Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hypo- and hyper-connectivity in default mode network related to social impairment in tweens with autism spectrum disorder

Background. Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder, marked by impairment in social communication and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Accumulating data suggests that alterations in functional connectivity might contribute to these deficits. Whereas functional connectivity in resting state fMRI is expressed by several resting-state networks, for this study we examined only few of them: auditory, language, salience and default mode networks. Our particular interest was in the default mode network (DMN), given its age dependent alterations of functional connectivity and its relation to social communication. Methods. Since the studies investigating young children (6-8 years) with autism have found hypo-connectivity in DMN and studies on adolescents (12-16 years old) with autism have found hyper-connectivity in the DMN, we were interested in connectivity pattern during the age of 8 to 12, so we investigated the role of altered intrinsic connectivity in 16 children (mean age 9.75 ±1.6 years) with autism spectrum disorder compared to 16 typically developing controls in the DMN and other resting-state networks. Results. Our results show that, compared to controls, the group with autism spectrum disorder showed signs of both hypoand hyper-connectivity in different regions of the resting-state networks (Precuneus network and DMN) related to social communication. Conclusion. We suggests that transition period from childhood to adolescence carries the complexity of functional connectivity from both age groups (children and adolescents). Regions that showed differences in functional connectivity were discussed in relation to social communication difficulties.
Open source e-learning anxiety, self-efficacy and acceptance – a partial least square approach

￻ Abstract— Open source electronic learning (elearning) has given rise to a new way of learning for students. Implementation of open source elearning provides quick benefits to educational administrators and educators but may present issues to students as users. Students may feel challenged to accept elearning immediately as a new mode of learning, may experience computer application anxiety and may not have the confidence to use it quickly as desired. The paper reports the implementation of Claroline an open source e� learning at a public institution of higher learning in Malaysia. The research aims to establish among postgraduate business students (1) the acceptance of open source elearning, that is, in terms of intention to use, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use (2) the relationship between computer application anxiety and elearning acceptance (3) the relationship between selfefficacy and elearning acceptance. Students were encouraged to use the functions available in Claroline although not mandatory. A survey questionnaire was used as the instrument to collect data about elearning acceptance. Partial least square was used for data analysis. There is evidence to suggest open source elearning acceptance through significant relationships among students' perceived ease of use and intention to use. Contrary to past findings, there was no link between computer application anxiety and elearning acceptance. There was, however, a positive and significant link between selfefficacy and intention to use. The implications of the research are discussed herein.
Precise interprocedural chopping

The notion of a program slice, originally introduced by Mark Weiser, is a fundamental operation for addressing many software-engineering problems, including program understanding, debugging, maintenance, testing, and merging. A slice determines either all program elements that might affect a given element (“backward slicing”) or all elements that could be affected by a given element (“forward slicing”). Jackson and Rollins introduced a related operation, called program chopping, which is a kind of “filtered” slice: Chopping answers questions of the form “What are all the program elements v that serve to transmit effects from a given source element s to a given target element t? ” However, Jackson and Rollins defineonly a limited form of chopping: Among other restrictions, they impose the restriction that s and t be in the same procedure. This paper solves the unrestricted interprocedural chopping problem, as well as a variety of other useful variants of interprocedural chopping.
A Multidimensional Framework for Congestion Control in B-ISDN

A multidimensional approach to congestion control in integrated broadband networks is described, and a framework for a congestion control strategy that is applicable to virtual-circuit-based services as well as connectionless services is developed. The proposed congestion control strategy is based on a set of temporal controls, classification of services is based on their traffic characteristics and quality of service (QOS) requirements, and partitioning of the control space is based on the reaction time of the controls and the network time constants. The congestion control framework is simple, scales as the delay-bandwidth product increases, and is well suited for the asynchronous transfer mode that is being promoted as the underlying transport for B-ISDN. >
Advances in the psychology of thinking

Computational models of expertise, K. Lamberts and R. Pfeifer empirical advances in the study of expertise, A.J.K. Green and K.J. Gilhooly bias in thinking and judgement, J.St.B.T. Evans advances in the psychology of reasoning - metadeduction, R. Byrne et al insight explained through problem perception and memory retrieval, S. Ohlsson hypothesis testing, P. Thagard approaches, models and issues in computational scientific discovery, P. Cheng using experiments to determine the heuristic value of falsification, M.E. Gorman.
Enzymatic Discovery of a HER-2/neu Epitope That Generates Cross-Reactive T Cells

