Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Young Offenders in Custody: An International Comparison of Mental Health Services

Over the last decade interest in the mental health of young offenders has soared. Given evidence that rates of mental disorders are remarkably high in adolescent offenders, countries have initiated efforts to improve the identification and treatment of mental illness in detained youth. Research examining current mental health screening, assessment, and treatment services has focused largely on American sites; however, there is much to be gained from an international perspective. This article discusses international findings regarding the prevalence of mental illness in detained youth, examines the extent to which countries protect incarcerated youths’ right to treatment, and compares countries’ provision of screening, assessment, and treatment services to youth in custody and the community. Considerable variability is found to exist across countries and despite some advances in practice—particularly in the area of mental health screening—significant gaps remain between best and actual practices. To ensure that young offenders with mental illness receive adequate treatment, local, in-depth reviews of the mental health services provided to young offenders must be conducted across countries. Additionally, policies and procedures for providing services to young offenders with mental illness must be improved, particularly in the areas of custodial and community mental health treatment.
Undiagnosed sleep‐disordered breathing among male nondippers with essential hypertension

Objective A blunting of the nocturnal fall in arterial blood pressure is found in a minority of patients (nondippers) with essential hypertension. We tested whether sleep-disordered breathing (snoring and apnea or hypopnea) might explain such a finding for male patients, among whom its prevalence is much higher. Setting and patients We studied 100 new cases of hypertension in men, observed consecutively by a local group of general practitioners and diagnosed essential hypertensives in a referral clinic. By using 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring with a SpaceLabs 90207 device, 15 patients were classified initially nondippers (daytime ambulatory blood pressure ≥ 136/87 mmHg; night-time decrease by < 10% of the daytime mean), but only 11 were confirmed to be nondippers by continuous blood pressure monitoring with a Finapres device. Ten dippers matched by age, body mass index and mean 24 h blood pressure were used as controls. Main outcome measures Parameters of nocturnal polysomnography. Results During polysomnography, the nondippers exhibited a blunting of the sleep-related fall in blood pressure and an increased variability in blood pressure associated with sleep-disordered breathing (heavy snoring for all, with an apnea or hypopnea index > 10 in 10 cases). Six of the control patients breathed normally and four snored nonapneically. There was a normal fall in nocturnal blood pressure in all 10 cases. Conclusions The nondipper condition appears to be associated with undiagnosed apneic snoring for an unselected population of previously untreated male subjects with a diagnosis of essential hypertension. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring of such patients is of limited diagnostic value.
FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF INTERPHOTORECEPTOR RETINOID‐BINDING PROTEIN *

Abstract– It has been hypothesized that interphotoreceptor retinoid‐binding protein (IRBP) functions as a two‐way carrier of retinoid between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and rod photoreceptors in the vertebrate eye. This hypothesis has been tested in recent studies that have employed purified, initially ligand‐free, bovine IRBP and the “RPE‐eyecup” obtained from the toad (Bufo marinus) eye. The present experiments further characterize the IRBP/RPE‐eyecup system with respect to (i) the solubilization and protection of retinol by IRBP, and (ii) the time course of IRBP‐mediated release of 11‐cis retinal by the RPE. The data, together with previous findings in the IRBP/RPE‐eyecup preparation, support the view that 11‐cis retinal is the principal retinoid released by the RPE into IRBP‐supplemented aqueous medium, and that IRBP in vivo promotes the regeneration of rhodopsin by facilitating the exchange of retinoid between bleached rods and the RPE.
Testing Error Handling Code in Device Drivers Using Characteristic Fault Injection

Device drivers may encounter errors when communicating with OS kernel and hardware. However, error handling code often gets insufficient attention in driver development and testing, because these errors rarely occur in real execution. For this reason, many bugs are hidden in error handling code. Previous approaches for testing error handling code often neglect the characteristics of device drivers, so their efficiency and accuracy are limited. In this paper, we first study the source code of Linux drivers to find useful characteristics of error handling code. Then we use these characteristics in fault injection testing, and propose a novel approach named EH-Test, which can efficiently test error handling code in drivers. To improve the representativeness of injected faults, we design a pattern-based extraction strategy to automatically and accurately extract target functions which can actually fail and trigger error handling code. During execution, we use a monitor to record runtime information and pair checkers to check resource usages. We have evaluated EH-Test on 15 real Linux device drivers and found 50 new bugs in Linux 3.17. 2. The code coverage is also effectively increased. Comparison experiments to previous related approaches also show the effectiveness of EH-Test.
Distal axonopathy with structural persistence in glaucomatous neurodegeneration

