Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interaction between C-reactive protein and cognitive functions according to APOE gene polymorphism in post-menopausal women

Introduction A potential factor increasing the risk of the development of cognitive impairment with age is apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carrier status. A subsequent factor which may increase the risk of development of cognitive impairment at an older age is the concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP). The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between cognitive functions and the concentration of CRP in post-menopausal women who were carriers of particular apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) polymorphisms. Material and methods A group of 402 women was recruited to the study. The inclusion criteria were: minimum two years after the last menstruation, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) concentration 30 U/ml, no dementi signs on Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The computerized battery of the Central Nervous System Vital Signs (CNS VS) test was used to diagnose cognitive functions. APOE genotyping was performed by multiplex PCR. The blood plasma CRP levels were determined. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica software. Results The level of neurocognitive index (NCI) and cognitive functions in post-menopausal women depends on apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism (p < 0.001) and the concentration of CRP (p < 0.05). A negative correlation was found between CRP and NCI (p = 0.018), and the reaction time (p = 0.008) of women with APOE ε2/ε3. A positive correlation was observed between CRP and visual memory (p = 0.025) in women with APOE ε3/ε3, and verbal memory (p = 0.023) in women with APOE ε3/ε4 or ε4/ε4. Conclusions Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism may modify the relationship between CRP concentration and cognitive functions in post-menopausal women.
MTurk Crowdsourcing: A Viable Method for Rapid Discovery of Arabic Nicknames?

This paper presents findings on using crowdsourcing via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to obtain Arabic nicknames as a contribution to exiting Named Entity (NE) lexicons. It demonstrates a strategy for increasing MTurk participation from Arab countries. The researchers validate the nicknames using experts, MTurk workers, and Google search and then compare them against the Database of Arabic Names (DAN). Additionally, the experiment looks at the effect of pay rate on speed of nickname collection and documents an advertising effect where MTurk workers respond to existing work batches, called Human Intelligence Tasks (HITs), more quickly once similar higher paying HITs are posted.
SwimTrain: Exploring Exergame Design for Group Fitness Swimming

We explore design opportunities for using interactive technologies to enrich group fitness exercises, such as group spinning and swimming, in which an instructor guides a workout program and members synchronously perform a shared physical activity. As a case study, we investigate group fitness swimming. The design challenge is to coordinate a large group of people by considering trade-offs between social awareness and information overload. Our resulting group fitness swimming game, SwimTrain, allows a group of people to have localized synchronous interactions over a virtual space. The game uses competitive and cooperative phases to help group members acquire group-wide awareness. The results of our user study showed that SwimTrain provides socially-enriched swimming experiences, motivates swimmers to follow a training regimen and exert more intensely, and allows strategic game play dealing with skill differences among swimmers. Consequently, we propose several practical considerations for designing group fitness exergames.
Late Results of Cox Maze III Procedure in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Associated with Structural Heart Disease

Background Cox-Maze III procedure is one of the surgical techniques used in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). Objectives To determine late results of Cox-Maze III in terms of maintenance of sinus rhythm, and mortality and stroke rates. Methods Between January 2006 and January 2013, 93 patients were submitted to the cut-and-sew Cox-Maze III procedure in combination with structural heart disease repair. Heart rhythm was determined by 24-hour Holter monitoring. Procedural success rates were determined by longitudinal methods and recurrence predictors by multivariate Cox regression models. Results Thirteen patients that obtained hospital discharge alive were excluded due to lost follow-up. The remaining 80 patients were aged 49.9 ± 12 years and 47 (58.7%) of them were female. Involvement of mitral valve and rheumatic heart disease were found in 67 (83.7%) and 63 (78.7%) patients, respectively. Seventy patients (87.5%) had persistent or long-standing persistent AF. Mean follow-up with Holter monitoring was 27.5 months. There were no hospital deaths. Sinus rhythm maintenance rates were 88%, 85.1% and 80.6% at 6 months, 24 months and 36 months, respectively. Predictors of late recurrence of AF were female gender (HR 3.52; 95% CI 1.21-10.25; p = 0.02), coronary artery disease (HR 4.73 95% CI 1.37-16.36; p = 0.01) and greater left atrium diameter (HR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.09; p = 0.02). Actuarial survival was 98.5% at 12, 24 and 48 months and actuarial freedom from stroke was 100%, 100% and 97.5% in the same time frames. Conclusions The Cox-Maze III procedure, in our experience, is efficacious for sinus rhythm maintenance, with very low late mortality and stroke rates.
Reliability of Genomic Predictions Across Multiple Populations

