Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electrodiagnostic criteria for acute and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy

Electrodiagnosis plays an important role in the early detection and characterization of inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies, because timely treatment reduces morbidity and disability. The challenge consists of defining electrodiagnostic criteria that are highly specific for primary demyelination but sufficiently sensitive to be useful in clinical practice. We compared 10 published sets of criteria in 53 patients with demyelinating Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) and 28 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). Specificity of criteria sets was tested in 40 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 32 with diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN). Sensitivity ranged from 24 to 83% (mean, 54.3%) in GBS and 39 to 89% (mean, 64.9%) in CIDP. With regard to ALS, specificity was 100% for nine sets but was 97% in one. In contrast, 3–66% of DPN patients fulfilled criteria in eight of ten sets. We propose a set of criteria with 72% and 75% sensitivity in our GBS and CIDP patient series, respectively, and 100% specificity with regard to ALS and DPN. Our data illustrate that most, but not all, patients can be electrodiagnostically ascertained. Muscle Nerve 29: 565–574, 2004
Early Childcare and Child Development

Abstract Nowadays many more young children experience non-maternal childcare than in the past. From a theoretical perspective, the effect this may have on their cognitive and behavioural development is unclear. This paper uses data from the UK for a sample of children in the Millennium Cohort Study, whose mothers were working when they were nine months old, to test how different forms of childcare at an early age play a role in the production of cognitive skills and the behavioural development of young children (measured at age three). The results show that formal group care is positively associated with school readiness test scores. But, unlike previous research, we find no association between formal group care and problem behaviour. Grandparent care, which has received negative attention in the past, is shown to be positively associated with vocabulary test scores, but also positively related to problem behavioural scores.
Unusual brain growth patterns in early life in patients with autistic disorder

Objective: To quantify developmental abnormalities in cerebral and cerebellar volume in autism. Methods: The authors studied 60 autistic and 52 normal boys (age, 2 to 16 years) using MRI. Thirty autistic boys were diagnosed and scanned when 5 years or older. The other 30 were scanned when 2 through 4 years of age and then diagnosed with autism at least 2.5 years later, at an age when the diagnosis of autism is more reliable. Results: Neonatal head circumferences from clinical records were available for 14 of 15 autistic 2- to 5-year-olds and, on average, were normal (35.1 ± 1.3 cm versus clinical norms: 34.6 ± 1.6 cm), indicative of normal overall brain volume at birth; one measure was above the 95th percentile. By ages 2 to 4 years, 90% of autistic boys had a brain volume larger than normal average, and 37% met criteria for developmental macrencephaly. Autistic 2- to 3-year-olds had more cerebral (18%) and cerebellar (39%) white matter, and more cerebral cortical gray matter (12%) than normal, whereas older autistic children and adolescents did not have such enlarged gray and white matter volumes. In the cerebellum, autistic boys had less gray matter, smaller ratio of gray to white matter, and smaller vermis lobules VI–VII than normal controls. Conclusions: Abnormal regulation of brain growth in autism results in early overgrowth followed by abnormally slowed growth. Hyperplasia was present in cerebral gray matter and cerebral and cerebellar white matter in early life in patients with autism.
The Use of Objects and Pictures as Language Stimuli: Influence On Response Complexity

The influence of object and picture stimuli on the language production of second-grade subjects was investigated. The subjects were presented object or pictorial stimuli and asked to respond to open-ended questions about them. The complexity of the language production was evaluated on the following measures: total words used, total words used in each category, mean length of response, and total sentences used. Statistical anallyses revealed that the object group produced a significantly greater number of total sentences. In addition, type-token ratios and Pearson-r values are reported for each word category studied. Implications for further research and suggestions for the practicing speech-language pathologist are also provided.
Lyman α absorption at low redshifts and hot gas in galactic haloes

