. OBJECTIVE To report effectiveness outcomes across 36 weeks of randomized treatment. DESIGN AND SETTING Randomized, controlled trial conducted in 13 academic and community sites in the United States. Cognitive behavior and combination therapies were not masked, whereas administration of placebo and fluoxetine was double-blind through 12 weeks, after which treatments were unblinded. Patients assigned to placebo were treated openly after week 12, and the placebo group is not included in these analyses by design. PARTICIPANTS Three hundred twenty-seven patients aged 12 to 17 years with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of major depressive disorder. INTERVENTIONS All treatments were administered per protocol. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary dependent measures rated blind to treatment status by an independent evaluator were the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised total score and the response rate, defined as a Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement score of much or very much improved. RESULTS Intention-to-treat analyses on the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised identified a significant time x treatment interaction (P < .001). Rates of response were 73% for combination therapy, 62% for fluoxetine therapy, and 48% for CBT at week 12; 85% for combination therapy, 69% for fluoxetine therapy, and 65% for CBT at week 18; and 86% for combination therapy, 81% for fluoxetine therapy, and 81% for CBT at week 36. Suicidal ideation decreased with treatment, but less so with fluoxetine therapy than with combination therapy or CBT. Suicidal events were more common in patients receiving fluoxetine therapy (14.7%) than combination therapy (8.4%) or CBT (6.3%). CONCLUSIONS In adolescents with moderate to severe depression, treatment with fluoxetine alone or in combination with CBT accelerates the response. Adding CBT to medication enhances the safety of medication. Taking benefits and harms into account, combined treatment appears superior to either monotherapy as a treatment for major depression in adolescents.
An in-depth review of the internal relationships of the EFQM model

Purpose – The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model is widely used as a management tool in companies. Consequently, it is of great importance to understand the relationships within it, and inform managers about appropriate ways to manage events in order to get the desired results in general, and for specific interest groups (stakeholders). The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This paper analyzes the internal relationships of the EFQM model using empirical data from a sample of 199 Spanish companies. Four managers in each company were interviewed, to eliminate single respondent bias. Structural equation modeling is used for the analysis. Findings – The results obtained from the empirical analysis provide evidence of an underlying logic in the EFQM model that does not match the official model. New significant relationships between the enablers and results not considered in the official model have been found. Research limitations/implications – The study foc.
Comparison of Rapid NFT system and conventional methods for identification of nonsaccharolytic gram-negative bacteria

This study examined the Rapid NFT system (Analytab Products, Plainview, N.Y.) to determine its ability to accurately identify 229 clinical isolates of mostly nonsaccharolytic gram-negative rods. Identifications were classified by the following scheme: correct (corresponding to excellent, very good, good, or acceptable identification as listed in the code book); low discrimination (correct identification among a range of listed possibilities, with additional tests necessary for accurate identification); incorrect. Correct identification was considered correct to species and subspecies for all organisms except Alcaligenes faecalis and "Alcaligenes odorans"; "A. faecalis/odorans" was considered a correct response. By using these criteria, 71.6% of the strains were correctly identified, 17.9% were identified with low discrimination, and 10.5% were incorrectly identified. When consideration was made for incorrect identification resulting from taxonomic problems (e.g., Alcaligenes and Moraxella spp.), incorrect identifications fell to 5.2%. The Rapid NFT system was truly rapid and was easy to use and interpret. Its use of carbon substrate assimilation enables it to provide more accurate identification of medically important nonsaccharolytic bacteria than do other commercially available systems.
The Use of Prescription Medications Obtained from Non-medical Sources among Immigrant Latinos in the Rural Southeastern U.S.

We explored the relationships between behavioral, socio-cultural, and psychological characteristics and the use of prescription medications obtained from non-medical sources among predominantly Spanish-speaking Latinos in the rural southeastern U.S. Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) was used to identify, recruit, and enroll immigrant Latinos to participate in an interviewer-administered assessment. A total of 164 respondents were interviewed in 2009. Average age was 34 years old, 64% of respondents were female, and nearly 85% reported being from Mexico. Unweighted and RDS-weighted prevalence estimates of any non-medical source of prescription medications were 22.6% and 15.1%, respectively. In multivariable modeling, respondents who perceived their documentation status as a barrier to health care and those with higher educational attainment were significantly more likely to report use of non-medical sources. Interventions are needed to increase knowledge of eligibility to sources of medical care and treatment and ensure culturally congruent services for immigrant communities in the U.S.
The natural environment: Does it count?

