Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Sparse Representation-Based Algorithm for Pattern Localization in Brain Imaging Data Analysis

Considering the two-class classification problem in brain imaging data analysis, we propose a sparse representation-based multi-variate pattern analysis (MVPA) algorithm to localize brain activation patterns corresponding to different stimulus classes/brain states respectively. Feature selection can be modeled as a sparse representation (or sparse regression) problem. Such technique has been successfully applied to voxel selection in fMRI data analysis. However, single selection based on sparse representation or other methods is prone to obtain a subset of the most informative features rather than all. Herein, our proposed algorithm recursively eliminates informative features selected by a sparse regression method until the decoding accuracy based on the remaining features drops to a threshold close to chance level. In this way, the resultant feature set including all the identified features is expected to involve all the informative features for discrimination. According to the signs of the sparse regression weights, these selected features are separated into two sets corresponding to two stimulus classes/brain states. Next, in order to remove irrelevant/noisy features in the two selected feature sets, we perform a nonparametric permutation test at the individual subject level or the group level. In data analysis, we verified our algorithm with a toy data set and an intrinsic signal optical imaging data set. The results show that our algorithm has accurately localized two class-related patterns. As an application example, we used our algorithm on a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data set. Two sets of informative voxels, corresponding to two semantic categories (i.e., “old people” and “young people”), respectively, are obtained in the human brain.
Role of the cAMP-Dependent Carbon Catabolite Repression in Capsular Polysaccharide Biosynthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae

K. pneumoniae is the predominant pathogen isolated from liver abscesses of diabetic patients in Asian countries. Although elevated blood glucose levels cause various immune problems, its effects on K. pneumoniae virulence are unknown. This study investigated the regulation of capsular polysaccharide (CPS) biosynthesis, a major determinant for K. pneumoniae virulence, in response to exogenous glucose. We found that K. pneumoniae produce more CPS in glucose-rich medium via reduction in cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels. Individual deletion of cyaA or crp, which respectively encode adenylate cyclase and cAMP receptor protein in K. pneumoniae, markedly increased CPS production, while deletion of cpdA, which encodes cAMP phosphodiesterase, decreased CPS production. These results indicate that K. pneumoniae CPS biosynthesis is controlled by the cAMP-dependent carbon catabolite repression (CCR). To investigate the underlying mechanism, quantitative real-time PCR and promoter-reporter assays were used to verify that the transcription of CPS biosynthesis genes, which are organized into 3 transcription units (orf1-2, orf3-15, and orf16-17), were activated by the deletion of crp. Sequence analysis revealed putative CRP binding sites located on Porf3-15 and Porf16-17, suggesting direct CRP-cAMP regulation on the promoters. These results were then confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. In addition, we found putative CRP binding sites located in the promoter region of rcsA, which encodes a cps transcriptional activator, demonstrating a direct repression of CRP-cAMP and PrcsA. The deletion of rcsA in mutation of crp partially reduced CPS biosynthesis and the transcription of orf1-2 but not of orf3-15 or orf16-17. These results suggest that RcsA participates in the CRP-cAMP regulation of orf1-2 transcription and influences CPS biosynthesis. Finally, the effect of glucose and CCR proteins on CPS biosynthesis also reflects bacterial resistance to serum killing. We here provide evidence that K. pneumoniae increases CPS biosynthesis for successful infection in response to exogenous glucose via cAMP-dependent CCR.
Photoperiodic influences on testicular regression, recrudescence and the induction of scotorefractoriness in male golden hamsters.

Hamstei testes which have undergone short photoperiod-induced atrophy become refractory to the effects of short photoperiod after spontaneous or light-induced recrudescence (Reiter, 1974). We have termed this phenomenon, “scotorefractoriness. ” The present experiments assessed relations between photoperiod-induced testicular regression, recrudescence and scotorefractoriness. Experiment 1 established that mere testicular regression was not sufficient to induce scotore- fractoriness. Testes of some animals which were regressed by 6 or 9 weeks of exposure to a LD 2:22 photoperiod (short days) and recrudesced by 9 weeks of exposure to a LD 14:10 photoperiod (long days) subsequently regressed again in response to a second 9 week exposure to LD 2:22; others appeared scotorefractory. Experiment 2 determined that animals which achieved complete testicular regression during 9 weeks of LD 2:22 were less sensitive to the stimulating effects of long days than were animals which were in LD 2:22 for 12-15 weeks. The transition from long to short days initiates g#{246}nadal atrophy, permits subsequent testicular recrudescence and also induces scotorefractoriness. Short day exposure initially decreases the sensitivity of the neuroendocrine- testicular axis to the effects of long days; the subsequent recovery of sensitivity to photostimula- ton may parallel processes involved in spontaneous testicular recrudescence.
Incidence estimate and guideline-oriented treatment for post-stroke spasticity: an analysis based on German statutory health insurance data

