Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inference, Attention, and Decision in a Bayesian Neural Architecture

We study the synthesis of neural coding, selective attention and perceptual decision making. A hierarchical neural architecture is proposed, which implements Bayesian integration of noisy sensory input and top-down attentional priors, leading to sound perceptual discrimination. The model offers an explicit explanation for the experimentally observed modulation that prior information in one stimulus feature (location) can have on an independent feature (orientation). The network's intermediate levels of representation instantiate known physiological properties of visual cortical neurons. The model also illustrates a possible reconciliation of cortical and neuromodulatory representations of uncertainty.
Bacteriology and Antibiogram of Urinary Tract Infection Among Female Patients in a Tertiary Health Facility in South Eastern Nigeria

Background: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a common contagion among men and women with the incidence relatively higher among women due to their differing anatomy. An understanding of the kind of pathogens implicated in urinary tract infections as well as antibiotic susceptibility profiling may help the clinician make rationally correct empirical choice in their treatment. Objective: This study is aimed at determining the type and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of bacterial uropathogens isolated from female patients attending Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka, Nigeria. Method: Two hundred and forty patients with clinically diagnosed UTI and who were on at least 5 days’ antibiotic holiday were recruited into the study. Their demographic characteristics were captured using pre-tested questionnaire. Their clean catch mid-stream urine samples were collected using sterile universal container and sent to the Microbiology Department for processing. Within 30 minutes of samples collection, the specimens were cultured and the isolates were identified, after 24 h of incubation, using standard microbiological techniques. Antibiotic susceptibility tests were done with standard antibiotic discs using the Kirby–bauer disc diffusion method. Results: Out of the 240 urine samples, 89.17% yielded significant bacteriuria. The pathogens implicated were Escherichia coli (28.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (28.0%), Salmonella spp (22.8%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.5%). HIV status, patients age, pregnancy status and marital status all significantly affected bacteriuria rate (p value < 0.05), while patients’ location (sub-urban/rural dwelling), and level of education did not (p value > 0.05). The pattern of microbial resistance to antibiotics suggests that ceftazidime, fosfomycin and cefoxitin may not be used as first-line agents in the empirical treatment of UTIs rather; levofloxacin, meropenem or aztreonam should be considered. Levofloxacin was significantly effective against all the isolates and may be administered empirically while waiting for the culture result (Mean % susceptibility was 79.85). Conclusion: E. coli and S. aureus were the predominant pathogens in the study and many were resistant to the commonly prescribed antibiotics and so leave the clinicians with only few alternative drugs for UTIs treatment. Routine surveillance and monitoring studies need to be constantly conducted to update clinicians on the prevalent pathogens and the rational and empirical treatment of UTIs. Aggressive and consistent health education using every possible media is also recommended to combat the menace of drug resistance occasioned by inappropriate antibiotic use.
Import Tariffs Enforcement with Low Administrative Capacity

Import tariff receipts represent an important share of government revenues in many developing countries and there has recently been a surge in empirical studies showing how evasion in this field is a pervasive phenomenon. In the case of import tariffs, the tax base is the product of quantity and unit value, both of which have to be reported and need to be assessed by the custom authority during an audit. I show that when the fiscal authority has an imperfect detection technology, there is an additional incentive for the taxpayer to underdeclare, as a greater declaration in one dimension actually increases the fine when evasion in the other dimension is detected, and a tax base presenting this feature is subject to more evasion compared to a tax base that can be assessed directly. Also, when enforcement capacity is low, voluntary compliance is higher when the importer is required to declare only the total value of imports
QPSO-Based Beamforming in Dual RIS-Assisted Uplink Anti-Jamming Communication System

Considering a dual reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) assisted uplink cellular communication system under a malicious jamming user with known positions, we propose a joint active and passive anti-jamming beamforming scheme to maximize the system signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and enhance the system achievable rate in this paper. To obtain the optimal solution, the quantum particle swarm optimization (QPSO) algorithm is utilized, which also mitigates the risk of falling into the local optimum and achieves better reliable global optimization. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed beamforming design in the dual RIS-assisted uplink cellular system exhibits superior anti-jamming performance compared with the other typical optimized beamforming schemes.
Strictly Polyphosphate-Dependent Glucokinase in a Polyphosphate-Accumulating Bacterium, Microlunatus phosphovorus

ABSTRACT ATP-dependent glucokinase is suggested to have evolved from a hypothetical polyphosphate (polyP)-dependent glucokinase (polyP-GK) via a bifunctional polyP/ATP glucokinase (polyP/ATP-GK). Here we showed that polyP-GK is present in a polyP-accumulating bacterium, Microlunatus phosphovorus. The polyP-GK produced glucose-6-Pi from glucose and polyP, but it could not phosphorylate glucose with ATP. The polyP-GK was most closely related to the polyP/ATP-GK of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
When is Four Far More Than Three? Children’s Generalization of Newly-Acquired Number Words