An early hallmark of neuronal degeneration is distal transport loss and axon pathology. Glaucoma involves the degeneration of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) neurons and their axons in the optic nerve. Here we show that, like other neurodegenerations, distal axon injury appears early in mouse glaucoma. Where RGC axons terminate in the superior colliculus, reduction of active transport follows a retinotopic pattern resembling glaucomatous vision loss. Like glaucoma, susceptibility to transport deficits increases with age and is not necessarily associated with elevated ocular pressure. Transport deficits progress distal-to-proximal, appearing in the colliculus first followed by more proximal secondary targets and then the optic tract. Transport persists through the optic nerve head before finally failing in the retina. Although axon degeneration also progresses distal-to-proximal, myelinated RGC axons and their presynaptic terminals persist in the colliculus well after transport fails. Thus, distal transport loss is predegenerative and may represent a therapeutic target.
What makes large epidemiological studies comparable?

Repeated cross-sectional surveys have been largely used to assess temporal trends in the prevalence of diseases. To be reliable, these should respect the following simple, but essential, rules: 1) the same source population should be randomly sampled and studied on different occasions, using the same sampling frame; 2) similar numbers of subjects should be selected; 3) the disease should be diagnosed by using the same criteria and identical protocols; and 4) the data should be analysed by specific statistical techniques with appropriate adjustments of the differences in response rates. In the respiratory field, repeated cross-sectional studies have been successfully used to monitor the prevalence of asthma 1–4 and also risk factors, such as smoking 5. The epidemiological diagnosis of asthma, being mainly based on symptoms, requires only validated questionnaires, and the only stringent requirement is that neither questions nor instructions are modified 6, 7. For chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), owing to the greater complexity of diagnosis, even in a clinical setting, it is glaringly obvious that epidemiological studies meet more methodological difficulties than those for asthma. A crucial point in this respect is the use and interpretation of spirometry. In …
Effect of Oral Beta-Hydroxy-Beta-Methylbutyrate (HMB) Supplementation on Physical Performance in Healthy Old Women Over 65 Years: An Open Label Randomized Controlled Trial

Although older people are particularly liable to sarcopenia, limited research is available on beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation in this population, particularly in healthy subjects. In this parallel-group, randomized, controlled, open-label trial, we aimed to evaluate whether an oral supplement containing 1.5 g of calcium HMB for 8 weeks could improve physical performance and muscle strength parameters in a group of community-dwelling healthy older women. Eighty healthy women attending a twice-weekly mild fitness program were divided into two equal groups of 40, and 32 of the treated women and 33 control completed the study. We considered a change in the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) score as the primary outcome and changes in the peak torque (PT) isometric and isokinetic strength of the lower limbs, 6-minute walking test (6MWT), handgrip strength and endurance as secondary outcomes. Body composition was assessed with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and peripheral quantitative computerized tomography (pQCT). The mean difference between the two groups on pre-post change were finally calculated (delta) for each outcome. After 8 weeks, there were no significant differences between the groups’ SPPB, handgrip strength or DXA parameters. The group treated with HMB scored significantly better than the control group for PT isokinetic flexion (delta = 1.56±1.56 Nm; p = 0.03) and extension (delta = 3.32±2.61 Nm; p = 0.03), PT isometric strength (delta = 9.74±3.90 Nm; p = 0.02), 6MWT (delta = 7.67±8.29 m; p = 0.04), handgrip endurance (delta = 21.41±16.28 s; p = 0.02), and muscle density assessed with pQCT. No serious adverse effects were reported in either group. In conclusion, a nutritional supplement containing 1.5 g of calcium HMB for 8 weeks in healthy elderly women had no significant effects on SPPB, but did significantly improve several muscle strength and physical performance parameters. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02118181
Comparative analysis of the domestic cat genome reveals genetic signatures underlying feline biology and domestication

