Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Neuroleptic-induced deficit syndrome: old problem, new challenge

a number of side effects, and these can have a profoundly undesirable effect on patients and on their compliance (Nelson, 1975). Some of these effects have been well described (Baldessarini, 1985; Carpenter, Heinrichs and Alphs, 1985): akinesia, with its motor retardation, emotional withdrawal and blunted affect; akathisia, with both objective and subjective restlessness; sedation; cognitive impairment; anhedonia, and a dysphoric response to medication (Emerick and Sanberg, 1991). All too often, however, the subjective feelings of schizophrenics about their medication have tended to be dismissed as unreliable, and are therefore poorly documented. However, the topic is complex as witnessed by the debate over the involvement of neuroleptics in the depressive syndromes so often seen in schizophrenic patients (Harrow et al., 1991). There is a growing recognition that the schizophrenic patient’s evaluation of their own reaction to medication is both valid and important (Van Putten, May and Marder, 1984; Hogan, Awad and Eastwood, 1985). Reports from patients are helping psychiatrists to focus
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Pulmonary Damage in the Term and Premature Rat Neonate Exposed to Hyperoxia

Immaturity and oxygen toxicity have been implicated in the pathogenesis of the neonatal disease bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The present study aimed to investigate the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess hyperoxia-mediated lung injury in the term and premature neonate. Term (gestation, 22 d) and premature (21 d) rat pups were exposed to hyperoxia (>95%) or air for a 6-d period (n = 7) and assessed for lung damage by MRI. Pulmonary signal intensities of T1-weighted images were significantly increased in both hyperoxia-exposed term and premature neonates, relative to air-breathing controls (p < 0.01). T2-weighted MRI signal intensities were also greater in premature and term rat pups exposed to hyperoxia, but failed to reach significance (p > 0.05). Elevated MRI pulmonary signal intensities may have represented an increase in magnetic resonance–detectable free water, possibly indicating an increase in edema. Corresponding histologic evidence of lung injury was detected in both term and premature rat pups exposed to hyperoxia. Histologic samples indicated focal regions of alveolar hemorrhage, immune cell infiltration, edema, and collapse in both term and premature rat neonates exposed to hyperoxia. Alveolar air space was assessed (n = 5) by light microscopy within a 0.5 mm2 region of the superior left and inferior right pulmonary lobes of each treatment group. Alveolar area of the superior left lung lobe of the premature hyperoxia treatment group was significantly smaller than other treatment groups (p < 0.05). Reduced area for respiratory exchange was probably a result of observed focal areas of edema and collapse. MRI-detectable increases in lung signal intensity may have represented an increase in hyperoxia-induced pulmonary edema in the 6-d-old rat neonate. Increases in signal intensity correlated with the appearance of edema in pulmonary histologic samples. Premature delivery had a less defined effect on lung injury but possibly exacerbated hyperoxia-mediated pulmonary damage.
Tracking video target via particle filtering on the lie group normal distribution

Most existing video target tracking algorithm based on particle filtering are in Euclidean space. While video target tracking occurs in complex environments, it is very difficult to guarantee the tracking effect. This paper describes the covariance descriptor to represent the object image region, and describes the geometric deformation of the object image region by an affine transformation. The affine transformation matrix is one element of the Lie group. We directly implement the video tracking system state lies in a low dimensional manifold, and make full use of state space of intrinsic geometrical characteristic, the manifold of optimization algorithm to solve Riemann mean value is studied. By constructing Lie group normal distribution as the optimal importance function for extracting state sample. This paper proposes particle filtering on the Lie group with optimal importance functions, which provides a kind of new train of thought for improving efficiency and robustness of the tracking algorithm. The simulation experiments show that in the case of object scale size changing, rotating, etc. geometric deformation light intensity changing, target occlusion and fast motion situation, the proposed Lie group particle filtering algorithm can still realize target tracking well and improve the real-time performance of the system.
Cyber-Physical System security studies and research

The technology of Cyber-Physical System has attracted highly attention of academia, industry, and news media. There are still many open issues in the definition, architectures system models, security architecture of Cyber-Physical System. Define Cyber-Physical System and its meaning firstly, and then introduce the architecture and the progress of Cyber-Physical System research; and also analysis security services of CPS based on the time and space scales; lastly put forward the CPS system security architecture and detailed analysis of the layers of security threats and discuss along with possible solutions.
Citrullination is an inflammation-dependent process

