Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative analysis of the shape of the corpus callosum in patients with autism and comparison individuals

Multiple studies suggest that the corpus callosum in patients with autism is reduced in size. This study attempts to elucidate the nature of this morphometric abnormality by analyzing the shape of this structure in 17 high-functioning patients with autism and an equal number of comparison participants matched for age, sex, IQ, and handedness. The corpus callosum was segmented from T1 weighted images acquired with a Siemens 1.5 T scanner. Transformed coordinates of the curvilinear axis were aggregated into a parametric map and compared across series to derive regions of statistical significance. Our results indicate that a reduction in size of the corpus callosum occurs over all of its subdivisions (genu, body, splenium) in patients with autism. Since the commissural fibers that traverse the different anatomical compartments of the corpus callosum originate in disparate brain regions our results suggest the presence of widely distributed cortical abnormalities in people with autism.
Biogenesis of tail-anchored proteins: the beginning for the end?

Tail-anchored proteins are a distinct class of integral membrane proteins located in several eukaryotic organelles, where they perform a diverse range of functions. These proteins have in common the C-terminal location of their transmembrane anchor and the resulting post-translational nature of their membrane insertion, which, unlike the co-translational membrane insertion of most other proteins, is not coupled to ongoing protein synthesis. The study of tail-anchored proteins has provided a paradigm for understanding the components and pathways that mediate post-translational biogenesis of membrane proteins at the endoplasmic reticulum. In this Commentary, we review recent studies that have converged at a consensus regarding the molecular mechanisms that underlie this process – namely, that multiple pathways underlie the biogenesis of tail-anchored proteins at the endoplasmic reticulum.
Comment apprendre à apprendre : considérations théoriques et pratiques

Apprendre a apprendre releve du champ de la metacognition. La metacognition est une fonction cognitive qui englobe les connaissances des individus sur la memoire, mais aussi leurs croyances a la fois sur leur propre memoire et sur la memoire humaine en general, ainsi que la gestion de leur comportement mnesique. La metacognition intervient dans la selection, l'accumulation et l'evaluation de l'experience et, par la meme, dans la construction de l'individualite. A la suite des travaux de J. Flavell, inities au debut des annees 1970, de nombreux chercheurs se sont interesses a ce sujet et ont analyse nos comportements mnesiques dans les situations les plus ecologiques possibles, c'est-a-dire les plus proches possibles de la vie quotidienne. Les recherches dans ce domaine mettent l'accent sur l'importance de la qualite de nos capacites introspectives en termes d'efficacite et de pertinence de la memoire, et proposent aussi des cadres de travail pour mieux"apprendre a apprendre", utiles tant pour les sujets sains que pour les personnes atteintes de troubles de la memoire.
A Sensemaking-based Information Foraging and Summarization System in Business Environments

Nowadays, the amount of information all around the Web and within an enterprise can be overwhelming. In business environments information workers need a system that can actively help them make the most effective decision. This paper proposes a sensemaking-based information summarization system, called Topic Tracker, which can automatically find, gather and analyze relevant information based on context in depth so as to better understand data to support efficient decision making. The architecture of Topic Tracker includes three major components – topic detection, knowledge discovery, and information management, and four data management processes – search, analysis, summarization and retrieval. To demonstrate our thought an implementation result is presented and some future works are discussed at the end.
A Prospective Evaluation of Real-Time PCR Assays for the Detection of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia spp. for Early Diagnosis of Rickettsial Infections during the Acute Phase of Undifferentiated Febrile Illness

