Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical Application of Dipole Models in the Localization of Epileptiform Activity

Summary: Routine clinical interpretation of EEG using visual inspection of traces is a time-honored, but simplistic, form of analysis. This is particularly true in attempts to localize an epileptogenic focus by means of EEG spike or seizure waveforms. Improved understanding of the cortical substrates of these potentials has allowed us to identify their likely cerebral origins through spatio-temporal analysis of scalp voltage fields. Equivalent dipole modeling is one such technique. Although an imperfect representation of spike or seizure sources, proper interpretation of dipole models can lead to a far better characterization of their localization and propagation. Modern techniques of 3-D MRI reconstruction and realistic head models have both improved localization accuracy and provided a means of displaying results in an image of the individual’s brain.
An Early Warning System for Hypoglycemic/Hyperglycemic Events Based on Fusion of Adaptive Prediction Models

Introduction: Early warning of future hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic events can improve the safety of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. The aim of this study is to design and evaluate a hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia early warning system (EWS) for T1DM patients under sensor-augmented pump (SAP) therapy. Methods: The EWS is based on the combination of data-driven online adaptive prediction models and a warning algorithm. Three modeling approaches have been investigated: (i) autoregressive (ARX) models, (ii) autoregressive with an output correction module (cARX) models, and (iii) recurrent neural network (RNN) models. The warning algorithm performs postprocessing of the models' outputs and issues alerts if upcoming hypoglycemic/hyperglycemic events are detected. Fusion of the cARX and RNN models, due to their complementary prediction performances, resulted in the hybrid autoregressive with an output correction module/recurrent neural network (cARN)-based EWS. Results: The EWS was evaluated on 23 T1DM patients under SAP therapy. The ARX-based system achieved hypoglycemic (hyperglycemic) event prediction with median values of accuracy of 100.0% (100.0%), detection time of 10.0 (8.0) min, and daily false alarms of 0.7 (0.5). The respective values for the cARX-based system were 100.0% (100.0%), 17.5 (14.8) min, and 1.5 (1.3) and, for the RNN-based system, were 100.0% (92.0%), 8.4 (7.0) min, and 0.1 (0.2). The hybrid cARN-based EWS presented outperforming results with 100.0% (100.0%) prediction accuracy, detection 16.7 (14.7) min in advance, and 0.8 (0.8) daily false alarms. Conclusion: Combined use of cARX and RNN models for the development of an EWS outperformed the single use of each model, achieving accurate and prompt event prediction with few false alarms, thus providing increased safety and comfort.
Effects of written emotional disclosure on implicit self-esteem and body image.

OBJECTIVES Negative body image has a significant impact on self-esteem, disordered eating, and general health. Writing about distressing events and experiences has been found to have beneficial effects on psychological and physical health outcomes. This study investigated whether a written self-disclosure intervention, compared to a writing about body image success stories (WSS) intervention, had beneficial effects on self-esteem and body image. DESIGN AND METHODS One hundred and fifty-eight women (aged 18-22 years) were allocated to either: written emotional disclosure (WED); WSS; or a control, non-emotional writing condition. All measures were completed at baseline and at follow-up 4 weeks later. RESULTS A condition by time interaction was observed for implicit self-esteem, such that levels of self-esteem were improved 4 weeks later in the WED condition. Implicit self-esteem was also found to be greater following WED compared to the control condition, but not following WSS. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to demonstrate that WED has beneficial effects on implicit outcome measures such as self-esteem indicating that the positive effects of expressive writing may initially operate by influencing automatically activated attitudes towards the self. The impact of WED on implicit self-esteem may have implications for future health.
Achievement Motives, Self-Efficacy, Achievement Goals, and Academic Achievement at Multiple Stages of Education: A Longitudinal Analysis

The present study investigated the joint effects of achievement motives, self-efficacy, and achievement goals as predictors of subsequent academic achievement among educational science students. A longitudinal research design allowed for measurement of motivational variables at several stages of education during bachelor courses (subsequent to the introductory courses), firstly by measuring achievement motives, secondly by self-efficacy and achievement goals. Subsequently, students' academic achievement level was measured at four different points in time, until they finished the last course for their bachelor degrees. A multivariate path analysis showed consistent relations between the motivational variables. The motive to avoid failure positively predicted the adoption of avoidance goals (both mastery and performance) and negatively predicted self-efficacy. Academic achievement was mainly predicted by the motive for success and performance-avoidance goals. The path analysis also showed strong relationships between the examination grades at different points in time.
Delay-dependent piecewise generalized H2 control of discrete-time fuzzy systems with time-varying delay