Genomic prediction of future phenotypes or genetic merit using dense SNP genotypes can be used for prediction of disease risk, forensics, and genomic selection of livestock and domesticated plant species. The reliability of genomic predictions is their squared correlation with the true genetic merit and indicates the proportion of the genetic variance that is explained. As reliability relies heavily on the number of phenotypes, combining data sets from multiple populations may be attractive as a way to increase reliabilities, particularly when phenotypes are scarce. However, this strategy may also decrease reliabilities if the marker effects are very different between the populations. The effect of combining multiple populations on the reliability of genomic predictions was assessed for two simulated cattle populations, A and B, that had diverged for T = 6, 30, or 300 generations. The training set comprised phenotypes of 1000 individuals from population A and 0, 300, 600, or 1000 individuals from population B, while marker density and trait heritability were varied. Adding individuals from population B to the training set increased the reliability in population A by up to 0.12 when the marker density was high and T = 6, whereas it decreased the reliability in population A by up to 0.07 when the marker density was low and T = 300. Without individuals from population B in the training set, the reliability in population B was up to 0.77 lower than in population A, especially for large T. Adding individuals from population B to the training set increased the reliability in population B to close to the same level as in population A when the marker density was sufficiently high for the marker–QTL linkage disequilibrium to persist across populations. Our results suggest that the most accurate genomic predictions are achieved when phenotypes from all populations are combined in one training set, while for more diverged populations a higher marker density is required.
Molecular basis of functional diversity of voltage‐gated potassium channels in mammalian brain.

Cloning and sequencing of cDNAs isolated from a rat cortex cDNA library reveals that a gene family encodes several highly homologous K+ channel forming (RCK) proteins. Functional characterization of the channels expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes following microinjection of in vitro transcribed RCK‐specific RNAs shows that each of the RCK proteins forms K+ channels that differ greatly in both their functional and pharmacological properties. This suggests that the molecular basis for the diversity of voltage‐gated K+ channels in mammalian brain is based, at least partly, on the expression of several RCK proteins by a family of genes and their assembly to homooligomeric K+ channels with different functional properties.
"Gibt es Willensfreiheit?" Möglichkeiten der psychologischen Vergegenständlichung von "Willens-, Entscheidungs- und Handlungsfreiheit"

Um Existenzaussagen machen zu konnen, muss man uber grundsatzliche Existenzmoglichkeiten nachdenken. Dieses Nachdenken nimmt einen grosen Teil des Artikels ein. Es werden drei Denkformen unterschieden, die sich durch einen jeweils eigenen Gegenstandsmodus auszeichnen. Wie, so wird anschliesend gefragt, lasst sich die Willensfreiheit in diesen Gegenstandsmodi so vergegenstandlichen, dass jeweils die Frage ihrer Existenz oder Nicht-Existenz sinnvoll gestellt werden kann. Dabei zeigen sich kennzeichnende Moglichkeiten oder Unmoglichkeiten. So erweist es sich, dass die Willensfreiheit als lebenspraktischer Tatbestand im physischen Kosmos der Neurowissenschaften grundsatzlich keinen gegenstandlichen Ort finden kann. Aussagen, die Willensfreiheit gebe es nicht, sind somit innerhalb dieser physischen Denkform tautologisch richtig. Sie empirisch zu belegen, erweist sich als Pseudoempirie. Anders sehen die gegenstandlichen Unterbringungsmoglichkeiten in den beiden anderen Denkformen, der semantischen und der phanomenalen, aus. Aber auch im Kosmos der semantischen Denkform gibt es Probleme.
Long-term Angiographic and Clinical Outcomes in Completely Versus Incompletely Coiled Ruptured Intracranial Aneurysms

