Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thalamus: The “Inner Chamber” Reveals Its Secrets

A Subcortical Network of Dysfunction in TLE Measured by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Hetherington HP, Kuzniecky RI, Vives K, Devinsky O, Pacia S, Luciano D, Vasquez B, Haut S, Spencer DD, Pan JW. Neurology 2007;69(24):2256–2265. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this work was to evaluate the relationship between neuronal injury/loss in the hippocampus, thalamus, and putamen in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) patients using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging. METHODS: 1H spectroscopic images from the hippocampus and thalamus of controls and patients with TLE were acquired at 4 T. The spectroscopic imaging data were reconstructed using an automated voxel-shifting method based on anatomic landmarks providing four, six, and three loci for the hippocampus, thalamus, and putamen, respectively. For correlation analysis, the hippocampal and striatal loci were averaged to provide single estimates of the entire structure, whereas the thalamus was divided into two regions, an anterior and posterior measure, using the average of three loci each. RESULTS: The ratio of N-acetyl aspartate to creatine (NAA/Cr), a measure of neuronal injury/loss, was significantly reduced in both the ipsilateral and contralateral hippocampi and thalami. NAA/Cr in the ipsilateral hippocampus was significantly correlated with the ipsilateral and contralateral anterior and posterior thalami, putamen, and contralateral hippocampus. In control subjects, the hippocampi were only correlated with each other. CONCLUSIONS: The data demonstrate that there is significant neuronal injury/loss in both the ipsilateral and contralateral thalami in temporal lobe epilepsy patients, with greater impairment in the anterior portions of the ipsilateral thalamus. The degree of injury/loss in the ipsilateral and contralateral thalamus and putamen is directly correlated with that of the ipsilateral hippocampus. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the impairment and damage associated with recurrent seizures as measured by N-acetyl aspartate originating in the hippocampus results in injury and impairment in other subcortical structures.
Age at first sex: understanding recent trends in African demographic surveys

Objectives: To describe recent trends in age at first sex in African countries, identifying and making due allowances for a variety of common reporting errors. Methods: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data from six African countries conducting three or more surveys since 1985 were analysed using survival analysis techniques, combining information on virginity status and retrospective reporting of age at first sex. Hazard analysis was used to separate the effects of reporting error and compositional change and to estimate true changes in sexual debut over time. A multistate life table analysis incorporating transition to first marriage allowed cohorts to be classified according to person years spent as virgins, as sexually active unmarried, and married. Results: Intersurvey comparisons generally suggested a slow secular rise in age at first sex. However, tracing birth cohorts between surveys revealed inconsistencies—median ages reported by female members of a birth cohort in their teens were generally higher than those reported when they reached their twenties, even when allowing for residence and education changes—probably a result of young, sexually active women denying they had ever had sex. Male birth cohorts tend to display the opposite kind of bias. Conclusions: Uganda, Kenya, and Ghana have experienced a more pronounced and unambiguous decline in premarital sexual activity than Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with statistically significant increases in age at first sex. In addition, Uganda has maintained a very short interval between onset of sexual activity and marriage for both sexes.
The prevalence of endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer in women with polycystic ovary syndrome or hyperandrogenism

Objective. Polycystic ovary syndrome may be associated with an increased risk of endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer, but substantial evidence for this remains to be established. We investigated the prevalence of endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer in a well characterized group of women with polycystic ovary syndrome and/or clinical/biochemical hyperandrogenism. Design. Retrospective observational trans‐sectional study. Setting. Out‐patient clinic at the Departments of Endocrinology and Gynecology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark. Population. In all, 963 premenopausal women consecutively referred with the diagnoses polycystic ovary syndrome and/or hirsutism during 1997–2008. Methods. All women underwent a standardized evaluation program. In 2011, The Danish Data Bank of Pathology was used to identify women with endometrial histology diagnoses (year range of diagnosis 1982–2011). Main outcome measures. Histology diagnoses, demographic variables. Results. Endometrial hyperplasia was diagnosed in 10 (1.0%) women and endometrial cancer in one (0.1%) woman. The median body mass index of these women was 30.6 kg/m2 compared with 26.8 kg/m2 in the total cohort. There were no differences between the cases and total cohort in terms of individual Rotterdam Criteria. In Denmark, 70 cases of endometrial cancer are diagnosed yearly in women 40–55 years, a prevalence of 0.4% in the corresponding period. Conclusion. The results of the present study do not suggest a higher prevalence of endometrial cancer in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and/or clinical/biochemical hyperandrogenism than in the general population.
L'eau, miroir d'une société