Significance We present highlights of the first complete domestic cat reference genome, to our knowledge. We provide evolutionary assessments of the feline protein-coding genome, population genetic discoveries surrounding domestication, and a resource of domestic cat genetic variants. These analyses span broadly, from carnivore adaptations for hunting behavior to comparative odorant and chemical detection abilities between cats and dogs. We describe how segregating genetic variation in pigmentation phenotypes has reached fixation within a single breed, and also highlight the genomic differences between domestic cats and wildcats. Specifically, the signatures of selection in the domestic cat genome are linked to genes associated with gene knockout models affecting memory, fear-conditioning behavior, and stimulus-reward learning, and potentially point to the processes by which cats became domesticated. Little is known about the genetic changes that distinguish domestic cat populations from their wild progenitors. Here we describe a high-quality domestic cat reference genome assembly and comparative inferences made with other cat breeds, wildcats, and other mammals. Based upon these comparisons, we identified positively selected genes enriched for genes involved in lipid metabolism that underpin adaptations to a hypercarnivorous diet. We also found positive selection signals within genes underlying sensory processes, especially those affecting vision and hearing in the carnivore lineage. We observed an evolutionary tradeoff between functional olfactory and vomeronasal receptor gene repertoires in the cat and dog genomes, with an expansion of the feline chemosensory system for detecting pheromones at the expense of odorant detection. Genomic regions harboring signatures of natural selection that distinguish domestic cats from their wild congeners are enriched in neural crest-related genes associated with behavior and reward in mouse models, as predicted by the domestication syndrome hypothesis. Our description of a previously unidentified allele for the gloving pigmentation pattern found in the Birman breed supports the hypothesis that cat breeds experienced strong selection on specific mutations drawn from random bred populations. Collectively, these findings provide insight into how the process of domestication altered the ancestral wildcat genome and build a resource for future disease mapping and phylogenomic studies across all members of the Felidae.
Application of the RFID Data Mining to an Apparel Field

This paper proposes a new method that efficiently uses the RFID data collected from apparel shops. This method learns prediction models from the data by using data mining techniques. The models represent relationships between the number of sales in the next term and the actions of customers, such as the number of pick-up, the number of fitting, the number of customers, and so on. It is possible to predict sales volume by applying the present RFID data to the models. This paper verifies the efficiency of the method through numerical experiments based on the RFID data collected from two branches of an apparel company.
From computing with numbers to computing with words. manipulation of measurements to manipulation of perceptions

Abstract: Interest in issues relating to consciousness has grown markedly during the last several years. And yet, nobody can claim that consciousness is a well‐understood concept that lends itself to precise analysis. It may be argued that, as a concept, consciousness is much too complex to fit into the conceptual structure of existing theories based on Aristotelian logic and probability theory.
Grading Student Work: Using think aloud to investigate the assessment practices of university lecturers

Marking is important. The grades we give students and the decisions we make about whether they pass or fail coursework and exams are at the heart of our academic standards. "Markers are the gatekeepers for university quality" (Smith & Coombe, 2006:45). Assessment in higher education involves highly decentralised and subject-specific decision-making given credence in the UK context by processes of quality assurance ranging from national agencies and review systems to local teaching team practices in marking and moderation. This quality assurance is currently firmly located within a paradigm of accountability, explicit learning outcomes, constructive alignment (Biggs & Tang, 2007), transparency and criteria-based marking (Quality Assurance Authority, 2006). Whilst much of the assessment system is placed in the public domain, subject to scrutiny and debate, there remains considerable mystery surrounding the marking activity by lecturers that underpins the whole apparatus (Yorke, Bridges & Woolf, 2000). In the assessment of open-ended coursework assignments in higher education Sadler (2009a) identifies anomalies in the apparently systematic appraisal process when using explicit criteria and argues that holistic appraisals using expert judgement offer considerable potential and deserve more rigorous empirical study. This pilot study uses think aloud protocols, asking assessors to verbalise their thinking, to investigate the marking practices of university lecturers as they grade and provide feedback on written coursework assignments. It asks the question, how do lecturers make judgements about student work and what is the role of assessment criteria within that process? The use of think aloud on „live‟ marking of student work presents some ethical risks but is intended to shine some light into the mystery of university marking. This paper presents the emerging findings of the pilot project and begins to evaluate the think aloud method as an approach to investigating the marking practice of university lecturers.
Multi-Speed Gearbox Design Using Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms

Optimal design of a multi-speed gearbox involves different types of decision variables and objectives. Due to lack of efficient classical optimisation techniques, such problems are usually decomposed into tractable subproblems and solved. Moreover, in most cases the explicit mathematical expressions of the problem formulation is exploited to arrive at the optimal solutions. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm, which is capable of solving the original problem involving mixed discrete and real-valued parameters and more than one objectives, and is capable of finding multiple nondominated solutions in a single simulation run. On a number of instantiations of the gearbox design problem having different complexities, the efficacy of NSGA-11 in handling different types of decision variables. constraints, and multiple objectives are demonstrated. A highlight of the suggested procedure is that a post-optimal investigation of the obtained solutions allows a designer to discover important design principles which are otherwise difficult to obtain using other means.
Mycobacterium ulcerans toxic macrolide, mycolactone modulates the host immune response and cellular location of M. ulcerans in vitro and in vivo