Background Spasticity after stroke has been internationally recognized as an important health problem causing impairment of mobility, deformity, and pain. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of first-ever and recurrent stroke and of subsequent spastic and flaccid paresis. Factors influencing the development of spasticity were analyzed. A further major aim was to provide a “real-life” assessment of the treatment of spasticity in Germany and to discuss this in view of the treatment recommended by German and international clinical guidelines. Methods The database used in this study comprised a cohort of 242,090 insurants from a large statutory health insurance fund in the federal state of Hesse, Germany. A first hospital discharge diagnosis in 2009 with any of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes I60–I64 was used to identify patients with acute stroke (hemorrhage and ischemic). These patients were followed up six months after stroke to monitor whether they developed spastic or flaccid paresis (hospital or ambulatory care diagnoses ICD-10 code G81–G83 [excluding G82.6/G83.4/G83.8]). For patients with spastic paresis after stroke the spasticity treatment was analyzed for a six-month period (physiotherapy, oral muscle relaxants, intrathecal baclofen, and botulinum toxin). Results Standardized to the population of Germany, 3.7 per 1000 persons suffered a stroke in 2009 (raw 5.2/1000). Of all surviving patients, 10.2% developed spasticity within 6 months. Cox regression revealed no significant influence of patient age, gender, morbidity (diabetes, hypertensive diseases, ischemic heart diseases) or type of stroke on development of spasticity. 97% of surviving patients with spasticity received physiotherapy (inpatient care 89%, ambulatory care 48%). Oral muscle relaxants were prescribed to 13% of the patients. No patient received intrathecal baclofen or botulinum toxin. Conclusion Claims data enabled analysis of the occurrence of stroke and post-stroke spasticity. These data provide insight into real-life treatment for spasticity in Germany. The proportion of patients who receive physiotherapy, which is the international guideline-recommended basic therapy after transition into ambulatory care, can be improved on. Botulinum toxin as an international guideline-based treatment option for focal spasticity has not been implemented in practice in Germany as yet.
Towards 100G with PKM. Is actuation redundancy a good solution for pick-and-place?

This paper analyzes the possible contribution of actuation redundancy in obtaining very high acceleration with Parallel Kinematic Machines (PKM). This study is based on redundant and non-redundant Delta/Par4-like robots (frequently used for pick-and-place applications). The dynamic model, valid for both redundant and non-redundant robots, is used to analyze the traveling plate acceleration capabilities: (i) at zero speed and in any directions, (ii) at zero speed in the “best” direction. The results show that actuation redundancy allows to homogenize the dynamic capabilities throughout the workspace and to increase the traveling plate acceleration capability. Finally, the design of a redundant Delta/Par4-like robot optimized for typical pick-and-place trajectories is presented.
Measurement of EMG activity with textile electrodes embedded into clothing

Novel textile electrodes that can be embedded into sports clothing to measure averaged rectified electromyography (EMG) have been developed for easy use in field tests and in clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity, reliability and feasibility of this new product to measure averaged rectified EMG. The validity was tested by comparing the signals from bipolar textile electrodes (42 cm2) and traditional bipolar surface electrodes (1.32 cm2) during bilateral isometric knee extension exercise with two electrode locations (A: both electrodes located in the same place, B: traditional electrodes placed on the individual muscles according to SENIAM, n = 10 persons for each). Within-session repeatability (the coefficient of variation CV%, n = 10) was calculated from five repetitions of 60% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). The day-to-day repeatability (n = 8) was assessed by measuring three different isometric force levels on five consecutive days. The feasibility of the textile electrodes in field conditions was assessed during a maximal treadmill test (n = 28). Bland–Altman plots showed a good agreement within 2SD between the textile and traditional electrodes, demonstrating that the textile electrodes provide similar information on the EMG signal amplitude to the traditional electrodes. The within-session CV ranged from 13% to 21% in both the textile and traditional electrodes. The day-to-day CV was smaller, ranging from 4% to 11% for the textile electrodes. A similar relationship (r2 = 0.5) was found between muscle strength and the EMG of traditional and textile electrodes. The feasibility study showed that the textile electrode technique can potentially make EMG measurements very easy in field conditions. This study indicates that textile electrodes embedded into shorts is a valid and feasible method for assessing the average rectified value of EMG.
Bone growth marks reveal protracted growth in New Zealand kiwi (Aves, Apterygidae)