This paper deals with the output feedback generalized H2 control for a class of discrete-time fuzzy systems with interval time-varying delay. Based on piecewise Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional, a LMIs characterization is established to guarantee the asymptotically stability and generalized H2 performance of the resulting closed-loop system. Explicit expressions of a desired output feedback controller are proposed when the given LMIs are feasible. A numerical example is given to illustrate the proposed results.
Depressive Symptoms and Smoking among US Black Adults: Absence of a Relationship

Depressive symptoms play a major role in cigarette smoking among US White adults, but it is not known if this holds for US Blacks. Hence, the relationship between depressive symptoms and smoking was examined among 520 US Black adults sampled from 10 randomlyselected community census tracts. Results revealed no relationship between depression and smoking, but education levels did contribute; Black high school drop-outs were four times more likely than Black college graduates to be smokers.
Understanding the use of lambda expressions in Java

Java 8 retrofitted lambda expressions, a core feature of functional programming, into a mainstream object-oriented language with an imperative paradigm. However, we do not know how Java developers have adapted to the functional style of thinking, and more importantly, what are the reasons motivating Java developers to adopt functional programming. Without such knowledge, researchers miss opportunities to improve the state of the art, tool builders use unrealistic assumptions, language designers fail to improve upon their designs, and developers are unable to explore efficient and effective use of lambdas. We present the first large-scale, quantitative and qualitative empirical study to shed light on how imperative programmers use lambda expressions as a gateway into functional thinking. Particularly, we statically scrutinize the source code of 241 open-source projects with 19,770 contributors, to study the characteristics of 100,540 lambda expressions. Moreover, we investigate the historical trends and adoption rates of lambdas in the studied projects. To get a complementary perspective, we seek the underlying reasons on why developers introduce lambda expressions, by surveying 97 developers who are introducing lambdas in their projects, using the firehouse interview method. Among others, our findings revealed an increasing trend in the adoption of lambdas in Java: in 2016, the ratio of lambdas introduced per added line of code increased by 54% compared to 2015. Lambdas were used for various reasons, including but not limited to (i) making existing code more succinct and readable, (ii) avoiding code duplication, and (iii) simulating lazy evaluation of functions. Interestingly, we found out that developers are using Java's built-in functional interfaces inefficiently, i.e., they prefer to use general functional interfaces over the specialized ones, overlooking the performance overheads that might be imposed. Furthermore, developers are not adopting techniques from functional programming, e.g., currying. Finally, we present the implications of our findings for researchers, tool builders, language designers, and developers.
Genotypic characterization of sequential Aspergillus fumigatus isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis

Twenty-three sequential Aspergillus fumigatus sputum isolates, which had been collected over a period of 2 years, from two patients with cystic fibrosis were genotyped by random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. In patient B, one genotype was predominantly present in the sputum samples, while in the other patient up to nine different genotypes were identified. This study suggests that different patterns of colonization with A.fumigatus exist in patients with cystic fibrosis.
Configurations, braids, and homotopy groups

The main results of this article are certain connections between braid groups and the homotopy groups of the 2-sphere. The connections are given in terms of Brunnian braids over the disk and over the 2-sphere. The techniques arise from the natural structure of simplicial and ∆-structures on fundamental groups of configuration spaces.
VAL: automatic plan validation, continuous effects and mixed initiative planning using PDDL

This work describes aspects of our plan validation tool, VAL. The tool was initially developed to support the 3rd International Planning Competition, but has subsequently been extended in order to exploit its capabilities in plan validation and development. In particular, the tool has been extended to include advanced features of PDDL2.1 which have proved important in mixed-initiative planning in a space operations project. Amongst these features, treatment of continuous effects is the most significant, with important effects on the semantic interpretation of plans. The tool has also been extended to keep abreast of developments in PDDL, providing critical support to participants and organisers of the 4th IPC.
Social capital and community development: Practitioner emptor

Social capital has become the latest ‘flavour of the month’. There is considerable disagreement over what the term means, and calls for theorising and measurement of the construct. Health promoters, among others, are being challenged to re‐construct their efforts around this still contested idea. Social capital doesn't exist, but is being created by those aspects of social relations particular theorists or researchers choose to study in its name. The choice of these relations is directed by ideology. To those aligned more with neoliberal, market‐driven ideology, social capital is a means to the end of economic growth, something that can pick up the slack of privatised or reduced public services. To those aligned more with social justice and communitarian ideology, social capital is an end in itself, requiring the defence of strong, egalitarian state intervention into market practices that create inequalities. Community development is one of many state interventions used to buffer market‐generated inequalities.
Optical memory effect in Si:Er

