Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Voxel-based morphometry shows no decreases in cerebellar gray matter volume in essential tremor

Objective: To investigate cerebellar gray matter volume in patients with essential tremor (ET). Methods: We used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) based on high-resolution T1-weighted MRI to compare gray and white matter density between 27 patients with ET and 27 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. Fourteen patients had only postural tremor, whereas 13 patients showed additional intention tremor. Results: VBM failed to demonstrate regional decreases in gray and white matter volume in patients with ET. There was, however, an expansion in gray matter depending on the type of tremor. Compared with age-matched control groups, patients with intention tremor showed a relative expansion of gray matter bilaterally in the region of the temporoparietal junction and the right middle occipital cortex. Conclusions: The lack of a consistent decrease in gray and white matter density argues against a progressive neurodegenerative process in essential tremor that leads to a substantial decrease in cerebellar gray matter volume. Patients with predominant intention tremor show a relative expansion of gray matter areas involved in higher order visuospatial processing, which might represent a long-term result of adaptive reorganization compensating the higher demands on the visuospatial control of skilled movements in case of trembling.
Down syndrome: genetic recombination and the origin of the extra chromosome 21

Despite the clinical importance of trisomy 21, we have been ignorant of the causes of meiotic nondisjunction of chromosome 21. Recently, however, genetic mapping studies of trisomy 21 families have led to the identification of the first molecular correlate of human nondisjunction; i.e. altered levels and positioning of meiotic recombinational events. Specifically, increases in 0 exchange events or in distal‐only or pericentromeric exchanges are significantly increased in trisomy 21‐generating meioses. These observations have led to the idea that chromosome 21 nondisjunction requires ‘two hits’: first, the establishment in prophase I of a ‘vulnerable’ bivalent and second, abnormal processing of the bivalent at metaphase I or II.
A Survey of Evolutionary Algorithms for Decision-Tree Induction

This paper presents a survey of evolutionary algorithms that are designed for decision-tree induction. In this context, most of the paper focuses on approaches that evolve decision trees as an alternate heuristics to the traditional top-down divide-and-conquer approach. Additionally, we present some alternative methods that make use of evolutionary algorithms to improve particular components of decision-tree classifiers. The paper's original contributions are the following. First, it provides an up-to-date overview that is fully focused on evolutionary algorithms and decision trees and does not concentrate on any specific evolutionary approach. Second, it provides a taxonomy, which addresses works that evolve decision trees and works that design decision-tree components by the use of evolutionary algorithms. Finally, a number of references are provided that describe applications of evolutionary algorithms for decision-tree induction in different domains. At the end of this paper, we address some important issues and open questions that can be the subject of future research.
Characterization of genome-wide p53-binding sites upon stress response

The tumor suppressor p53 is a sequence-specific transcription factor, which regulates the expression of target genes involved in different stress responses. To understand p53's essential transcriptional functions, unbiased analysis of its DNA-binding repertoire is pivotal. In a genome-wide tiling ChIP-on-chip approach, we have identified and characterized 1546 binding sites of p53 upon Actinomycin D treatment. Among those binding sites were known as well as novel p53 target sites, which included regulatory regions of potentially novel transcripts. Using this collection of genome-wide binding sites, a new high-confidence algorithm was developed, p53scan, to identify the p53 consensus-binding motif. Strikingly, this motif was present in the majority of all bound sequences with 83% of all binding sites containing the motif. In the surrounding sequences of the binding sites, several motifs for potential regulatory cobinders were identified. Finally, we show that the majority of the genome-wide p53 target sites can also be bound by overexpressed p63 and p73 in vivo, suggesting that they can possibly play an important role at p53 binding sites. This emphasizes the possible interplay of p53 and its family members in the context of target gene binding. Our study greatly expands the known, experimentally validated p53 binding site repertoire and serves as a valuable knowledgebase for future research.
Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis in general practice urine samples.

BACKGROUND Chlamydia trachomatis is frequently overlooked as a cause of dysuria and urinary frequency in general practice patients. AIM This study set out to determine the impact of performing chlamydial antigen detection on sterile pyuria samples from patients aged 16-65 years and which were submitted to a hospital microbiology laboratory by general practitioners in the Winchester health district for routine microbiological investigations. METHOD Chlamydial antigen detection was performed by enzyme immunoassay and direct immunofluorescence. The cost of performing the test was estimated. In the first year of the study (1991) questionnaires were sent to general practitioners whose patients had a positive test result. RESULTS A total of 1025 samples of sterile pyuria were received at the laboratory between January 1991 and March 1993. Chlamydial antigen was detected in 54 samples (5%); 22 men and 32 women aged between 16 and 57 years (mean 25 years). The detection rate was highest in the 16-20 years age group (22% of men had a positive sample and 7% of women). Completed questionnaires from 27 general practitioners revealed that 59% of their patients were referred to the genitourinary clinic for treatment and contact tracing. The others were treated by the general practitioner. The cost of the screening programme per cure in this population was estimated to be 246 pounds. CONCLUSION C trachomatis is a significant pathogen which may go unrecognized and untreated. The cost, medically and financially, of screening for this pathogen and treating infected patients and contacts is likely to be less than ignoring it, particularly if screening is confined to the 16-30 years age group. General practitioners should consider the diagnosis of chlamydial infection in young adult patients with sterile pyuria, and microbiology laboratories should screen sterile pyuria samples for chlamydial antigen.
A Cognitive-Related Entity and Relation Extraction Model for Online Tutoring Systems