S ubarachnoid hemorrhage secondary to ruptured intracranial aneurysms is a devastating disease with an incidence of 6 to 7 per 100 000 person-years in most populations. 1 Direct treatment of the aneurysm has involved either open microsurgical clipping or endovascular coiling. The International Subarachnoid Aneurysm Trial (ISAT) was a randomized trial that demonstrated a statistically signiﬁcant advantage of endovascular coiling over microsurgical clipping in the rates of death or dependency at 1 year for ruptured aneurysm patients (23.5% vs 30.9%; P = .001). 2,3 Since the publication of ISAT in 2002, ruptured cerebral aneurysms are increasingly treated by endovascular coiling. Although complete aneurysm occlusion is desired, it may not be feasible in every case owing to anatomic or procedural issues. There is a balance between the need to pack the ruptured aneurysm optimally to prevent rebleeding and the risk of aneurysm perforation and coil herniation. Often, a residual aneurysm neck or fundus is left behind on the immediate postcoiling angiogram. Is this safe? The purpose of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the long-term clinical and angiographic outcomes of coiled ruptured intracranial aneurysms stratiﬁed by the immediate postcoiling occlusion status.
Notice of Violation of IEEE Publication PrinciplesEvolution in RFID Credit Card Security by Using Wireless Sensing Network

The main idea of this paper is to integrate RFID technology and WSN to build an intelligent & secured RFID credit card system. Two scenarios of integration have been implemented. In the first one, we not extended the read range of the RFID system by adding wireless facility to RFID readers. Each RFID reader is equipped with a wireless module which can transmit data to and from the reader. RFID reader acts as sensor node: it reads the identification of an object and sends it to the host application via an ad-hoc network. The second scenario of integration provides RFID readers with sensing ability. Several motion sensors are installed near each reader to detect the presence of a tagged object and to command the reader activity.
Social interaction and the development of executive function

1. Introduction: Links Between Social Interaction and Executive Function 1 Charlie Lewis, Jeremy I. M. Carpendale This chapter introduces the study of executive function and theoretical perspectives acknowledging the influence of social interaction and outlines the contributions made by the chapters in this volume. 2. Parental Scaffolding and the Development of Executive Function 17 Maximilian B. Bibok, Jeremy I. M. Carpendale, Ulrich Muller In this chapter the authors take a microgenetic approach to illustrating the role of parental scaffolding in development of executive function. 3. How Do Families Help or Hinder the Emergence of Early Executive Function? 35 Claire H. Hughes, Rosie A. Ensor A longitudinal study of a socially diverse group of families, reported in this chapter, examines the links between aspects of family interaction and development of executive function. 4. New Directions in Evaluating Social Problem Solving in Childhood: Early Precursors and Links to Adolescent Social Competence 51 Susan H. Landry, Karen E. Smith, Paul R. Swank This chapter presents an ecologically valid measure of social problem solving that is linked to earlier development and that predicts social interactive skills in early adolescence. 5. Culture, Executive Function, and Social Understanding 69 Charlie Lewis, Masuo Koyasu, Seungmi Oh, Ayako Ogawa, Benjamin Short, Zhao Huang This chapter examines differences in the links between executive function and social understanding in four cultures in order to question current assumptions about their relationship. 6. Social Origins of Executive Function Development 87 Stephanie M. Carlson This final chapter is an integrative commentary on the chapters in this volume, setting the discussion in the context of other recent research and suggesting new directions for research on the social origins of executive function. INDEX 99
Prostate Cancer : PET with 18 F-FDG , 18 For 11 C-Acetate , and 18 For 11 C-Choline