Pourquoi partager si minutieusement l'eau lorsque celle-ci n'est pas rare, comme c'est le cas dans cette region du Nepal central? C'est ce qu'analyse l'auteur, a la fois agronome et ethnologue, en etudiant la gestion sophistiquee de l'eau, en etroite relation avec le fonctionnement d'une societe ou l'astronomie joue un role important. Elle fournit de ce fait un modele general d'approche des rapports entre societe et agriculture.
The rising tide of endstage renal failure from diabetic nephropathy type II--an epidemiological analysis.

In recent years there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of patients requiring renal replacement therapy who suffer from diabetes mellitus. In the lower Neckar region, a survey has been made comprising all patients admitted for renal replacement therapy from 1.1. 1993-30.6. 1994. Out of a total of 225 patients admitted, 95 suffered from diabetes (10 type I, 85 type II). The estimated annual incidence of terminal renal failure with diabetes was 52/mio/year. At the same time, 79 patients who suffered from diabetes were admitted to the renal unit in Heidelberg (outpatient clinic and ward) for evaluation of de novo renal failure (approximately 176/mio/year); standard primary chronic renal disease was found in 19/79 of these diabetic patients (25%). The discrepancy between the annual incidence of (i) renal failure and of (ii) terminal renal failure suggests that a high proportion of patients with diabetes (mainly type II) and renal failure, dies prior to reaching terminal renal failure. Potential reasons for the increasing incidence of endstage renal failure from diabetes type II are (i) the increasing prevalence of type II diabetes in Germany in recent decades, (ii) aging of the population in view of the known greater prevalence of type II diabetes in older individuals and (iii) improved survival of patients with type II diabetes secondary to diminished cardiovascular mortality. Particularly because of the latter factor a further increase of endstage renal failure in patients with type II diabetes must be anticipated.
Register-based studies of mental disorders

Introduction: Denmark has been pioneering international psychiatric register research for decades. In this article we review central publications, by Danish and international authors, based on data from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register and other related registers. Research topics: Our aim was to describe the history, development and achievements of psychiatric research, based on the Danish national registers. The studies considered in this review can be categorized as follows: i) health service research, mainly studies on prevalence and incidence, ii) studies on the outcome of mental disorders, iii) studies on the aetiology of mental disorders. Conclusion: Studies based on Danish registers have provided significant contributions to international psychiatric research. The major advantage of the registers is that they cover the entire population, which makes the conduction of nationwide population-based studies possible. Furthermore, all information in the registers is connected to each citizen’s unique personal identification number, which enables linkage between various registers and biobanks. Such linkage studies have provided important knowledge on the aetiology of mental disorders. Despite inherent limitations about internal and external validity, the Danish national registers have been extremely valuable to international psychiatric research and will continue to play an important role in years to come.
Qualitätsentwicklung in der Internetgestützten Suchthilfe am Beispiel des Schweizer Suchtportals Safe Zone

