Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The organization of attention in typical development: a new preschool attention test battery.

This article introduces a new battery of attention tests for typically developing and atypically developing children with a mental age of 3-6 years. In the light of adult and child studies supporting a model of distinct networks for specific attentional operations, tests in the current battery were selected with the aim of measuring functions of selective attention, sustained attention and attentional control (executive function). Normative data were collected from 154 typically developing children aged 3-6 years and examined using exploratory factor analysis to determine latent constructs underlying test performance. This analysis suggested increasing differentiation of attention functions over the age range, with support for the hypothesized three-factor model only after 4½ years of age. Additional analyses supported the validity of the new attention battery with respect to (1) parent/teacher report measures of everyday attention behaviour and (2) later performance on the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch), a battery designed for children aged 6-16 years. The results show the developing differentiation of attention functions and support the ecological and predictive validity of the battery as providing early performance-based measures of attention and an attention 'profile' for each individual child, which may aid characterization and remediation of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Standards in neurosonology. Part II

Abstract The paper presents standards related to ultrasound imaging of the cerebral vasculature and structures. The aim of this paper is to standardize both the performance and description of ultrasound imaging of the extracranial and intracranial cerebral arteries as well as a study of a specific brain structure, i.e. substantia nigra hyperechogenicity. The following aspects are included in the description of standards for each ultrasonographic method: equipment requirements, patient preparation, study technique and documentation as well as the required elements of ultrasound description. Practical criteria for the diagnosis of certain pathologies in accordance with the latest literature were also presented. Furthermore, additional comments were included in some of the sections. Part I discusses standards for the performance, documentation and description of different ultrasound methods (Duplex, Doppler). Part II and III are devoted to standards for specific clinical situations (vasospasm, monitoring after the acute stage of stroke, detection of a right-to-left shunts, confirmation of the arrest of the cerebral circulation, an assessment of the functional efficiency of circle of Willis, an assessment of the cerebrovascular vasomotor reserve as well as the measurement of substantia nigra hyperechogenicity).
Antibodies Reactive with the N-Terminal Domain ofPlasmodium falciparum Serine Repeat Antigen Inhibit Cell Proliferation by Agglutinating Merozoites and Schizonts

ABSTRACT The serine repeat antigen (SERA) is a vaccine candidate antigen ofPlasmodium falciparum. Immunization of mice withEscherichia coli-produced recombinant protein of the SERA N-terminal domain (SE47′) induced an antiserum that was inhibitory to parasite growth in vitro. Affinity-purified mouse antibodies specific to the recombinant protein inhibited parasite growth between the schizont and ring stages but not between the ring and schizont stages. When Percoll-purified schizonts were cultured with the affinity-purified SE47′-specific antibodies, schizonts and merozoites were agglutinated. Indirect-immunofluorescence assays with unfixed parasite cells showed that SE47′-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) bound to SERA molecules on rupturing schizonts and merozoites but the IgG did not react with the schizont-infected erythrocytes (RBC). Furthermore, double-fluorescence staining against SE47′-specific IgG and anti-human RBC membrane IgG showed that the RBC membrane disappeared from SE47′-specific-IgG-bound schizonts after cultivation. These observations suggest that the SE47′-specific antibodies inhibit parasite growth by cross-linking SERA molecules that are associated with merozoites in rupturing schizonts with partly broken RBC and parasitophorous vacuole membranes, blocking merozoite release.
The where, when and how of microtubule nucleation – one ring to rule them all

Summary The function of microtubules depends on their arrangement into highly ordered arrays. Spatio-temporal control over the formation of new microtubules and regulation of their properties are central to the organization of these arrays. The nucleation of new microtubules requires &ggr;-tubulin, an essential protein that assembles into multi-subunit complexes and is found in all eukaryotic organisms. However, the way in which &ggr;-tubulin complexes are regulated and how this affects nucleation and, potentially, microtubule behavior, is poorly understood. &ggr;-tubulin has been found in complexes of various sizes but several lines of evidence suggest that only large, ring-shaped complexes function as efficient microtubule nucleators. Human &ggr;-tubulin ring complexes (&ggr;TuRCs) are composed of &ggr;-tubulin and the &ggr;-tubulin complex components (GCPs) 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, which are members of a conserved protein family. Recent work has identified additional unrelated &ggr;TuRC subunits, as well as a large number of more transient &ggr;TuRC interactors. In this Commentary, we discuss the regulation of &ggr;TuRC-dependent microtubule nucleation as a key mechanism of microtubule organization. Specifically, we focus on the regulatory roles of the &ggr;TuRC subunits and interactors and present an overview of other mechanisms that regulate &ggr;TuRC-dependent microtubule nucleation and organization.
Suppression of Electron Mobility Degradation in (100)-Oriented Double-Gate Ultrathin Body nMOSFETs