The article discusses the theory of the natural environment in stakeholder models. The definition of a stakeholder usually focuses on groups or individuals who can affect or are affected by the achievement of an organization's objectives. The three aspects of treating the natural environment as the stakeholder are conceptual, ethical, and market related. There is a push to develop ways of thinking about the environment that overcome the traditional environmental approach that has pervaded industrial societies. The goal is to provide alternatives to the split between humans and nature. A major impediment to treating the natural environment as a stakeholder is the way in which the environment is treated in standard economic theory.
SETD5 gene variant associated with mild intellectual disability - a case report.

The recent advent of exome sequencing has allowed for the identification of pathogenic gene variants responsible for a variety of diseases that were previously clinically diagnosed, with no underlying molecular etiology. Among these conditions, intellectual disability is a prevalent heterogeneous condition, presenting itself in a large spectrum of intensity, in some cases associated with congenital malformations, behavioral and various other intellectual development alterations. Here we report on a 36-year-old male patient, with a mild intellectual disability that remained undiagnosed at the molecular level for all his life. Using Nextera Exome Sequencing, a Chr3:9.517. 294 A>AC (c.3848_3849insC) SETD5 gene insertion was found. This rare variant was classified as likely pathogenic due to its frameshift nature in the gene, in which loss-of-function mutations have been previously reported to cause intellectual disability, as well as a 3p25.3 microdeletion phenotype. It is possible that this variant shows partial activity, due to its gene localization, which would explain the patient's mild phenotype when compared with other reports.
Inflation-Proof Currency? The Feasibility of Variable Commodity Standards

Under a proposal by Robert L. Greenfield and Leland B. Yeager (1989), the value of currency is tied to the value of a defined basket of goods by indirect convertibility: the note-issuing bank offers to redeem its currency for sufficient gold to buy the basket in the market. The authors find that this arrangement cannot be applied to the currency that is the medium of account for quoting prices of goods and that it would imply unlimited change in the gold price when the price of the basket deviates from unity. A feedback rule with slower price adjustment may, however, be feasible. Copyright 1993 by Ohio State University Press.
The Impact of Personal Resources and Job Crafting Interventions on Work Engagement and Performance

This study examined the impact of organizational interventions on work engagement and performance. Based on the job demands–resources model, we hypothesized that a personal resources intervention and a job crafting intervention would have a positive impact on work engagement and performance. We used a quasi-experimental design with a control group. Primary school teachers participated in the study at two time points with six weeks between the measurements ( N = 102). The results showed that the personal resources intervention had a positive causal effect on work engagement. Additionally, the joint personal resources and job crafting intervention had a positive impact on self-ratings of job performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Real-Time Determinants of Fiscal Policies in the Euro Area: Fiscal Rules, Cyclical Conditions and Elections

Abstract We examine the impact of four factors on the fiscal policies of the euro-area countries over the last two decades: the state of public finances, the European fiscal rules, cyclical conditions and general elections. We rely on information actually available to policymakers at the time of budgeting in constructing our explanatory variables. Our estimates indicate that policies have reacted to the state of public finances in a stabilizing manner. The European rules have significantly affected the behaviour of countries with excessive deficits. Apart from these cases, the rules appear to have reaffirmed existing preferences. We find a relatively large symmetrical counter-cyclical reaction of fiscal policy and strong evidence of a political budget cycle. The electoral manipulation of fiscal policy, however, occurs only if the macroeconomic context is favourable.
Rectangular shaped microstrip patch antenna with multiple slits and slots