One hundred and eighty febrile patients were analyzed in a prospective evaluation of Orientia tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia spp. real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for early diagnosis of rickettsial infections. By paired serology, 3.9% (7 of 180) and 6.1% (11 of 180) of patients were confirmed to have acute scrub or murine typhus, respectively. The PCR assays for the detection of O. tsutsugamushi and Rickettsia spp. had high specificity (99.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 96.8–100] and 100% [95% CI: 97.8–100], respectively). The PCR results were also compared with immunoglobulin M (IgM) immunofluorescence assay (IFA) on acute sera. For O. tsutsugamushi, PCR sensitivity was twice that of acute specimen IgM IFA (28.6% versus 14.3%; McNemar's P = 0.3). For Rickettsia spp. , PCR was four times as sensitive as acute specimen IgM IFA (36.4% versus 9.1%; P = 0.08), although this was not statistically significant. Whole blood and buffy coat, but not serum, were acceptable specimens for these PCRs. Further evaluation of these assays in a larger prospective study is warranted.
Analyzing the Impact of Using Optional Activities in Self-Regulated Learning

Self-regulated learning (SRL) environments provide students with activities to improve their learning (e.g., by solving exercises), but they might also provide optional activities (e.g., changing an avatar image or setting goals) where students can decide whether they would like to use or do them and how. Few works have dealt with the use of optional activities in SRL environments. This paper thus analyzes the use of optional activities in two case studies with a SRL approach. We found that the level of use of optional activites was low with only 23.1 percent of students making use of some functionality, while the level of use of learning activities was higher. Optional activities which are not related to learning are used more. We also explored the behavior of students using some of the optional activities in the courses such as setting goals and voting comments, finding that students finished the goals they set in more than 50 percent of the time and that they voted their peers' comments in a positive way. We also found that gender and the type of course can influence which optional activities are used. Moreover, the relations of the use of optional activities with proficient exercises and learning gains is low when taking out third variables, but we believe that optional activities might motivate students and produce better learning in an indirect way.
Limited Speech Recognition for Controlling Movement of Mobile Robot Implemented on ATmega162 Microcontroller

This paper describes about speech recognition implemented on ATmega162 microcontroller. The word (voice command) in a speech signal is applied for controlling movement of a mobile robot. The mobile robot will move according to the voice command in the speech signal. There are five commands, which are Indonesian language, used to control the movement of mobile robot. They are “maju”, “mundur”, “kiri”, “kanan”, and “stop” used to command the mobile robot to move forward, move backward, turn left, turn right and stop respectively.The methods used in this research are Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM). LPC is used to extract word data from a speech signal. HMM is used to recognize the word pattern data, which are extracted from a speech signal. Sampling rate of the speech signal is 8 kHz and the speech signal is sampled for 0.5 seconds. Experiments were done in several variations of observation symbol number and number of sample. The experimental results show that the highest recognition rate that can be achieved by the system is 87%. The mobile robot can move in accordance with the voice command that is given to the robot.
Identification of the E1A-Regulated Transcription Factor p120E4F as an Interacting Partner of the RASSF1A Candidate Tumor Suppressor Gene

Epigenetic inactivation of the candidate tumor suppressor gene RASSF1A is a frequent and critical event in the pathogenesis of many human cancers. The RASSF1A protein contains a Ras association domain, suggesting a role in Ras-like signaling pathways, and has also been implicated in cell cycle progression. However, the preliminary data suggests that the RASSF1A gene product is likely to have multiple functions. To identify novel RASSF1A functions, we have sought to identify interacting proteins by yeast two-hybrid analysis in a human brain cDNA library. We identified the E1A-regulated transcription factor p120E4F as a RASSF1A interacting partner in yeast and mammalian cells, and demonstrated that RASSF1A protein and p120E4F form a complex in vivo. The interaction between RASSF1A and p120E4F was confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo pull downs and coimmunoprecipitation assays. In addition, specific inactivation of RASSF1A by short interfering RNA disrupts binding of RASSF1A to p120E4F in coimmunoprecipitation assays. In addition, we demonstrated enhanced G1 cell cycle arrest and S phase inhibition by propidium iodide staining of p120E4F in the presence of RASSF1A. As p120E4F has been reported previously to interact with p14ARF, retinoblastoma, and p53, these findings provide an important link between the function of RASSF1A and other major human tumor suppressor genes.
Origin and Chemical Variation of Brazilian Propolis

