Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acoustic Analysis of Prosody in Spontaneous Productions of Minimally Verbal Children and Adolescents with Autism

Variations in prosody convey lexical, grammatical, and pragmatic meaning, all essential for successful communication. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show deficits in communication and pragmatic use of language (Tager-Flusberg, Paul, & Lord, 2005), with mixed findings on how stress, intonation, and phrasing distinctions are employed (Paul, Augustyn, Klin, & Volkmar, 2005; McCann, Peppé, Gibbon, O’Hare, & Rutherford, 2007; Shriberg, Paul, McSweeny, Klin, Cohen, & Volkmar, 2001). Critically, research to date has focused primarily on individuals with autism who are verbal and have minimal cognitive impairment (McCann & Peppé, 2003). In addition, only a few studies have included fine-grained acoustic analyses to examine more closely the nature of expressive impairments (e.g., Baltaxe, 1984; Diehl, Watson, Bennetto, McDonough, & Gunlogson, 2009). Due to challenges in collecting data from a population with a range of behavioral and intellectual issues (Boucher, Bigham, Mayes, & Muskett, 2008), research on this group has been limited. The current investigation was designed to elucidate the prosodic abilities of minimally verbal school-aged children with ASD, a previously understudied population, in an effort to better understand communication abilities across the autism spectrum. Relatively little research has focused on the specific acoustic properties of the speech of individuals with ASD. A study by Baltaxe (1984) compared the non-echolalic speech of children (aged 4-12) with ASD with the speech of children with language impairment as well as a control group. Interestingly, Baltaxe found that the group with ASD and the control group exhibited wider fundamental frequency (F0) ranges than the group of children with language impairment. A second study by Jun and Fosnot (1999) found that children with ASD also showed greater F0 variation and range than age-matched typical
Perceptual Ratings of Nonword Repetitions by Deaf Children after Cochlear Implantation: Correlations with Measures of Speech, Language and Working Memory 1

Seventy-six profoundly deaf children with cochlear implants completed a nonword repetition task. The children were presented with 20 nonword auditory patterns over a loudspeaker and were asked to repeat them aloud to the experimenter. All of the children were deaf before the age of 36 months. At the time of testing the children were between 8 and 9 years old. All but three of the children used a Nucleus 22 implant with the SPEAK coding strategy at the time of testing. Two of the children used a Clarion device and one child used a Nucleus 24 implant at the time of testing. The duration of implant use for all children was between 4 and 7.5 years. All of the children in this study produced a repetition response to at least 15 of the 20 target nonwords. The children’s responses were recorded on digital audiotape and then played back to 240 normal-hearing adult listeners for accuracy judgments. Normal-hearing listeners rated the accuracy of the children’s imitation responses against the original target models using a 7-point scale. The perceptual ratings of the children’s nonwords were strongly correlated with scores on separate independent measures of spoken word recognition, immediate memory span, and verbal rehearsal processes used in phonological working memory, as well as speech production skills. Children who had become deaf at slightly older ages and children who had been deaf for shorter periods of time prior to implantation received higher perceptual ratings. Children whose early linguistic experience and educational environments emphasized oral communication methods also received higher ratings than children enrolled in total communication programs. The findings from this study suggest that individual differences in performance on the nonword repetition task are strongly related to variability observed in the component processes involved in nonword repetition including speech perception, encoding and verbal rehearsal in phonological working memory, and speech production. In addition, a shorter period of deafness prior to implantation and an educational environment emphasizing oral communication may be beneficial to deaf children’s ability to develop the robust phonological processing skills that are necessary to accurately repeat novel, nonword stimuli. These skills appear to be related to more complex cognitive processes involved in word learning, vocabulary development, and speech production.
Satisfaction Data Collected by E-mail and Smartphone for Emergency Department Patients: How Do Responders Compare With Nonresponders?