Patients with HER-2/neu–expressing breast cancer remain at risk for relapse following standard therapy. Vaccines targeting HER-2/neu to prevent relapse are in various phases of clinical testing. Many vaccines incorporate the HER-2/neu HLA-A2–binding peptide p369–377 (KIFGSLAFL), because it has been shown that CTLs specific for this epitope can directly kill HER-2/neu–overexpressing breast cancer cells. Thus, understanding how tumors process this epitope may be important for identifying those patients who would benefit from immunization. Proteasome preparations were used to determine if p369–377 was processed from larger HER-2/neu–derived fragments. HPLC, mass spectrometry, cytotoxicity assays, IFN-γ ELISPOT, and human breast cancer cell lines were used to assess the proteolytic fragments. Processing of p369–377 was not detected by purified 20S proteasome and immunoproteasome, indicating that tumor cells may not be capable of processing this Ag from the HER-2/neu protein and presenting it in the context of HLA class I. Instead, we show that other extracellular domain HER-2/neu peptide sequences are consistently processed by the proteasomes. One of these sequences, p373–382 (SLAFLPESFD), bound HLA-A2 stronger than did p369–377. CTLs specific for p373–382 recognized both p373–382 and p369–377 complexed with HLA-A2. CTLs specific for p373–382 also killed human breast cancer cell lines at higher levels than did CTLs specific for p369–377. Conversely, CTLs specific for p369–377 recognized p373–382. Peptide p373–382 is a candidate epitope for breast cancer vaccines, as it is processed by proteasomes and binds HLA-A2.
Time to rehospitalization in patients with major depressive disorder taking venlafaxine or fluoxetine.

OBJECTIVE The combined serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, venlafaxine, has demonstrated better short-term efficacy than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluoxetine in pooled analyses. This study aimed to compare venlafaxine and fluoxetine treatment in the long-term outcome measure, time to rehospitalization, in patients with major depressive disorder. Other clinical factors that may influence time to rehospitalization were also explored. METHOD Han Chinese patients were admitted to the depression inpatient unit of a major psychiatric center in Taiwan from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2003. Patients with major depressive disorder (DSM-IV) who showed favorable treatment response to venlafaxine (mean +/- SD dose = 116.5 +/- 42.5 mg/day; N = 122) or fluoxetine (mean +/- SD dose = 25.1 +/- 9.0 mg/day; N = 80) during hospitalization were followed up for 1 year after discharge under naturalistic conditions. The 2 treatment groups were similar in demographic and clinical characteristics: sex, age, age at illness onset, comorbid anxiety disorders, personality disorders, nicotine dependence, psychotic features, adjunctive antipsychotics use, duration of index hospitalization, and number of previous hospitalizations. Time to rehospitalization was measured by the Kaplan-Meier method. Possible associations of rehospitalization with other covariates were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model. RESULTS No significant difference for the time to rehospitalization was found between the 2 groups by the log-rank test. The number of previous admissions (hazard ratio = 1.331, 95% CI = 1.153 to 1.538, p = .000), but not other factors, increased the risk of rehospitalization. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that venlafaxine and fluoxetine have similar effects on time to rehospitalization in patients with major depressive disorder. The relatively low dose of venlafaxine may have contributed to the negative finding. Previous hospitalization history may raise the risk of rehospitalization. Longer-term, double-blind, randomized, fixed-dose studies are warranted to better delineate the effectiveness of different pharmacotherapeutic regimens for the outcomes of patients with major depressive disorder.
A Novel Family of Serine/Threonine Kinases Participating in Spermiogenesis

The molecular mechanisms regulating the spectacular cytodifferentiation observed during spermiogenesis are poorly understood. We have recently identified a murine testis-specific serine kinase (tssk) 1, constituting a novel subfamily of serine/threonine kinases. Using low stringency screening we have isolated and molecularly characterized a second closely related family member, tssk 2, which is probably the orthologue of the human DGS-G gene. Expression of tssk 1 and tssk 2 was limited to the testis of sexually mature males. Immunohistochemical staining localized both kinases to the cytoplasm of late spermatids and to structures resembling residual bodies. tssk 1 and tssk 2 were absent in released sperms in the lumen of the seminiferous tubules and the epididymis, demonstrating a tight window of expression restricted to the last stages of spermatid maturation. In vitro kinase assays of immunoprecipitates containing either tssk 1 or tssk 2 revealed no autophosphorylation of the kinases, however, they led to serine phosphorylation of a coprecipitating protein of ∼65 kD. A search for interacting proteins using the yeast two-hybrid system with tssk 1 and tssk 2 cDNA as baits and a prey cDNA library from mouse testis, led to the isolation of a novel cDNA, interacting specifically with both tssk 1 and tssk 2, and encoding the coprecipitated 65-kD protein phosphorylated by both kinases. Interestingly, expression of the interacting clone was also testis specific and paralleled the developmental expression observed for the kinases themselves. These results represent the first demonstration of the involvement of a distinct kinase family, the tssk serine/threonine kinases, together with a substrate in the cytodifferentiation of late spermatids to sperms.
Beta spectrin bestows protein 4.1 sensitivity on spectrin-actin interactions