This paper presents a complex microstrip patch antenna design for Ku-band satellite communication applications. FR4 and RogerRT6002 have alternatively been used as substrates having dielectric constant of 4.4 and 2.94 respectively. The patch ground and feedlines are made of copper. The proposed antenna is unique in shape with rectangular slots. The performance of the antenna has been analyzed in terms of far field gain. The most significant results were obtained using FR4 substrate, which gave a gain of 7.88 dB, at 11.32 GHz and a reflection coefficient of −10.48 dB. The final microstrip patch antenna design was simulated, built and tested. Simulated and measured S11 frequencies perfectly match at 11.32 GHz with simulated and measured magnitudes of − 10.48 dB and −29.64 dB respectively.
Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding Proteins BPI and LBP Form Different Types of Complexes with LPS*

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-binding protein (LBP) and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) are closely related LPS-binding proteins whose binding to LPS has markedly different functional consequences. To gain better insight into the possible basis of these functional differences, the physical properties of LBP-LPS and BPI-LPS complexes have been compared in this study by sedimentation, light scattering, and fluorescence analyses. These studies reveal dramatic differences in the physical properties of LPS complexed to LBP versus BPI. They suggest that of the two proteins, only LBP can disperse LPS aggegates. However, BPI can enhance both the sedimentation velocity and apparent size of LPS aggregates while inhibiting LPS-LBP binding even at very low (1:40 to 1:20) BPI:LPS molar ratios.
The Effect of Catholic Secondary Schooling on Educational Attainment

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the effect of Catholic secondary schooling on high-school graduation rates and also examines Catholic schooling's effect on college graduation rates and future wages. The paper uses data from the National Catholic Educational Association and the Survey of Churches and Church Membership to construct measures of access to Catholic secondary schooling for each county in the United States. These measures of access provide potential instruments for Catholic school attendance. The results indicate that Catholic secondary schools are geographically concentrated in urban areas and that Catholic schooling greatly increases educational attainment among urban minorities. The gains from Catholic schooling are modest for urban whites and negligible for suburban whites. Related analyses suggest that urban minorities benefit greatly from access to Catholic schooling primarily because the public schools available to them are quite poor.
Performance Gaps and Change in Israeli Nonprofit Services: A Stakeholder Approach

The present study tests how differences between public and private stakeholders in definitions of performance influence organizational change in nonprofit human services. The results show that larger gaps in performance between the organization and its public stakeholders increase the probability of change, whereas more frequent reporting to the private stakeholders, but not performance gaps, results in a lower likelihood of change.
Household Consumption Smoothing in Tanzania's Kagera Region

The full consumption insurance hypothesis is tested using a dataset collected in the Kagera region. The full consumption insurance hypothesis is rejected in all cases. However, all coefficients for the change (in natural logarithm) of income are small. In the CARA preference cases the coefficients for change in income were larger when we estimated them in all clusters than when we estimated them only in rural clusters. In the CRRA preference cases the coefficients for the change in natural logarithm in income are smaller when we estimate them in all clusters than when we estimate them only in rural clusters.
An Object-Oriented Semantic Clustering Algorithm for High-Resolution Remote Sensing Images Using the Aspect Model

In this letter, we present a novel object-oriented semantic clustering algorithm for high-spatial-resolution remote sensing images using the probabilistic latent semantic analysis (PLSA) model coupled with neighborhood spatial information. First of all, an image collection is generated by partitioning a large satellite image into densely overlapped subimages. Then, the PLSA model is employed to model the image collection. Specifically, the image collection is partitioned into two subsets. One is used to learn topic models, where the number of topics is determined using a minimum description length criterion. The other is folded in using the learned topic models. Therefore, every pixel in each subimage has been allocated a topic label. At last, the cluster label of every pixel in the large satellite image is derived from the topic labels of multiple subimages which cover the pixel in the image collection. Experimental results over a QUICKBIRD image show that the clusters of the proposed algorithm are better than K-means and Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique Algorithm in terms of object-oriented property.
Functional imaging of the visual cortex with bold‐contrast MRI: Hyperventilation decreases signal response