Electron mobility in ultrathin body MOSFETs in double-gate (DG) operation has been investigated with SOI thickness of less than 4 nm for the first time. Although mobility degradation in DG compared to single gate occurs with SOI thickness of larger than 2 nm, the degradation is suppressed with SOI thickness of 1.7 nm. This suppression mechanism is explained by strong quantum confinement effect by an extremely thin SOI layer.
On isomorphisms of Cayley digraphs on dihedral groups

In this paper, we investigate m-DCI and m-CI properties of dihedral groups. We show that for any m E {I, 2, 3}, the dihedral group D2k is m-DCI if and only if D2k is m-CI if and only if 2 f k. § 1. Preliminaries Let G be a finite group and 5 a subset of G with 1 1:. 5. We use r = Cay( G; 5) to denote the Cayley digraph of G with respect to 5, defined to be the directed graph with vertex set and edge set given by v(r) = G, E(r) = {(g,8g) 1 9 E G, 8 E 5}. When a digraph contains both undirected edges and directed edges, we refer to directed edges as arcs and undirected edges as edges. Let D2k be the dihedral group, D2k = (0;,,131 o;k = 1, (3a{3 = 0;-1). Whenever we refer to 0; and {3 in this paper, we mean the generators of the dihedral group D2k . *The work for this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Doctorial Program Foundation of Institutions of Higher Education (P. R. China). Australasian Journal of Combinatorics 15(1997), pp.213-220 We use ord(g) to denote the order of an element 9 in a group, use 151 to denote the cardinal number of a set 5, and use gcd(i,j) to denote the greatest common divisor of two integers i and j. Let Cay( G; 5) be the Cayley digraph of G with respect to 5. Take 7r E Aut( G) and set S7r T. Obviously we have Cay( G; 5) ~ Cay( G; T). This kind of isomorphism between two Cayley digraphs is called a Cayley isomorphism. DEFINITION 1.1 Given a subset 5 of G, we call 5 a CI-subset of G, if for any subset T of G with Cay( G; 5) ~ Cay( G; T), there exists 7r E Aut( G) such that 5 = T. DEFINITION 1.2 A finite group G is called an m-DCI-group if any subset 5 ofG with 1 t/:. 5 and 151 ::; m is a CI-subset. The group G is called an m-CI-group if any subset 5 ofG with 1 t/:. 5,5-1 = 5 and 151 ::; m is a CI-subset, where 51 = {S-l Is E 5}. A number of authors have investigated the m-DCI properties of abelian groups for m ::; 3, and m-CI properties of abelian groups for m ::; 5 (see [1-6]). THEOREM 1.3 ([7, Theorem 2.5], or see [1-6]) 1. The finite cyclic group Zk is m-DCI if2 t k, m = 1,2,3. 2. Any finite cyclic group Zk is 4-C1. DEFINITION 1.4 A finite group G is called homogeneous if whenever Hand f{ are two isomorphic subgroups and (J is an isomorphism (J : H -+ K, then (J can be extended to an automorphism of G. The following lemmas are very easy to prove. LEMMA 1.5 IfCay(G;5) ~ Cay(G;T), then 1(5)1 = I(T)I. LEMMA 1.6 1. Any finite cyclic group Zk is homogeneous. 2. For any finite cyclic group Zk and for any a, b E Zk with ord( a) = ord(b), there exists an 7r E Aut(Zk) such that a7r = b. LEMMA 1.7 For any i E Z set, = cif3. Then D2k (cx" I cxk = ,2 = 1, ,cx, = -1) cx . LEMMA 1.8 Given 7r E Aut(Zk) and x E Zk. Define a mapping 7r : D2k --+ D2k by Then 7r E Aut(D2k ). LEMMA 1.9 The dihedral group D2k is homogeneous if 2 t k.
How effective are weight-loss interventions for improving fertility in women and men who are overweight or obese? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence

BACKGROUND The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, with a corresponding increase in overweight and obese patients referred with infertility. This systematic review aimed to determine whether non-surgical weight reduction strategies result in an improvement in reproductive parameters affected by obesity, e.g. delayed time to pregnancy, oligozoospermia and azoospermia. No prior reviews have examined this within the general fertility population, or in both sexes. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE Our objective was to answer the question: 'In overweight and obese women, men and couples seeking fertility treatment, what non-surgical weight-loss interventions have been used, and how effective are they at weight loss and improving reproductive outcomes? ' SEARCH METHODS An electronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library was performed for studies between January 1966 and March 2016. Text word and MESH search terms used related to infertility, weight and barriers to weight loss. Inclusion criteria were an intervention to change lifestyle evaluated in any study design in participants of either gender with an unfulfilled desire to conceive. Studies were excluded if they included participants not attempting pregnancy, with illnesses that might cause weight fluctuations, or studies evaluating bariatric surgery. Two reviewers performed data extraction and quality assessment using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for randomized trials, and a ratified checklist (ReBIP) for non-randomized studies. OUTCOMES A total of 40 studies were included, of which 14 were randomised control trials. Primary outcomes were pregnancy, live birth rate and weight change. In women, reduced calorie diets and exercise interventions were more likely than control interventions to result in pregnancy [risk ratio 1.59, 95% CI (1.01, 2.50)], and interventions resulted in weight loss and ovulation improvement, where reported. Miscarriage rates were not reduced by any intervention. WIDER IMPLICATIONS Overweight and obese persons seeking fertility should be educated on the detrimental effects of fatness and the benefits of weight reduction, including improvement in pregnancy rates. A combination of a reduced calorie diet, by reducing fat and refined carbohydrate intake, and increased aerobic exercise should form the basis of programmes designed for such individuals. A lack of randomized studies in men and couples, and studies evaluating barriers to undertaking weight loss in infertile populations is evident, and future research should examine these issues further.
The role of vagal cardiac nerves and arterial baroreceptors in the circulatory adjustments to hemorrhage in the cat.

The relative importance of arterial baroreceptors and receptors with afferent fibres in the cardiac nerves, respectively, in producing compensatory circulatory adjustments in moderate hemorrhage was analyzed in chloralose-anesthetized cats. — The effects of standardized hemorrhage on blood pressure, heart rate and renal and skeletal muscle blood flows were observed before and after section of respective receptor afferents. Both groups of receptors, when operating in the absence of the other, were capable of producing tachycardia and vasoconstriction during a blood loss, but the pattern of response, elicited via the two sets of afferents, differed. Compensation via cardiac nerve afferents thus implied a particularly strong engagement of vasomotor neurons, controlling the heart and the renal vessels, while the arterial baroreceptor adjustments seemed to involve a more uniform exitation of all vasomotor centre neurons. Very rapid hemorrhages often produced a pronounced bradycardia, resembling that seen in the “vaso-vagal” syncope in man. This response was found to be mediated through a vago-vagal reflex arch, and probably constitutes a protective mechanism, causing a break on the heart in situations of extremely poor diastolic filling.
A Response to Elizabeth Sloat and Douglas Willms' "The International Adult Literacy Survey"