The significance of knowledge management in Intelligent tutoring system is that it can help learners better understand, manage and transfer knowledge. However, the knowledge management modules in most intelligent tutoring systems still based on structured domain knowledge. Although many studies have focused on constructing the unstructured concepts of the knowledge, concepts' exacting is still an open problem. This paper proposes a basic model to extract and construct the unstructured knowledge from online learning resources called Cognitive-related entity and relation extraction model (CERE) based on the Semantic Linked Network (SLN) technology. The experiment shows that in the field of concept knowledge, this model can effectively extract the conceptual entities with cognitive value and the predefined semantic relations, and these entities and semantic relations are closely related to learners' cognitive motivations. The automatic implementation of the unstructured concepts' extraction and relation building also suggests that the reducing of the dependences on domain experts is possible.
Gender Differences in Susceptibility to Smoking among Patients with Lung Cancer

Background/Aims To determine whether female smokers are more or less susceptible to the detrimental pulmonary-function effects of smoking when compared to male smokers among patients with lung cancer. Methods Pack-years and pulmonary function indices were compared between 1,594 men and women with lung cancer ifferences in individual susceptibility to smoking were estimated using a susceptibility index formula. Results Of the patients, 959 (92.8%) men and 74 (7.2%) women were current smokers. Common histological types of lung cancer were squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, and small cell carcinoma, among others. Women had a lower number of pack-years, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1, liters), forced vital capacity (FVC, liters), and total lung capacity (TLC, liters) compared to those of men (25.0 ± 19.2 vs. 42.9 ± 21.7 for pack-years; 1.4 ± 0.5 vs. 2.0 ± 0.6 for FEV1; 3.0 ± 0.7 vs. 2.0 ± 0.6 for FVC; 4.5 ± 0.8 vs. 5.7 ± 1.0 for TLC; all p < 0.001). The susceptibility index for women was significantly higher compared to that of men (1.1 ± 4.1 vs. 0.7 ± 1.1; p = 0.001). A significant inverse association was shown between the susceptibility index and TLC and FVC (r = -0.200 for TLC, -0.273 for FVC; all p < 0.001). Conclusions The results suggest that the detrimental effects of smoking on pulmonary function are greater in women, as compared to those in men, among patients with lung cancer.
Metaphor mayhem: mismanaging expectation and surprise

Did you see a recent two-page Apple Newton national magazine advertisement with a giant headline that asks, 'What is Newton? " The ad proceeds to answer the strategic query by listing the Newton's primary capabilities and benefits. The ad is symptomatic: with new combinations of functions and data made available for work and play, people may no longer have any idea what a gizmo does or why they should buy it. As processor-based devices shift from computation to communication, developers are attaching general-purpose display and interaction front ends to international multimedia communication networks to provide people with ever-increasing access to large amounts of data and functions. User interfaces with multimedia, hypertext interactions. january 1994 links, agents, advanced knowledge visualization techniques, and possibly virtual reality attributes , are often quite unlike those that office workers , students, children, senior citizens, and the general consumer have previously experienced. Will these new user interfaces completely befuddle customers or help them understand the developers' intentions, navigate the content, and use the tools effectively? One challenge for user interface designers seems clear: inventing or rediscovering metaphors that can help specific kinds of people notice, comprehend, use, and enjoy new products. Metaphors provide the underlying images, terms, and concepts that make communication possible at all. Without them, the products are useless.
3D Capacitive Interconnections with Mono- and Bi-Directional Capabilities

A wireless interconnection scheme based on capacitive coupling provides mono- and bi-directional transmission capabilities for 3D system integration. Chips are implemented in 0.13mum CMOS and assembled face-to-face. RX-TX circuits are connected by 8times8mum 2 electrodes and this enables the vertical propagation of clock at 17GHz, a propagation delay of 420ps for general purpose signals and a throughput of more than 22Mb/s/mum2 with 0.08pJ/b energy consumption
The efficacy of systematic lymph node dissection in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer during interval debulking surgery performed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