Objectives: To study the presence of citrullinated proteins in inflammatory conditions and in clinically non-affected tissues of controls. Methods: Synovial biopsy specimens from 19 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 10 healthy controls were investigated by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, muscle tissue from 5 patients with polymyositis and from 7 healthy controls, intestinal tissue from macroscopically affected and non-affected areas from 10 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and tonsil tissues from 4 chronically inflamed tonsils were studied. Results: Citrullinated proteins were present in all synovial biopsy specimens from patients with rheumatoid arthritis, whereas only three of 10 healthy synovial biopsy specimens showed scarce amounts of citrullination. Citrullination was also present in all myositis-affected muscles, whereas it was absent in the muscle tissues of controls. All tonsil biopsy specimens studied were positive for citrulline. Even though more frequently detected in the macroscopically affected colonic areas, no marked difference was observed in the pattern or extent of citrullination between the macroscopically affected and non-affected intestinal IBD tissues. Conclusion: Citrullination is present in a wide range of inflammatory tissues, suggesting that this process is inflammation dependent rather than disease dependent.
An empirical study on the determinants of dynamic efficiency of Chinese commercial banks

Using China's 14 commercial banks 1998–2007 panel data, this article measured the efficiency of China's commercial banks by alternately using static and dynamic efficiency measurement model, and estimated the possible impacts of various factors on the efficiency of those banks by applying fixed effect, random effect and dynamic panel data model.
The question of the total gene number in Drosophila melanogaster.

A statistical analysis has been carried out on the distribution and allelism of nearly 500 sex-linked, X-ray-induced, cytologically normal and rearranged lethal mutations in Drosophila melanogaster that were obtained by G. Lefevre. The mutations were induced in four different regions of the X chromosome: (1) 1A1-3E8, (2) 6D1-8A5, (3) 9E1-11A7 and (4) 19A1-20F4, which together comprise more than one-third of the entire chromosome. --The analysis shows that the number of alleles found at different loci does not fit a Poisson distribution, even when the proper procedures are taken to accommodate the truncated nature of the data. However, the allele distribution fits a truncated negative binomial distribution quite well, with cytologically normal mutations fitting better than rearrangement mutations. This indicates that genes are not equimutable, as required for the data to fit a Poisson distribution. --Using the negative binomial parameters to estimate the number of genes that did not produce a detectable lethal mutation in our experiment (n0) gave a larger number than that derived from the use of the Poisson parameter. Unfortunately, we cannot estimate the total numbers of nonvital loci, loci with undetectable phenotypes and loci having extremely low mutabilities. In any event, our estimate of the total vital gene number was far short of the total number of bands in the analyzed regions; yet, in several short intervals, we have found more vital genes than bands; in other intervals, fewer. We conclude that the one-band, one-gene hypothesis, in its literal sense, is not true; furthermore, it is difficult to support, even approximately. --The question of the total gene number in Drosophila will, not doubt, eventually be solved by molecular analyses, not by statistical analysis of mutation data or saturation studies.
Nitric Oxide Action on Growth Factor-elicited Signals

The role of nitric oxide (NO) in the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) hydrolysis and intracellular Ca2+ release responses induced by epidermal, platelet-derived, and fibroblast growth factors was investigated in three cell lines, a clone of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts overexpressing epidermal growth factor receptors and the tumoral epithelial cells A431 and KB. In all three cell types, pretreatment with NO donors decreased growth factor-induced PIP2 and Ca2+ responses, whereas pretreatment with NO synthase inhibitors increased them. The Ca2+-dependent PIP2 hydroysis induced by micromolar concentrations of the Ca2+ ionophore, ionomycin, was also modulated negatively and positively by NO donors and synthase inhibitors, respectively. In contrast, the Ca2+ content of the intracellular stores was unaffected by the various pretreatments employed. NO donors and synthase inhibitors induced an increase and decrease, respectively, of the intracellular cGMP formation in all three cell lines investigated. All of the effects of the NO donors were mimicked by 8-bromo-cGMP administration and abolished by pretreatment with the specific blocker of the cGMP-dependent protein kinase I, KT5823, which by itself mimicked the effects of the synthase inhibitors. Together with previous observations on G protein-coupled receptors, the present results demonstrate that PIP2 hydrolysis and Ca2+ release occur under the feedback control of NO, independently of the phospholipase C (β, γ, or δ type) involved and of the mechanism of activation. Such a control, which appears to be effected by the cGMP-dependent protein kinase I acting at the level of the phospholipases C themselves, might ultimately contribute to the inhibitory role of NO on growth previously observed with various cell types.
Evaluating the persona effect of an interface agent in a tutoring system

