Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Invariant Object Recognition in the Visual System with Novel Views of 3D Objects

To form view-invariant representations of objects, neurons in the inferior temporal cortex may associate together different views of an object, which tend to occur close together in time under natural viewing conditions. This can be achieved in neuronal network models of this process by using an associative learning rule with a short-term temporal memory trace. It is postulated that within a view, neurons learn representations that enable them to generalize within variations of that view. When three-dimensional (3D) objects are rotated within small angles (up to, e.g., 30 degrees), their surface features undergo geometric distortion due to the change of perspective. In this article, we show how trace learning could solve the problem of in-depth rotation-invariant object recognition by developing representations of the transforms that features undergo when they are on the surfaces of 3D objects. Moreover, we show that having learned how features on 3D objects transform geometrically as the object is rotated in depth, the network can correctly recognize novel 3D variations within a generic view of an object composed of a new combination of previously learned features. These results are demonstrated in simulations of a hierarchical network model (VisNet) of the visual system that show that it can develop representations useful for the recognition of 3D objects by forming perspective-invariant representations to allow generalization within a generic view.
GOOD: a graph-oriented object database system

In this video session we demonstrate a graph oriented database management system called GOOD The scheme of a database is represented as a directed graph Also the database instance is conceptually represented as a graph However such an instance graph contains all information stored in the database and is therefore too complicated to be displayed completely on the computer screen in a user friendly way It would be almost impossible to nd the desired information not to men tion how di cult it would be to make directly changes in such a graph Therefore we devel oped a language that simpli es the information retrieval and modi cation
Potential exposure assessment errors associated with body‐worn RF dosimeters

Personal exposure meters for assessing exposure to RF electric or magnetic fields are subject to errors associated with perturbations of the fields by the presence of the human body. Although these alterations are complex they are not completely unpredictable. This article concludes that this error in a common worst‐case scenario could reach up to 30 dB and therefore is of concern for exposure assessment. We present several guidelines to address this issue and a useful insight into the overall problem based on finite‐difference time‐domain simulations and experimental verification. Bioelectromagnetics 28:573–576, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Midlatitude cirrus clouds and multiple tropopauses from a 2002–2006 climatology over the SIRTA observatory

[1] This study presents a comparison of lidar observations of midlatitude cirrus clouds over the Site Instrumental de Recherche par Teledetection Atmospherique (SIRTA) observatory between 2002 and 2006 with multiple tropopauses (MT) retrieved from radiosounding temperature profiles. The temporal variability of MT properties (frequency, thickness) are discussed. Results show a marked annual cycle, with MT frequency reaching its lowest point in May (∼18% occurrence of MT) and slowly rising to more than 40% in December, January, and February (DJF). The average thickness of the MT also follows an annual cycle, going from less than 1 km in spring to 1.5 km in late autumn. Comparison with lidar observations show that cirrus clouds show a preference for being located close below the first tropopause. When the cloud top is above the first tropopause (7% of observations), in 20% of cases, the cloud base is above it as well, resulting in a cirrus cloud “sandwiched” between the two tropopauses. Compared with the general distribution of cirrus, cross-tropopause cirrus clouds show a higher frequency of large optical depths, while intertropopause cirrus clouds show almost exclusively low optical depths (τ < 0.03 in 90% of cases) typical of subvisible clouds. Results suggest that the occurrence of intertropopause cirrus clouds is correlated with the frequency of multiple tropopauses.
Molecular Expression and Pharmacological Evidence for a Functional Role of Kv7 Channel Subtypes in Guinea Pig Urinary Bladder Smooth Muscle