The therapeutic role of systematic lymph node dissection (LND) remains unclear in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), especially during interval debulking surgery (IDS) performed after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). We analyzed the therapeutic and prognostic roles of systematic LND in advanced EOC patients.
Impact of SENTAR on Prevention Campaign Policy and Practice

Our development of the now widely applied SENTAR model for the prevention of risk-related behaviors, especially drug use and risky sex, began three decades ago with a theory of communication processes termed the Activation Model of Information Exposure. The basic model and its extensions posit that the need for novelty and sensation is fundamental to message attention and processing, with high sensation seekers (HSS) preferring novel and stimulating (or high sensation value, HSV) messages (Donohew, Lorch, & Palmgreen, 1991). Sensation seeking also is moderately to strongly predictive of a host of risky and unhealthy behaviors. This led us to develop, through a series of experimental studies, an applied approach to the prevention of risky behaviors called SENTAR (SENsation seeking TARgeting). This approach states (to oversimplify) that prevention campaigns or other interventions should target HSS—those above the median on a sensation seeking scale—with carefully designed HSV messages (e.g., TV public service announcements [PSAs]) placed in HSV contexts (e.g., certain TV programs). We and our colleagues have demonstrated the effectiveness of SENTAR-based mass media campaigns in reducing both drug use by HSS adolescents (Palmgreen et al., 2001) and risky sex by HSS young adults (Zimmerman et al., 2007). SENTAR has evolved beyond the sphere of scientific research to guide policy and large-scale prevention interventions. In 2007 the Society for Prevention Research (SPR), made up largely of National Institutes of Health (NIH)funded scientists, presented our SENTAR group at the University of Kentucky with its Prevention Science Award, which recognizes a significant body of research that has
Lipopolysaccharide exposure is linked to activation of the acute phase response and growth failure in pediatric Crohn's disease and murine colitis

Background:Systemic exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) has been linked to clinical disease activity in adults with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We hypothesized that markers of LPS exposure and the acute phase response (APR) would be increased in pediatric IBD patients with growth failure, and that LPS signaling would be required for induction of the APR in murine colitis. Methods:Serum markers of LPS exposure, endotoxin core IgA antibody (EndoCAb), and the APR, LPS binding protein (LBP) were quantified in pediatric IBD patients and controls. LBP and cytokine production were determined after administration of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) enemas to mice with genetic deletion of Toll‐Like receptor 4 (TLR4), and wildtype (WT) controls. Results:Serum EndoCAb and LBP were significantly elevated in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), compared to disease controls with ulcerative colitis (UC) and healthy controls (P < 0.001). This was independent of disease activity or location. CD patients with elevated serum EndoCAb and LBP exhibited linear growth failure which persisted during therapy. Serum LBP increased in WT mice following TNBS administration, in conjunction with increased serum TNF‐&agr;, IL‐6, and IL‐10, and expansion of regulatory T‐cell numbers. Both the APR and expansion of foxp3+ T cells were abrogated in TLR4‐deficient mice, in conjunction with a reduction in acute weight loss. Conclusions:LPS exposure and a persistent APR are associated with growth failure in pediatric CD. LPS signaling is required for the APR in murine colitis. Therapies targeting this pathway may benefit the subset of patients with refractory growth failure. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010)
Increased proNGF Levels in Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer Disease

Nerve growth factor (NGF) is critical for the regulation, differentiation, and survival of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons that degenerate in the late stage of Alzheimer disease (AD). The precursor of NGF (proNGF) is the predominant form of NGF in brain and is increased in end stage AD. To determine whether this increase in proNGF is an early or late change during the progression of cognitive decline, we used Western blotting to measure the relative amounts of proNGF protein in the parietal cortex from subjects clinically classified with no cognitive impairment (NCI; n = 20), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 20), or mild to moderate AD (n = 19). We found that proNGF increased during the prodromal stage of AD. The amount of proNGF protein was 1.4-fold greater in the MCI group as compared to NCI, and was 1.6-fold greater in mild-moderate AD as compared to NCI, similar to our previous findings of a 2-fold increase in end stage AD. There was a negative correlation between proNGF levels and Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score, demonstrating that the accumulation of proNGF is correlated with loss of cognitive function. These findings demonstrate that proNGF levels increase during the preclinical stage of AD and may reflect an early biological marker for the onset of AD.
What Do Firms Do Differently ? Comparing the Governance of Internal and Outsourced IT Projects