Prostate cancer is biologically and clinically a heterogeneous disease that makes imaging evaluation challenging. The role of imaging in prostate cancer should include diagnosis, localization, and characterization (indolent vs. lethal) of the primary tumor, determination of extracapsular spread, guidance and evaluation of local therapy in organ-confined disease, staging of locoregional lymph nodes, detection of locally recurrent and metastatic disease in biochemical relapse, planning of radiation treatment, prediction and assessment of tumor response to salvage and systemic therapy, monitoring of active surveillance and definition of a trigger for definitive therapy, and prognostication of time to hormone refractoriness in castrate disease and overall survival. To address these tasks effectively, imaging needs to be tailored to the specific phases of the disease in a patient-specific, risk-adjusted manner. In this article, I review the preclinical and clinical evidence on the potential and emerging role of PET with the 3 most commonly studied radiotracers in prostate cancer, namely 18F-FDG, 18For 11C-acetate, and 18For 11C-choline.
Clonal Expansions of Cd8+ T Cells Dominate the T Cell Infiltrate in Active Multiple Sclerosis Lesions as Shown by Micromanipulation and Single Cell Polymerase Chain Reaction

Clonal composition and T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells infiltrating actively demyelinating multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions were determined with unprecedented resolution at the level of single cells. Individual CD4+ or CD8+ T cells were isolated from frozen sections of lesional tissue by micromanipulation and subjected to single target amplification of TCR-β gene rearrangements. This strategy allows the assignment of a TCR variable region (V region) sequence to the particular T cell from which it was amplified. Sequence analysis revealed that in both cases investigated, the majority of CD8+ T cells belonged to few clones. One of these clones accounted for 35% of CD8+ T cells in case 1. V region sequence comparison revealed signs of selection for common peptide specificities for some of the CD8+ T cells in case 1. In both cases, the CD4+ T cell population was more heterogeneous. Most CD4+ and CD8+ clones were represented in perivascular infiltrates as well as among parenchymal T cells. In case 2, two of the CD8+ clones identified in brain tissue were also detected in peripheral blood. Investigation of the antigenic specificities of expanded clones may help to elucidate their functional properties.
On the use of image quality measures for image restoration

Image quality measurements are valuable tools, crucial for most image processing applications, and used in particular to assess and compare the image restoration (IR) quality. The objective of this work is to investigate the potential of such measures when used as cost functions (integrated in the global criterion) to enhance the restoration performance. In this paper, the proposed approach uses the Structural SIMilarity (SSIM) index measure which is one of the most appropriate measures as it is inspired from the human visual system (HVS) and relatively simple to compute. For the composite criterion optimization, after initializing the algorithm by the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), a gradient descent (GD) technique is used to minimize the global cost function. Finally, simulations are conducted to investigate the contexts in which such quality measures might lead to the desired IR improvement.
Teaching English Pronunciation: A Book of Readings

Few teachers would deny that pronunciation is an important component of a learner's ability in English. However, many teachers lack background knowledge in the subject, and are unsure of how to teach it in the classroom. This carefully selected collection of published articles provides an authoritative account of the theory and practice of pronunciation, discussing both what should be taught as well as how it should be taught. In five sections, "Teaching English Pronunciation" covers international models of English, theories of pronunciation teaching, the application of phonological theory, descriptions of English pronunciation and techniques for the classroom. The authors are all well-known international experts in the field. The book also includes a bibliography of relevant books and articles. This book should be of interest to teachers of English as a foreign language, also students and teachers of phonetics, phonology and speech therapy.
Building Bridges between Science and Special Education: Inclusion in the Science Classroom.