This paper describes the evaluation of the persona effect of a speech-driven anthropomorphic agent that has been embodied in the interface of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). This agent is responsible for guiding the student in the environment and communicating the system's feedback messages. The agent was evaluated in terms of the effect that it could have on students' learning, behaviour and experience. The participants in the experiment were divided into two groups: half of them worked with a version of the ITS which embodied the agent and the rest worked with an agent-less version. The results from this study confirm the hypothesis that a pedagogical agent incorporated in an ITS can enhance students' learning experience. On the other hand, the hypothesis that the presence of the agent improves short-term learning effects was rejected.
Effects of concession revenue sharing contracts and airline alliances in airport competition

In the last decades the number of airports has grown substantially leading to situations where two or more airports share the same catchment area. On the other hand, the airlines market has been partially deregulated which has intensifi ed competition. All of these have motivated the formation of controversial vertical agreements as they raise possible anticompetitive issues. This paper considers a type of vertical agreement, concession revenue sharing contract, to analyze how airport-airline vertical structures compete for passengers when they share a catchment area. The analysis distinguishes the e ect of ownership structure of airports. Parallel alliances in the airlines market are also considered. Our results point out that airports have incentives to share the whole concession revenues, and that parallel alliances may improve Social Welfare. These results have policy implications because this kind of contract encourages Social Welfare, so they should to be leniently looked, just as the formation of alliances.
Carboxy Terminus of Human Herpesvirus 8 Latency-Associated Nuclear Antigen Mediates Dimerization, Transcriptional Repression, and Targeting to Nuclear Bodies

ABSTRACT Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8; also known as Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) is the causative agent of Kaposi's sarcoma and certain B-cell lymphomas. In most infected cells, HHV-8 establishes a latent infection characterized by the expression of latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) encoded by open reading frame 73. Although unrelated by sequence, there are functional similarities between LANA and the EBNA-1 protein of Epstein-Barr virus. Both accumulate as subnuclear speckles and are required for maintenance of the viral episome. EBNA-1 also regulates viral gene expression and is required for cell immortalization, suggesting that LANA performs similar functions in the context of HHV-8 infection. Here we show that LANA forms stable dimers, or possibly higher-order multimers, and that this is mediated by a conserved region in the C terminus. By expressing a series of truncations, we show that both the N- and C-terminal regions localize to the nucleus, although only the C terminus accumulates as nuclear speckles characteristic of the intact protein. Lastly, we show that LANA can function as a potent transcriptional repressor when tethered to constitutively active promoters via a heterologous DNA-binding domain. Domains in both the N and C termini mediate repression. This suggests that one function of LANA is to suppress the expression of the viral lytic genes or cellular genes involved in the antiviral response.
Electron temperature gradient driven turbulence

Collisionless electron-temperature-gradient-driven (ETG) turbulence in toroidal geometry is studied via nonlinear numerical simulations. To this aim, two massively parallel, fully gyrokinetic Vlasov codes are used, both including electromagnetic effects. Somewhat surprisingly, and unlike in the analogous case of ion-temperature-gradient-driven (ITG) turbulence, we find that the turbulent electron heat flux is significantly underpredicted by simple mixing length estimates in a certain parameter regime (ŝ∼1, low α). This observation is directly linked to the presence of radially highly elongated vortices (“streamers”) which lead to very effective cross-field transport. The simulations therefore indicate that ETG turbulence is likely to be relevant to magnetic confinement fusion experiments.
Clustering methods for occupancy prediction in smart home control

Clustering methods are deployed to extract patterns from large amounts of data. For home and building automation, usage patterns and their resulting profiles allow improving control systems with prediction capabilities. This paper shows how different clustering methods identify patterns representing the occupancy of inhabitants. Regarding the occupancy, the clustering methods are tested with real data from three kinds of rooms taken from a database of buildings monitored for five years. Later on, they are analyzed and compared using a simulated environment for the automated control of a use case dedicated to heating setpoint temperature control. As will be shown, methods based on Fuzzy C-means and eXclusive Self-Organizing Maps obtain the best performance in simulations, presenting excellent features for the application of interest.
The impact of internationalization in the brand image of brazilian franchises of the food sector

This paper aims to deepen the knowledge about the impact of internationalization in the brand image of Brazilian franchises of the food sector that become relevant by present increasing of Brazilian franchises in others markets and increasing the competitiveness of global markets. The study was structured in a bibliographic search about internationalization theories followed by a focal group and survey with 91 university consumers. The studied franchises will be those present in the Brazilian Transnational Ranking of Dom Cabral Foundation 2016. The results will serve as a reference for more broad studies about the internationalization process of Brazilian franchises and to investigate with the depth the impact of transnationalization in the brand image.
The Contribution of Corporate Ventures to Radical Innovation