Voltage-gated Kv7 (KCNQ) channels are emerging as essential regulators of smooth muscle excitability and contractility. However, their physiological role in detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) remains to be elucidated. Here, we explored the molecular expression and function of Kv7 channel subtypes in guinea pig DSM by RT-PCR, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, electrophysiology, and isometric tension recordings. In whole DSM tissue, mRNAs for all Kv7 channel subtypes were detected in a rank order: Kv7.1~Kv7.2Kv7. 3~Kv7.5Kv7.4. In contrast, freshly-isolated DSM cells showed mRNA expression of: Kv7.1~Kv7.2Kv7.5Kv7.3~Kv7.4. Immunohistochemical confocal microscopy analyses of DSM, conducted by using co-labeling of Kv7 channel subtype-specific antibodies and α-smooth muscle actin, detected protein expression for all Kv7 channel subtypes, except for the Kv7.4, in DSM cells. L-364373 (R-L3), a Kv7.1 channel activator, and retigabine, a Kv7.2-7.5 channel activator, inhibited spontaneous phasic contractions and the 10-Hz electrical field stimulation (EFS)-induced contractions of DSM isolated strips. Linopiridine and XE991, two pan-Kv7 (effective at Kv7.1-Kv7.5 subtypes) channel inhibitors, had opposite effects increasing DSM spontaneous phasic and 10 Hz EFS-induced contractions. EFS-induced DSM contractions generated by a wide range of stimulation frequencies were decreased by L-364373 (10 µM) or retigabine (10 µM), and increased by XE991 (10 µM). Retigabine (10 µM) induced hyperpolarization and inhibited spontaneous action potentials in freshly-isolated DSM cells. In summary, Kv7 channel subtypes are expressed at mRNA and protein levels in guinea pig DSM cells. Their pharmacological modulation can control DSM contractility and excitability; therefore, Kv7 channel subtypes provide potential novel therapeutic targets for urinary bladder dysfunction.
Detection of New Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains That Carry a Novel Genetic Homologue and Important Virulence Determinants

ABSTRACT In this study, 18 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates harboring staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) type XI, recovered in the Dutch-German Euregio, were characterized by DNA microarrays. In contrast to previous data, we found two MRSA strains of different clonal lineages possessing SCCmec XI that carried important virulence determinants. The worrisome emergence of such toxigenic MRSA strains raises concerns that MRSA strains with enhanced virulence potential and impaired detectability by standard molecular assays may spread in Europe.
Fibrinolysis and lipoprotein(a) in women with coronary artery disease. Influence of hormone replacement therapy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) is higher in post-menopausal than in pre-menopausal women. Epidemiological studies suggest that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women. HRT could modify the cardiovascular risk via several mechanisms, including modifications in the fibrinolytic system and lipoprotein (a) levels. Our study was aimed at investigating some of these modifications. DESIGN AND METHODS In the cross-sectional part of the study we evaluated several components of the fibrinolytic system, coagulation inhibitors and lipid profile in premenopausal (n=15) and post-menopausal women (n=64) with CAD and compared these parameters with those of healthy pre-menopausal (n=31) and post-menopausal women (n=88). The prospective part of the study analyzed the effect of HRT with transdermal estrogen with or without progestogen in post-menopausal women with CAD. RESULTS Pre- and postmenopausal women with CAD showed significant lower fibrinolytic activity and higher plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) levels than their control groups. Lp(a) levels were higher in premenopausal women with CAD than in healthy premenopausal women. In post-menopausal women with CAD, HRT induced a significant decrease in PAI-1 and Lp(a) levels. No significant differences were observed in any parameter studied between the groups treated with transdermal estrogen with and without progestogen. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS CAD is associated with a decrease in fibrinolytic activity, possibly due to an increase in PAI-1 levels. An increase in fibrinolytic activity and a decrease in PAI-1 and Lp(a) levels were observed in CAD women receiving transdermal HRT and these changes may have a favorable impact on the risk of new cardiovascular events in post-menopausal CAD women.
A polynomial algorithm for decentralized Markov decision processes with temporal constraints

One of the difficulties to adapt MDPs for the control of cooperative multi-agent systems, is the complexity issued from Decentralized MDPs. Moreover, existing approaches can not be used for real applications because they do not take into account complex constraints about the execution. In this paper, we present a class of DEC-MDPs, OC-DEC-MDP, that can handle temporal and precedence constraints. This model allows several autonomous agents to cooperate so as to complete a set of tasks without communication. In order to allow the agents to coordinate, we introduce an opportunity cost. Each agent builds its own local MDP independently of the other agents but, it takes into account the lost in value provoked, by its local decision, on the other agents. Existing approaches solving DEC-MDP are NEXP complete or exponential, while our OC-DEC-MDP can be solved by a polynomial algorithm with good approximation.
dcGOR: An R Package for Analysing Ontologies and Protein Domain Annotations