OBJECTIVE:This study profiles an innovative approach to capture patient satisfaction data from emergency department (ED) patients by implementing an electronic survey method. This study compares responders to nonresponders. BACKGROUND:Our hypothesis is that the cohort of survey respondents will be similar to nonresponders in terms of the key characteristics of age, gender, race, ethnicity, ED disposition, and payor status. METHODS:This study is a cross-sectional design using secondary data from the database and provides an opportunity for univariate analysis of the key characteristics for each group. The data elements will be abstracted from the database and compared with the same key characteristics from a similar sample from the database on nonresponders to the ED satisfaction survey. FINDINGS:Age showed a statistically significant difference between responders and nonresponders. Comparison by disposition status showed no substantial difference between responders and nonresponders. Gender distribution showed a greater number of female than male responders. Race distribution showed a greater number and response by white and Asian patients as compared with African Americans. A review of ethnicity showed fewer Hispanics responded. An evaluation by payor classification showed greater number and response rate by those with a commercial or Workers Comp payor source. The response rate by Medicare recipients was stronger than expected; however, the response rate by Medicaid recipients and self-pay could be a concern for underrepresentation by lower socioeconomic groups. Finally, the evaluation of the method of notification showed that notification by both e-mail and text substantially improved response rates. CONCLUSION:The evaluation of key characteristics showed no difference related to disposition, but differences related to age, gender, race, ethnicity, and payor classification. These results point to a potential concern for underrepresentation by lower socioeconomic groups. The results showed that notification by both e-mail and text substantially improved response rates.
Surface Transfer Doping-Induced, High-Performance Graphene/Silicon Schottky Junction-Based, Self-Powered Photodetector.

restricted due to the local perturbations within the device depletion regions. [ 8,9 ] Self-powered photodetectors based on photovoltaic effect are able to be operated without external bias. [ 3,10–12 ] Attributed to the large existing built-in electrical potential in self-powered photodetectors, the photogenerated electron–hole pairs can be separated at zero bias and thus contribute to the photoconduction. [ 3 ]
Identification of a Region Required for Subtype-specific Agonist-induced Sequestration of the m2 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor (*)

When the m1 and m2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors are transiently expressed in JEG-3 cells, the m2, but not the m1, receptor undergoes agonist-induced sequestration. Both receptors exhibit internalization when expressed in Y1 cells. These results suggest that the m1 and m2 receptors use distinct cellular mechanisms or pathways for agonist-induced internalization and that JEG-3 cells are deficient in the mechanism or pathway used by the m1 receptor. Transfection experiments with chimeric receptors indicate that the specificity for agonist-induced internalization for the m2 receptor lies in the carboxyl-terminal fifth of the receptor. The intracellular carboxyl-terminal tail of the m2 receptor is neither sufficient nor required for the m2-specific sequestration. Site-directed mutagenesis demonstrates that two amino acids in the carboxyl-terminal end of the third cytoplasmic loop of the m2 receptor are required for sequestration in JEG-3 cells. In addition, the sixth transmembrane domain, which is adjacent to this cytoplasmic domain, is also required. Thus, m2-specific agonist-induced sequestration requires sequences both in the carboxyl-terminal end of the third cytoplasmic loop and the adjacent transmembrane domain.
Generation of tension by skinned fibers and intact skeletal muscles from desmin-deficient mice.

We have investigated the physiological role of desmin in skeletal muscle by measuring isometric tension generated in skinned fibres and intact skeletal muscles from desmin knock-out (DES-KO) mice. About 80% of skinned single extensor digitorum longus (EDL) fibres from adult DES-KO mice generated tensions close to that of wild-type (WT) controls. Weights and maximum tensions of intact EDL but not of soleus (SOL) muscles were lowered in DES-KO mice. Repeated contractions with stretch did not affect subsequent isometric tension in EDL muscles of DES-KO mice. Tension during high frequency fatigue (HFF) declined faster and this deficiency was compensated in DES-KO EDL muscles by 5 mM caffeine which had no influence on HFF in WT EDL. Furthermore, caffeine evoked twitch potentiation was higher in DES-KO than in WT muscles. We conclude that desmin is not essential for acute tensile strength but rather for optimal activation of intact myofibres during E-C coupling.
The Effects of Brand Loyalty on Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) Activities