Hintergrund: Im Rahmen der Einfuhrung des ersten schweizerischen Onlineportals fur Suchtfragen wurden Suchtfachpersonen zu Suchtberatenden im Internet ausgebildet. Gleichzeitig musste bis zur Veroffentlichung dieses Portals bei den involvierten Personen ein Konsens zu verbindlichen Qualitatsstandards fur ihre Institutionen und ihre tagliche Arbeit gefunden werden. Methode: Basierend auf einer internationalen Literaturrecherche wurde eine Liste von Qualitatsstandards fur die Suchtberatung im Internet formuliert. Deren Eignung als minimale und Best-Practice Qualitatsstandards wurde anschliesend mittels einer Internetbefragung bei den beim Portal involvierten Personen eingeschatzt. Ergebnisse: Generell war der Konsens zu den Qualitatsstandards hoch und bei uber zwei Dritteln konnte eine Zustimmung von uber 70% erzielt werden. Die Liste der minimalen und somit im Rahmen des Online-Portals verbindlichen Qualitatsstandards fur die Suchtberatung im Internet umfasst 13 Strukturstandards, 11 Prozessstandards, welche Aspekte der Beratungsarbeit, die sich auf den Ablauf der taglichen Arbeit richten sowie zwei Ergebnisstandards. Die Liste der Best-Practice Qualitatsstandards definiert sich durch Erganzung um je zwei weitere Prozess- und Ergebnisstandards. Schlussfolgerungen: Die ersten verbindlichen minimalen Qualitatsstandards fur Suchtberatung im Internet sind definiert. Damit ist ein wichtiger Grundstein fur die Einfuhrung der Qualitatssicherung in der Schweizerischen Suchtberatung im Internet gelegt.
Frame Rate Fusion and Upsampling of EO/LIDAR Data for Multiple Platforms

We propose a method for fusing a LIDAR point cloud to camera data in real time, which will also backfill the myriad of data holes LIDAR creates. This is done in a way that also leverages the images features to weight how point clouds are filled. Multithreaded programing and GP-GPU methods allow us to obtain 10 fps with a Velodyne 64E LIDAR completely fused in 360o using a Ladybug panoramic camera. The method also generalizes to other kinds of point clouds such as those obtained by aerial vehicles. The primary advantage of our approach is it combines 360o fusion with upsampling in real time without mode smoothing.
Dualism and macroeconomic volatility

This paper develops a simple macroeconomic model that shows that combining capital market imperfections together with unequal access to investment opportunities across individuals can generate endogenous and permanent fluctuations in aggregate GDP, investment, and interest rates. Reducing inequality of access may be a necessary condition for macroeconomic stabilization. Moreover, countercyclical fiscal policies have a role to play: in our model savings are underutilized in slumps because of the limited debt capacity of potential investors. Therefore, the government should issue public debt during recessions in order to absorb those idle savings and finance investment subsidies or tax cuts for investors.
Feature envy factor: A metric for automatic feature envy detection

As a software system evolves, its design get deteriorated and the system becomes difficult to maintain. In order to improve such an internal quality, the system must be restructured without affecting its external behavior. The process involves detecting the design flaws (or code smells) and applying appropriate refactorings that could help remove such flaws. One of the design flaws in many object-oriented systems is placing members in the wrong class. This code smell is called Feature Envy and it is a sign of inappropriate coupling and cohesion. This work proposes a metric to detect Feature Envy code smell that can be removed by relocating the method. Our evaluation shows promising results as the overall system's complexity is reduced after suggested Move Method refactorings are applied.
Idiotype specific T-cell lines inducing experimental systemic lupus erythematosus in mice.

Immunization of mice with either antibodies bearing the 16/6 idiotype (16/6 Id) or anti-idiotypic antibodies against the 16/6 Id induces experimental systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report here the establishment and characterization of 16/6 Id-specific T-cell lines from C3H.SW (H-2b) and BALB/c (H-2d) mice. Both lines proliferate specifically in response to the 16/6 Id in an H-2-restricted manner. The injection of 16/6 Id-specific T cells into syngeneic mice led to the development of experimental SLE. Furthermore, inoculation of the 16/6 Id-specific T-cell line derived from C3H.SW mice into the H-2 compatible C57BL/6 mice, which are non-responders to the 16/6 Id, induced experimental SLE. This report provides direct evidence for the role of idiotype-specific T cells in the induction of experimental SLE.
Nutrient Recommendations for Growing-up Milk: A Report of an Expert Panel