The presence of bone growth marks reflecting annual rhythms in the cortical bone of non-avian tetrapods is now established as a general phenomenon. In contrast, ornithurines (the theropod group including modern birds and their closest relatives) usually grow rapidly in less than a year, such that no annual rhythms are expressed in bone cortices, except scarce growth marks restricted to the outer cortical layer. So far, cyclical growth in modern birds has been restricted to the Eocene Diatryma, the extant parrot Amazona amazonica and the extinct New Zealand (NZ) moa (Dinornithidae). Here we show the presence of lines of arrested growth in the long bones of the living NZ kiwi (Apteryx spp., Apterygidae). Kiwis take 5–6 years to reach full adult body size, which indicates a delayed maturity and a slow reproductive cycle. Protracted growth probably evolved convergently in moa and kiwi sometime since the Middle Miocene, owing to the severe climatic cooling in the southwest Pacific and the absence of mammalian predators.
Investigating Examination Behavior of Image Search Users

Image search engines show results differently from general Web search engines in three key ways: (1) most Web-based image search engines adopt the two-dimensional result placement instead of the linear result list; (2) image searches show snapshots instead of snippets (query-dependent abstracts of landing pages) on search engine result pages (SERPs); and (3) pagination is usually not (explicitly) supported on image search SERPs, and users can view results without having to click on the "next page'' button. Compared with the extensive study of user behavior in general Web search scenarios, there exists no thorough investigation how the different interaction mechanism of image search engines affects users' examination behavior. To shed light on this research question, we conducted an eye-tracking study to investigate users' examination behavior in image searches. We focus on the impacts of factors in examination including position, visual saliency, edge density, the existence of textual information, and human faces in result images. Three interesting findings indicate users' behavior biases: (1) instead of the traditional "Golden Triangle'' phenomena in the user examination patterns of general Web search, we observe a middle-position bias, (2) besides the position factor, the content of image results (e.g., visual saliency) affects examination behavior, and (3) some popular behavior assumptions in general Web search (e.g., examination hypothesis) do not hold in image search scenarios. We predict users' examination behavior with different impact factors. Results show that combining position and visual content features can improve prediction in image searches.
Fast parallel circuits for the quantum Fourier transform

We give new bounds on the circuit complexity of the quantum Fourier transform (QFT). We give an upper bound of O(log n+log log(1//spl epsiv/)) on the circuit depth for computing an approximation of the QFT with respect to the modulus 2/sup n/ with error bounded by /spl epsiv/. Thus, even for exponentially small error, our circuits have depth O(log n). The best previous depth bound was O(n), even for approximations with constant error. Moreover, our circuits have size O(n log(n//spl epsiv/)). As an application of this depth bound, we show that P. Shor's (1997) factoring algorithm may be based on quantum circuits with depth only O(log n) and polynomial size, in combination with classical polynomial-time pre- and postprocessing. Next, we prove an /spl Omega/(log n) lower bound on the depth complexity of approximations of the QFT with constant error. This implies that the above upper bound is asymptotically tight (for a reasonable range of values of /spl epsiv/). We also give an upper bound of O(n(log n)/sup 2/ log log n) on the circuit size of the exact QFT modulo 2/sup n/, for which the best previous bound was O(n/sup 2/). Finally, based on our circuits for the QFT with power-of-2 moduli, we show that the QFT with respect to an arbitrary modulus m can be approximated with accuracy /spl epsiv/ with circuits of depth O((log log m)(log log 1//spl epsiv/)) and size polynomial in log m+log(1//spl epsiv/).
Mental disorders and use of cardiovascular procedures after myocardial infarction.

CONTEXT A number of studies have found race- and sex-based differences in rates of cardiovascular procedures in the United States. Similarly, mental disorders might be expected to be associated with lower rates of such procedures on the basis of clinical, socioeconomic, patient, and provider factors. OBJECTIVE To assess whether having a comorbid mental disorder is associated with a lower likelihood of cardiac catheterization and/or revascularization after acute myocardial infarction. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study using data from medical charts and administrative files as part of the Cooperative Cardiovascular Project. SETTING Acute care nongovernmental hospitals in the United States. PATIENTS National cohort of 113653 eligible patients 65 years or older who were hospitalized for confirmed acute myocardial infarction between February 1994 and July 1995. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Likelihood of cardiac catheterization, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery during the index hospitalization, comparing patients with and without mental disorders (classified as schizophrenia, major affective disorder, substance abuse/dependence disorder, or other mental disorder). RESULTS Compared with the remainder of the sample, patients with any comorbid mental disorder (n = 5365; 4.7%) were significantly less likely to undergo PTCA (11.8% vs 16.8%; P<.001) or CABG (8.2% vs 12.6%; P<.001). After adjusting for demographic, clinical, hospital, and regional factors, individuals with mental disorders were 41% (for schizophrenia) to 78% (for substance use) as likely to undergo cardiac catheterization as those without mental disorders (P<.001 for all). Among those undergoing catheterization, rates of PTCA or CABG for patients with mental disorders were not significantly different from rates for patients without mental disorders (for those with any mental disorder, P = .12 for PTCA and P = .06 for CABG). In multivariate models, the 30-day mortality did not differ between patients with and without mental disorders. CONCLUSIONS In this study, individuals with comorbid mental disorders were substantially less likely to undergo coronary revascularization procedures than those without mental disorders. Further research is needed to understand the degree to which patient and provider factors contribute to this difference and its implications for quality and long-term outcomes of care.
Effects of Maturation on Cyclic GMP-Dependent Vasodilation in Ovine Basilar and Carotid Arteries