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effects of social contribution activities perception between brand loyalty and marketing strategies. First, this thesis has reviewed that marketing mix 4P's(product, price, promotion, place) still influence on the brand royalty on smart-phone market. Second, this research examined that perception on social contribution activities is an important moderate variable between marketing activities and brand royalty. Also, this research found that moderating effect of social contribution activities perception is more significant at the high-perception group on social contribution activities than low-perception group. Finally, this study verified that product/price/promotion strategy and social contribution activities have effect on brand royalty depend on social contribution activities perception. Recently many businesses are using Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) as a strategic tool and also social interests on the effect of CSR are increasing. Therefore, this study reaffirmed by the CSR that affect customer brand loyalty, are expected to contribute to improve awareness of CSR activities.
Structural integrity of corticospinal motor fibers predicts motor impairment in chronic stroke

Objective: Motor impairment after stroke has been related to infarct size, infarct location, and integrity of motor tracts. To determine the value of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as a predictor of motor outcome and its role as a structural surrogate marker of impairment in chronic stroke, we tested correlations between motor impairment and DTI-derived measures of motor tract integrity. Methods: Thirty-five chronic stroke patients with varying degrees of recovery underwent DTI and motor impairment assessments. Fibers originating from the precentral gyrus were traced and separated into pyramidal tract (PT) and alternate motor fibers (aMF). Asymmetry indices of fiber number and regional fractional anisotropy (FA) values comparing lesional with nonlesional hemispheres were correlated with motor impairment scores and compared to an age-matched control group. Results: Fiber number and regional FA value asymmetry significantly differed between the groups with lower values in the patients' lesional hemispheres. Both measures significantly predicted motor impairment with stronger predictions when all motor tracts were combined as compared to predictions using only the PT. The pattern of motor tract damage (PT only vs PT and aMF) led to a classification of mild, moderate, or severe impairment with significant between-group differences in motor impairment scores. Conclusions: Diffusion tensor imaging-derived measures are valid structural markers of motor impairment. The integrity of all descending motor tracts, not merely the pyramidal tract, appears to account for stroke recovery. A 3-tier, hierarchical classification of impairment categories based on the pattern of motor tract damage is proposed that might be helpful in predicting recovery potential.
Design and usability study of an iconic user interface to ease information retrieval of medical guidelines.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Doc'CISMeF (DC) is a semantic search engine used to find resources in CISMeF-BP, a quality controlled health gateway, which gathers guidelines available on the internet in French. Visualization of Concepts in Medicine (VCM) is an iconic language that may ease information retrieval tasks. This study aimed to describe the creation and evaluation of an interface integrating VCM in DC in order to make this search engine much easier to use. METHODS Focus groups were organized to suggest ways to enhance information retrieval tasks using VCM in DC. A VCM interface was created and improved using the ergonomic evaluation approach. 20 physicians were recruited to compare the VCM interface with the non-VCM one. Each evaluator answered two different clinical scenarios in each interface. The ability and time taken to select a relevant resource were recorded and compared. A usability analysis was performed using the System Usability Scale (SUS). RESULTS The VCM interface contains a filter based on icons, and icons describing each resource according to focus group recommendations. Some ergonomic issues were resolved before evaluation. Use of VCM significantly increased the success of information retrieval tasks (OR=11; 95% CI 1.4 to 507). Nonetheless, it took significantly more time to find a relevant resource with VCM interface (101 vs 65 s; p=0.02). SUS revealed 'good' usability with an average score of 74/100. CONCLUSIONS VCM was successfully implemented in DC as an option. It increased the success rate of information retrieval tasks, despite requiring slightly more time, and was well accepted by end-users.
Influence of diatoms on copepod reproduction. I. Field and laboratory observations related to Calanus helgolandicus egg production

