Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Brain structural abnormalities in young children with autism spectrum disorder

Objective To explore the specific gross neuroanatomic substrates of this brain developmental disorder, the authors examine brain morphometric features in a large sample of carefully diagnosed 3- to 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared with age-matched control groups of typically developing (TD) children and developmentally delayed (DD) children. Methods Volumes of the cerebrum, cerebellum, amygdala, and hippocampus were measured from three-dimensional coronal MR images acquired from 45 children with ASD, 26 TD children, and 14 DD children. The volumes were analyzed with respect to age, sex, volume of the cerebrum, and clinical status. Results Children with ASD were found to have significantly increased cerebral volumes compared with TD and DD children. Cerebellar volume for the ASD group was increased in comparison with the TD group, but this increase was proportional to overall increases in cerebral volume. The DD group had smaller cerebellar volumes compared with both of the other groups. Measurements of amygdalae and hippocampi in this group of young children with ASD revealed enlargement bilaterally that was proportional to overall increases in total cerebral volume. There were similar findings of cerebral enlargement for both girls and boys with ASD. For subregion analyses, structural abnormalities were observed primarily in boys, although this may reflect low statistical power issues because of the small sample (seven girls with ASD) studied. Among the ASD group, structural findings were independent of nonverbal IQ. In a subgroup of children with ASD with strictly defined autism, amygdalar enlargement was in excess of increased cerebral volume. Conclusions These structural findings suggest abnormal brain developmental processes early in the clinical course of autism. Research currently is underway to better elucidate mechanisms underlying these structural abnormalities and their longitudinal progression.
Women in Rwanda: another world is possible.

IN 2003 RWANDAN WOMEN’S ASSOCIATIONS ISSUED AN international call to aid women who had been raped and infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) during the genocide and who were becoming sick and dying. As difficult as it was for the world to comprehend the tragedy of the 1994 events it was even more incomprehensible that while women with HIV were not receiving antiretroviral medications alleged perpetrators were receiving treatment in prison. The associations often led by survivors themselves care for thousands of widows rape survivors and orphans some specifically caring for those infected with HIV. The leaders of these associations knew their members needed antiretroviral therapy immediately to survive. However they also understood the physical emotional familial and economic struggles caused by the civil war and genocide that continued to traumatize these women and knew that successful management of HIV infection would require more than medications. Rwandan women with HIV infection needed counselors and therapy for posttraumatic stress support groups food housing education about their illness and treatment and job training as well as income for their children’s food school fees uniforms and pencils. (excerpt)
Can You Hear Me Now ? : A Technical Report on Combining Audio with Privacy Permissions

The Android and iOS privacy ecosystems are grounded in the permissions, which provide information to and control of access to phone resources. These are instrumented with a combination of permission manifests at the time an app is selected, resource warnings at first use, and per-resource controls. As yet the controls provided in the form of permissions has proven insufficient to address privacy concerns and prevent selection of malicious apps. Here we alter the visual presentation, the media of the presentation, and the timing of permissions information. The goal is to make it simple to compare permissions (and thus privacy) of different apps when the person is focused on the task of comparing and selecting apps. We provide aggregate ratings which allow for simple comparisons, and add a small audio feedback component. Our goal is timely, comprehensible, cognitively simple permissions. Specifically we test risk information with padlock icons and short audio notifications. The combined sound and icons were significant. Overall, these simple privacy cues has a consistent effect on app choices. Adding sound as a form of feedback and simplifying comparison of apps makes significant change in individual decision-making. In the aggregate even small biases towards more privacy in individual apps and in individual phones could have an impact on the Android ecosystem.
Proximate determinants of fertility in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal: an anthropological case study

Summary This article employs the analytical model of Bongaarts and Potter to compare the proximate determinants of fertility among three populations in Nepal's Kathmandu valley with the following characteristics: (1) high and low caste, (2) urban and urban fringe residence, and (3) users and non-users of contraception. It is shown that while Nepal, as a whole, is firmly entrenched in Phase 1 of the fertility transition, each of the populations studied has begun to experience a demographic transition to different degrees. In fact, greater progress in controlling fertility has been made than previously known.
Laboratory diagnosis of anaemia in dialysis patients: use of common laboratory tests

Almost all patients with end-stage renal disease suffer from renal anaemia of multifactorial pathogenesis. The use of recombinant human erythropoietin to raise the haematocrit has been a major advance in the care of patients with end-stage renal disease. The majority of these patients develop absolute or functional iron deficiency. However, the diagnosis of iron deficiency is hindered by the inaccuracy of commonly used tests. Serum ferritin and transferrin saturations are frequently used, but limitations with both parameters in end-stage renal disease patients have resulted in the development of new tests to assess iron sufficiency. The percentage of hypochromic red blood cells and particularly reticulocyte haemoglobin content are new measures of iron status in end-stage renal disease patients. An enhanced knowledge of the interpretation of available laboratory parameters will ensure that the patients receive the full benefit from their treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin and iron.
Le misure di rischio nell’ambito della teoria delle probabilità imprecise