I introduce an open-source R package ‘dcGOR’ to provide the bioinformatics community with the ease to analyse ontologies and protein domain annotations, particularly those in the dcGO database. The dcGO is a comprehensive resource for protein domain annotations using a panel of ontologies including Gene Ontology. Although increasing in popularity, this database needs statistical and graphical support to meet its full potential. Moreover, there are no bioinformatics tools specifically designed for domain ontology analysis. As an add-on package built in the R software environment, dcGOR offers a basic infrastructure with great flexibility and functionality. It implements new data structure to represent domains, ontologies, annotations, and all analytical outputs as well. For each ontology, it provides various mining facilities, including: (i) domain-based enrichment analysis and visualisation; (ii) construction of a domain (semantic similarity) network according to ontology annotations; and (iii) significance analysis for estimating a contact (statistical significance) network. To reduce runtime, most analyses support high-performance parallel computing. Taking as inputs a list of protein domains of interest, the package is able to easily carry out in-depth analyses in terms of functional, phenotypic and diseased relevance, and network-level understanding. More importantly, dcGOR is designed to allow users to import and analyse their own ontologies and annotations on domains (taken from SCOP, Pfam and InterPro) and RNAs (from Rfam) as well. The package is freely available at CRAN for easy installation, and also at GitHub for version control. The dedicated website with reproducible demos can be found at http://supfam.org/dcGOR.
Biodegradation of Halogenated Hydrocarbon Fumigants by Nitrifying Bacteria

Three species of nitrifying bacteria were tested for the ability to degrade the halocarbon fumigants methyl bromide, 1,2-dichloropropane, and 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane. The soil nitrifiers Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrosolobus multiformis degraded all three fumigants, while the marine nitrifier Nitrosococcus oceanus degraded only methyl bromide under the conditions tested. Inhibition of biodegradation by allylthiourea and acetylene, specific inhibitors of ammonia monooxygenase, suggests that ammonia monooxygenase is the enzyme which catalyzes fumigant degradation.
Histopathologic Evolution of Urothelial Carcinoma Recurrence in Transurethral Resection of the Urinary Bladder:35 Consecutive Cases And Literature Review

Background: Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is the malignancy most frequently encountered in the urinary bladder. The primary aim of this study was to make a reappraisal of histopathologic features, recurrence and progression. Materials and Methods: The records of cases consecutively diagnosed with UC in the state hospital pathology laboratory were collected. Cases were classified according to age, gender, histologic grade, pathologic staging [primary Tumor (pT)],tumor configuration, primary or recurrent status, and progression. Results: A total of 35 (29 male and 6 female) cases were examined. The mean age was 68.9 years with a male-to-female incidence ratio of 4.8:1. Low-grade UCs accounted for 20 (57.1%) and high-grade for 15 (42.9%). A papillary pattern was observed in 80% of the UCs, classified into the following pathological stages: 11 (31.4%) pTa, 22 (62.9%) pT1, and 2 (5.9%) pT2 cases. Eleven patients progressed to a higher stage (pT1 to pT2), and three cases from low to higher grade. We analyzed results for 26 (74.3%) cases aged 65 years or older. Conclusions: UCs have a great tendency for recurrence but potentially may be amenable to effective local or systemic treatments.
Book Reviews: Beyond Grammar: An Experience-based Theory of Language

1. Introduction: what are the productive units of natural language? 2. A DOP model for tree representations 3. Formal stochastic language theory 4. Parsing and disambiguation 5. Testing DOP: redundancy vs. minimality 6. Learning new words 7. Learning new structures 8. A DOP model for compositional semantic representations 9. Speech understanding and dialogue processing 10. DOP models for non-context-free representations 11. Conclusion: linguistics reconsidered References.
Partial inhibition of PP1 alters bidirectional synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus

Synaptic plasticity is an important cellular mechanism that underlies memory formation. In brain areas involved in memory such as the hippocampus, long‐term synaptic plasticity is bidirectional. Major forms of bidirectional plasticity encompass long‐term potentiation (LTP), LTP reversal (depotentiation) and long‐term depression (LTD). Protein kinases and protein phosphatases are important players in the induction of both LTP and LTD, and the serine/threonine protein phosphatase‐1 (PP1), in particular, has emerged as a key phosphatase in these processes. The goal of the present study was to assess the contribution of PP1 to bidirectional plasticity and examine the impact of a partial inhibition of PP1 on LTP, LTD and depotentiation in the mouse hippocampus. For this, we used transgenic mice expressing an active PP1 inhibitor (I‐1*) inducibly in forebrain neurons. We show that partial inhibition of PP1 by I‐1* expression alters the properties of bidirectional plasticity by inducing a shift of synaptic responses towards potentiation. At low‐frequency stimulation, PP1 inhibition decreases LTD in a frequency‐dependent fashion. It favours potentiation over depression at intermediate frequencies and increases LTP at high frequency. Consistently, it also impairs depotentiation. These results indicate that the requirement of bidirectional plasticity for PP1 is frequency‐dependent and that a broad range of plasticity is negatively constrained by PP1, a feature that may correlate with the property of PP1 to constrain learning efficacy and promote forgetting.
Manifestasi penjagaan keluarga: tekanan psikologikal dalam menjaga pesakit mental

Penjaga keluarga memainkan peranan penting dalam penjagaan pesakit mental dalam komuniti. Perubahan lokus rawatan pesakit mental telah memindahkan beban penjagaan ke atas keluarga. Keadaan ini memberi cabaran kepada penjaga keluarga di Malaysia apabila harus berhadapan dengan kesan langsung dan tidak langsung yang wujud dari penyakit mental. Kajian ini bertujuan membincangkan tentang peranan penjagaan dan kesan psikologikal penjaga keluarga yang menjaga pesakit mental dalam komuniti. Seramai 24 orang responden telah terlibat dalam kajian berbentuk kualitatif ini. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa terdapat tiga peranan utama yang dimainkan oleh penjaga keluarga iaitu penjagaan emosi, penjagaan fizikal dan advokasi. Dalam perlaksanaan peranan ini, penjaga dilihat menghadapi pelbagai cabaran dari segi ekpresi emosi, kesan-kesan psikososial dan isu-isu persekitaran. Terdapat enam jenis emosi yang diekspresikan oleh penjaga keluarga seperti kerisauan, tekanan, hilang harapan, rasa kehilangan, malu dan rasa bersalah. Penjaga keluarga turut mengalami kesan-kesan psikososial seperti masalah kewangan, kesan ke atas keluarga, gangguan aktiviti sosial, masalah kesihatan fizikal dan keperluan sokongan. Penjagaan pesakit mental di rumah turut menyebabkan penjaga berhadapan dengan stigma sosial yang wujud dalam komuniti yang berkait rapat dengan penyakit mental. Justeru itu, kesemua faktor-faktor dalaman dan luaran yang dimanifestasikan oleh penjaga keluarga perlu diberi perhatian serius oleh semua pihak yang terlibat dalam menyediakan perkhidmatan kesihatan mental kepada pesakit mental dan tidak hanya memfokuskan intervensi mereka kepada pesakit tetapi juga penjaga keluarga
Bovine cytochrome c oxidase structures enable O2 reduction with minimization of reactive oxygens and provide a proton-pumping gate