In spite of a small and indirect bandgap, silicon features properties that are potentially very attractive for optical applications. The unsurpassed level of impurity control leads to suppression of nonradiative recombination paths and provides for a very long minority carrier lifetime. Up to the present, observation of an optical memory effect has not been reported for crystalline silicon (c-Si). In contrast, it has been observed in GaAs and GaN. In this study, we have used c-Si doped with erbium (Er) ions, since the trivalent Er3+ ion emits at a wavelength of 1.54 μm that is suitable for telecommunication applications. In a two-color experiment, utilizing a Nd:YAG pulse excitation as a writing beam and a free-electron laser (FEL) as a reading beam, we revealed that Si exhibits optical memory and afterglow effects at low temperatures T<50 K. Both effects are, in fact, manifestations of the properties of Si itself, conveniently revealed by the optical dopant. Detailed investigations of the FEL-induced emission at 1.54 μm show that this excitation mechanism is governed by the release of a single type of charge carrier. This implies that hole and electron capture events necessary for the Er excitation could, in principle, be separated in time. Therefore it appears possible to combine optical and electrical write/read procedures for the reported memory effect.
Occurrence of Macular Hematoma after Ranibizumab Treatment for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Purpose To report the occurrence and study the characteristics of macular hematoma after ranibizumab (anti-VEGF) intravitreal injection for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods The charts of 6000 patients treated with ranibizumab (0.5 mg) for exudative AMD were reviewed. Inclusion criteria were a minimum follow-up of 1 year after the first injection and the occurrence of a large macular hematoma involving the fovea in patients with macular lesions considered stabilized or still active. All patients had a complete ophthalmologic assessment including Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study visual acuity (VA) measurement, fundus photography, fundus fluorescein angiography, scanning laser ophthalmoscopy–infracyanine green angiography, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Results Of the 6000 eyes, 24 (0.4%) developed macular hematoma during follow-up. There were 8 men (33.3%) and 16 women (66.7%). The mean age at the time of initial presentation was 76.7 ± 3.8 years (range 61-81 years). The mean time to occurrence of macular hematoma after the last injection was 4.8 months. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography showed the presence of a retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tear in 19 eyes (79.1%). Vitreomacular traction (VMT) was only present in 4 eyes (17%). Final VA after macular hematoma resorption was <20/50 in 17 cases (70.9%) and ≥20/50 in 7 cases (29.1%). Conclusions Macular hematoma may follow intravitreal anti-VEGF injection for exudative AMD with large occult neovascularization, especially if a large RPE tear is found. The occurrence does not seem to be linked to anticoagulation treatment or the presence of VMT.
Strong convergence of multi-step iterates with errors for generalized asymptotically quasi-nonexpansive mappings

In this paper, we study multi-step iteration with errors and give the necessary and sufficient condition to converge to common fixed points for a finite family of generalized asymp- totically quasi-nonexpansive mappings in the framework of Banach spaces. Also we establish some strong convergence theorems to converge to common fixed points for a finite family of said mappings and scheme in a uniformly convex Banach spaces. Our results extend and improve the corresponding results of (1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 17, 23).
Visible WDM System for Real-Time Multi-Gb/s Bidirectional Transmission Over 50-m SI-POF

We report a 2 Gb/s bidirectional real-time data transmission with bit error rate (BER) <; 1 × 10-10 in a 50 m step-index polymer optical fiber link. The system is able to transmit 5 Gb/s using five channels. The system performance is tested using the most restrictive channels with the shortest and longest wavelengths in a real-time Ethernet link. The implementation takes an advantage of the PAM-16 modulation spectral efficiency and low loss multiplexers and demultiplexers, which provide an enhanced link power budget. The optical power per transmitted bit considering the BER implication for TCP/IP networks throughput is below 5.8 pJ/b. This is due to the low insertion losses <;4 dB, in each five-channel multiplexer and demultiplexer.
Every Vote Counts: Ensuring Integrity in Large-Scale DRE-based Electronic Voting

This paper presents a new electronic voting system, called Direct Recording Electronic with Integrity (DRE-i). The DRE is a widely deployed voting system that commonly uses touch-screen technology to directly record votes. However, a lack of tallying integrity is widely considered the most contentious problem with the DRE system. In this work, we take a broad interpretation of the DRE: which includes not only touch-screen machines, as deployed at polling stations, but also remote voting systems conducted over the Internet or mobile phones. In all cases, the system records votes directly. The DRE-i protocol is generic for both on-site and remote voting and provides a drop-in mathematical solution to ensure tallying integrity without altering the user's intuitive voting experience. The auditing is voter-initiated, so every voter can verify that the machine counts votes correctly. As we adopt a novel technique to encrypt votes, the system is self-tallying: that is anyone can tally votes without any tallying authority involvement. To our best knowledge, our proposal is the first centralized e-voting system that is self-tallying. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this new design. © 2011 Newcastle University. Printed and published by Newcastle University, Computing Science, Claremont Tower, Claremont Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, England. Bibliographical details HAO, F. , KREEGER, M.N. Every Vote Counts: Ensuring Integrity in Large-Scale DRE-based Electronic Voting [By] F. Hao, M.N. Kreeger Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle University: Computing Science, 2011. (Newcastle University, Computing Science, Technical Report Series, No. CS-TR-1268)
Predicting the occurrence of genetic adaptation to dioxinlike compounds in populations of the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus

A population of the nonmigratory estuarine fish species Fundulus heteroclitus (mummichog) indigenous to a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)‐contaminated Superfund site (New Bedford Harbor, MA, USA) demonstrated an inherited tolerance to local, dioxinlike contaminants (DLCs). These findings suggest that DLCs have acted as selective agents, allowing the survival of only the most tolerant individuals, forming DLC‐adapted populations. We hypothesized that DLC‐tolerant mummichog populations would reside where local conditions are toxic to sensitive individuals, and that toxic environmental conditions could be predicted based on responses of sensitive early life stages to laboratory exposures of DLCs. As a measure of DLC tolerance, progeny of field‐collected fish were tested in the laboratory with a dioxinlike PCB congener, 3,3′,4,4′,5‐pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 126). Mummichog populations were collected from sites with sediment PCB concentrations predicted to range from nontoxic to toxic. Consistent with predictions, tolerant populations were indigenous to sites with elevated sediment PCB concentrations. Also, as predicted, DLC‐tolerant populations were resident to sites far less contaminated than the Superfund site. These results suggest that exposures to persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic contaminants may produce evolutionary effects on a geographic scale larger than previously envisioned. This study presents an approach and describes a model system that may improve understanding of the scale of occurrence for these potentially irreversible ecological effects.
Effects of chronic sepsis on the voltage-gated sodium channel in isolated rat muscle fibers*

Objective:Physiopathology of critical illness polyneuromyopathy was investigated in several animal-based models. Electrophysiologic approach was achieved in denervated and corticosteroid-induced myopathy; other models based on sepsis or inflammatory factors (zymosan, cytokines) were also used but did not consider voltage-gated sodium channel implication in neuromuscular weakness. We have studied electrophysiologic effects of chronic sepsis on an intact neuromuscular rat model with special consideration to the subtypes of sodium channels involved. Design:Experimental animal study. Setting:University laboratory. Subjects:Wistar rats. Interventions:Chronic sepsis was achieved by a technique of cecal ligature and needle perforation. Ten days after surgery, the rats were killed. Fast-twitch flexor digitorum brevis was excised and dissociated in 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid–buffered saline supplemented with 3.0 mg/mL collagenase. Fast sodium currents were recorded by a macropatch clamp technique at room temperature (22 ± 2°C) in a cell-attached configuration. Measurements and Main Results:A decrease in maximal sodium current and in conductance was evidenced without modification of the sodium Nernst potential. A shift of the voltage inactivation curve toward more negative potentials could explain the observed decrease in excitability. In parallel, we observed an up-regulation of NaV 1.5–type sodium channels. Conclusions:Chronic inflammation and sepsis induced modifications of sodium channel properties that could contribute to muscular inexcitability. This inexcitability can be elicited by a modification of properties or type of voltage-gated sodium channels. Our results lead us to explain this inexcitability by an up-regulation of NaV 1.5 sodium channel.
Tbx2 confers poor prognosis in glioblastoma and promotes temozolomide resistance with change of mitochondrial dynamics

Tbx2 is a cancer-related protein that was found to be overexpressed in several human malignancies. The present study aims to investigate the clinical significance and biological role of Tbx2 in human astrocytoma. We examined its protein expression in 102 cases of astrocytoma tissues using immunohistochemical staining. Negative Tbx2 staining was observed in normal astrocytes, and positive nuclear staining was found in 41 out of 102 astrocytoma specimens. The rate of Tbx2 overexpression in pylocytic astrocytoma, diffuse astrocytoma, anaplastic astrocytoma, and glioblastoma multiform (GBM) were 0%, 26.1%, 40%, and 52%, respectively. Tbx2 overexpression correlated with poor prognosis in patients with astrocytoma or GBM. Tbx2 plasmid transfection was performed in A172 cells, and Tbx2 siRNA knockdown was carried out in U251 cells. Cell Counting Kit-8, cell cycle analysis, and matrigel invasion assay showed that Tbx2 overexpression upregulated cell proliferation, G1-S transition, and invasion, with corresponding change of cyclin D1, p21, and MMP 2 and 9. Importantly, we demonstrated that Tbx2 reduced apoptosis and conferred resistance to temozolomide in GBM cell lines. Further experiments showed that Tbx2 could regulate mitochondrial fission/fusion balance. Western blot showed that Tbx2 overexpression reduced caspase 3 cleavage, while it induced Bcl-2 and p-Drp1 upregulation. In conclusion, our results indicated that Tbx2 might serve as an indicator for poor prognosis and also be useful as an important therapeutic in human GBM, which inhibits apoptosis through regulation of mitochondrial function.