Nell’ambito della finanza matematica hanno di recente riscosso un interesse crescente la ricerca di metodi e lo sviluppo di modelli teorici per la valutazione dei rischi connessi a posizioni finanziarie. Ha cosi assunto notevole rilievo la nozione di misura di rischio coerente, introdotta da P. Artzner, F. Delbaen, S. Eber e D. Heath in alcuni articoli [1, 2, 5] nei quali tali autori hanno individuato alcuni requisiti ritenuti, a loro giudizio, fondamentali e che ogni misura di rischio dovrebbe ragionevolmente soddisfare. In questo lavoro, dopo aver ricordato tale nozione ed averne illustrato le principali caratteristiche nella Sezione 2, ne viene evidenziata, nella Sezione 3, la stretta connessione con la teoria delle previsioni imprecise, seguendo la linea introdotta in [14]. Vengono successivamente illustrati alcuni problemi rilevanti per la teoria delle misure di rischio coerenti, tra i quali la generalizzazione della nozione di coerenza a spazi di numeri aleatori limitati privi di struttura. Inoltre, qualora una misura non sia coerente, si puo porre la necessita di determinarne una “correzione”, cioe di individuare una misura di
Lightweight and human-size dual arm aerial manipulator

This paper presents the design of a dual-arm aerial manipulator consisting of a multi-rotor platform with an ultra-lightweight (1.8 Kg) human-size dual arm prototype and its control system. Each arm provides three degrees of freedom (DOF) for positioning the end- effector, and two DOF for orientation. As most model-based controllers assume that joint torque feedback is available, a torque estimator for the arms is developed. Note that low cost servos used for building low weight manipulators do not provide any torque feedback or control capability. The redundant DOFs in the dual arm prototype are exploited for generating coordinated motions during contact-less phases in such a way that reaction torques can be partially canceled. Preliminary flight tests have been conducted in outdoors, evaluating the torque compensation capability in test-bench. The influence of the reaction torques exerted by the arms over the UAV controller is also analyzed in simulation.
On-line scheduling in the presence of overload

The preemptive scheduling of sporadic tasks on a uniprocessor is considered. A task may arrive at any time, and is characterized by a value that reflects its importance, an execution time that is the amount of processor time needed to completely execute the task, and a deadline by which the task is to complete execution. The goal is to maximize the sum of the values of the completed tasks. An online scheduling algorithm that achieves optimal performance when the system is underloaded and provides a nontrivial performance guarantee when the system is overloaded is designed. The algorithm is implemented using simple data structures to run at a cost of O(log n) time per task, where n bounds the number of tasks in the system at any instant. Upper bounds on the best performance guarantee obtainable by an online algorithm in a variety of settings are derived. <<ETX>>
Loss of heterozygosity at 1p36 independently predicts for disease progression but not decreased overall survival probability in neuroblastoma patients: a Children's Cancer Group study.

PURPOSE To determine the independent prognostic significance of 1p36 loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in a representative group of neuroblastoma patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS Diagnostic tumor specimens from 238 patients registered onto the most recent Children's Cancer Group phase III clinical trials were assayed for LOH with 13 microsatellite polymorphic markers spanning chromosome band 1p36. Allelic status at 1p36 was correlated with other prognostic variables and disease outcome. RESULTS LOH at 1p36 was detected in 83 (35%) of 238 neuroblastomas. There was a correlation of 1p36 LOH with age at diagnosis greater than 1 year (P = .026), metastatic disease (P<.001), elevated serum ferritin level (P<.001), unfavorable histopathology (P<.001), and MYCN oncogene amplification (P<.001). LOH at 1p36 was associated with decreased event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) probabilities (P<.0001). For the 180 cases with single-copy MYCN, 1p36 LOH status was highly correlated with decreased EFS (P = .0002) but not OS (P = .1212). Entering 1p36 LOH into a multivariate regression model suggested a trend toward an independent association with decreased EFS (P = .0558) but not with decreased OS (P = .3687). Furthermore, allelic status at 1p36 was the only prognostic variable that was significantly associated with decreased EFS in low-risk neuroblastoma patients (P = .0148). CONCLUSION LOH at 1p36 is independently associated with decreased EFS, but not OS, in neuroblastoma patients. Determination of 1p36 allelic status may be useful for predicting which neuroblastoma patients with otherwise favorable clinical and biologic features are more likely to have disease progression.
Real-time motion stereo