Propolis is a hive product containing chiefly beeswax and plant-derived substances such as resin and volatile compounds. Propolis has been used as an antiseptic and wound healer since ancient times and interest for the product has increased recently. Probably few plant species contribute as major resin sources. Green propolis derives mainly from vegetative apices of Baccharis dracunculifolia (alecrim plants). However, wide variation detected in the chemical composition suggests contributions from alternative resin plant sources. Predominant components of the resin of green propolis are cinnamic acids, chiefly compounds bearing prenyl groups. Terpenoid compounds, such as sesqui, di and pentacyclic triterpenoids, have been detected in many, but not all, samples investigated. Propolis research has uncovered potentialities of substances previously isolated from plants and has detected constituents of plant origin that would hardly be known otherwise.
New Heuristics for Morpion Solitaire

Morpion Solitaire is a popular paper-and-pencil game. We investigate random sampling and simulated annealing algorithms for disjoint and touching models of the game. Our experiments show that simulated annealing (SA) works quite well and fast. We used it to find the best known results for non-trivial cases of the disjoint model.
Evaluating Interactions of Forest Conservation Policies on Avoided Deforestation

We estimate the effects on deforestation that have resulted from policy interactions between parks and payments and between park buffers and payments in Costa Rica between 2000 and 2005. We show that the characteristics of the areas where protected and unprotected lands are located differ significantly. Additionally, we find that land characteristics of each of the policies and of the places where they interact also differ significantly. To adequately estimate the effects of the policies and their interactions, we use matching methods. Matching is implemented not only to define adequate control groups, as in previous research, but also to define those groups of locations under the influence of policies that are comparable to each other. We find that it is more effective to locate parks and payments away from each other, rather than in the same location or near each other. The high levels of enforcement inside both parks and lands with payments, and the presence of conservation spillovers that reduce deforestation near parks, significantly reduce the potential impact of combining these two policies.
Motion compensation for robotic-assisted surgery with force feedback

The paper presents a control architecture for robotic-assisted surgery in the presence of physiological motions. Dynamic and kinematic models, operational space, computed torque, discrete state space and stochastic design are addressed in the control. Inner loops are based on position and velocity signals and outer loops have force measurements. Two active observers (AOBs) are introduced for force control and motion compensation. The first AOB is responsible for model-reference adaptive control to guarantee a desired closed loop dynamics for the force. The second AOB performs control actions to compensate physiological motions. Such motions are described by a second-order stochastic equation, without apriori knowledge of signal characteristics. Simulation results are presented for sinusoidal and non-sinusoidal motions, highlighting merits of the approach.
Stemming Methodologies Over Individual Query Words for an Arabic Information Retrieval System

Stemming is one of the most important factors that affect the performance of information retrieval systems. This article investigates how to improve the performance of an Arabic Information Retrieval System (Arabic-IRS) by imposing the retrieval method over individual words of a query depending on the importance of the WORD, the STEM, or the ROOT of the query terms in the database. This method, called Mixed Stemming, computes term importance using a weighting scheme that uses the Term Frequency (TF) and the Inverse Document-Frequency (IDF), called TFxIDF. An extended version of the Arabic-IRS system is designed, implemented, and evaluated to reduce the number of irrelevant documents retrieved. The results of the experiment suggest that the proposed method outperforms the Word index method using the Binary scheme and the Word index method using the TFxIDF weighting scheme. It also outperforms the Stem index method using the Binary weighting scheme but does not outperform the Stem index method using the TFxIDF weighting scheme, and again it outperforms the Root index method using the Binary weighting scheme but does not outperform the Root index method using the TFxIDF weighting scheme.
Prevalence and clinical correlates of QT prolongation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