Motivated by recent observation of Lanzetta et al. that most luminous galaxies at low redshifts produce $\lya$ absorption at impact parameter $l\lsim 160 \kpch$, we propose that these absorbers are clouds confined by the pressure of ambient hot gas in galactic haloes. We determine the properties of this hot gas and of the absorption systems on the basis of observational and theoretical constraints. The absorbing clouds need to be replenished on about one orbital time ($\sim 10^9$ yrs) in the galactic halo. The pressure and temperature of the gas at radius $r\sim 100\kpc$ are $P=(10-100){\rm cm^{-3} K}$, $T=10^{(5.5-6.5)}{\rm K}$. The model requires that about 10 per cent of the gas in low-redshift galactic haloes is in the hot phase. Such gas in galactic haloes emits x-ray with bolometric luminosity of the order $10^{37-40}{\rm erg\,s^{-1}}$. The plausibility for such gas to exist in current models of galaxy formation is discussed.
Am I "Pushed" to Loaf at Work? A Study of Push Notification Triggered Mobile-loafing

With the prevalent use of smartphones and the emergence of the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications technology (4G), an increasing number of employees use their smartphones with cellular data for non-work related purposes during working hours. Compared to traditional cyberloafing, smartphone with cellular data provides a more convenient and private access to the Internet without any restriction of the company network. In this study, we introduce a new construct called mobile-loafing to describe this phenomenon. To understand the antecedents and consequences of mobileloafing, we build a new research model of push notification triggered mobile-loafing. We argue that push notification is positively related to mobile-loafing, while notification timing and notification source type moderate this relationship. In addition, the relationship between mobile-loafing and productivity has an inverted U-shape. To empirically test the model, a lab experiment with a 2×2×2 design will be conducted.
Project SEEL

This article presents preliminary outcome data collected as Project SEEL (Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy Instruction) was implemented in a dual-language kindergarten classroom. Information regarding the children's progress, participation in instructional activities, and performance on trained versus untrained targets was obtained, along with parent and child satisfaction data. The authors transcribed and analyzed videotaped segments of interactions, collected samples of the children's reading and writing, interviewed the children and their parents, and monitored the children's progress. The children made gains in skills, demonstrated high interest in the activities, and made relevant contributions to the coconstruction of texts in the story enactments. No differences between reading and writing of trained versus untrained targets were found, however, most likely because the children had acquired generalized phonics skills by the time the comparisons were made.
Do Children Find Movements Which Cross the Body Midline Difficult?

Young children asked to make hand movements which cross the body are likely to respond with a movement confined to the same body side as the hand used. This crosslateral inhibition effect (CIE) features in Kephart's (1971) perceptualmotor theory; there is an extensive, earlier, literature on CIE in adults following cerebral insult; since the twenties, attempts have been made to relate developmental, clinical and neuropathological findings. In the present study 120 children aged from 3 to 8 years faced and copied hand movements of a model in a procedure following Head's (1920) Hand, Eye and Ear Test. CIE was confirmed, but differences between groups did not convincingly relate to age. CIE was greatest not at 3, 4 or 5 but at 6 years; further, 4-year-olds subjects made more preferred hand crosslateral responses than any other group. Analysis of imitation performance showed that older subjects applied a “proximity” strategy to both body part touched and hand use, whereas younger subjects disregarded the latter. It is argued that developmental CIE stems from procedural constraints and an agerelated choice of response strategy, and not learning related to a lateral bifurcation of perceptual-motor organization.
Pulmonary Hemodynamics and Right Ventricular Function in Hypertension