A simple parallel algorithm for calculating depth from motion stereo is implemented. It makes the assumption that the incremental disparity is less than the minimum distance between edges. To relax this constraint, a more general multiscale pyramidal algorithm is developed. The two algorithms are tested on the Simon Fraser University pyramidal vision machine for real-time computer vision applications. The total processing time is 50 ms/image for the simple algorithm and approximately 0.5 s/image for the multiscale algorithm. <<ETX>>
Molecular Cloning of a Non-inactivating Proton-gated Na+ Channel Specific for Sensory Neurons*

We have cloned and expressed a novel proton-gated Na+ channel subunit that is specific for sensory neurons. In COS cells, it forms a Na+ channel that responds to a drop of the extracellular pH with both a rapidly inactivating and a sustained Na+ current. This biphasic kinetic closely resembles that of the H+-gated current described in sensory neurons of dorsal root ganglia (1). Both the abundance of this novel H+-gated Na+ channel subunit in sensory neurons and the kinetics of the channel suggest that it is part of the channel complex responsible for the sustained H+-activated cation current in sensory neurons that is thought to be important for the prolonged perception of pain that accompanies tissue acidosis (1, 2).
A cytological study of transneuronal atrophy in the cat and rabbit

A wording to the ‘ ‘ lwv of denervation ’ ’ (Cannon, ’39 ; Cannon and Rosenblueth, ’49)’ denervated structures become hypersensitive to various forms of stimuli. The “law” extends to neurons of the central nervoiis system (Fisher and Stavraky, ’44; Stavraky, ’47; Drake and Stavraky, ’48). The reason for the altered properties of isolated or partially isolated neurons is not definitely known. The present investigation was undertaken in the hope that a detailed cytological study of isolated celh might aid in the broader understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the increased sensitivity. Early degenerative changes in nerve cells deprived of synaptic endings would appear to be inconsistent with the physiological observations. Nevertheless, Warrington (1898, 1899) described chromatolytic cells in the gray matter of the cord in the cat and monkey following d,orsal root section or transection of the cord. The altered cells were considered to be examples of transneuronals degeneration. Barron ( ’33) placed a similar interpretation on chromatolysed cells in the rat’s spinal cord following section of the pyramidal tract. Foerster, Gage1 and Sheehan ( ’33) described cell changes, similar to retrograde degeneration, in motor cells of the anterior horn, in the large cells of the posterior horn and in
Identificación y evaluación de amenazas a la seguridad de infraestructuras de transporte y distribución de electricidad

El tema de aseguramiento del suministro energetico, especialmente en lo concerniente a la proteccion de las infraestructuras energeticas, ha suscitado especial interes en los paises de la OCDE en los ultimos anos. Al respecto, el Consejo de la Union Europea ha aprobado la Directiva 2008/114/CE (sobre la identificacion y designacion de infraestructuras criticas europeas) y el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de EE.UU ha publicado el NIPP en 2009 (National Infrastructure Protection Plan). Dichos planes contemplan el establecimiento de procedimientos para la proteccion y seguridad de las infraestructuras criticas, en el marco de estrategias de gestion de riesgos. A partir de los conceptos establecidos en ambos programas, en esta tesis se presentan propuestas metodologicas aplicables a la identificacion de riesgos y a la evaluacion de amenazas en la red de infraestructura electrica. Se propone el uso de mapas interconectados de riesgos, complementados con la determinacion de componentes de riesgo en el sistema de infraestructura. Asi mismo, se propone el uso de las cartas de riesgos, mediante las cuales se obtiene una representacion grafica e intuitiva de la evaluacion semicuantitativa de los riesgos mas relevantes. Por otro lado, se formulan y validan estrategias metodologicas para la evaluacion de la vulnerabilidad estructural en redes de transporte de alta tension, a partir de la combinacion de modelos de flujos de carga y medidas de grafos de libre-escala. De esta manera, es posible estudiar los escenarios de riesgos en funcion de los eventos que pueden desencadenar fallos en cascada dentro de un sistema electrico de potencia. Se demuestra la utilidad de las tecnicas de teoria de grafos para analizar las respuestas de los sistemas electricos de potencia y evaluar la vulnerabilidad de las redes de transporte. Un ejemplo de dicha evaluacion se desarrolla mediante valoracion de la tolerancia de redes de prueba IEEE contra fallos aleatorios y contra ataques deliberados. Adicionalmente, se ha realizado una aplicacion de la propuesta metodologica para evaluacion de vulnerabilidad en los sistemas electricos de alta tension en Colombia y Espana. Como resultado, los trabajos desarrollados en la tesis aportan nuevos instrumentos para la gestion de riesgos en infraestructuras electricas, en particular en redes de transporte en alta tension.
Animal Spirits and the Business Cycle: Empirical Evidence from Moment Matching