Hypocapnia due to hyperventilation reduces cerebral blood flow and volume. To investigate the effects of hyperventilation on the regional signal response to visual activation using blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), six volunteers were investigated during visual stimulation under normocapnia and hypocapnia conditions. Hyperventilation significantly decreased in visual cortex the BOLD MRI response to visual stimulation (3.97 ± 0.5% [mean ( SD) in normocapnia vs. 0.77 ± 0.7% in hypocapnia, P < 0.01]. In three of six subjects, functional signal changes were reduced to noise level. The reduced stimulus response during hyperventilation is probably due to a decreased overshoot in the blood oxygenation response. These results indicate that BOLD‐contrast functional MRI is highly sensitive to pCO2 changes. Magn Reson Med 41:213‐216, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
INDIVIDUAL CRYOPRESERVATION WITH DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE AND POLYVINYLPYRROLIDONE OF EJACULATES AND POOLED SEMEN OF THREE AVIAN SPECIES

Artificial insemination (AI) has been used for avian reproduction due to the discovery of cryoprotectants extending its usefulness both in production of domestic fowl and conservation of wild species. The goal of this study was to assess the effect on domestic and wild fowl pooled semen and individual ejaculate cryopreservation with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Twenty ejaculates and twenty samples of pooled semen of roosters, pheasants and hawks were frozen in media containing DMSO or PVP. DMSO and PVP cryopreservation are equally effective both for ejaculates and pooled semen. Even PVP is a good alternative since no significant difference was found when compared to DMSO. The fertilizing capacity of fresh and cryopreserved pooled semen was analyzed through AI of hens and female pheasants. Similar fertility rates using DMSO, PVP or frozen-thawed samples demonstrated that reproduction is possible through the use of cryopreserved semen. In the case of female pheasants, the same values were obtained with both cryopreserved and fresh semen.
Hsl1p, a Swe1p Inhibitor, Is Degraded via the Anaphase-Promoting Complex

ABSTRACT Ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of critical cell cycle regulators is a key mechanism exploited by the cell to ensure an irreversible progression of cell cycle events. The anaphase-promoting complex (APC) is a ubiquitin ligase that targets proteins for degradation by the 26S proteasome. Here we identify the Hsl1p protein kinase as an APC substrate that interacts with Cdc20p and Cdh1p, proteins that mediate APC ubiquitination of protein substrates. Hsl1p is absent in G1, accumulates as cells begin to bud, and disappears in late mitosis. Hsl1p is stabilized by mutations inCDH1 and CDC23, both of which result in compromised APC activity. Unlike Hsl1p, Gin4p and Kcc4p, protein kinases that have sequence homology to Hsl1p, were stable in G1-arrested cells containing active APC. Mutation of a destruction box motif within Hsl1p (Hsl1pdb-mut) stabilized Hsl1p. Interestingly, this mutation also disrupted the Hsl1p-Cdc20p interaction and reduced the association between Hsl1p and Cdh1p in coimmunoprecipitation studies. These findings suggest that the destruction box motif is required for Cdc20p and, to a lesser extent, for Cdh1p to target Hsl1p to the APC for ubiquitination. Hsl1p has been previously shown to inhibit Swe1p, a protein kinase that negatively regulates the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28p, by promoting Swe1p degradation via SCFMet30 in a bud morphogenesis checkpoint. Results of the present work indicate that Hsl1p is degraded in an APC-dependent manner and suggest a link between the SCF (Skp1-cullin-F box) and APC-proteolytic systems that may help to coordinate the proper progression of cell cycle events.
WTO effectiveness in resolving transatlantic trade-environment conflict

Purpose – One of the major strategic challenges facing the transatlantic trade relationship is the ability to regulate such risk areas as the environment whilst maintaining important trade flows. Much scholarship has emphasised formal United States (US)‐European Union (EU) trade disputes when considering the treatment of risk. However, these cases represent a minority of the trade conflict at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). A majority of trade conflict gets raised, debated and resolved informally in the WTO committee structure. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is the WTO institutional arrangement that seeks to reconcile environmental, health and food safety regulations with trade objectives. The SPS embodies “in‐house” dispute resolution mechanisms that are based on the notion of constructive engagement. Mechanisms like ad hoc consultations, registering official protests, use of the chair's good offices and coordination with international standard setting organisations have been effectiv.