The theory of the firm was originally motivated by the belief that transactions were organized differently within firms compared to between them. We have learned much from recent research about when firms choose to integrate transactions. However, we still know very little about how these integration decisions affect the way that transactions are managed. I address this question by carrying out a detailed comparison of the governance of internal and outsourced Information Technology (IT) projects at a large financial services institution. Much of the theory of the firm has argued that firms are able to exercise more control over internal transactions through the exercise of authority or asset decision rights. However, I find that clients often exercise extensive authority over outsourced projects as well as internal projects. Instead, I find that the key differences between internal and external transactions are in how the organization shapes the context in which employees interact inside the firm, through regulating the terms of internal transactions and the centralization of all income rights. Specifically, I find that where outsourced projects are usually governed by a variety of incentive provisions, managers cannot use such provisions for internal projects. In addition, the residual returns from the project are assigned differently for internal and outsourced projects. These findings suggest that the theory of the firm should pay more attention to the regulation of “horizontal” transactions between employees and the role of residual income rights in understanding firm boundaries. 1 This paper has benefited immensely from the help of my advisor, Bob Gibbons. In addition, many helpful suggestions were received from Nick Argyres, Pierre Azoulay, Heski Bar-Isaac, Diane Burton, Luis Garicano, Rebecca Henderson, Simon Johnson, Jeffrey Macher, Andrew Von Nordenflycht and the participants at the MIT Organizational Economics lunch. Most of all, though, I am grateful to the many managers at the Bank who gave up their time to answer the obscure questions of an inquisitive academic. This research was funded by grants from the Centre for E-Business, the Cambridge-MIT Institute and the MIT Project on Innovation in Markets and Organizations.
Nonconsumptive effects in a multiple predator system reduce the foraging efficiency of a keystone predator

Many studies have demonstrated that the nonconsumptive effect (NCE) of predators on prey traits can alter prey demographics in ways that are just as strong as the consumptive effect (CE) of predators. Less well studied, however, is how the CE and NCE of multiple predator species can interact to influence the combined effect of multiple predators on prey mortality. We examined the extent to which the NCE of one predator altered the CE of another predator on a shared prey and evaluated whether we can better predict the combined impact of multiple predators on prey when accounting for this influence. We conducted a set of experiments with larval dragonflies, adult newts (a known keystone predator), and their tadpole prey. We quantified the CE and NCE of each predator, the extent to which NCEs from one predator alters the CE of the second predator, and the combined effect of both predators on prey mortality. We then compared the combined effect of both predators on prey mortality to four predictive models. Dragonflies caused more tadpoles to hide under leaf litter (a NCE), where newts spend less time foraging, which reduced the foraging success (CE) of newts. Newts altered tadpole behavior but not in a way that altered the foraging success of dragonflies. Our study suggests that we can better predict the combined effect of multiple predators on prey when we incorporate the influence of interactions between the CE and NCE of multiple predators into a predictive model. In our case, the threat of predation to prey by one predator reduced the foraging efficiency of a keystone predator. Consequently, the ability of a predator to fill a keystone role could be compromised by the presence of other predators.
Strong Belief and Forward Induction Reasoning

Abstract We provide a unified epistemic analysis of some forward-induction solution concepts in games with complete and incomplete information. We suggest that forward induction reasoning may be usefully interpreted as a set of assumptions governing the players' belief revision processes, and define a notion of strong belief to formalize these assumptions. Building on the notion of strong belief, we provide an epistemic characterization of extensive-form rationalizability and the intuitive criterion, as well as sufficient epistemic conditions for the backward induction outcome in generic games with perfect information. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C72, D82.
Recent Epidemiology of Pediatric Cochlear Implantation in the United States: Disparity Among Children of Different Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status

Objectives/Hypothesis: Congenital severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is found in higher proportions of children with minority and/or lower socioeconomic status (SES). Cochlear implants were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in children with bilateral severe to profound SNHL in 1990. The objectives of the study were as follows: 1) to study the epidemiology of pediatric cochlear implantation, assessing whether cochlear implant technology is provided to children with severe to profound SNHL in proportion to their racial/ethnic or SES, and 2) to compare data provided by a national health care database with data provided by cochlear implant manufacturers.
Coupled Variational Image Decomposition and Restoration Model for Blurred Cartoon-Plus-Texture Images With Missing Pixels

In this paper, we develop a decomposition model to restore blurred images with missing pixels. Our assumption is that the underlying image is the superposition of cartoon and texture components. We use the total variation norm and its dual norm to regularize the cartoon and texture, respectively. We recommend an efficient numerical algorithm based on the splitting versions of augmented Lagrangian method to solve the problem. Theoretically, the existence of a minimizer to the energy function and the convergence of the algorithm are guaranteed. In contrast to recently developed methods for deblurring images, the proposed algorithm not only gives the restored image, but also gives a decomposition of cartoon and texture parts. These two parts can be further used in segmentation and inpainting problems. Numerical comparisons between this algorithm and some state-of-the-art methods are also reported.