What is the relationship between children’s first number words and number concepts? We used training tasks to explore children’s interpretation of number words as they acquired their meanings. Children who had mastered the meanings of only the first two or three number words were systematically provided with varied input on the next word-to-quantity mapping, and their extension of the newly-trained word was assessed across a variety of test items. Children who had mastered number words to three generalized training on four to new objects and nouns, with approximate accuracy. In contrast, children who had mastered only one and two learned to apply three reliably within a single count noun context ( three dogs ) but not to new objects labeled with different nouns ( three cows ). Both findings suggest that children fail to map newly-learned words in their counting routine to fully abstract concepts of natural number.
Endothelial area and microvascular density in a canine non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: an interspecies model of tumor angiogenesis

Experimental and clinical data indicate that tumor progression is associated with angiogenesis and that an increase in microvascular density (MVD) is associated with a poor prognosis, in both solid and hematological malignancies. No data have been published concerning the relationship between angiogenesis and malignancy grade in canine non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), which is a neoplasm that shares several biological and clinical characteristics with human NHL. In the present study, we evaluated this relationship in a series of 43 cases of canine NHL. The results demonstrate that both MVD and endothelial area (EA) were significantly higher in high-grade compared to low-grade lymphoma and a good statistical correlation was found between MVD and EA. These data indicate that increased angiogenesis paralleled with increased malignancy grade in canine NHL, which represents an interesting tumor model for studying the role of angiogenesis as an interspecies pathway of tumoral malignancy and biological aggressiveness.
Possible involvement of somatolactin in the regulation of plasma bicarbonate for the compensation of acidosis in rainbow trout

Somatolactin is a putative pituitary hormone of the growth hormone/prolactin family in fish. Its function is still unknown. The effects of environmental hypercapnia and hypoxia, acid (HCl) infusion and exhaustive exercise on plasma somatolactin levels were examined in the chronically cannulated rainbow trout to study the possible physiological roles of somatolactin. Respiratory acidosis induced by hypercapnia (2% CO2) did not affect plasma somatolactin level. In contrast, metabolic acidosis induced by acid infusion and exercise increased plasma somatolactin level. Blood pH was depressed to a similar extent by both types of acidosis, whereas plasma [HCO3-] was elevated by respiratory acidosis but reduced by metabolic acidosis. A moderate hypoxia (water PO2 9.3kPa) affected neither acid­base status nor plasma somatolactin level. A more severe hypoxia (water PO2 6.1kPa) resulted in metabolic acidosis accompanied by an apparent rise in plasma somatolactin level, although the difference in somatolactin level from the control value was not statistically significant. Somatolactin immunoneutralization retarded recovery of plasma [HCO3-] following acid infusion. These results indicate that somatolactin is involved in the retention of HCO3- during metabolic acidosis but not in the active accumulation of HCO3- for acid­base compensation of respiratory acidosis in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss.
Folate and one‐carbon metabolism gene polymorphisms and their associations with oral facial clefts

Folate metabolism plays a critical role in embryonic development. Prenatal folate supplementation reduces the risk of neural tube defects and probably oral facial clefts. Previous studies of related metabolic genes have associated polymorphisms in cystathionine‐beta‐synthase (CBS) and 5,10‐methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) with cleft risk. We explored associations between genes related to one‐carbon metabolism and clefts in a Norwegian population‐based study that included 362 families with cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) and 191 families with cleft palate only (CPO). We previously showed a 39% reduction in risk of CL/P with folic acid supplementation in this population. In the present study we genotyped 12 polymorphisms in nine genes related to one‐carbon metabolism and looked for associations of clefting risk with fetal polymorphisms, maternal polymorphisms, as well as parent‐of‐origin effects, using combined likelihood‐ratio tests (LRT). We also stratified by maternal periconceptional intake of folic acid (>400 µg) to explore gene–exposure interactions. We found a reduced risk of CL/P with mothers who carried the CBS C699T variant (rs234706); relative risk was 0.94 with one copy of the T allele (95% CI 0.63–1.4) and 0.50 (95% CI 0.26–0.96) with two copies (P = 0.008). We found no evidence of interaction of this variant with folate status. We saw no evidence of risk from the MTHFR C677T variant (rs1801133) either overall or after stratifying by maternal folate intake. No associations were found between any of the polymorphisms and CPO. Genetic variations in the nine metabolic genes examined here do not confer a substantial degree of risk for clefts. Published 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Risk Factors Associated with Neospora caninum Seropositivity in Sheep from the State of Alagoas, in the Northeast Region of Brazil