The ability of protein 4.1 to stimulate the binding of spectrin to F- actin has been compared by cosedimentation analysis for three avian (erythrocyte, brain, and brush border) and two mammalian (erythrocyte and brain) spectrin isoforms. Human erythroid protein 4.1 stimulated actin binding of all spectrins except the brush border isoform (TW 260/240). These results suggested that the beta subunit determined the protein 4.1 sensitivity of the heterodimer, since all avian alpha subunits are encoded by a single gene. Tissue-specific posttranslational modification of the alpha subunit was excluded by examining the properties of hybrid spectrins composed of the purified alpha subunit from avian erythrocyte or brush border spectrin and the beta subunit of human erythrocyte spectrin. A hybrid composed of avian brush border alpha and human erythroid beta spectrin ran on nondenaturing gels as a discrete band, migrating near human erythroid spectrin tetramers. The actin-binding activity of this hybrid was stimulated by protein 4.1, while either chain alone was devoid of activity. Therefore, although both subunits were required for actin binding, the sensitivity of the spectrin-actin interaction to protein 4.1 is a property uniquely bestowed on the heterodimer by the beta subunit. The singular insensitivity of brush border spectrin to stimulation by erythroid protein 4.1 was also consistent with the absence of proteins in avian intestinal epithelial cells which were immunoreactive with polyclonal antisera sensitive to all of the known avian and human erythroid 4.1 isoforms.
Mirror Electromyografic Activity in the Upper and Lower Extremity: A Comparison between Endurance Athletes and Non-Athletes

During unimanual motor tasks, muscle activity may not be restricted to the contracting muscle, but rather occurs involuntarily in the contralateral resting limb, even in healthy individuals. This phenomenon has been referred to as mirror electromyographic activity (MEMG). To date, the physiological (non-pathological) form of MEMG has been observed predominately in upper extremities (UE), while remaining sparsely described in lower extremities (LE). Accordingly, evidence regarding the underlying mechanisms and modulation capability of MEMG, i.e., the extent of MEMG in dependency of exerted force during unilateral isometric contractions are insufficiently investigated in terms of LE. Furthermore, it still remains elusive if and how MEMG is affected by long-term exercise training. Here, we provide novel quantitative evidence for physiological MEMG in homologous muscles of LE (tibialis anterior (TA), rectus femoris (RF)) during submaximal unilateral dorsiflexion in healthy young adults. Furthermore, endurance athletes (EA, n = 11) show a higher extent of MEMG in LE compared to non-athletes (NA, n = 11) at high force demands (80% MVC, maximum voluntary contraction). While the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of MEMG still remain elusive, our study indicates, at least indirectly, that sport-related long-term training might affect the amount of MEMG during strong isometric contractions specifically in trained limbs. To support this assumption of exercise-induced limb-specific MEMG modulation, future studies including different sports disciplines with contrasting movement patterns and parameters should additionally be performed.
Role of the Pseudorabies Virus gI Cytoplasmic Domain in Neuroinvasion, Virulence, and Posttranslational N-Linked Glycosylation

ABSTRACT The glycoproteins I and E of pseudorabies virus are important mediators of cell-to-cell spread and virulence in all animal models tested. Although these two proteins form a complex with one another, ascribing any function to the individual proteins has been difficult. We have shown previously, using nonsense mutations, that the N-terminal ectodomain of the gE protein is sufficient for gE-mediated transsynaptic spread whereas the cytoplasmic domain of the protein is required for full expression of virulence. These same studies demonstrated that the cytoplasmic domain of gE is also required for endocytosis of the protein. In this report, we describe the construction of viruses with nonsense mutations in gI that allowed us to determine the contributions of the gI cytoplasmic domain to protein expression as well as virus neuroinvasion and virulence after infection of the rat eye. We also constructed double mutants with nonsense mutations in both gE and gI so that the contributions of both the gE and gI cytoplasmic domains could be determined. We observed that the gI cytoplasmic domain is required for efficient posttranslational modification of the gI protein. The gE cytoplasmic domain has no effect on gE posttranslational glycosylation. In addition, we found that infection of all gE-gI-dependent anterograde circuits projecting from the rat retina requires both ectodomains and at least one of the cytoplasmic domains of the proteins. The gI cytoplasmic domain promotes transsynaptic spread of virus better than the gE cytoplasmic domain. Interestingly, both gE and gI cytoplasmic tails are required for virulence; lack of either one or both results in an attenuated infection. These data suggest that gE and gI play differential roles in mediating directional neuroinvasion of the rat; however, the gE and gI cytoplasmic domains most likely function together to promote virulence.
Origin of tropical American burrowing reptiles by transatlantic rafting