SUMMARYPulmonary and systemic hemodynamics in 16 hypertensive subjects (group I) with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (ECG and echo criteria) and in 17 hypertensive subjects with ECG signs of LV strain (group II), were compared with those in 14 normal individuals. An augmented pulmonary arteriolar resistance (PAR) in group I and to a larger extent in group II accounted for the pulmonary pressure elevation in both groups. Increase in PAR was unrelated to pulmonary blood flow and volume, pleural pressure, arterial PO2, PCO2 and pH, and could not be explained entirely by the left ventricular end-diastolic pressure changes.In group I, left (L.MSEJR) and right (R.MSEJR) mean systolic ejection rate, stroke index (SI) and mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (VCF) were enhanced in spite of the heightened pressure load on both sides of the heart. In group II, a large reduction of SI, L.MSEJR, R.MSEJR and VCF, as well as the relationship between ventricular filling pressures and SI, documented a compromised performance of both ventricles.Findings indicate that: systemic hypertension is associated with elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure and of PAR which is not necessarily a consequence of impairment in LV function; LV hypertrophy is associated with enhanced performance of either ventricle; in coincidence with development of ECG signs of LV strain, the performance of both sides of the heart deteriorates.A functional interdependence of the two ventricles is suggested.
Children’s persistent lying, gender differences, and disruptive behaviours: A longitudinal perspective

Background: Although lying by children can be a serious problem for parents and educators, there are hardly any longitudinal data to help understand its development. The aim of this study was to understand the stability of consistent lying from 6 to 8 years of age, and its association with other behaviour problems rated concurrently and subsequently. Methods: Teachers and mothers rated lying and disruptive behaviours of a population sample of boys (N = 549) and girls (N = 579) for three consecutive years when the children were 6, 7, and 8. Teachers also rated children’s disruptive behaviours at ages 10 and 11. Results: Mothers tended to rate their children as lying more often than teachers did. Girls were rated by both adults and across ages, as lying less than boys. The number of consistent liars (i.e., lying according to both adults at a given age) was the same at different ages. Persistent liars (consistent liars from ages 6 to 8) were rated more disruptive concurrently and subsequently by teachers. However, their disruptive behaviours did not increase from ages 6, 7, and 8 through ages 10 and 11 compared to other groups. Conclusions: Lying is common for 6- to 8-year-old children, but more frequent for males. Frequent lying, as reported by mothers and teachers, appears to become persistent by 7 years of age. Persistent lying was concurrently associated to disruptive behaviour problems. Some patterns of lying were also predictive of increases in disruptive behaviour but this finding was inconsistent and suggested the need for further research. Future studies need also to focus on the content of the lies, and their timing, to understand their function.
Powering-up Wireless Sensor Nodes Utilizing Rechargeable Batteries and an Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvesting System

This paper presents a wireless sensor node (WSN) system where an electromagnetic (EM) energy harvester is utilized for charging its rechargeable batteries while the system is operational. The capability and the performance of an in-house low-frequency EM energy harvester for charging rechargeable NiMH batteries were experimentally verified in comparison to a regular battery charger. Furthermore, the power consumption of MicaZ motes, used as the WSN, was evaluated in detail for different operation conditions. The battery voltage and current were experimentally monitored during the operation of the MicaZ sensor node equipped with the EM vibration energy harvester. A compact (24.5 cm 3 ) in-house EM energy harvester provides approximately 65 µA charging current to the batteries when excited by 0.4 g acceleration at 7.4 Hz. It has been shown that the current demand of the MicaZ mote can be compensated for by the energy harvester for a specific low-power operation scenario, with more than a 10-fold increase in the battery lifetime. The presented results demonstrate the autonomous operation of the WSN, with the utilization of a vibration-based energy harvester.
Adsorption of Formaldehyde on Treated Activated Carbon and Activated Alumina

