LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Conducting polymer coated neural recording electrodes.

OBJECTIVE
Neural recording electrodes suffer from poor signal to noise ratio, charge density, biostability and biocompatibility. This paper investigates the ability of conducting polymer coated electrodes to record acute neural response in a systematic manner, allowing in depth comparison of electrochemical and electrophysiological response.


APPROACH
Polypyrrole (Ppy) and poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT) doped with sulphate (SO4) or para-toluene sulfonate (pTS) were used to coat iridium neural recording electrodes. Detailed electrochemical and electrophysiological investigations were undertaken to compare the effect of these materials on acute in vivo recording.


MAIN RESULTS
A range of charge density and impedance responses were seen with each respectively doped conducting polymer. All coatings produced greater charge density than uncoated electrodes, while PEDOT-pTS, PEDOT-SO4 and Ppy-SO4 possessed lower impedance values at 1 kHz than uncoated electrodes. Charge density increased with PEDOT-pTS thickness and impedance at 1 kHz was reduced with deposition times up to 45 s. Stable electrochemical response after acute implantation inferred biostability of PEDOT-pTS coated electrodes while other electrode materials had variable impedance and/or charge density after implantation indicative of a protein fouling layer forming on the electrode surface. Recording of neural response to white noise bursts after implantation of conducting polymer-coated electrodes into a rat model inferior colliculus showed a general decrease in background noise and increase in signal to noise ratio and spike count with reduced impedance at 1 kHz, regardless of the specific electrode coating, compared to uncoated electrodes. A 45 s PEDOT-pTS deposition time yielded the highest signal to noise ratio and spike count.


SIGNIFICANCE
A method for comparing recording electrode materials has been demonstrated with doped conducting polymers. PEDOT-pTS showed remarkable low fouling during acute implantation, inferring good biostability. Electrode impedance at 1 kHz was correlated with background noise and inversely correlated with signal to noise ratio and spike count, regardless of coating. These results collectively confirm a potential for improvement of neural electrode systems by coating with conducting polymers.
Institutional Reforms and Investor Reactions to CSR Announcements: Evidence from an Emerging Economy

This study contributes to the limited established empirical research on the impact and relevance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the capital markets of emerging economies. We conducted an event study to demonstrate how the timing of CSR announcements by firms that have aligned their strategies to newly instituted social regulations in South Africa influenced stock prices. Using a unique dataset of publicly listed South African enterprises that undertook CSR initiatives during the ten year period from 1996 to 2005, we found that investor reactions to CSR announcements concluded during the late phase of institutional reforms are viewed positively by investors. Furthermore, CSR announcements of substantive monetary value result in significantly higher shareholder returns.
The Antibacterial Activity of Metal Complexes Containing 1,10- phenanthroline: Potential as Alternative Therapeutics in the Era of Antibiotic Resistance.

The "antibiotic era", characterized by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, over the last half-century has culminated in the present critical "era of resistance". The treatment of bacterial infections is challenging because of a decline in the current arsenal of useful antibiotics and the slow rate of new drug development. The discovery of a new gene (mcr-1) in 2015, which enables bacteria to be highly resistant to polymyxins (such as colistin), the last line of antibiotic defence left, heralds a new level of concern as this gene is susceptible to horizontal gene transfer, with alarming potential to be spread between different bacterial populations, suggesting that the progression from "extensive drug resistance" to "pan-drug resistance" may be inevitable. Clearly there is a need for the development of novel classes of anti-bacterial agents capable of killing bacteria through mechanisms that are different to those of the known classes of antibiotics. 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) is a heterocyclic organic compound which exerts in vitro antimicrobial activity against a broad-spectrum of bacteria. The antimicrobial activity of phen can be significantly modulated by modifying its structure. The development of metal-phen complexes offers the medicinal chemist an opportunity to expand such structural diversity by controlling the geometry and varying the oxidation states of the metal centre, with the inclusion of appropriate auxiliary ligands in the structure, offering the opportunity to target different biochemical pathways in bacteria. In this review, we summarize what is currently known about the antibacterial capability of metal-phen complexes and their mechanisms of action.
Reusing Ambient Light to Recognize Hand Gestures Prepared by Mahina -

In this paper, we explore the feasibility of reusing ambient light to recognize human gestures. We present GestureLite, a system that provides hand gesture detection and classification using the pre-existing light in a room. We observe that in an environment with a reasonably consistent lighting scheme, a given gesture will block some light rays and leave others unobstructed, resulting in the user casting a unique shadow pattern for that movement. GestureLite captures these unique shadow patterns using a small array of light sensors. Using standard machine learning techniques, GestureLite can learn these patterns and recognize new instances of specific gestures when the user performs them. We tested GestureLite using a 10-gesture dictionary in several real-world environments and found it achieves, on average, a gesture recognition accuracy of 98%. Dartmouth Computer Science Technical Report TR2016-797 Submitted on: May 31, 2016
A review on the potential of improved fallows and green manure in Rwanda