Abstract The aim of this study was to identify risk factors associated with Neospora caninum seropositivity in sheep from the State of Alagoas, in the northeast region of Brazil. Twenty-six herds were selected, and blood samples were collected from 343 animals > 6-mo-old. The indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was used for serological diagnosis of N. caninum infection. Epidemiological questionnaires were applied for each herd to identify the risk factors associated with infection. Thirty-three (9.6%) animals tested positive for anti–N. caninum IgG antibodies, with titers ranging from 1∶50 to 1∶1,600. Fourteen herds (53.8%) presented at least 1 seropositive animal. Risk factors identified were property size ≤ 30 ha (odds ratio = 7.23; 95% CI = 1.99–26.49) and source of water (wells + municipal + water courses) (odds ratio = 4.76; 95% CI = 1.23–18.47). This is the first ezootiological study of N. caninum infection in sheep to be carried out in the State of Alagoas. Preventive measures focusing primarily on water treatment should be taken to reduce the risk of infection by N. caninum.
Conditions for Single-Mode and Birefringence-Free Ultrasmall SOI Rib Waveguides at 1310 nm

The design of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguide structures requires careful selection of dimensions for single-mode and birefringence-free operation, which is often necessary in optical devices. At large SOI heights, the single-mode condition (SMC) is well understood. Here, we present a SMC study extending to ultrasmall waveguides, from slab heights of the order of a wavelength down to 220 nm at the 1310 nm wavelength. In addition, the condition for achieving zero-birefringence is presented alongside the SMC for a complete design guideline when both conditions must be met simultaneously. Simulation results show that at small SOI heights (800 nm), previous SMCs no longer apply, and birefringence-free operation becomes difficult to achieve. New expressions are proposed that define the single-mode cut-off condition at these dimensions.
Puzzling thoughts for H. M.: can new semantic information be anchored to old semantic memories?

Researchers currently debate whether new semantic knowledge can be learned and retrieved despite extensive damage to medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures. The authors explored whether H. M. , a patient with amnesia, could acquire new semantic information in the context of his lifelong hobby of solving crossword puzzles. First, H. M. was tested on a series of word-skills tests believed important in solving crosswords. He also completed 3 new crosswords: 1 puzzle testing pre-1953 knowledge, another testing post-1953 knowledge, and another combining the 2 by giving postoperative semantic clues for preoperative answers. From the results, the authors concluded that H. M. can acquire new semantic knowledge, at least temporarily, when he can anchor it to mental representations established preoperatively.
Changes in gut microbiota control inflammation in obese mice through a mechanism involving GLP-2-driven improvement of gut permeability

Background and aims: Obese and diabetic mice display enhanced intestinal permeability and metabolic endotoxaemia that participate in the occurrence of metabolic disorders. Our recent data support the idea that a selective increase of Bifidobacterium spp. reduces the impact of high-fat diet-induced metabolic endotoxaemia and inflammatory disorders. Here, we hypothesised that prebiotic modulation of gut microbiota lowers intestinal permeability, by a mechanism involving glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) thereby improving inflammation and metabolic disorders during obesity and diabetes. Methods: Study 1: ob/ob mice (Ob-CT) were treated with either prebiotic (Ob-Pre) or non-prebiotic carbohydrates as control (Ob-Cell). Study 2: Ob-CT and Ob-Pre mice were treated with GLP-2 antagonist or saline. Study 3: Ob-CT mice were treated with a GLP-2 agonist or saline. We assessed changes in the gut microbiota, intestinal permeability, gut peptides, intestinal epithelial tight-junction proteins ZO-1 and occludin (qPCR and immunohistochemistry), hepatic and systemic inflammation. Results: Prebiotic-treated mice exhibited a lower plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cytokines, and a decreased hepatic expression of inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. This decreased inflammatory tone was associated with a lower intestinal permeability and improved tight-junction integrity compared to controls. Prebiotic increased the endogenous intestinotrophic proglucagon-derived peptide (GLP-2) production whereas the GLP-2 antagonist abolished most of the prebiotic effects. Finally, pharmacological GLP-2 treatment decreased gut permeability, systemic and hepatic inflammatory phenotype associated with obesity to a similar extent as that observed following prebiotic-induced changes in gut microbiota. Conclusion: We found that a selective gut microbiota change controls and increases endogenous GLP-2 production, and consequently improves gut barrier functions by a GLP-2-dependent mechanism, contributing to the improvement of gut barrier functions during obesity and diabetes.
Part-Of-Speech Tagging for Balochi Language: A Data driven application of Conditional Random Fields