Formaldehyde is extensively used for disinfection and antisepsis in medical facilities and especially in textile and paint industries as a solvent. Owing to the higher concentration of formaldehyde, both in waste effluents and local environment of medical facilities and industries, it has been reported to cause cancer and as an irritant to eyes and skin. The removal efficiency and the adsorption mechanism of formaldehyde onto the treated activated carbons and activated alumina were studied to analyze the effect of modified surface chemistry of adsorbents. The adsorption capacities of all the selected adsorbents were investigated in batch study at varying contact time and initial concentration of formaldehyde at STP. It was found that commercially implemented activated alumina, treated with effective nucleophile, showed significant formaldehyde adsorption with less variation in adsorption capacity even with decrease in initial concentration of adsorbate. These set of experiments indicate that acidity of formaldehyde can be exploited for its removal from waste effluent and air. The optimization studies were carried out to find out the optimum conditions for this adsorption process with adsorption model fitting and kinetic studies. The investigation results were evaluated on per gram of adsorbent basis to predict feasibility of scaling up at commercial level.
Lung recruitment improves right ventricular performance after cardiopulmonary bypass: A randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND Atelectasis after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) can affect right ventricular (RV) performance by increasing its outflow impedance. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine whether a lung recruitment manoeuvre improves RV function by re-aerating the lung after CPB. DESIGN Randomised controlled study. SETTING Single-institution study, community hospital, Córdoba, Argentina. PATIENTS Forty anaesthetised patients with New York Heart Association class I or II, preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction at least 50% and Euroscore 6 or less scheduled for cardiac surgery with CPB. INTERVENTIONS Patients were assigned to receive either standard ventilation with 6 cmH2O of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP; group C, n = 20) or standard ventilation with a recruitment manoeuvre and 10 cmH2O of PEEP after surgery (group RM, n = 20). RV function, left ventricular cardiac index (CI) and lung aeration were assessed by transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) before, at the end of surgery and 30 min after surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES RV function parameters and atelectasis assessed by TOE. RESULTS Haemodynamic data and atelectasis were similar between groups before surgery. At the end of surgery, CI had decreased from 2.9 ± 1.1 to 2.6 ± 0.9 l min−1 m−2 in group C (P = 0.24) and from 2.8 ± 1.0 to 2.6 ± 0.8 l min−1 m−2 in group RM (P = 0.32). TOE-derived RV function parameters confirmed a mild decrease in RV performance in 95% of patients, without significant differences between groups (multivariate Hotelling t-test P = 0.16). Atelectasis was present in 18 patients in group C and 19 patients in group RM (P = 0.88). After surgery, CI decreased further from 2.6 to 2.4 l min−1 m−2 in group C (P = 0.17) but increased from 2.6 to 3.7 l min−1 m−2 in group RM (P < 0.001). TOE-derived RV function parameters improved only in group RM (Hotelling t-test P < 0.001). Atelectasis was present in 100% of patients in group C but only in 10% of those in group RM (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Atelectasis after CPB impairs RV function but this can be resolved by lung recruitment using 10 cmH2O of PEEP. TRIAL REGISTRATION Protocol started on October 2014.
Information Systems Strategic Planning: A Model for Implementation in Changing Organizations

In this paper, information systems (IS) strategic planning is assessed from a theoretical perspective, and related to organizational change. Based on the proposition that information systems is a domain which spans both the interpretivist and functionalist paradigms, an IS strategic planning framework is developed whereby the debating and design issues necessary to the success of IS strategy may be combined, and the whole aligned with corporate strategy. A complementarist approach to IS strategy formulation, and future development based on critical social theory is recommended. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
A novel link between stress and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection: sympathetic hyperactivity stimulates HCMV activation.

Recently, inflammatory mediators such as TNFalpha were identified as triggering active human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. Here, we demonstrate that a highly stressful event in the absence of systemic inflammation, as observed in patients with acute myocardial infarction, leads to the development of an active HCMV infection in latently infected patients. Elucidating the molecular mechanism of virus activation, we could show that catecholamines directly stimulate the HCMV immediate-early (IE) enhancer/promoter in monocytic cells via beta-2 adrenergic receptors. Subsequent activation of the cAMP/PK-A-signaling pathway results in enhanced synthesis and binding of the transcription factor CREB-1/ATF-1 to the cAMP-responsive elements within the IE enhancer. Epinephrine also enhanced HCMV gene expression in infected THP-1 cells by about 50% in three of four experiments. These data suggest that HCMV, like HSV-1 and VZV, can be (re)activated under stress conditions.
Issue Comparisons and Ordinal Priming