Utilization of expert recommendations in the development of food and beverage nutritional profiles represents an opportunity to merge science and food manufacturing to deliver nutritionally optimized products into the marketplace. This report details expert panel guidelines for the design of a nutritional product for children one to six years of age. This interaction demonstrates the essential synergy between academia and food manufacturers in translating nutrient recommendations to food for their delivery to a population. Important factors for such translation are the identification of applicable nutrient recommendations and selection of an appropriate delivery matrix. This report demonstrates the translation of expert nutritional recommendations to a milk-based product for children—one to six years of age.
In vitro activities of azithromycin, clarithromycin, L-ofloxacin, and other antibiotics against Chlamydia pneumoniae

The in vitro susceptibilities of 11 strains of Chlamydia pneumoniae to azithromycin, clarithromycin, erythromycin, L-oflaxacin, and doxycycline were determined. Clarithromycin was the most active agent tested, with an MIC for 90% of strains and minimal chlamydiacidal concentration for 90% of strains of 0.03 microns/ml. The activity of azithromycin was similar to those of erythromycin and doxycycline, with MICs for 90% of strains of 0.125 to 0.25 microns/ml. However, the prolonged half-life and enhanced tissue penetration of azithromycin should allow for less frequent dosing and shorter duration of therapy than with erythromycin or clarithromycin. L-Ofloxacin had activity similar to that of ofloxacin, with MICs of 0.125 to 0.5 micron/ml. From the results of this in vitro study, azithromycin and clarithromycin appear to be effective antibiotics that may have a role in the treatment of infections due to C. pneumoniae.
Fluoride status of a community and fluoride concentration in its drinking water

Despite the low fluoride (F) content of the drinking water (less than 0.05 mg/l), an optimum to above optimum daily F intake was shown for the community in Tshikundamalema (Republic of Venda, Southern Africa). In order to evaluate the biological availability of fluoride in the diet, the assimilation of the fluoride ion in enamel was tested. Six age groups (selected according to WHO criteria) consisting of 10 individuals each were used in the study. Enamel biopsies (2N HCl0(4); 3,143 mm2; 8 seconds) were conducted on the mid-labial surfaces of the central maxillary incisors. The fluoride concentrations of the etching solutions were analyzed according to the potentiometric analytical method. The calcium concentrations were determined by means of a flame spectrophotometer. The F content of the outer 10 microns in the enamel of the community was examined in relation to the total daily intake of fluoride for the community. The results obtained from the study showed that, the F content of the enamel of the community (x = 1,133 pg/micrograms; 10 microns depth of etch) correlated with the F intake of the community (x = 3.15 mg F/day). Thus the F content of the diet was biologically available to the body. However, between age groups and sexes, no correlation could be found between the fluoride status and the fluoride intake.
Detailed routing violation prediction during placement using machine learning

The complexity of design rules at 22nm and below precludes direct incorporation of detailed routing (DR) rules into a placement algorithm. However, ignoring routability rules during the placement process may result in infeasible designs. The congestion estimated by a global router is conventionally used for routing estimation during placement, but it does not include real detailed routing violations, which adversely affect the routability of a design. Presently, there are no methods that directly aim to predict detailed routing violations. In this paper we propose a machine learning based method to predict the shorts that are a major component of detailed routing violations. The proposed method can be integrated into a placement tool and be used as a guide during the placement process to reduce the number of shorts happening in the detailed routing stage. Empirical results show that our method is successful in predicting 88% of the shorts with only 16% incorrectly predicting shorts in no short violation area.
Antibiotics as inhibitors of nucleic acid and protein synthesis.