AIMS Congenital or acquired QT prolongation is a risk factor for life-threatening arrhythmias. In patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), the QT interval may be intrinsically prolonged. However, the prevalence, cause, and significance of QT prolongation among patients with HCM are unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS After exclusion of patients on QT-prolonging drugs, a blinded, retrospective analysis of electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, and genotype status in 479 unrelated patients with HCM [201 females, age at diagnosis 41 ± 18 years, maximal left ventricular wall thickness (MLVWT) 22 ± 6 mm] from two independent centres was performed. The mean QTc was 440 ± 28 ms. The QTc exceeded 480 ms in 13% of patients. Age, gender, family history of HCM or sudden cardiac arrest, and genotype status had no association with QTc. Patients with a QTc over 480 ms were more symptomatic at diagnosis (P < 0.001), had a higher MLVWT (P = 0.03), were more obstructive (P < 0.001), and were more likely to have undergone septal reduction therapy (P = 0.02). There was a weak but significant direct linear relationship between QTc and peak outflow gradient (r(2) = 0.05, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Compared with <1 in 200 otherwise healthy adults, QT prolongation (QTc > 480 ms) was present in 1 out of 8 patients with HCM. The QTc was partly reflective of the degree of cardiac hypertrophy and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Because of its pro-arrhythmic potential and its potential relevance to management and risk stratification, routine QTc assessment should be performed in patients with HCM, particularly when concomitant use of QT-prolonging medications is considered.
Development of visual working memory precision in childhood

Visual working memory (VWM) is the facility to hold in mind visual information for brief periods of time. Developmental studies have suggested an increase during childhood in the maximum number of complete items that can simultaneously be stored in VWM. Here, we exploit a recent theoretical and empirical innovation to investigate instead the precision with which items are stored in VWM, where precision is a continuous measure reflecting VWM resolution. Ninety boys aged 7 to 13 years completed one-item and three-item VWM tasks in which stimuli were coloured bars varying in orientation. On each trial, participants used a rotating dial to reproduce the probed stimulus from memory. Results show linear age-related improvement in recall precision for both one-item and three-item VWM tasks. However, even the youngest age group stored a significant amount of information about all three items on the difficult 3-item VWM task. Importantly, the development of VWM precision was not accounted for by development on a sensorimotor control task. Whereas storage of a single complete item was previously thought to be well within the capacity limitations of the current age range, these results suggest protracted development during childhood and early adolescence in the resolution with which single and multiple items are stored in VWM. Probabilistic modelling of response distribution data suggests that improvement in VWM performance is attributable to a specific decrease in variability of stored feature representations, rather than to a decrease in misbinding or random noise. As such, we highlight a novel, potentially developmentally plausible mechanism that may underlie developmental improvement in VWM performance, independent of any alterations in the maximum number of complete items which can be stored.
Prevalence of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA mutations related to adult mitochondrial disease

The prevalence of mitochondrial disease has proven difficult to establish, predominantly as a result of clinical and genetic heterogeneity. The phenotypic spectrum of mitochondrial disease has expanded significantly since the original reports that associated classic clinical syndromes with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) rearrangements and point mutations. The revolution in genetic technologies has allowed interrogation of the nuclear genome in a manner that has dramatically improved the diagnosis of mitochondrial disorders. We comprehensively assessed the prevalence of all forms of adult mitochondrial disease to include pathogenic mutations in both nuclear and mtDNA.
Detection of Rickettsia rickettsii, Rickettsia parkeri, and Rickettsia akari in skin biopsy specimens using a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay.