Mycobacterium ulcerans produces an extracellular cutaneous infection (Buruli ulcer) characterized by immunosuppression. This is in stark contrast to all other pathogenic Mycobacteria species that cause intracellular, granulomatous infections. The unique mycobacterial pathology of M. ulcerans infection is attributed to a plasmid‐encoded immunomodulatory macrolide toxin, mycolactone. In this article we explore the role of mycolactone in the virulence of M. ulcerans using mycolactone and genetically defined mycolactone negative mutants. In a guinea pig infection model wild‐type (WT) M. ulcerans produces an extracellular infection whereas mycolactone negative mutants produce an intracellular inflammatory infection similar to that of Mycobacterium marinum. Although mycolactone negative mutants are avirulent, they persist for at least 6 weeks. Chemical complementation of M. ulcerans mutants with mycolactone restores WT M. ulcerans pathology. Mycolactone negative mutants are capable of growth within macrophages in vitro whereas macrophages are killed by WT M. ulcerans. The ability of mycolactone to caused delayed cell death via apoptosis has been reported. However, mycolactone also causes cell death via necrosis. In vitro mycolactone has antiphagocytic properties. Neither WT M. ulcerans nor mycolactone negative strains are strong neutrophil attractants. These results suggest that mycolactone is largely responsible for the unique pathology produced by M. ulcerans.
Dressing animated synthetic actors with complex deformable clothes

Discusses the use of physics-based models for animating clothes on synthetic actors in motion. In this approach, cloth pieces are first designed with polygonal panels in two dimensions, and are then seamed and attached to the actor's body in three dimensions. After the clothes are created, physical properties are simulated and then clothes are animated according to the actor's motion in a physical environment. The paper describes the physical models used and then addresses several problems encountered. It examines how to constrain the elements of deformable objects which are either seamed together or attached to rigid moving objects. It also describes a new approach to the problem of handling collisions among the cloth elements themselves, or between a cloth element and a rigid object like the human body. Finally, the paper discusses how to reduce the number of parameters for improving the interface between the animator and the physics-based model
Performance analysis for ST-BICM system with an arbitrary constellation

In this paper, we analyze the performance of ST-BICM (space-time bit-interleaved coded modulation) system employing the arbitrary constellation in quasi-static fading channels. We derive a new upper bound of the frame error probability of the system, which depends only on the product measure. In order to get the product measure, we analyze the type of error sequence, which is defined as the density spectrum of the constituent symbols that yield a certain number of bit errors. The analysis is based on the uniform interleaving, so we average the frame error probability over all possible interleavers. We also derive the statistical distribution of the product measure. Finally, we show that the new upper bound helps to predict the performance of the ST-BICM system with an arbitrary constellation.
Nonpharmacological Cognitive Interventions in Aging and Dementia

There have been increasing efforts to develop cognitive interventions to ameliorate cognitive problems experienced by older adults. In healthy elderly populations, cognitive training has centered on the enhancement of memory and speed of processing, with the goal of maximizing current function and reducing the risk of cognitive decline. Among elderly persons with nonprogressive neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke, there has been an emphasis on rehabilitation to help restore function. Most recently, there has been increased attention on the development of new cognitive techniques to treat persons with progressive neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer disease. The literature is reviewed on current approaches to cognitive interventions in elderly healthy populations, and a particular emphasis is placed on the most recent strides in progressive neurocognitive conditions, particularly Alzheimer disease. Important issues such as study design, the use of ecologically and functionally valid outcome measures, the need to examine heterogeneous populations and cross-cultural variables, and the incorporation of technologically based systems are examined. It is concluded that cognitive interventions in the elderly show considerable promise and deserve further study. (J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 2007;20:239—249)
Regularity Properties of Distance Transformations in Image Analysis

A distance transformation gives for every set in the image plane a function which measures the distance to the set. Several different methods of measuring the distance are possible, and some have undesirable properties. It turns out that many important distances can be defined by infimal convolution. Using this operation we study semiregularity in the sense of Borgefors and give conditions on the distance which are equivalent to this property.
Robustness Analysis for Value-Freezing Signal Temporal Logic

In our previous work we have introduced the logic STL*, an extension of Signal Temporal Logic (STL) that allows value freezing. In this paper, we define robustness measures for STL* by adapting the robustness measures previously introduced for Metric Temporal Logic (MTL). Furthermore, we present an algorithm for STL* robustness computation, which is implemented in the tool Parasim. Application of STL* robustness analysis is demonstrated on case studies.