Agricultural production in the densely populated highlands of Rwanda is subject to serious soil fertility constraints. As the use of imported mineral fertilizers is beyond the economic means of resource-poor farmers, research and extension efforts of several projects, institutes and organizations concentrated during the last 15 years on the development and promotion of improved fallows with woody and herbaceous legumes, like Tephrosia sp., Cajanus sp., Crotalaria sp., Sesbania sp., Mucuna sp., and Mimosa sp., planted over one or more seasons as pure green manure, in hedgerows (alley cropping), or on fields as seasonal inter- or relay-crop. Green manuring proved to be a risky enterprise, due to highly variable biomass production and residual effects. Yield increments on-farm of up to 74% in the first season and 46% in the second season did not compensate loss of yields and labour investments during green manuring. Even where biomass production was sufficient, residual effects were in most cases unsatisfactory, due to rapid nutrient leaching (N, K) or inappropriate foliage incorporation on-farm. In researcher-managed trials, residual effects were in general somewhat higher, but more than a mere compensation of lost yields was not possible and farmers' adoption of these labour-intensive technologies was rather low. Due to acute land shortage, farmers were reluctant in allocating land to fallows or hedgerows also, with the exception of fields already out of production. Consequently, the concept of improving soil fertility and crop yields with the help of planted fallows or green manure in rotation failed. Woody legumes might have a future on abandoned fields and in wide spaced contour hedges, mainly for the production of firewood and bean stakes. For soil fertility management, the production and availability of farmyard manure and country-own mineral fertilizers, such as travertin and volcanic ashes should be supported. The question is raised as to whether sustainable agricultural development is possible without a credit system for small farmers, reallocating land and creating off-farm employment.
Association between COX-2 expression and effectiveness of COX-2 inhibitors in a phase II trial in patients with metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma.

AIM
The role for the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) pathway in colorectal carcinogenesis has been suggested in pre-clinical models. In a previously reported phase II trial, the addition of COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib to irinotecan and capecitabine did not appear to significantly increase the activity of chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma (mCRC). We evaluated the COX-2 expression in the available tumors from enrolled patients by immunohistochemistry, as well as its correlation with clinical outcome.


PATIENTS AND METHODS
Fifty-one patients with mCRC were enrolled in the phase II study between June 2002 and November 2005. Patients received a combination of irinotecan 70 mg/m(2) over 30 min i.v. on days 1 and 8, capecitabine 1,000 mg/m(2) twice per day orally on days 1-14 and the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib at a daily dose of 800 mg continuously. Cycles were repeated every 21 days. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue samples were available for 17 patients enrolled on this study. COX-2 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and was correlated with clinical outcome.


RESULTS
In the phase II study, the objective response rate was 41%. The median time to progression was 7.7 months and median survival time was 21.2 months. Tumor COX-2 expression, by immunohistochemistry, was assessed for 17 patients enrolled in the same phase II study. While not statistically significant, the response rate was better for patients in the low COX-2 expression group, while time to progression and overall survival was longer in patients in the high COX-2 expression group. This discrepancy can be partially attributed to the small sample size.


CONCLUSION
In the previously published phase II study, the addition of celecoxib to irinotecan and capecitabine did not appear to significantly increase the activity of chemotherapy. COX-2 expression by immunohistochemistry was neither prognostic nor predictive for response.
DeepMatching: Hierarchical Deformable Dense Matching

We introduce a novel matching algorithm, called DeepMatching, to compute dense correspondences between images. DeepMatching relies on a hierarchical, multi-layer, correlational architecture designed for matching images and was inspired by deep convolutional approaches. The proposed matching algorithm can handle non-rigid deformations and repetitive textures and efficiently determines dense correspondences in the presence of significant changes between images. We evaluate the performance of DeepMatching, in comparison with state-of-the-art matching algorithms, on the Mikolajczyk (Mikolajczyk et al. A comparison of affine region detectors, 2005), the MPI-Sintel (Butler et al. A naturalistic open source movie for optical flow evaluation, 2012) and the Kitti (Geiger et al. Vision meets robotics: The KITTI dataset, 2013) datasets. DeepMatching outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms and shows excellent results in particular for repetitive textures. We also apply DeepMatching to the computation of optical flow, called DeepFlow, by integrating it in the large displacement optical flow (LDOF) approach of Brox and Malik (Large displacement optical flow: descriptor matching in variational motion estimation, 2011). Additional robustness to large displacements and complex motion is obtained thanks to our matching approach. DeepFlow obtains competitive performance on public benchmarks for optical flow estimation.
Chapter X : Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics

In recent years, two communities have grown around a joint interest in how big data can be exploited to benefit education and the science of learning: Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics. This article discusses the relationship between these two communities, and the key methods and approaches of educational data mining. The article discusses how these methods emerged in the early days of research in this area, which methods have seen particular interest in the EDM and learning analytics communities, and how this has changed as the field matures and has moved to making significant contributions to both educational research and practice.
A new, innovative, lengthening surgical procedure for Peyronie's disease by penile prosthesis implantation with double dorsal-ventral patch graft: the "sliding technique".

INTRODUCTION
Peyronie's disease is the result of the formation of fibrous plaques in the tunica albuginea of the penis; typical presentations of the disease are represented by pain during erection, erectile dysfunction, and penile deformities, such as curvature, narrowing, and penile shortening. The most complex treatment is related to penile shortening.


AIM
To find a safe procedure in penile shortening due to Peyronie's disease providing a satisfactory lengthening, allowing an early stabilization of the penis, and preventing axial tension on the neurovascular bundles during dilation.


METHODS
We describe a new lengthening surgical procedure based on a ventro-dorsal incision of the tunica albuginea, penile prosthesis implantation, and double dorsal-ventral patch grafting with porcine small intestinal submucosa. Three patients, affected by Peyronie's disease with penile shortening and erectile dysfunction, underwent this procedure with approval of our local ethical committee. We evaluated the penis lengthening, intraoperative and postoperative complications, patient's preoperative and postoperative sexual life satisfaction (International Index of Erectile Function [IIEF] questionnaire).


RESULTS
The average operative time was 2 hours and 50 minutes. No major intraoperative nor postoperative complications occurred. No significant bleedings were recorded. Patients were discharged after 48-72 hours. The average increase in length obtained was 3.2 cm. All patients resumed sexual intercourses with satisfaction; no significant loss of sensitivity or any sign of vascular distress of the glans was recorded. The follow-up is 13 months. The average IIEF score is 60.


CONCLUSIONS
The lengthening of the penis by a double dorsal-ventral patch graft is an innovative procedure that is based on current techniques of plaque incision and grafting, and that can easily resolve severe shortening of the penis due to Peyronie's disease. In the cases presented, this procedure resulted easily, effectively, and safely. Nevertheless, the technique proposed in this article shall be validated through prospective studies with larger samples.
Simplifying the development of cross-platform web user interfaces by collaborative model-based design

Ensuring responsive design of web applications requires their user interfaces to be able to adapt according to different contexts of use, which subsume the end users, the devices and platforms used to carry out the interactive tasks, and also the environment in which they occur. To address the challenges posed by responsive design, aiming to simplify their development by factoring out the common parts from the specific ones, this paper presents Quill, a web-based development environment that enables various stakeholders of a web application to collaboratively adopt a model-based design of the user interface for cross-platform deployment. The paper establishes a series of requirements for collaborative model-based design of cross-platform web user interfaces motivated by the literature, observational and situational design. It then elaborates on potential solutions that satisfy these requirements and explains the solution selected for Quill. A user survey has been conducted to determine how stakeholders appreciate model-based design user interface and how they estimate the importance of the requirements that lead to Quill.
Species-Level Differences in Hyperspectral Metrics among Tropical Rainforest Trees as Determined by a Tree-Based Classifier

This study explores a method to classify seven tropical rainforest tree species from full-range (400–2,500 nm) hyperspectral data acquired at tissue (leaf and bark), pixel and crown scales using laboratory and airborne sensors. Metrics that respond to vegetation chemistry and structure were derived using narrowband indices, derivativeand absorptionbased techniques, and spectral mixture analysis. We then used the Random Forests treebased classifier to discriminate species with minimally-correlated, importance-ranked metrics. At all scales, best overall accuracies were achieved with metrics derived from all four techniques and that targeted chemical and structural properties across the visible to shortwave infrared spectrum (400–2500 nm). For tissue spectra, overall accuracies were 86.8% for leaves, 74.2% for bark, and 84.9% for leaves plus bark. Variation in tissue metrics was best explained by an axis of red absorption related to photosynthetic leaves and an axis distinguishing bark water and other chemical absorption features. Overall accuracies for individual tree crowns were 71.5% for pixel spectra, 70.6% crown-mean spectra, and 87.4% for a pixel-majority technique. At pixel and crown scales, tree structure and phenology at the time of image acquisition were important factors that determined species spectral separability. OPEN ACCESS Remote Sens. 2012, 4 1821
Animated Transitions in Statistical Data Graphics