In this paper we empirically examine a hybrid New-Keynesian model with heterogeneous bounded rational agents who may adopt an optimistic or pessimistic attitude - so called animal spirits - towards future movements of the output and inflation gap. The model is estimated via the simulated method of moments using Euro Area data from 1975Q1 to 2009Q4. In addition, we compare its empirical performance to the standard model with rational expectations. Our empirical results show that the model-generated auto- and cross-covariances of the output gap, the inflation gap and the nominal interest gap can provide a good approximation of the empirical second moments. The result is mainly driven by a high degree of persistence in the output and inflation gap due to the impact of animal spirits on economic activity. Furthermore, over the whole time interval the agents had expected moderate deviations of the future output gap from its steady state value.
Kernelization of generic problems: upper and lower bounds

This thesis addresses the kernelization properties of generic problems, defined via syntactical restrictions or by a problem framework. Polynomial kernelization is a formalization of data reduction, aimed at combinatorially hard problems, which allows a rigorous study of this important and fundamental concept. The thesis is organized into two main parts. In the first part we prove that all problems from two syntactically defined classes of constant-factor approximable problems admit polynomial kernelizations. The problems must be expressible via optimization over first-order formulas with restricted quantification; when relaxing these restrictions we find problems that do not admit polynomial kernelizations. Next, we consider edge modification problems, and we show that they do not generally admit polynomial kernelizations. In the second part we consider three types of Boolean constraint satisfaction problems. We completely characterize whether these problems admit polynomial kernelizations, i.e., given such a problem our results either provide a polynomial kernelization, or they show that the problem does not admit a polynomial kernelization. These dichotomies are characterized by properties of the permitted constraints. The thesis is written in English.
Studies on Pasteurella multocida. I. The capsular polysaccharides from turkey isolates.

SUMMARY The capsular polysaccharides from 9 strains of Pasteurella multocida isolated from turkeys were purified and characterized. For optimal capsule production, best results were obtained with seed cultures from colonies isolated from turkeys immediately after death, before body temperature had declined appreciably. Heavily capsulated organisms free of medium were produced on cellophane overlaid on yeast proteose-peptone cystine (YPC) medium containing 5% turkey blood. The capsular acidic polysaccharides were purified from other capsular components by a 3-step procedure utilizing cetylpyridinium chloride. Qualitative analysis by 4 different techniques revealed that the capsular material from all 9 turkey strains contained hyaluronic acid. Also found in the capsule of all strains was an additional acidic polysaccharide not described before.
Minimal number of lymph nodes that need to be examined for adequate staging of colorectal cancer--factors influencing lymph node harvest.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Accurate assessment of lymphatic node status is an essential component in staging of colorectal cancer and determining the need for adjuvant treatment. The risk of understaging nodal status decreases by increasing the number of examined lymph nodes. Several recommendations have been published for the minimum number of lymphatic nodes that need to be harvested for accurate nodal staging with minimal chance of error, ranging from 6 to 17 lymph nodes. However, the number of harvested lymph nodes is very variable, and this variability is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with the number of retrieved lymph nodes in patients with colorectal cancer. METHODOLOGY Clinical and histological characteristics of 177 patients operated for colorectal cancer were analyzed. RESULTS In multiple regression analysis, male gender, better tumor differentiation and greater tumor size, as well as the presence of acute inflammation were determined as significant independent predictors of the increased number of resected and examined lymph nodes. CONCLUSIONS The determination of the minimum number of lymph nodes required for accurate nodal staging of patients with colorectal cancer needs to be individualized.
Best, Second-Best, and Good-Enough Explanations: How They Matter to Reasoning

There is a wealth of evidence that people’s reasoning is influenced by explanatory considerations. Little is known, however, about the exact form this influence takes, for instance about whether the influence is unsystematic or because of people’s following some rule. Three experiments investigate the descriptive adequacy of a precise proposal to be found in the philosophical literature, to wit, that we should infer to the best explanation, provided certain additional conditions are met. The first experiment studies the relation between the quality of an explanation and people’s willingness to infer that explanation when only one candidate explanation is given. The second experiment presents participants always with two explanations and investigates the effect of the presence of an alternative on the participants’ willingness to infer the target explanation. Although Experiments 1 and 2 manipulate explanation quality and willingness to infer to the best explanation between participants, Experiment 3 manipulates those measures within participants, thereby allowing to study the influence of explanatory considerations on inference at the individual level. The third experiment also studies the connection between explanation quality, willingness to infer, and metacognitive confidence in the decision to infer. The main conclusions that can be drawn from these experiments are that (a) the quality of an explanation is a good predictor of people’s willingness to accept that explanation, and a better predictor than the prior probability of the explanation, and (b) if more than one possible explanation is given, people are the less willing to infer the best explanation the better they deem the second-best explanation.