ABSTRACT: The present experiments examine the effects of maturation on cyclic GMP (cGMP)-mediated vasodilation in 688 segments of common carotid (COM) and basilar (BAS) arteries taken from newborn (3− to 7-d-old) and nonpregnant adult sheep. The main finding is that maximum efficacy for relaxation decreased with maturation in both artery types for the nitric oxide releasing vasodilators S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine and nitroglycerin. These decreases could not be explained by changes in the -log ED50 concentrations for either vasodilator. Determination of the time course of cGMP responses to S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine or nitroglycerin at 10 μM revealed that the peak cGMP responses to these agents (range: 5.3 ± 0.8 to 8.3 ±1.6 pmol/mg of protein) also did not vary significantly with age. However, cGMP attained peak values more rapidly in adult (COM: 50 s; BAS 30 s) than in newborn (COM: 60–80 s: BAS, 40–60 s) segments and returned to baseline more slowly in newborn than in adult segments, suggesting that maturation accelerates cGMP turnover. Correspondingly, baseline levels of cGMP were higher in newborn (COM: 1.0 ± 0.1; BAS: 3.3 ± 0.5 pmol/mg of protein) than in adult (COM: 0.3 ±0.1; BAS: 1.7 ± 0.2 pmol/mg of protein) segments. Despite these differences in cGMP time course, rates of relaxation in response to S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine and nitroglycerin did not vary significantly with age, indicating that the temporal relation between cGMP and relaxation is different in newborn and adult arteries. Together, these results suggest that the capacity of the cGMP pathway to produce relaxation is attenuated by maturation through changes possibly related to cGMP turnover.
Efficacies of Vesicular and Free Sodium Stibogluconate Formulations against Clinical Isolates ofLeishmania donovani

ABSTRACT In this study, the in vitro and in vivo efficacies of free sodium stibogluconate (SSG) and a nonionic surfactant vesicular formulation of SSG (SSG-NIV) against a laboratory strain ofLeishmania donovani (MHOM/ET/67:LV82) and different clinical isolates of L. donovani were determined. Treatment with SSG-NIV was more effective against intramacrophage amastigotes than treatment with SSG. In vivo murine studies showed that there was interstrain variability in the infectivity of the different L. donovani strains, with two of the strains (20001 and 20003) giving low parasite burdens. In addition, interstrain variability in the antileishmanial efficacy of SSG in a single dose containing 300 mg of Sb(V)/kg of body weight was observed. This dose of free drug either caused a >97% reduction in liver parasite burdens or had no significant effect on parasite burdens compared with the result with the respective control. In some instances, treatment with this free SSG dose also caused a significant reduction in spleen (strain 20006) or bone marrow (strains 20001 and 20009) parasite burdens. Treatment with SSG-NIV was more effective than that with SSG against all of the strains tested. In SSG-responsive strains, the reduction in liver parasite burdens by SSG-NIV treatment was similar to that caused by free SSG. In SSG-nonresponsive strains, SSG-NIV treatment caused at least a 95% reduction in liver parasite burdens. Overall, these results indicate that the use of a vesicular formulation of SSG is likely to increase its clinical efficacy against visceral leishmaniasis.
Prime–boost immunization with poxvirus or adenovirus vectors as a strategy to develop a protective vaccine for HIV-1

Challenges in the development of an effective HIV-1 vaccine are myriad with significant hurdles posed by viral diversity, the lack of a human correlate of protection and difficulty in creating immunogens capable of eliciting broadly neutralizing antibodies. The implicit requirement for novel approaches to these problems has resulted in vaccine candidates designed to elicit cellular and/or humoral immune responses, to include recombinant DNA, viral and bacterial vectors, and subunit proteins. Here, we review data from clinical studies primarily of poxvirus and adenovirus vector vaccines, used in a heterologous prime–boost combination strategy. Currently, this strategy appears to hold the most promise for an effective vaccine based on results from immunogenicity testing and nonhuman primate challenge models, as well as the modest efficacy recently observed in the Thai prime–boost trial.