ABSTRACT: Egg production rates (EPR) by Calanus helgolandicus females were investigated with specimens sampled weekly, from April to November 2003 and from March to October 2004, at a station located in the English Channel off Roscoff. Comparison of results between 1994, 2003 and 2004 showed that C. helgolandicus was a late spawner in 1994 and became an early spawner in 2003 and 2004. In all cases high variations in EPR were observed, which could not be correlated to phytoplankton biomass, expressed as diatom, chlorophyll a, particulate carbon and nitrogen concentrations in 2003 and 2004. Neither were they correlated to food quality, expressed as C/N ratio. To explain this mismatch between EPR and food concentration, a series of mixed phytoplankton species dominated by diatoms (≥11 μm filtrate representing natural diatom assemblages: NDA) and 7 single diatom species, all occurring during blooms in the field, were assayed as diets with C. helgolandicus females. Ingestion of diatoms by females was estimated by faecal pellet production rates and complementary scanning electron microscopy examinations of diatom remains in pellets. Depending on diatom species in diets, EPR was either increased or depressed 2 to 3 d after food uptake by females had started. The EPR decrease was reversible, when diatom diets were replaced by the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum. This effect was also observed when females were transferred to natural phytoplankton populations from the English coast of the Channel close to Plymouth, where food composition in the field differed compared to that off Roscoff. EPR ceased completely when the concentration of NDA diets was artificially increased, but recovered after a shift to a dinoflagellate diet. These results indicate that phytoplankton dominated by diatoms can impair C. helgolandicus egg production in the field. This effect was not related to the production of polyunsaturated aldehydes by diatoms. Limitations due to unidentified essential compounds not provided by the metabolism of diatoms, or unknown diatom-derived toxins, were probably involved.
Effects of supplementing two levels of magnesium aspartate and transportation stress on pork quality and gene expression of 𝛍-calpain and calpastatin of finishing pigs

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of supplementing swine finishing diets with two levels of magnesium aspartate (MgAsp) and short-term transportation stress on blood parameters, pork quality and the mRNA abundance of μ-calpain and calpastatin in muscles of finishing pigs. Thirty-six crossbred finishing pigs (mean BW 90 kg) were assigned randomly to 0, 1000, or 2000 mg supplemental Mg from MgAsp per kg of diet for five days before slaughter. Then six pigs from each dietary treatment were subjected either to no transportation stress (NTS) or 2 h of transportation stress (TS). Transportation stress resulted in higher concentrations (p < 0.01) of serum calcium, glucose and cortisol, lower pH (p < 0.01), higher Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) (p < 0.05) and higher calpastatin mRNA abundance (p = 0.05) of longissimus muscle (LM) compared with NTS treatments. Supplementation of MgAsp in TS treatments increased serum Mg concentration (p < 0.05) at 2000 mg of Mg/kg, reduced drip loss (p < 0.05) and improved pork quality colour (p < 0.05) at 2000 mg of Mg/kg, and decreased 1-day and 3-day WBSF (p < 0.05) at 1000 mg of Mg/kg compared with TS treatments fed the control diet. It is concluded that supplementation of MgAsp improves water-holding capacity and pork colour, and alleviates the negative effects of transportation stress on meat tenderness.
Abcb11 Deficiency Induces Cholestasis Coupled to Impaired β-Fatty Acid Oxidation in Mice*