Parts-of-Speech (POS) tagging involves the assignment of the correct part of speech or lexical category to individual words within a sentence in a natural language. This procedure holds significant in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and find utility across a variety of NLP applications. Commonly, it constitutes the initial phase of natural language processing. Subsequent stages may encompass additional tasks such as chunking, parsing and more. Balochi stands as the predominant language in Balochistan,, ranking as the fourth most prevalent language in Pakistan. The field of natural language processing for Balochi is still in its nascent stages. In this research, we introduce an algorithm for Balochi part-of-speech tagging, leveraging machine learning techniques. The core of our approach relies on a Conditional Random Field model as the machine learning component. Careful consideration is given to selecting appropriate features for the CRF, taking into account the linguistic characteristics of Balochi. Balochi is currently considered a resource poor language, and thus, the available manually tagged data consists of only approximately 1500 sentences. The tagset used in this study created for research purpose, consisting of 16 different tags. The learning process incorporates tagged data. The algorithm demonstrates a high accuracy rate of 86.78% when applied to Balochi texts. The training corpus comprises 40000 words, while the test corpus contains 10000 words.
Pedestrian Detection Using YOLO with Improved Attention Module

Pedestrian detection is considered as an important component of intelligent traffic management systems. This paper presents an improved Yolov5 's framework for pedestrian detection. We propose two new attention modules for Yolov5 architecture to highlight significant information. First, the modified Efficient Channel Attention (M-ECA) was applied in the backbone of Yolo network to collect the useful features. Second, the modified Global Attention Mechanism (M-GAM) was inserted in the head of Yolo network to enhance feature representation. Thanks to two new improved attention modules, the proposed model achieves the high accuracy for overlapped pedestrian detection in crowded streets. The proposed model was trained with Penn-Fudan dataset. The experimental result shows that the proposed model has better detection accuracy and mAP, comparing to the original Yolov5.
Regulation of binding of subfragment 1 in isolated rigor myofibrils

A steric-hindrance model has been used to explain the regulation of muscle contraction by tropomyosin-troponin complex. The regulation of binding was studied by microscopic observation of mixtures of fluorescent subfragment 1 (S1) with rigor myofibrils at different actin- to-S1 ratios and in the presence and absence of calcium. Procedures were adapted to protect the critical thiols of S1 before conjugation to thiol-specific fluorochromes, this giving fluorescent S1 with unaltered enzyme activity. S1 binding was greatest in the I band (except at the Z- lines) in the presence of calcium regardless of the [S1]. The patterns in the absence of calcium depended on the actin-to-S1 ratios: low [S1], binding in the myosin-actin overlap region; intermediate [S1], highest binding at the A-I junction; high [S1], greatest binding in the I-band. The two distinct binding patterns observed at low [S1] were demonstrated by dual-channel fluorescence microscopy when myofibrils were sequentially incubated with fluorescent S1 without calcium followed by a different fluorescent S1 with calcium. These observations support the concept of rigor activation of actin sites. The change in the pattern upon increasing [S1] without calcium demonstrate cooperative interactions along the thin filament. However, these interactions (under the conditions used without calcium) do not appear to extend over greater than 2-3 tropomyosin-troponin-7 actin functional units.
Electro-thermal Model using Advanced ECM Approach for Automotive Application

The burgeoning demand for electric vehicles (EVs) necessitates comprehensive electro-thermal modeling of Li-ion batteries. This study presents Advanced Equivalent Circuit Modeling (AECM) approach to create a precise electro-thermal model for Li-ion cells. The main goal is to provide reliable inputs for assessing vehicle performance and optimizing battery thermal management systems. Using a Design of Experiments approach, critical parameters like cell capacity, RC parameters, faradic efficiency, entropic coefficients, and specific heat capacity are derived. Tests like hybrid-pulse power characterization, capacity, and open circuit voltage are tailored to mimic real-world usage scenarios. The resulting models accurately predict voltage response, cell temperatures, and reversible/irreversible heat generation, validated against real-world data. Notably, these models predict heat and temperature across a wide range (-10°C to 60°C) and loading conditions, making them valuable for hardwarein-the-loop (HIL), software-in-the-loop (SIL), and model-in-theloop (MIL) simulations during EV development. Additionally, these models support test matrix design, failure mode analysis, and battery performance strategies. Limitations include challenges in predicting cell dynamics, particularly at lower state-of-charge (SOC) levels. Future work will integrate an aging model to enhance the models' utility. In conclusion, this research offers a robust electro-thermal model to improve Li-ion battery reliability and performance in electric vehicles, aligning with the growing demand for sustainable transportation solutions.