Based on the results of the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) and Canada's National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY), Sloat and Willms (Canadian Journal of Education, volume 25, number 3) argue convincingly for early intervention to compensate children from disadvantaged backgrounds so that these children will enter school better prepared for success. They also argue for changes in school practices and workplace opportunities to encourage the development of literacy skills and workplace values. The authors express alarm over the survey's finding that nearly 20% of Canadians function at the lowest literacy level, Level 1, and that more than 40% of Canadians have inadequate literacy skills. Finally, they focus on the link between parents' low socioeconomic status (SES) and low literacy skills, and the effect of these factors on children's school achievement. Who exactly makes up the undereducated 40% of the population? And why aren't these individuals lining up at the doors of literacy programs? The IALS results show that a significant percentage of people deemed to have "inadequate" literacy skills rate their own skills as good to excellent (Statistics Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, & National Literacy Secretariat, 1996, p. 64). This means that, in their work and social context, many people believe they have the literacy or decoding skills they need. Here we face an epistemological dilemma of what the literacy reality is and who defines it. The IALS uses a positivist epistemology to describe literacy as a technical skill. The implication is that with the right strategies, literacy levels will improve if appropriate public interventions are taken and if literacy programs are effective. Furthermore, literacy programs face the challenge of demonstrating improved outcomes when the next survey results are reported. The survey cannot offer an understanding of what literacy means to the individuals who make up the statistics. To understand literacy from this perspective would require a phenomenological approach "that connects generalizations with local contexts and viewpoints. Postpositivism . means trying to find ways to move beyond positivism's limitations" (Sleeter, 2001, pp. 240-241).
LQR control for secondary-regulation hydrostatic transmission system via exact linearization

The state-space description of the secondary-regulation hydrostatic transmission system is derived and the differential geometry theory of nonlinear system is proposed to transform the nonlinear system into a linear controllable one by coordinates transformation and state-space feedback. Based on the linearization model, the control law is achieved through optimal control theory of linear quadratic regulator(LQR). And this law is used to govern the former nonlinear model via transformation. At the same time, the influence on control performance of power matrix is discussed. Finally, the simulation results show that the system not only is free from the system steady error and overshoot, but also has good robust ability.
Effect of Olive and Sunflower Seed Oil on the Adult Skin Barrier: Implications for Neonatal Skin Care

Natural oils are advocated and used throughout the world as part of neonatal skin care, but there is an absence of evidence to support this practice. The goal of the current study was to ascertain the effect of olive oil and sunflower seed oil on the biophysical properties of the skin. Nineteen adult volunteers with and without a history of atopic dermatitis were recruited into two randomized forearm‐controlled mechanistic studies. The first cohort applied six drops of olive oil to one forearm twice daily for 5 weeks. The second cohort applied six drops of olive oil to one forearm and six drops of sunflower seed oil to the other twice daily for 4 weeks. The effect of the treatments was evaluated by determining stratum corneum integrity and cohesion, intercorneocyte cohesion, moisturization, skin‐surface pH, and erythema. Topical application of olive oil for 4 weeks caused a significant reduction in stratum corneum integrity and induced mild erythema in volunteers with and without a history of atopic dermatitis. Sunflower seed oil preserved stratum corneum integrity, did not cause erythema, and improved hydration in the same volunteers. In contrast to sunflower seed oil, topical treatment with olive oil significantly damages the skin barrier, and therefore has the potential to promote the development of, and exacerbate existing, atopic dermatitis. The use of olive oil for the treatment of dry skin and infant massage should therefore be discouraged. These findings challenge the unfounded belief that all natural oils are beneficial for the skin and highlight the need for further research.
Incidental Pulmonary Nodules Detected on Abdominal Computed Tomography

Objectives To review the characteristics and outcome of incidental pulmonary nodules reported on abdominal computed tomography (CT). Methods A database search of abdominal CTs from January 1, 2004, to December 31, 2006, revealed 413 patients with incidental pulmonary nodules and at least one follow-up chest CT. Demographic information, nodule characteristics, and eventual outcome of the nodules were analyzed. Results Of the 413 patients, 56% had benign nodules, 11% had malignant nodules, and the remaining 33% had insufficient follow-up. There was a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05) in the age of the patients, history of malignancy, and size of the incidental nodule between benign and malignant groups. No malignant nodules were found in patients younger than 59 years who did not have a known or suspected malignancy. Conclusion Small pulmonary nodules (<8 mm) on abdominal CT in patients younger than 50 years with no history of malignancy are unlikely to be malignant.
Some observations on volatile fatty acids in the sheep's rumen.