We consider a form of media effect involving comparisons between similar events or problems that differ in magnitude along some common dimension. We propose that such comparisons involve “ordinal priming” when they establish a single schema for evaluation and suggest a rank order among two or more cases, as in the statement that the current economic crisis is the worst since the Great Depression. We explore the direction of opinion shift in ordinal priming using an experiment involving four issues. Results show that, on two of the four issues, comparisons shift opinion about the target issue in the direction of assimilation toward more negative assessment. We find that this effect is contingent on the issue and is moderated by cognitive sophistication.
ArchMatrix: a visual interactive system for graph-based knowledge exploration in archaeology

This paper presents the design and development of ArchMatrix, a visual interactive system that supports archaeologists in archiving, managing and studying the findings collected during archaeological excavations. This work allowed to deepen the study of participatory design in interdisciplinary communities and was carried out by computer scientists in close collaboration with archaeologists. To overcome the several issues that characterize the communication among different domain experts, participatory design's principles have been applied. The ArchMatrix system implements the Harris Matrix method, used both in archaeology and in architecture to describe the position (absolute and relative) of stratigraphic units. ArchMatrix relies on a graph database that enables to apply advanced information retrieval strategies. In this way, archaeologists are supported in developing new opportunities for investigation to increase their knowledge, improve their traditional working practices and to develop new ones.
High-quality Texture-based Flow Visualization on Surfaces

In this paper, we present a high-quality texture-based approach for the visualization of vector fields on surface. It adopts a scheme of streamline enhancement by applying a ID high-pass filter to flow textures along the orthogonal flow direction to enhance the intensity contrast among streamlines and improve the image quality of flow textures. The scheme of edge detection and supplement is used in our approach to modulate the characteristic of particles flow. Our algorithm is image space based and can achieve a real-time rendering performance on a personal computer by using parallel processing ability of current graphics hardware.
PSO-based Parameter Estimation of Nonlinear Kinetic Models for β-Mannanase Fermentation

Particle swarm optimization (PSO), as a novel evolutionary algorithm involved in social interaction for global space search, was firstly used in kinetic parameter estimation. Based on three developed nonlinear kinetic equations for bacterial cell growth, total sugar utilization and -mannanase production by Bacillus licheniformis under the support of a batch fermentation process, various PSO algorithms as well as gene algorithms (GA) were developed to estimate kinetic parameters. The performance comparison among these algorithms indicates the improved PSO (Trelea 1) is most suitable for kinetic parameter estimation of -mannanase fermentation. In order to find the physical-chemical-meanings of kinetic parameters from many optimized results, multiobjective optimization with a normalized weight method was adopted. The 9 desired parameters in equations were obtained by the Trelea 1 type PSO with two batches fermentation data, and the results predicted by the models were also in good agreement with the experimental observations.
Regulation of the trfA and trfB promoters of broad host range plasmid RK2: identification of sequences essential for regulation by trfB/korA/korD.

Using a plasmid containing a transcriptional fusion in which the E.coli galK gene is expressed from the trfB promoter of broad host range plasmid RK2 we show that transcription from the trfB promoter is repressed by the products of both the trfB and korB genes as we have previously predicted from the sequence homology of the trfA and trfB promoters and the fact that the trfA promoter is regulated by trfB and korB. These loci, trfB and korB are normally transcribed from the trfB promoter. Thus the trfB incC korB operon of RK2 is doubly autogeneously regulated. In addition, we describe the isolation and characterization of a mutant trfA promoter which has become insensitive to repression by trfB as a result of a point mutation within the inverted repeat sequence previously predicted to be the trfB protein binding site. These results provide strong evidence for our previously proposed model for control of transcription from the trfA and trfB promoters.