Background: Defective ABCB11 causes severe progressive cholestatic liver disease from early infancy. Results: Abcb11 knock-out C57BL/6J mice recapitulate human deficiency and, before cholestatic liver damage, exhibit impaired fatty acid β-oxidation. Conclusion: Altered fatty acid oxidation may facilitate cholestatic liver damage. Significance: Disrupted fatty acid β-oxidation may be essential to cholestatic liver injury in Abcb11 deficiency. The bile salt export pump (BSEP) is an ATP-binding cassette transporter that serves as the primary system for removing bile salts from the liver. In humans, deficiency of BSEP, which is encoded by the ABCB11 gene, causes severe progressive cholestatic liver disease from early infancy. In previous studies of Abcb11 deficiency in mice generated on a mixed genetic background, the animals did not recapitulate the human disease. We reasoned that ABCB11 deficiency may cause unique changes in hepatic metabolism that are predictive of liver injury. To test this possibility, we first determined that Abcb11 knock-out (KO) C57BL/6J mice recapitulate human deficiency. Before the onset of cholestasis, Abcb11 KO mice have altered hepatic lipid metabolism coupled with reduced expression of genes important in mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation. This was associated with increased serum free-fatty acids, reduced total white adipose, and marked impairment of long-chain fatty acid β-oxidation. Importantly, metabolomic analysis confirmed that Abcb11 KO mice have impaired mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation with the elevated fatty acid metabolites phenylpropionylglycine and phenylacetylglycine. These metabolic changes precede cholestasis but may be of relevance to cholestatic disease progression because altered fatty acid metabolism can enhance reactive oxygen species that might exacerbate cholestatic liver damage.
Minireview: The Effects of Species Ortholog and SNP Variation on Receptors for Free Fatty Acids

Although it is widely assumed that species orthologs of hormone-responsive G protein-coupled receptors will be activated by the same endogenously produced ligand(s), variation in potency, particularly in cases in which more than 1 receptor responds to the same hormone, can result in challenges in defining the contribution of individual receptors in different species. This can create considerably greater issues when using synthetic chemical ligands and, in some cases, may result in a complete lack of efficacy of such a ligand when used in animal models of pathophysiology. In man, the concept that distinct responses of individuals to medicines may reflect differences in the ability of such drugs to bind to or activate single nucleotide polymorphism variants of receptors is more established as a concept but, in many cases, clear links between such variants that are associated with disease phenotypes and substantial differences in receptor ligand pharmacology have been more difficult to obtain. Herein we consider each of these issues for the group of free fatty acid receptors, FFA1-FFA4, defined to be activated by free fatty acids of varying chain length, which, based on their production by 1 tissue or location and action in distinct locations, have been suggested to possess characteristics of hormones.
β2-Glycoprotein I Modulates the Anticoagulant Activity of Activated Protein C on the Phospholipid Surface

Summary The objective of this study was to determine whether (β2-glycoprotein I (β2GPI) has procoagulant activity by inhibiting the anticoagulant activity of activated protein C (APC). β2GPI inhibited significantly the APC-catalyzed inactivation of factor Va in an assay using factor V-deficient plasma and physiological levels of protein S and factor Va. This inhibitory effect was diminished by the addition of increasing concentrations of phospholipids, suggesting that β2GPI competitively inhibits the binding of APC to the phospholipid surface. β2GPI inhibited weakly factor Va- and phospholipid-dependent prothrombinase activity at concentrations similar to those to inhibit APC activity. The depletion of β2GPI from plasma led to only a slight shortening of the diluted Russell’s viper venom-dependent clotting time, but to a strong and significant potentiation of the anticoagulant activity of APC. These results suggest that under certain physiological conditions β2GPI has procoagulant property by inhibiting the phospholipid-dependent APC anticoagulant activity.
IRON ABSORPTION IMPROVEMENT : AN ADDITIONAL HEALTH BENEFIT FOR CERTAIN PROBIOTICS , IN VITRO AND IN VIVO STUDY

MAHBOOBEH MEHRABANI NATANZIA,B, SAYYED MOHAMMAD HOSSEIN GHADERIANC, ZOHREH KHODAIIA,B* aDietary supplements and Probiotics research center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran bDepartment of Biochemistry, Genetic and Nutrition, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran cDepartment of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Two cases of juvenile hypertrophic cardiomyopathy presenting with marked bi-atrial enlargement on standard 12-lead electrocardiogram

This report describes two cases of juvenile hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in which prominent bi-atrial enlargement was observed on standard 12-lead electrocardiogram, suggesting inherent predis-position to extreme enlargement and/or hypertrophy may exist in atrial myocardium in juvenile HCM. Comparative study between juvenile and adult HCM patients using a large sample size is required to confirm this hypothesis.