Today's science classrooms serve a very diverse student population. Students with special needs who were once instructed in resource rooms and self-contained classrooms are now included in the general classroom. To serve those students for whom inclusion is appropriate, collaboration is needed between the science and special education teacher. With collaboration, the individual needs of all students, both general education and students with learning disabilities, can be met. Only when the science teacher is involved in the planning process and a contributor to the proposed changes, will a true collaboration exist. Too often, the decision making process excludes many of the general education teachers. The Individual Education Plan (IEP) meetings require that only one general education teacher be present. Due to time and budget constraints most schools only include the minimal, one general education teacher, at the IEP meeting. At the secondary level, this leaves most of the teachers a student will be working with uninformed about instructional plans being proposed and decided upon. A four step plan can aid science teachers in becoming active participants in the inclusion process. The plan allows science teachers to become contributors to the way inclusion will be implemented in their classrooms before decisions are made and become part of the legally binding IEP.
A Local Search/Constraint Propagation Hybrid for a Network Routing Problem

This paper presents a hybrid algorithm that combines local search and constraint programming techniques to solve a network routing problem. The problem considered is that of routing traffic demands from a set of requests over a network with limited capacity so as to minimise the cost of any unrouted demands. The hybridisation is twofold: pure local search is used to find a good cost bound for a subsequent branch-and-bound optimisation phase, with local search again applied at the nodes of the branch-and-bound search tree. Constraint propagation occurs in the search tree to reduce the domains of the decision variable, using a set of constraints that are independent of the action of local search at the nodes. In contrast to previous constraint programming/local search hybridisations, here local search is used to satisfy the hard problem constraints, while optimisation is handled in the framework of constraint programming. The resulting algorithm is incomplete, but is shown to compare favourably with a complete approach to this problem.
The Runx1 Transcription Factor Inhibits the Differentiation of Naive CD4+ T Cells into the Th2 Lineage by Repressing GATA3 Expression

Differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells into helper T (Th) cells is controlled by a combination of several transcriptional factors. In this study, we examined the functional role of the Runx1 transcription factor in Th cell differentiation. Naive T cells from transgenic mice expressing a dominant interfering form of Runx1 exhibited enhanced interleukin 4 production and efficient Th2 differentiation. In contrast, transduction of Runx1 into wild-type T cells caused a complete attenuation of Th2 differentiation and was accompanied by the cessation of GATA3 expression. Furthermore, endogenous expression of Runx1 in naive T cells declined after T cell receptor stimulation, at the same time that expression of GATA3 increased. We conclude that Runx1 plays a novel role as a negative regulator of GATA3 expression, thereby inhibiting the Th2 cell differentiation.
Long-term assessment of lung function in survivors of severe ARDS.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To investigate the long-term outcome of lung function in survivors of severe ARDS after modern treatment strategies including lung protective mechanical ventilation and prone positioning maneuvers. DESIGN Follow-up cohort study. SETTING University hospital pulmonary division and level 1 trauma center. PATIENTS Sixteen survivors of severe ARDS (from 1992 to 1994) with a lung injury score > or = 2.5. MEASUREMENTS The follow-up study (from 1995 to 1996) included interview, physical examination, chest radiographs, static and dynamic lung volumes, diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO), blood gas analysis, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). RESULTS The mean +/- SD interval between hospital discharge and functional assessment was 29.5 +/- 8.7 months (range, 15.0 to 40.7 months). In approximately one half of the patients, mild abnormalities in static and dynamic lung volumes were found. In 25% (4 of 16 patients), lung function was obstructive; in 25% (4 of 16 patients), lung function was restrictive; and in 6.3% (1 of 16 patients), a combined obstructive-restrictive pattern was revealed. DLCO was impaired in 12.5% (2 of 16 patients); gas exchange during exercise was impaired in 45.5% (5 of 11 patients). CONCLUSIONS Residual obstructive and restrictive defects as well as impaired pulmonary gas exchange remain common after severe ARDS. CPET is a very sensitive measure to evaluate residual impairment of lung function after ARDS. Using CPET, reduced pulmonary gas exchange can be detected in many patients with normal DLCO.