Established firms often face significant obstacles to innovation. As a solution, it has been suggested to form corporate ventures. Based on a sample of corporate and independent ventures in German manufacturing, we show that corporate ventures are more innovative than the control group, i.e. the independent ventures. In particular, corporate ventures are more successful at developing radical innovations. This effect, however, decreases with the ventures’ degree of ownership concentration. We conclude that corporate ventures with a high ownership concentration are more likely to be controlled and monitored by their corporate sponsors, resulting in less favorable conditions for radical innovation.
Glutathione Plays a Fundamental Role in Growth and Symbiotic Capacity of Sinorhizobium meliloti

ABSTRACT Rhizobia form a symbiotic relationship with plants of the legume family to produce nitrogen-fixing root nodules under nitrogen-limiting conditions. We have examined the importance of glutathione (GSH) during free-living growth and symbiosis of Sinorhizobium meliloti. An S. meliloti mutant strain (SmgshA) which is unable to synthesize GSH due to a gene disruption in gshA, encoding the enzyme for the first step in the biosynthesis of GSH, was unable to grow under nonstress conditions, precluding any nodulation. In contrast, an S. meliloti strain (SmgshB) with gshB, encoding the enzyme involved in the second step in GSH synthesis, deleted was able to grow, indicating that γ-glutamylcysteine, the dipeptide intermediate, can partially substitute for GSH. However, the SmgshB strain showed a delayed-nodulation phenotype coupled to a 75% reduction in the nitrogen fixation capacity. This phenotype was linked to abnormal nodule development. Both the SmgshA and SmgshB mutant strains exhibited higher catalase activity than the wild-type S. meliloti strain, suggesting that both mutant strains are under oxidative stress. Taken together, these results show that GSH plays a critical role in the growth of S. meliloti and during its interaction with the plant partner.
Associations of vegetable and fruit consumption with age-related cognitive change

Objective: To examine the association between rates of cognitive change and dietary consumption of fruits and vegetables among older persons. Methods: The authors conducted a prospective cohort study of 3,718 participants, aged 65 years and older of the Chicago Health and Aging Project. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire and were administered at least two of three cognitive assessments at baseline, 3-year, and 6-year follow-ups. Cognitive function was measured using the average z-score of four tests: the East Boston Tests of immediate memory and delayed recall, the Mini-Mental State Examination, and the Symbol Digit Modalities Test. Results: The mean cognitive score at baseline for the analyzed cohort was 0.18 (range: –3.5 to 1.6), and the overall mean change in score per year was a decline of 0.04 standardized units. In mixed effects models adjusted for age, sex, race, and education, compared with the rate of cognitive decline among persons in the lowest quintile of vegetable intake (median of 0.9 servings/day), the rate for persons in the fourth quintile (median, 2.8 servings/day) was slower by 0.019 standardized units per year (p = 0.01), a 40% decrease, and by 0.018 standardized units per year (p = 0.02) for the fifth quintile (median, 4.1 servings/day), or a 38% decrease in rates. The association remained significant (p for linear trend = 0.02) with further control of cardiovascular-related conditions and risk factors. Fruit consumption was not associated with cognitive change. Conclusion: High vegetable but not fruit consumption may be associated with slower rate of cognitive decline with older age.
An empirical study of learning by osmosis in global software engineering

To teach global software engineering, we devised a complementary distributed module with a shared project involving both local and international teams. In local teams, students are located at the same university and trained in one of the two complementary topics. In international teams, students are located at two different universities and trained in one of the two complementary topics. This study empirically investigates whether the students in the international teams can compensate the extra effort required to deal with communication, coordination, and collaboration issues that characterize global software engineering projects with learning by osmosis (i.e., by transferring knowledge among globally distributed teams trained on different topics). The results show that there was no statistically significant difference between the performance of local and international teams. We assert that the students in the international and local teams perform equally well, thanks to learning by osmosis. However, our analysis of the self‐reported questionnaire data revealed that most of the participants (i.e., 70%) would like to work in local teams in real‐life project, 74% of the participants thought international teams were less efficient, and 41% of the participants reported lack of trust in their international team members compared with their local team members. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Partially thrombosed aneurysm of the abdominal aorta: Unusual cause of chronic inflammation and resistance to recombinant human erythropoietin

Diagnosis of chronic inflammatory syndrome is often a challenge. In dialysis patients, this condition leads to resistance to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO). We here report a case of a 72-year-old male undergoing chronic hemodialysis and developed rHuEPO resistance without any obvious etiology. Investigations showed a partially thromosed aneurysm of the infrarenal aorta. Antiplatelet therapy was started with a satisfactory outcome.