BACKGROUND Rickettsia rickettsii, Rickettsia parkeri, and Rickettsia akari are the most common causes of spotted fever group rickettsioses indigenous to the United States. Infected patients characteristically present with a maculopapular rash, often accompanied by an inoculation eschar. Skin biopsy specimens are often obtained from these lesions for diagnostic evaluation. However, a species-specific diagnosis is achieved infrequently from pathologic specimens because immunohistochemical stains do not differentiate among the causative agents of spotted fever group rickettsiae, and existing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays generally target large gene segments that may be difficult or impossible to obtain from formalin-fixed tissues. METHODS This work describes the development and evaluation of a multiplex real-time PCR assay for the detection of these 3 Rickettsia species from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) skin biopsy specimens. RESULTS The multiplex PCR assay was specific at discriminating each species from FFPE controls of unrelated bacterial, viral, protozoan, and fungal pathogens that cause skin lesions, as well as other closely related spotted fever group Rickettsia species. CONCLUSIONS This multiplex real-time PCR demonstrates greater sensitivity than nested PCR assays in FFPE tissues and provides an effective method to specifically identify cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, rickettsialpox, and R. parkeri rickettsiosis by using skin biopsy specimens.
Effect of Pramlintide on Postprandial Glucose Fluxes in Type 1 Diabetes.

CONTEXT Early postprandial hyperglycemia and delayed hypoglycemia remain major problems in current management of type 1 diabetes (T1D). OBJECTIVE Our objective was to investigate the effects of pramlintide, known to suppress glucagon and delay gastric emptying, on postprandial glucose fluxes in T1D. DESIGN This was a single-center, inpatient, randomized, crossover study. PATIENTS Twelve patients with T1D who completed the study were analyzed. INTERVENTIONS Subjects were studied on two occasions with or without pramlintide. Triple tracer mixed-meal method and oral minimal model were used to estimate postprandial glucose turnover and insulin sensitivity (SI). Integrated liver insulin sensitivity was calculated based on glucose turnover. Plasma glucagon and insulin were measured. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Glucose turnover and SI were the main outcome measures. RESULTS With pramlintide, 2-hour postprandial glucose, insulin, glucagon, glucose turnover, and SI indices showed: plasma glucose excursions were reduced (difference in incremental area under the curve [iAUC], 444.0 mMmin, P = .0003); plasma insulin concentrations were lower (difference in iAUC, 7642.0 pMmin; P = .0099); plasma glucagon excursions were lower (difference in iAUC, 1730.6 pg/mlmin; P = .0147); meal rate of glucose appearance was lower (difference in iAUC: 1196.2 μM/kg fat free mass [FFM]; P = .0316), endogenous glucose production was not different (difference in iAUC: -105.5 μM/kg FFM; P = .5842), rate of glucose disappearance was lower (difference in iAUC: 1494.2 μM/kg FFM; P = .0083). SI and liver insulin sensitivity were not different between study visits (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS Inhibition of glucagon and gastric emptying delaying reduced 2-hour prandial glucose excursions in T1D by delaying meal rate of glucose appearance.
A Method for Vehicle Count in the Presence of Multiple-Vehicle Occlusions in Traffic Images

This paper proposes a novel method for accurately counting the number of vehicles that are involved in multiple-vehicle occlusions, based on the resolvability of each occluded vehicle, as seen in a monocular traffic image sequence. Assuming that the occluded vehicles are segmented from the road background by a previously proposed vehicle segmentation method and that a deformable model is geometrically fitted onto the occluded vehicles, the proposed method first deduces the number of vertices per individual vehicle from the camera configuration. Second, a contour description model is utilized to describe the direction of the contour segments with respect to its vanishing points, from which individual contour description and vehicle count are determined. Third, it assigns a resolvability index to each occluded vehicle based on a resolvability model, from which each occluded vehicle model is resolved and the vehicle dimension is measured. The proposed method has been tested on 267 sets of real-world monocular traffic images containing 3074 vehicles with multiple-vehicle occlusions and is found to be 100% accurate in calculating vehicle count, in comparison with human inspection. By comparing the estimated dimensions of the resolved generalized deformable model of the vehicle with the actual dimensions published by the manufacturers, the root-mean-square error for width, length, and height estimations are found to be 48, 279, and 76 mm, respectively.