not appreciably affected by temperature. Most of the material given was eliminated in the first few days after dosing, but small amounts continued to be excreted for several weeks. Even with the much smaller quantities eliminated on these later days, about half was still unconjugated. The reduction ofthe nitro group inp-nitrobenzoic acid which was observed indicates the presence of another possible detoxication mechanism in locusts, since reduction of nitro groups often lowers toxicity (cf. Smith et al. 1953). This reduction is not unexpected since Dennel (1949) has observed that insect blood has a low redox potential. The formation of hippuric acids in the locust is interesting in connexion with the comparative biochemistry of nitrogen metabolism. Locusts differ from the common experimental animals in that uric acid is a major end-product of their nitrogen metabolism (Chauvin, 1941). The hen, which also eliminates most of its nitrogen as uric acid, uses ornithine for the detoxication of aromatic acids, and it is sometimes suggested (Quick, 1948; Baldwin, 1948) that other animals with uricotelic metabolism, such as reptiles, may also form ornithuric acids. The only reptile which appears to have been studied is a turtle, which produced hippuric acids (Komori & Sendyu, 1926), but it was not stated whether this turtle had a ureotelic or uricotelic metabolism (cf. Baldwin, 1952). The present work suggests that there may be no general connexion between uric acid production and the use of ornithine as a conjugating agent.
Dephosphorylation during Bleach and Regeneration of Visual Pigment in Carp Rod and Cone Membranes*

Background: Light-activated visual pigment is inactivated by phosphorylation and then regenerated. In this regeneration cycle, phosphates incorporated should be removed. Results: Dephosphorylation was more effective in cones than in rods and did not show substrate preference during the cycle. Conclusion: Phosphorylated visual pigment is dephosphorylated constantly in the regeneration cycle in both rods and cones. Significance: A mechanism of visual pigment regeneration is known. On absorption of light by vertebrate visual pigment, the chromophore, 11-cis retinal, is isomerized to all-trans retinal to activate the phototransduction cascade, which leads to a hyperpolarizing light response. Activated pigment is inactivated by phosphorylation on the protein moiety, opsin. Isomerized all-trans retinal is ultimately released from opsin, and the pigment is regenerated by binding to 11-cis retinal. In this pigment regeneration cycle, the phosphates incorporated should be removed in order that the pigment regains the capability of activating the phototransduction cascade. However, it is not clear yet how pigment dephosphorylation takes place in the regeneration cycle. First in this study, we tried to estimate the dephosphorylation activity in living carp rods and cones and found that the activity, which is present mainly in the cytoplasm in both rods and cones, is three times higher in cones than in rods. Second, we examined at which stage the dephosphorylation takes place; before or after the release of all-trans retinal, during pigment regeneration, or after pigment regeneration. For this purpose we prepared three types of phosphorylated substrates in purified carp rod and cone membranes: phosphorylated bleaching intermediate, phosphorylated opsin, and phosphorylated and regenerated pigment. We also examined the effect of pigment regeneration on the dephosphorylation. The results showed that the dephosphorylation does not show substrate preference in the regeneration cycle and suggested that the dephosphorylation takes place constantly. The results also suggest that, under bright light, some of the regenerated visual pigment remains phosphorylated to reduce the light sensitivity in cones.
A New Distributed Scheduling Scheme for guaranteeing quality of service ( QoS ) in Wireless Sensor Networks

We propose a new distributed scheduling scheme for guaranteeing quality of service(QoS) in WSNs. We first introduce the two multi-hop delay factors which can be caused by conventional TDMA scheduling;queueing delay and the delay by random link schedule. Next, this paper drives average end-toend delay of the proposed scheduling scheme that sequentially schedules the slots on the path and the conventional random scheduling scheme that randomly schedules slots on the path. Finally, we simulate the TDMA network with the proposed link scheduling scheme and compare it with that of conventional random link scheduling scheme. From the analysis results, the more the average hop distance increases, the more the difference of the delay performance of both scheduling schemes increases. When the average number of hops is 2.66, 4.1, 4.75, and 6.3, the proposed sequential scheduling scheme reduces the average endto-end delay by about 22%, 36%, 48%, and 55% respectively compared to the random scheduling scheme.