In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of animated transitions between common statistical data graphics such as bar charts, pie charts, and scatter plots. We extend theoretical models of data graphics to include such transitions, introducing a taxonomy of transition types. We then propose design principles for creating effective transitions and illustrate the application of these principles in DynaVis, a visualization system featuring animated data graphics. Two controlled experiments were conducted to assess the efficacy of various transition types, finding that animated transitions can significantly improve graphical perception.
XPIWIT - an XML pipeline wrapper for the Insight Toolkit

UNLABELLED
The Insight Toolkit offers plenty of features for multidimensional image analysis. Current implementations, however, often suffer either from a lack of flexibility due to hard-coded C++ pipelines for a certain task or by slow execution times, e.g. caused by inefficient implementations or multiple read/write operations for separate filter execution. We present an XML-based wrapper application for the Insight Toolkit that combines the performance of a pure C++ implementation with an easy-to-use graphical setup of dynamic image analysis pipelines. Created XML pipelines can be interpreted and executed by XPIWIT in console mode either locally or on large clusters. We successfully applied the software tool for the automated analysis of terabyte-scale, time-resolved 3D image data of zebrafish embryos.


AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION
XPIWIT is implemented in C++ using the Insight Toolkit and the Qt SDK. It has been successfully compiled and tested under Windows and Unix-based systems. Software and documentation are distributed under Apache 2.0 license and are publicly available for download at https://bitbucket.org/jstegmaier/xpiwit/downloads/.


CONTACT
johannes.stegmaier@kit.edu


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Brown-midrib genes of maize: a review

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Brown-midrib genes of maize: a review Y Barrière, O Argillier
Behavioural, educational and respiratory outcomes of antenatal betamethasone for term caesarean section (ASTECS trial)

OBJECTIVES
To determine whether antenatal betamethasone prior to elective term caesarean section (CS) affects long term behavioural, cognitive or developmental outcome, and whether the risk of asthma or atopic disease is reduced.


DESIGN
A questionnaire based follow-up of a multicentre randomised controlled trial (Antenatal Steroids for Term Elective Caesarean Section, BMJ 2005).


SETTING
Four UK study centres from the original trial.


PARTICIPANTS
862 participants from the four largest recruiting centres, 92% of the original study. 824 (96%) were traced and 799 (93%) were successfully contacted. Fifty-one percent (407/799) completed and returned the questionnaire. The children were aged 8-15 years (median 12.2 years, 52% girls). 386 gave consent to contact schools with 352 (91%) reports received.


MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Questionnaires including a strengths and difficulties questionnaire, International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood, general health and school performance.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences between children whose mothers received betamethasone and controls for the mean total strengths and difficulties questionnaire scores and subscores for hyperactivity, emotional symptoms, prosocial behaviour, conduct or peer problems. 25 (12%) children whose mothers received betamethasone had reported learning difficulties compared with 27 (14%) control children. The proportion of children who achieved standard assessment tests KS2 exams level 4 or above for mathematics, English or science was similar as were the rates of ever reported wheeze (30% vs 30%), asthma (24% vs 21%), eczema (34% vs 37%) and hay fever (25% vs 27%).


CONCLUSIONS
Antenatal betamethasone did not result in any adverse outcomes or reduction in asthma or atopy. It should be considered for elective CS at 37-38 weeks of gestation.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
: Original trial was preregistration, the trial publication is BMJ. 2005 Sep 24;331(7518):662.
Enhancing Student Models in Game-based Learning with Facial Expression Recognition

Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the role that affect plays in learning. Because game-based learning environments elicit a wide range of student affective states, affect-enhanced student modeling for game-based learning holds considerable promise. This paper introduces an affect-enhanced student modeling framework that leverages facial expression tracking for game-based learning. The affect-enhanced student modeling framework was used to generate predictive models of student learning and student engagement for students who interacted with CRYSTAL ISLAND, a game-based learning environment for microbiology education. Findings from the study reveal that the affect-enhanced student models significantly outperform baseline predictive student models that utilize the same gameplay traces but do not use facial expression tracking. The study also found that models based on individual facial action coding units are more effective than composite emotion models. The findings suggest that introducing facial expression tracking can improve the accuracy of student models, both for predicting student learning gains and also for predicting student engagement.