The O2 reduction site of cytochrome c oxidase (CcO), comprising iron (Fea3) and copper (CuB) ions, is probed by x-ray structural analyses of CO, NO, and CN- derivatives to investigate the mechanism of the complete reduction of O2. Formation of the derivative contributes to the trigonal planar coordination of and displaces one of its three coordinated imidazole groups while a water molecule becomes hydrogen bonded to both the CN- ligand and the hydroxyl group of Tyr244. When O2 is bound to , it is negatively polarized (), and expected to induce the same structural change induced by CN-. This structural change allows to receive three electron equivalents nonsequentially from , , and Tyr-OH, providing complete reduction of O2 with minimization of production of active oxygen species. The proton-pumping pathway of bovine CcO comprises a hydrogen-bond network and a water channel which extend to the positive and negative side surfaces, respectively. Protons transferred through the water channel are pumped through the hydrogen-bond network electrostatically with positive charge created at the Fea center by electron donation to the O2 reduction site. Binding of CO or NO to induces significant narrowing of a section of the water channel near the hydrogen-bond network junction, which prevents access of water molecules to the network. In a similar manner, O2 binding to is expected to prevent access of water molecules to the hydrogen-bond network. This blocks proton back-leak from the network and provides an efficient gate for proton-pumping.
Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Resistance to Leaf and Stripe Rust in Winter-Habit Hexaploid Wheat Landraces

Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina (Pt), and stripe rust, caused by P. striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), are destructive foliar diseases of wheat worldwide. Breeding for disease resistance is the preferred strategy of managing both diseases. The continued emergence of new races of Pt and Pst requires a constant search for new sources of resistance. Here we report a genome-wide association analysis of 567 winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) landrace accessions using the Infinium iSelect 9K wheat SNP array to identify loci associated with seedling resistance to five races of Pt (MDCL, MFPS, THBL, TDBG, and TBDJ) and one race of Pst (PSTv-37) frequently found in the Northern Great Plains of the United States. Mixed linear models identified 65 and eight significant markers associated with leaf rust and stripe rust, respectively. Further, we identified 31 and three QTL associated with resistance to Pt and Pst, respectively. Eleven QTL, identified on chromosomes 3A, 4A, 5A, and 6D, are previously unknown for leaf rust resistance in T. aestivum.
Measuring the Effects of Schooling

A simple model to measure the effects of innovation and schooling is proposed. Using a synthesis of 134 meta-analyses, it is demonstrated that educational innovations can be expected to change average achievement outcomes by . 4 standard deviations and affective outcomes by . 2 standard deviations. The implications of this model are discussed and the major critical determinants of effective education relate to factors under the control of teachers and students rather than to home, curricula or administrative effects.
Morphological and biochemical studies on the development of cholinergic properties in cultured sympathetic neurons. II. Dependence on postnatal age

Superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons taken from perinatal rats and dissociated in culture develop cholinergic properties. This report examines this "plasticity" of neurotransmitter function with regard to its dependence on the stage of neuronal development. Explants of SCG from rats ranging in age from 2 d to adult were cultured, and the number of neurons surviving after 6 wk in culture was evaluated. The activities of choline acetyltransferase (ChAc) and DOPA decarboxylase (DDC) were assayed for each age group over time in culture, and the cytochemistry of the synaptic vesicle population was studied after norepinephrine loading and KMnO4 fixation. The specific activity of ChAc in all explants fell during the first 3--4 d in culture (secondary to degeneration of presynaptic terminals), with an increase during the next 30 d in explants from all age groups except in those from the 22-d- old and adult rats. The highest activity found after 1 mo in culture was in explants from 2-d-old rats (62.5 mmol per kg dry wt per h); the lowest was in explants from adults (1.3 nmol per kg dry wt per h). After 1 mo in vitro, there were no significant differences in DDC activity among explants from animals of any age (similar to approximately 220 mmol per kg dry wt per h). Co-culture of the SCG explants with heart muscle increased even further the ChAc activity in explants from 2-d-old rats but not in explants from 16-d-old and 6.5-wk- old animals. The cytochemistry of the synaptic vesicle population in 1- mo-old cultures correlated well with the ChAc activity; when the ChAc activity was high, the proportion of synaptic vesicles with clear centers was 71--88%. In explants from adult animals, only 12% of the vesicles contained clear centers. From these data we conclude that the maturity of the SCG neuron influences the degree to which it is able to adjust its neurotransmitter mechanisms. That the axons of this neuron are interacting with target tissues during the time that neurotransmitter plasticity is retained suggests that interaction with the target may play a role in the determination of transmitter type.