The antibiotics of the rifamycin, actinomycin, chromomycin, and anthracycline groups have been found to be specific inhibitors for the DNA-controlled synthesis of RNA in vitro. Streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and puromycin can specifically suppress certain steps in the biosynthesis of proteins. The investigation of the mode of action of such substances may help us to gain a better insight into the transmission of hereditary information.
Acute ischaemic hemispheric stroke is associated with impairment of reflex in addition to voluntary cough

Cough function is impaired after stroke; this may be important for protection against chest infection. Reflex cough (RC) intensity indices have not been described after stroke. RC, voluntary cough (VC) and respiratory muscle strength were studied in patients within 2 weeks of hemispheric infarct. The null hypotheses were that patients with cortical hemisphere stroke would show the same results as healthy controls on: 1) objective indices of RC and VC intensity; and 2) respiratory muscle strength tests. Peak cough flow rate (PCFR) and gastric pressure (Pga) were measured during maximum VC and RC. Participants also underwent volitional and nonvolitional respiratory muscle testing. Nonvolitional expiratory muscle strength was assessed by measuring Pga increase after magnetic stimulation over the T10 nerve roots (twitch T10 Pga). Stroke severity was scored using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS; maximum = 31). 18 patients (mean±sd age 62±15 yrs and NIHSS score 14±8) and 20 controls (56±16 yrs) participated. VC intensity was impaired in patients (PCFR 287±171 versus 497±122 L·min−1) as was VC Pga (98.5±61.6 versus 208.5±61.3 cmH2O; p<0.001 for both). RC PCFR was reduced in patients (204±111 versus 379±110 L·min−1; p<0.001), but RC Pga was not significantly different from that of controls (179.0±78.0 versus 208.0±77.4 cmH2O; p = 0.266). Patients exhibited impaired volitional respiratory muscle tests, but twitch T10 Pga was normal. VC and RC are both impaired in hemispheric stroke patients, despite preserved expiratory muscle strength. Cough coordination is probably cortically modulated and affected by hemispheric stroke.
Working Memory Strategies During Rational Number Magnitude Processing

Rational number understanding is a critical building block for success in more advanced mathematics; however, how rational number magnitudes are conceptualized is not fully understood. In the current study, we used a dual-task working memory (WM) interference paradigm to investigate the dominant type of strategy (i.e., requiring verbal WM resources vs. requiring primarily visuospatial WM resources) used by adults when processing rational number magnitudes presented in both decimal and fraction notation. Analyses revealed no significant differences in involvement of verbal and visuospatial WM, regardless of notation (fractions vs. decimals), indicating that adults rely upon a mix of strategies and WM resources when processing rational number magnitudes. However, this pattern interacted with algebra ability such that those performing better on the algebra assessment relied upon both verbal and visuospatial WM when engaging in rational number comparisons, whereas rational number performance by adults with low algebra fluency was affected only by a simultaneous verbal WM task. Together, results support previous work implicating the involvement of WM resources in rational number processing and is the first study to indicate that the involvement of both verbal and visuospatial WM, as opposed to relying primarily on verbal WM, when processing rational number magnitudes may be indicative of higher mathematical proficiency in the domain of algebra.
Opportunities for Scaling FET's for Gigascale Integration (GSI)

Using two- and three dimensional analytical and numerical models, scaling limits derived from small-geometry degradation of subthreshold characteristics are compared for six different FET structures in bulk Si, SOI and GaAs technologies. For Si devices, the low impurity channel MOSFET can be scaled down to L<sub>min</sub> = 0. 045μm and the dual gate SOI MOSFET to L<sub>min</sub> = 0. 028μm. The GaAs MESFET can be scaled to L<sub>min</sub> = 0. 13μm and the AlGaAs/GaAs MODFET to 0. 095μm. The key physical effect which enables small values of L<sub>min</sub> is the relative strength of the coupling between the gate and channel charge distributions.
Path dependence in social and psychological risk factors for dementia

This article focuses on social and psychological risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and cognitive impairment and presents some key points for prevention in developing countries based on previous studies, a social science theory, and our preliminary survey. Previous population-based studies found that educational and occupational attainment, income, participation in social and mental activities, and psychological distress were associated with dementia risk. According to the theory of path dependence, earlier factors largely determine successive ones, where education is one of these early experiences in life. Our preliminary survey suggested that education sets a path that several psychosocial risk factors are dependent on. The expansion of basic education is indispensable. Resources for prevention should be concentrated on individuals with a low level of education. In order to break from a path creating self-reinforcement of risk factors, it is necessary to implement early and active interventions.