Populations of terrestrial or freshwater taxa that are separated by oceans can be explained by either oceanic dispersal or fragmentation of a previously contiguous land mass. Amphisbaenians, the worm lizards (approx. 165 species), are small squamate reptiles that are uniquely adapted to a burrowing lifestyle and inhabit Africa, South America, Caribbean Islands, North America, Europe and the Middle East. All but a few species are limbless and they rarely leave their subterranean burrows. Given their peculiar habits, the distribution of amphisbaenians has been assumed to be primarily the result of two land-mass fragmentation events: the split of the supercontinent Pangaea starting 200 Myr ago, separating species on the northern land mass (Laurasia) from those on the southern land mass (Gondwana), and the split of South America from Africa 100 Myr ago. Here we show with molecular evidence that oceanic dispersal—on floating islands—played a more prominent role, and that amphisbaenians crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the Eocene (40 Myr ago) resulting in a tropical American radiation representing one-half of all known amphisbaenian species. Until now, only four or five transatlantic dispersal events were known in terrestrial vertebrates. Significantly, this is the first such dispersal event to involve a group that burrows, an unexpected lifestyle for an oceanic disperser.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY AND EVALUATION OF COLLABORATIVE RECOMMENDATION SYSTEMS

Consumers currently enjoy a surplus of goods (books, videos, music, or other items) available to purchase. While this surplus often allows a consumer to find a product tailored to their preferences or needs, the volume of items available may require considerable time or effort on the part of the user to find the most relevant item. Recommendation systems have become a common part of many online business that supply users books, videos, music, or other items to consumers. These systems attempt to provide assistance to consumers in finding the items that fit their preferences. This report presents an overview of recommendation systems. We will also briefly explore the history of recommendation systems and the large boost that was given to research in this field due to the Netflix Challenge. The classical methods for collaborative recommendation systems are reviewed and implemented, and an examination is performed contrasting the complexity and performance among the various models. Finally, current challenges and approaches are discussed.
Fully abstract semantics of additive aspects by translation

We study the denotational semantics of an aspect calculus by compositional translation to a functional language with higher-order store and ML-style references. The calculus is designed to construct only "additive" aspects i.e. those that do not elide the execution of the base computation. Such an aspect calculus is sufficiently expressive to encode before (), after () and around () advice which calls proceed () exactly once. We prove that our translation is adequate i.e. it reflects observational equivalence. Further if a standard object-oriented view of lable is adopted, the translation is fully abstract i.e. it preserves and reflects observational equivalence. A pleasing consequence is that full abstraction of the target-language semantics is thereby inherited by the source-language semantics. This yields the first fully abstract game model for a functional language of additive aspects.
Advances in Brief Age and TP 53 Mutation Frequency in Childhood Malignant Gliomas : Results in a Multi-institutional Cohort 1

Malignant astrocytoma is one of the most deadly primary central nervous system tumors. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the molecular pathways that lead to the development of these tumors in adults, comparatively little analysis has been done in childhood astrocytomas, which are less common and have a more favorable prognosis. Our previous studies of an institutional cohort of children with malignant gliomas suggested the existence of distinct molecular pathways of tumorigenesis in younger versus older children, based on the finding of a high frequency of TP53 mutations in tumors from children >3 years of age at diagnosis, compared with those from younger children. In the current study, the association between TP53 mutations and age was examined in greater detail using the multi-institutional group of children enrolled in Children’s Cancer Group Study 945, the largest cohort of childhood high-grade gliomas analyzed to date. Seventy-seven tumors with centrally reviewed diagnoses of anaplastic astrocytoma or glioblastoma multiforme had sufficient archival histopathological material for microdissection-based genotyping. Sections were examined histologically, and topographic targets that contained malignant tissue were isolated by microdissection and subjected to PCR-based amplification and sequencing of TP53 exons 5–8. Twenty-six tumors (33.8%) had mutations in those exons. Mutations were observed in 2 of 17 tumors (11.8%) from children <3 years of age at diagnosis versus 24 of 60 tumors (40%) from older children, a difference that was statistically significant (P 0.04), in agreement with our previous results. Whereas malignant gliomas in older children have a frequency of mutations comparable to tumors that arise in young adults, those from children <3 years old do not. The association between age and frequency of TP53 mutations among pediatric malignant gliomas indicates the probable existence of two distinct pathways of molecular tumorigenesis in younger versus older children.